Limitations

Last week was interesting because not that many people visited the blog, not that many comments, and I didn't even feel like posting that much. I think having the 4th right in middle of the week kind of changed the feel for how things normally go. Anyway...I think Sundays I'm going to post mostly church kind of stuff, unless something really has been sticking out to me that I want to comment on. Here is the Sunday stuff...

"The only limitation on you and me is within ourselves"

-Pres. Marion G. Romney

I was thinking about this yesterday actually. And just a lot in general. I think each member of my family serves as an amazing example of this idea. My dad owned his own business by the age of 17. Initially he worked for his older sister at a tailor shop, but eventually came to own the same shop and then employ her as his employee. He saved up $10,000 and scouted the US basically to see if there was opportunity here. When he decided there was, he saved up even more money and brought our whole family here from Brazil. And he's been very successful ever since then. My parents got divorced about 10 years ago. At first it looked like my mom was going to be in really bad shape, but once she got full control of her own shops she has really made them work. She has really closed the gap between herself and my father. It's unbelievable what she's been able to do. And my brother...I don't think anyone has a better attitude when it comes to taking on difficult tasks than he does. I don't know anybody who works harder at his marriage, at being a good father, and just being a decent person more than he does. There would have been a lot of valid excuses as to why they couldn't make it in their lives. It's too hard. I don't know English. Most small businesses fail anyway. I have never done it on my own. My wife is too difficult. These were not the types of thoughts that occupied any of their minds. Having this kind of negative self-talk excuses us from trying and prevents us from succeeding.

I've just been thinking about this recently because I feel like I have heard a lot of reasons as to why people can't do certain things. And I think it has more to do with negative self-talk than anything else. We convince ourselves that our job stinks, or that the ward is not for us, or that there is just nobody that we can get close to either just as friends or in relationships, or just that we'll never be able to overcome our circumstances for whatever the case may be. I've been hearing a lot of this. I'm convinced that it has mostly to do with the type of self-talk that we have. My mission president used to bring up this point a lot.

People who achieve great things don't sweat the small stuff. They are more concerned about doing and becoming more than what is missing or what has yet to occur. People who love the church and their ward aren't ones who have had only good experiences and been blessed to be in great wards. They love it all because of their positive self-talk. They don't think that the church or ward might be better if only there was a different bishop, or if more people came, or if there were hotter guys or girls. People with many close friends have them because not only do they seek out great people, but they seek out that greatness even in those people that are right around them. We are what we think. We can't achieve great things if our minds are focused on self-defeating thoughts and behaviors. The bottom line is that we can't be a part of great things if we only have petty thoughts. Root out that negative self-talk. We are only limited by ourselves. I whole-heartedly endorse that line of thinking.