What Is Possible In Your Life?

By Carolyn Evers

Eight years old Evan Frank raised more than $9,000 for a Christian organization's mission to drill thousands of wells for people in impoverished areas of the world that lack clean drinking water. When he heard of people who didn't have enough safe drinking water, he wanted to do something about it.

Evan decided he wanted to help and when he found that it cost $9,000 to drill a well he decided he would raise enough money to do this by himself. His parents were not certain that he could do this but Evan believed that he could. He started by baking brownies and selling them. He brought great enthusiasm to his goal and not only raised enough money for one well but went over the top and raised more than that. He has been a real inspiration to everyone that hears his story.

Actually, I think what the story really demonstrates is that a human being can accomplish whatever he sets out to do when he believes in the outcome and in himself.

Webster's dictionary defines belief as "a conviction that certain things are true; also it mentions trust or confidence, an opinion, expectation, or judgment." As I contemplated this, examples came to mind where someone's belief system actually changed the course of history.

Believe in yourself
Alexander the Great is considered one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. He was the inspiration for later conquerors such as Hannibal the Carthaginian, the Romans, Pompey and Caesar, and Napoleon. It is difficult for us in this century to understand the rise and fall of civilizations and the conquerors that were part of that vision. I only mention them because their victories were part of their belief in themselves and in the world in which they lived. I propose that they accomplished what they did because of this belief.

As a young child, Alexander's mother Olympias told him he was the son of a god. Apparently he carried those words with him and thought himself invincible as he was noted for leading his men from the front line. He reminded his men of their permanent values; he told his men they were the world's liberators.

When Alexander entered Egypt the Persian satrap surrendered and the Macedonians were welcomed by the Egyptians as liberators for they had despised living under Persian rule for almost two centuries.

Later Alexander made a pilgrimage to the great Temple and Oracle of Amon-Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun, whom the Greeks and Macedonians identified with Zeus Ammon. The priest at the Temple told him that he was the son of Zeus Ammon, destined to rule the world, and this must have confirmed to him his belief of divine origin.

Alexander the Great managed to briefly extend Macedonian power not only over the central Greek City-states, but also to the Persian empire, including Egypt and lands as far east as the fringes of India. Alexander's adoption of the styles of government of the conquered territories was accompanied by the spread of Greek culture and learning through his vast empire.

What we believe can draw greatness into our lives
Perhaps belief is what draws the possibilities of greatness to our journey and gives life to our dreams. There seems to be an element of the spiritual underpinning our beliefs. What I mean is that behind our beliefs seems to be a spiritual connection in the sense that the belief is connected to something larger than oneself. To connect to these beliefs it seems that one must be willing to be inspired.

What inspires you?
It might be a good idea to occasionally take stock of those thoughts and ideas that inspire you. Are your ideas bigger thanlife or are they ordinary and easily reached? How much faith and trust do you have in yourself? Are you willing to dare take a step beyond your comfort zone? Sometimes inspiration must include new ideas. Or perhaps it is the reworking of an old idea. Attitudes can be formed by simply accepting what others believe and not questioning what might be beyond those walls. Thinking within the box can create a wall around us. It is only when we intend to move outside of the box and think of life from a new vantage point do we truly become open to new ideas and inspirations.

Personal beliefs
Napoleon Hill was an American author who was one of the earliest producers of the modern genre of personal success literature. His most famous work, Think and Grow Rich, is one of the best-selling books of all time. Hill's works examine the power of personal beliefs and the role they play in personal success. "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve" is one of Hill's hallmark expressions.

Napoleon Hill was born in an impoverished one-room cabin in the Appalachian town of Pound in Southwest Virginia. Hill's mother died when he was nine years old. At the age of 15, Hill began writing as a Mountain reporter for a small-town newspaper in the area of Wise County. The turning point of Napoleon Hill's writing career is considered to have occurred in 1908 with his assignment, as part of a series of articles about famous men, to interview the industrialist Andrew Carnegie, one of the most powerful men in the world.

Hill discovered that Carnegie believed that the process of success could be elaborated in a simple formula that could be duplicated by the average person. Carnegie was impressed with Hill and asked him if he was up to the task of putting together this information with only reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses to interview or analyze over 500 successful men and women, many of them millionaires, in order to discover and publish this formula for success.

As part of his research Hill interviewed many of those famous people of the time including Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, George Eastman, Henry Ford, and Theodore Roosevelt among others. As a result of Hill's studies via Carnegie's introductions, the Philosophy of Achievement was offered as a formula for rags-to-riches success by Hill and Carnegie, published initially in 1928 as a study course called The Law of Success.

Hill believed that negative emotions, fear and selfishness, among others, had no part to play in his philosophy, and Hill considered them to be the source of failure for unsuccessful people. In his first book Think and Grow Rich he presented the idea of a definite major purpose as a challenge to his readers in order to make them ask themselves, "In what do I truly believe?" For according to him, 98% of people had no firm beliefs, and this alone put true success firmly out of their reach.

Consider new ideas for personal evaluation
As I bring forth new information about Ascension and other spiritual work, I have found that some people seem to be unwilling to open up their mind to new thoughts and concepts. And yet I recognize the fact that the belief system is what governs the possibility of future growth and accomplishment. In my point of view it becomes important to consider new ideas without preconceived judgment. It is only until one opens the door to new thoughts that one can truly grow. After evaluation, one can sort out those ideas that do not resonate with them, but I think it's crucial to be willing to consider new thoughts if one is to grow.