Great Expectations

"We have the ability to shape, change, accept or reject anything we want. Open our minds to positive thought and faith, and prosperity can become a reality for each of us."

—JOHNNIE COLEMON, PASTOR, CHRIST UNIVERSAL TRUTH CENTER

We impose meaning on day-to-day events, and what we say to ourselves about them leads us toward either success or failure. World-class tennis star Zina Garrison was the seventh seeded player in the 1990 Virginia Slims tournament. But she was eliminated by an unseeded player in the first round.

Why? She told a New York Times reporter, "My mind wasn't there at all. ... I had no motivation, no pickup. And when you're playing so bad, you just don't know how to get out of it, or if you can."

What crushed her spirit? What made her think so negatively? A silly superstition. She went on to say,
"I'm superstitious, and it seems like I have one good, one bad year, and every even-numbered year is usually a bad one."

Do you think a hand on high deliberately alternates Garrison's good and bad years? Of course not. Like many of us, she's the victim of her own self-defeating thinking. Superstitions are merely poor mental habits given an external cause. Anyone can fall prey to such misconceptions—even a professional athlete who receives careful coaching.

Every situation is always fresh and new. Yesterday's failure means nothing about today's possibilities-
unless you make up wild superstitions about it. You can make the most of every opportunity. Create positive expectations, and you'll have positive results.

It’s better to expect too much of yourself than too little.