"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal" -- Hannah More
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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal" -- Hannah More |
         
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Alive & Well ArchivesAugust 2004**************************************************** TODAY'S QUOTE: “The
path to success is to take massive, determined action." -Anthony Robbins **************************************************** TODAY'S TOPIC: Take
Action Did
you ever notice how taking action is critical to the destiny you desire and to
feeling empowered? I
remembered this a few weeks ago when Denver had an initiative on the ballot that
I felt very passionate about, and that I desperately wanted to pass.
However, while I felt passionate, I also felt hopeless.
A young girl and her mom got the grass roots initiative on the ballot.
Unfortunately, the initiative would have cost a large industry quite a
lot of money if it passed, and the industry had a lot of money to spend to
defeat the initiative. I
knew we were up against a big business, and I figured the initiative would
probably fail. Every time I thought
about that, I would begin to feel upset and discouraged.
But then, I would take *action. * I
knew I could sit around feeling upset, angry and hopeless, or I could take
immediate action that would at least help and put me in the driver’s seat. My
first action step was to go to campaign headquarters (the girl’s house) and
get yard signs to post. I gave a
donation, and I also got a huge stack of postcards urging people to vote yes.
I addressed, stamped and mailed them.
These were such small steps, but I felt a surge of energy and excitement.
For the first time, I felt hopeful and encouraged that it would pass.
Nothing changed in the situation, except I took action!
When I took action, I put myself in control.
I wasn’t waiting for fate or others.
I took control, and that made all the difference.
A
couple of days later, I saw more yard signs against the initiative on people’s
lawns, so I started feeling defeated again.
In response, I sent out emails urging people to vote yes.
Again, I immediately felt better, because I took action!
The
weekend before the election, the opposition put flyers on all the houses around
the neighborhood. They were
attractive, color flyers. The
opposition also placed a color, ½-page ad in the Sunday newspaper.
Again, I felt discouraged knowing we were fighting a multi-million dollar
industry. But rather than
give in to the discouragement, I again took action.
I sent out another email, and I talked to people about the issue.
You
see, my friends, if you really want something, you must take action.
Sometimes, the actions are small. Sometimes
they’re large. But regardless,
the only way to get what you want is to take action. The way to feel truly
empowered is to take action. Taking
action gives you control of your life. It
allows you to set your life’s course. Rather
than waiting around *hoping* for change or for something to happen, you must
take action! Ultimately,
the initiative was defeated. However,
the work we did raised the public’s awareness, and I have no doubt it will
someday pass. In the meantime, I
did everything I could to help. I
didn’t sit around waiting to be defeated.
Instead, I took action! I
did pray and ask for spiritual help as well.
But ultimately, taking action was what was needed!
Action empowered me! If
you have a goal, dream or desire, you must take action.
If you’re passionate about something, take action.
So how about it? What action
steps can you take immediately toward your goals and dreams?
What’s one small action, and what’s one big action? *****************************************************
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