Jack’s Winning Words 2/27/15
“Starry-eyed dreaming isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”  (Gabriele Oettimgen)  Optimism is fine, but what if it doesn’t seem to work?  G.O. has written a book, “Rethinking Positive Thinking.”  In it she is saying that "wishing will not make it so.”  There are obstacles when it comes to turning dreams into reality…home, work, life in general.  She suggests that we set for ourselves a desired future and then work at setting a path toward achieving it.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM HONEST JOHN:  "amen" to her====JACK:  People need to stop looking for shortcuts to success.  "But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it."  (Matthew 7:14)

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  Old bromide: "If wishes and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a great Christmas."====JACK:  So many are sucked in by the thought..."If I can only win the Mega-Lottery..."  "If only...(choose your dream)".  I like the picture of Rosie the riveter and what it represents. 

FROM MY LAWYER:  Isn't that the meaning of: "To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best"?====JACK:  Some ancient monks adopted the saying...Ora et labora...work goes along with prayer.  The Lord doesn't usually drop food into the bird's nest.

FROM TARMART REV:  The pastor I now work under asks us to put together a dream design of what that project before us looks like . . . In his proposals and results over the 13 years together, I've often felt,  “Starry-eyed dreaming isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”  Perhaps he feels somewhat the same about me . . . not much of a dreamer, as hopefully one who has worked hard for this desired result and who is thoroughly enjoying the path it has brought me to.====JACK:  All dreamers aren't dreaming the same dream or understanding a dream in the same way.  Where is "Joseph" when we need him?

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  I once read "You can be anything you want to be in America but it involves work, work, work.====JACK:  My wife recalls a time in her teens when she and her sisters were complaining about being tired.  Her mother responded, "Tired!  What's that?  Everybody's tired."  That's parenting in the old style.

FROM BB IN ILLINOIS:  Guess I’d have to read the book.  Mom used to say ”if wishes were fishes we’d have them for dinner” but our Earl Nightengale’s, Og Mandinos etc. will confidently assert that the mind is so powerful that visualizing a positive outcome is a fundamental step toward seeing it in reality.  I was doula in a labor/delivery last night and think there are some moms that coax the baby out by calling his or her name…just like calling a puppy in a positive happy tone rather than succumbing to frustration.  Perhaps those with the positive attitude naturally work out the steps it takes to get from point A to attaining the goal?====JACK:  First things first...How are the baby and mother doing?  Was it a home delivery?  Secondly, I seem to recall that your father was a fan of ZZ and the other positive writers/talkers.  I chose today's quote, because I believe that words are not enough in many situations.  As I've said before (quoting Edgar Guest), "I'd rather see a sermon than hear one, any day."  Positive thinking needs to be followed by positive doing.

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  Work like everything depends upon you, pray like everything depends on God.====JACK: Ignatius Loyola supposedly said it this way: "Work as if everything depended on God, pray as if everything depended on you."  Upon research, your's I probably more accurate. 

FROM ST. PAUL IN MESA:  what would Robert Schuller and Norman V. Peale say about this?? ====JACK:  I'm sure that both of these proponents of "positivism" had enough real-world experiences to know that everyone has a bad day, now and then.  It must have been a bad-day when Schuller realized that his Cathedral Ministry had fallen apart.  None of us wants to see what we have worked to build fall into disrepair or even disappear.

FROM STARRY KNIGHT:  I know that's a fact! I've worked very very hard to reach my dreams! ====JACK:  Turning a dream into a reality turns into a sense of accomplishment...like the Little Train That Could...from I think I can to I know I can to I did it.

FROM IKE AT THE MIC:  The great philosopher Yogi Berra once said:  "The trouble with getting anything done is that there is always something you have to do before that."  My "Ikeism": "Unless you have the appropriate talent & "fire in the belly" (passion) your path is doomed to frustration. To achieve a successful, joyful & balanced life you  must learn how to become a pragmatic optimist.
I've always wanted to become a superstar basketball player but I'm only 5'7" & not a  great athlete, so I became a happy pharmacist that likes to watch basketball & joined the Optimist Club.====JACK: In the musical, South Pacific, there's a song titled, Cockeyed Optimist.  Here's one of the verses..."I could say life is just a bowl of jello  And appear more intelligent and smart  But I'm stuck like a dope with a thing called hope  And I can't get it out of my heart  Not this heart."  Cockeyed optimist?  It seems to you...the optimist part.

FROM SBP IN FLORIDA:  Well, my initial reaction is anything but positive,,,so I’d better read her book. But I’ve spent some time today weighing the pros and cons of the issue and trying to stifle my responses.  As  far as Dr. Schuller is concerned , we/I am among many , many worldwide  that have memories  in our minds and tokens in our homes that speak to and reinforce his messages,  No matter what we set our mind  on as our future, the road is rough and has its  twists and turns and without positive thinking we may or may not reach the “future” we aimed for,,,but one that is us!====JACK:  On the face of it, the quote does seem to be negative, but upon a second look, it has a positive message.  The truly optimistic person does more than recite optimistic words.  He/she works at living out those words.  I truly wonder how Dr. Schuller is doing these tough times in his life. 

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  THIS SOUNDS LIKE AN "ORIGINAL THINKER"...PROBABLY A GOOD BOOK, TELLING US TO GET OUR FEET ON THE GROUND, AND "DO" AS WELL AS "THINK POSITIVELY. I DO THINK OUR MINDS ARE A VERY POWERFUL FORCE!  HELEN KELLER ONCE SAID "THE BULK OF THE WORLD'S KNOWLEDGE IS AN IMAGINARY CONSTRUCTION". SHE PROBABLY "SAW" THINGS THROUGH HER MIND MORE THAN MOST. I THINK THAT WE HAVE HARDLY BEGUN TO TAP  THE ABILITIES OF THE HUMAN MIND, WHICH IS RATHER FASCINATING TO CONSIDER!  MENTAL TELEPATHY IS BEING STUDIED AND SHOWS AMAZING ABILITIES....====JACK:  It was the Sunday after a church family had buried their young son.  They came to church and sat down.  A little girl nudged her mother and whispered, "They really do believe, don't they?"