831 WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE!

No. 831

Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN

WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE!

If you have a tendency to get discouraged from time to time, and who doesn’t, I have some thoughts to share that I believe will help to charge your battery. Our discouragement is usually the result of an outcome that was less than expected or we have something bad or negative happen to us. What I want to accomplish during the time you spend with me today is remind you of the source of discouragement and what you can do about it.
Whether you agree or not, there are Satanic or evil forces in the world that work to undermine our happiness, peace of mind and our determination to accomplish our goals. What we all need to do when we are having a bad day and become aware of this situation is to say, “Get behind me Satan -- you are not going to win this one, I am.”
There is a phrase we can all use when we are tempted to dwell on the past or be pulled down to the gutter in regards to our thinking. We just need to realize that everything that has happened to us in the past is “water under the bridge.” Certainly we need to profit from our mistakes and try to learn from them, but to constantly dwell on something that has no future just does not make good sense. Without meaning to be personal, what are you doing at the present time that you could be doing better? When I worked for the Nightingale-Conant Co. several years ago they had a motto that went, “Human Beings Are Improvable.”
Now, I believe that, do you? It is estimated that every human being has latent potential that he or she is not using. I know I am not using near all of mine. We just need to pay the price and look for ways to do a better job: as a parent, student, employee, educator, businessperson or any number of other roles. What I am talking about is really an attitude that says, “I can and I will” rather than giving in to the forces of evil that are all about us. Now, granted this may sound like Pollyanna, but it works. Many of the greatest thinkers of all time have come to the same conclusion.
William James of Harvard University has said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” Thomas Jefferson once said, “You are not what you think you are. You are what you think. Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” In the Bible we read, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” The key to success is that when we get down on ourselves, to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take corrective action that will produce the results we want.
I have found, and I believe you will to, that when bad or negative things happen to us that we can’t do anything about, the best thing is to say “that is water under the bridge,” put it behind us and move on with fresh optimism and a positive mental attitude. It has been said that the world will stand aside for the man or woman who knows where he is going. I hope life is good to and for you and you are making the most of the time you have left here on earth. We will all run out of days at some point in the future, so let’s do our best to make them count for something really worthwhile. The only thing that is truly lasting and will bring personal satisfaction is what we do for others.
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a public speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034. To begin a bookcase literacy project visit www.bookcaseforeverychild.com. You won’t go wrong helping a needy child.)