- INSPIRE your Inspirations.
- MOTIVATE your Motivations.
- Encourage you to DOUBT your Doubts and to have FAITH in your Faith.
To achieve these, we
encourage you to:
- Inspire yourself.
- Inspire others.
- Listen to your inner voice and do good.
- Make the world a better place by being better than your best because a better world begins with “Me.”
- Overcome your fear by taking the first step.
- Realize that no one can do for you what you can do for yourself.
- Up the ante of your social relevance by becoming emotionally intelligent.
- Create emotional bank accounts and endeavour to lodge in huge deposits. The good you do today will come back tomorrow to reward or to haunt you.
- Factor in the fact that actions of today are either CREDITS or DEBITS. Therefore, do not destroy tomorrow by your actions of today. Rather, build your tomorrow by your actions of today.
- Recharge your destiny by developing your self-confidence.
- Develop the philosophy that allows you to realize that people matter.
- Realize that today is the bridge between yesterday and tomorrow.
- If you would not remember yesterday, endeavour not to forget tomorrow.
- A better world begins with me. The time to build that better world of my dream is, TODAY.
God Bless YOU
____________________________
Hilary Johnson Chukwuma Chukwurah is the President, INSPIRATIONS INTERNATIONAL!
E-mail: inspiringinspiratorsinternational@gmail.com or hilaryjohnsonc@gmail.com.
YOUR FUTURE IS IN YOUR PICTURE
By
Hilary
Johnson Chukwuma Chukwurah
It was Bishop David Oyedepo who said, “You cannot
feature in a future that you cannot picture.” Without sounding ambiguous, I
affirm with every sense of seriousness that your future is in your picture.
Therefore, obtain a picture and live! You cannot have a future without a
corresponding picture to guide your journey.
William James, One of America’s foremost Psychologists wrote, “There is a law in Psychology that if you
form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you hold that picture
there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking.”
I would like to commence this presentation by asking simple but salient
questions – questions that I am convinced would jolt us out of our reverie;
questions that are meant to spur us to greatness and awaken the giants in each
of us. I dare ask - do you want to move from:
§ Zero to Hero?
§ Grass to Grace?
§ Upgrade from nobody
to Somebody?
§ Transit from failure
to Success?
§ Graduate from poverty
to Prosperity?
If these questions speak to your heart’s desires, then, you must change
your thinking. Your desire must be strong. You must have the spirit of No Retreat, No Surrender.
What I want to share with you goes by different nomenclatures: Shakti
Gawain calls it, Creative Visualization. Dr. Maxwell Maltz calls it, Psychocybernetics.
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale calls it, Possibility Thinking. I call it, Your
Future is in Your Picture!
To establish and justify the fact that I will not be talking mere
psychology, I want us to look at some Bible passages:
At Ephesians 3:20 God’s Word says you can
exceed your expectations – “Now unto Him
who is able to do EXCEEDINGLY and ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL that we ASK or THINK, according to the POWER
that WORKS in us….”
Psalms
81:10 says, “I am the LORD Thy God who brought you out of the land of Egypt: OPEN WIDE YOUR MOUTH and I will fill
it.”
IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING APPROPRIATE
MENTAL PICTURES IN OUR LIVES
A Chinese proverb says that a picture is worth a thousand words. Obtain a picture and live. The picture you have determines the future you
possess. While some people have appropriate pictures of themselves, others do
not. At Jeremiah 1:11-12, God confronted Jeremiah and asked, “… Jeremiah, what seest thou?” Jeremiah
replied, “I see a rod of an almond tree.”
The LORD said to him, “Thou hast well
seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.” The picture you have
determines what God will bring to bear upon your life.
Jesus encountered a man who was blind. Realizing that
the man’s life was filled with restrictions, He took him aside to restore his
sight. At Mark 8:22-25 we read,
And he took
the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on
his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he
asked him if he saw anything. He looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again
upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
First, the man did not see as he ought to see. He saw men as trees. Jesus knew that he was not
seeing clearly. He did what He did and the man’s sight was fully restored. He
began to see clearly. I dare to ask
you:
§ What do you see?
§ Who do you see?
WHAT you see is as important as WHO you see. Fact remains that the you, you see is the you, you
will be. Twelve men were sent to spy out God’s Promised Land to Hebrews enroute Canaan. Two men came back with the
appropriate picture but ten came back with wrong pictures in their minds. Their
report said it all, “And there we saw the giants, the sons of
Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers,
and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:33).
Do you see a giant or a grasshopper? Do you see an
achiever or a failure? Do you see a person on a world stage or a person
relegated to the background? Do you see a job creator (employer) or a job
seeker? What you see is what and who you finally become. …we were in our own sight as
grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
IMAGINATION: KEY
TO PICTURING YOUR FUTURE
To create a future you so desperately desire,
imagination must be your strong ally. William James made a significant
statement that I consider critical:
There is a law in Psychology that if you
form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you hold that
picture there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been
thinking.
The formation of this “picture in your mind” is nothing other than the use of
imagination. Imagination enables you to create mental pictures. When these
pictures are fully developed, an imagineer begins to piece the images on
his/her mind together, a kind of putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Every great
invention or innovation followed this process. There is nothing mystic about
it.
Dale Calvert, a networker employed this method of
picturing one’s future in one’s picture to achieve success in his networking
business. In their book, Dream Achievers: 50 Powerful Stories of People Just
Like You Who Became Leaders in Networking Marketing, Anthony and Erik Masi
quoted Mr. Calvert as saying,
When I
started my business, I lived in a little 600 square-foot house. To inspire
myself, I would drive my beat-up Chevette over to a really nice community where
there were huge houses on a lake. I took pictures of these gorgeous homes in
their beautiful settings. I’ll then put them all around my house and visualize
one day that I would live there too. Nine years later we bought a home there!
And right now, I’ m building a 15, 000 square-foot home on a 100-acre piece of
land.
BENEFITS OF
DEVELOPING A MENTAL PICTURE
In his book, Success
Secrets of Self-made Millionaires, Brian Tracy advocated the employment of Back-From-The-Future thinking. According
to him, this is a powerful technique that is practiced by high-performing men
and women which can have an amazing effect on your mind and on your creative
abilities. He suggested that individuals should create visions for themselves
for the long-term future. The clearer your visions are, the more you are likely
to be driven by them and to achieve them. “When
you create a mental picture of where you are going in life, you become more
positive, more motivated and more determined to make it a reality. You trigger
your natural creativity and come with idea after idea to help you make your
visions come true…. Perhaps, the greatest discovery in human history is that
you become what you think most of the time.” He wrote.
MAXIMIZE YOUR IMAGINATIVE CAPACITY
The word, “Imagination” comes from the root words, Image and Imaging. To “imagine” means to see through the mind’s eyes. To
imagine, therefore, entails seeing in your mind the formation or existence of a
thing. It conveys to us the understanding of the process of allowing a given
phenomena take shape. This picture that takes shape in a creative mind is what
finally becomes a product or service in the real world. It is pertinent to
state that imaginative people are creative people.
To some people, their imagineering capabilities have
been so developed that imagineering has become their second nature. Great minds
like Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, etcetera were like that. In modern times,
imaginative people are scattered all over the globe and can be found in various
research centers, Research and Development departments of small, medium and
large corporations. The interesting thing is that these are also found in
various homes, schools and offices. One of the characteristics of imaginative
people is that they see farther than their peers, see worth in worthless things
and potentials in seemingly inconsequential objects.
Imagining how birds fly was what provided the
idea-seed for Wright Brothers to think of a flying machine that could move
people from place to place. This was at a time when common belief had it that
whatever went up must surely come down. However, imagination and determination
proved to be two great allies in the desire of these two brothers who worked
hard to invent airplane.
The science of telepathy was what gave birth in the
imagination of Graham Bell who imagined the possibility of inventing a device
that could enable people to communicate with one another. Today, we have
telephone in various designs and capabilities. O'Callaghan (1999:1) writing on Imagineering: The
art or science of using imagination to intuitively make practical applications
from knowledge observed:
Imagination and intuition are the
foundations of all improvements and advancements made by humankind. If someone
had not imagined it was possible for man to fly, no one would have attempted to
fly. If no one had intuitively reasoned a propeller shaped like an
airfoil could be used to power aircraft, no one would have attempted it.
Imagination or intuition is the basis for all advancements and new designs.
The design of all prototypes is based solely on intuition. The designer
intuitively reasons or imagines the design and designs changes that result in
the working prototype. Only after testing does the design cease to be
intuitive or imaginative, instead becoming scientific fact. Until then it
only existed in the designer's mind or imagination. Imagination is the process
by which the human intellect travels beyond the limitations of his or her
senses; imagination opens doors to an abstract world that is governed by the
same rules as the physical world. The science of Imagineering is based on
intuitively applying the laws of the physical world to an abstract imaginary
world in an orderly and consistent manner to make predictions. These
processes give scientific credibility to imagination and intuitive reasoning.
MOSES:
EXAMPLE OF FUTURE IN YOUR PICTURE
Moses' life is a study of faith in action.
He demonstrated the Can-Do Spirit of an average person. He showed that human
beings have the capacity to dare any odd and to come out victorious. There is
power that inhabits every one of us. You can, if you think you can. Moses was a
man who understood that the picture you form in your mind goes a long way in
determining the future you will have, if only your faith can take a long look.
MOSES: VISION OF BECOMING PRINCE, JUDGE
AND DELIVERER
Moses'
life is an inspiration. Exodus 2:11-15 tells us. At Exodus 2:14, Moses was asked, “Who made you a Prince or a Judge over
us?”
Why and how? Was he accusing Moses for accusation sake
or was Moses guilty of trying to be a “Prince and Judge” over them? Moses
actually envisioned himself as a Prince and Judge or Deliverer over the Hebrews
in Egypt.
A careful study of the Hebrews in Egypt in the days,
“When the Pharaoh who knew not Joseph” came to power (Exodus 1:8) and all the
diplomatic games he had played in slashing down the Hebrews' population,
including the circumstances that surrounded the birth of Moses, all revealed
that the Hebrews' daily lives in that era in Egypt were that of “Sighing and
groaning” (Exodus 2:23-24). At a point in the lives of Hebrews in Egypt,
despondency set in as a result of their “Cruel bondage” (Exodus 6:9).
Moses, at 40 years had observed the humiliations,
exploitations and other numerous human right violations perpetrated against his
people by the powers that were. Simply stated - the Hebrews were dehumanized.
Over the years, Moses' people's pathetic state and tales had brought mist into
the man's eyes. He had pondered over and over what should be done. One day,
however, an idea dropped into his mind as Acts 7:23 tells us, “As he was
approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind….” Mark the phrase,
“...entered his mind.” Just before his fortieth birthday, an idea came into his
mind; a vision flashed on the screen of his mind, immediately, he took hold of
it, not letting go his grip on it.
What was Moses’ vision, his idea? To Deliver and Judge
his people; to give them respite! To borrow Dr. Schuler's terms: when Moses had
“Nested,” “Invested,” and “Crested” his ideas, he swung into action. Led by his
vision as a Redeemer/Deliverer, he came upon an Egyptian pummeling a Hebrew,
slew him and buried his corpse. That was an act of a redeemer and deliverer.
Encouraged by his success, he ventured into the work of a Judge when he saw two
Hebrews as they fought each other. In trying to mediate between them, he was
told off by the offending party. Realizing that his act of redemption of a
Hebrew, which eventually led to the death of an Egyptian had become an open
secret; aware also that Egyptians would view the death of a fellow Egyptian who
died for a 'worthless' Hebrews as treasonable, Moses ran away from Egypt and
went into seclusion in Median.
Succinctly stated, Moses saw the plight of his people
and despite his royal upbringing longed to share in their lives (Hebrews
11:24-26). With a long-term view of an end to their sufferings, he saw the
Hebrews as a people without a leader, sat down with his education and special
training and mapped out strategies towards accomplishing his vision. His faith
had a long look.
To reach his goal and accomplish his mission of
delivering his people, he first envisaged himself as a Prince, a Hebrew Prince,
Judge and Deliverer. As a Deliverer, he killed an Egyptian who was trying to
kill a Hebrew. As a Judge, he went to mediate between two fighting Hebrews.
Although, those he had tried to salvage rejected him,
yet, he kept the rope and after another forty years, his vision came through.
Acts 7:32-36 tells us that his vision as a Judge and Deliverer over his people
clicked. Moses had held tenaciously to his visions.
Desires of tough-minded optimists die-hard. Dare to
dream. Hold on to the line, be tough skinned and don't give in to doubt,
frustrations and discouragement. At Acts 7:32-36, Stephen, the first Christian
martyr while he recapitulated on God's scheme of things for the nation of
Israel and for the rest of mankind as it concerns human salvation strategically
posited Moses and told how Moses' visions of becoming a Prince, Judge and
Deliverer came to fulfillment:
But when he
was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren,
the sons of Israel. And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he
defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the
Egyptian. And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting
them deliverance through him; but they did not understand. And on the following
day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile
them in peace, saying, “Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?”
But the one who was injuring his neighbour; pushed him away, saying, “WHO MADE
YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US? You do not mean to kill me as you killed the
Egyptian yesterday, do you?” And at this remark Moses fled and became an alien
in the land of Median, where he became the father of two sons. And after forty
years had passed, an Angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai in
the flame of a burring thorn bush. And when Moses saw it, he began to marvel at
the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of
the Lord: “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob.” And Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look. But the Lord
said to him, “Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place you are
standing is holy ground. I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in
Egypt, and I have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them.
Come now, and I will send you to Egypt.” This Moses whom they disowned, saying,
“WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE?” is one whom God sent to be both a RULER AND
DELIVERER with the help of the Angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.
This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in
the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.
“Dreams do
come through and true!” I thought I
heard you say. Yes, dreams do come through and true. I want you to remember
that for Moses it all started with a tiny seed-vision when it “entered into his
mind.” I am convinced that when Moses muted that idea to some of his friends
and close relatives, they must have laughed at him. Some may have tried to sow
seeds of doubt and discouragement in him. Some may have made certain
pessimistic comments about the visions he had expressed. Obviously, there were
criticisms and other negative comments by those who seem to be ‘rationale.’ You
may have come across these kinds of people who would take you through the drills
of “reason” with all the facts that it is not possible; that it can't be done.
Read this: when Wrights' Brothers were working on their “Flying
machine” idea, a somewhat skeptical editorial which appeared in New York Times
of May 25, 1908 observed, “Flying
machines, one and all, have quickly illustrated the adage of our youth, 'What
goes up must come down.' ” Today, the skeptics have been proved wrong
while Wright Brothers have been proved
right. When Graham Bell went to a bank to obtain loan to finance the production
of his telephone machine, the irate bank manager drove him away because his
idea was not only impracticable but weird as well. You and I are witnesses to
the doggedness, can-do spirit and workability of the very ideas that were
repudiated by the “experts” because, today, not only are machines flying and
men could speak to each other from one end of the earth to the other, but also
the fact that the world has been revolutionalized and made better by these two
inventions. The world would not have been what it is today if these inventors
had given in to the tauntings and skepticisms of those around them. Someone had
rightly observed:
Beware of
those who stand aloof and greet every venture with reproof; the world would
stop if things were run by men who say, “It can't be done!”
Don't kill that dream; execute it! Be
assured that any dream that would bring glory and praise to God; cause the
expansion of God's Kingdom in the hearts and communities of men and ultimately
bring blessings upon mankind is a seed of good from God. Writing to Philippian
Christians in Philippians 1:6 and 2:13, Apostle Paul under inspiration wrote,
Of this I am
convinced, that He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to
completion… for it is God who is at work within you, both to will and to work
for His good pleasure.
Dare to create that picture and God will see to it
that it becomes your future. Let your faith a telescopic view. I do not know
the vision you have of yourself. Do yourself this favor: whatever may be the
circumstance of your present, hold on to the rope. Someday, somewhere and
somehow it will click. At Habakkuk 2:3, God's Word has this to say:
For the
vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal, and it will
not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will
not delay.
MY CHARGE
I
charge you to see the hero/heroin in you.
I
charge you to see beyond the restrictions of your present.
I
charge you to see beyond the limitations of your environment.
I
charge you to see beyond your parental background.
I
charge you to see beyond your personal limitations.
I
charge you to have faith in your faith and to doubt your doubt.
CONCLUSION
Your future is in your pictures. At Revelations 3:18,
Jesus challenged, “I counsel thee to … anoint
thine eyes with eyesalve, that
thou mayest see.” May God enable you
to see what and who you ought to see for the glorious future that He had
ordained for you in Jesus’ name!
_____________
Hilary Johnson Chukwuma Chukwurah is the President, INSPIRATIONS INTERNATIONAL!
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