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REAL POWER: MAXING OUT ON GOD'S LOVE |
ZERO AMBIVALENCE MAKES
IT EASIER TO LIVE YOUR DREAMS
It’s exciting to be around people who
are members of the Zero Ambivalence Club. They are full of passion,
and it’s inspiring to watch them in action. They act as if their
dreams are possible and work each day to make them happen. I have
known only a few member of this exclusive club.
One of my friends decided as a
teenager that he would sail around the world on his own yacht. He put
his mind, heart, and will to work in a congruent fashion, and before
he was thirty years old, he made his dream come true. He sailed
around the world in a thirty foot boat on a voyage that took four
years. They were four of the best years of his life.
He was an unstoppable, consistently
positive, endlessly persistent, doer of dreams. Nothing could stop
him. I never once heard him express doubt about completing his trip.
In his mind he could see himself sailing on the ocean of his dreams.
I never detected fear or ambivalence in his heart. I knew that he was
willing to do whatever it would take. He knew he was going to do it,
and I knew he would do it too. The only thing that could stop him
would be if he died before he completed the trip. It was fun to watch
him in action. He had a plan, a purpose, and zero ambivalence.
LIVING WITH AMBIVALENCE
My circumnavigation was much
different. I rode the roller coaster of ambivalence all the way
around the world. Since college, I had a desire to circumnavigate the
globe in my own sailboat. Back then, I probably had something to
prove to myself. By the time I was forty-five years old and ready to
sail, ambivalence had crept in and paid a visit.
Did I really want to spend all that
money and time sailing around the world? Did I want to expose myself
and my family to the risks inherent in such a voyage? Did I want to
walk away from my profession for several years to make the trip? Did
I want to take my kids out of school and have them do correspondence
courses on the yacht? Did I want to do all that boat work? My mind
had dozens of questions, and many of my answers to those questions
showed there was more that a little ambivalence in my mind.
In my heart, I could feel the sense
of adventure and accomplishment associated with the voyage. But I
could also feel the fear. A large list of potential disasters
marched through my mind haunting and taunting me. On good days, my
emotions cheered me on telling me to go for it. On bad days, my
emotions told me all of the reasons why this voyage was one of the
biggest mistakes I would ever make.
My will did not escape the long arm
of ambivalence. On good days when I was sailing downwind at eight
knots, I was willing to do whatever it takes. When I was being
thrashed by gales north of New Zealand, and was forced to spend six
days beating to windward in high winds and rough seas, my will
wondered what it was doing out there sailing on the savage seas.
Was it hard to sail around the world
on my own yacht? Of course it was, and it would have been easier if
ambivalence had not been along for the ride.
Fortunately, I learned to live with
ambivalence and in spite of it. Sometimes my head led the way. At
other times, my heart was out in front leading. Often, my will was in
there plugging along waiting for my head and heart to catch up.
Ambivalence didn’t prevent me from living my dreams. It just made
them harder to accomplish.
GOD’S ZERO AMBIVALENCE CLUB
When I have lost something and want
it back, ambivalence usually isn’t a problem. If it’s something I
really want, my mind, heart, and will all line up and congruently
march off in the desired direction.
When I had two broken legs and
couldn’t walk, I wanted to walk more than anything in the world.
Climbing stairs looked like an impossible fantasy. Skipping and
jumping were out of the question. I didn’t have to psyche myself up
or prod myself into action to start walking again. My head wanted it,
my heart wanted it, and I was willing to do whatever it takes. I had
zero ambivalence when it came to walking.
That is the way it’s supposed to be
in our relationship with God. Zero ambivalence. We must want it with
our head and heart, and be willing to do whatever it takes to make it
happen.
Now if God told us we had to be
perfect, and if we were never allowed to make a mistake, there would
be plenty of room for ambivalence in our relationship with God. If He
had a rod of iron and beat us whenever we did something wrong,
ambivalence would be normal. If God was an unreasonable taskmaster
who sent us on impossible quests in search of a holy grail, and then
punished us when we did not find it, ambivalence would be the normal
response to such a God.
But that isn’t the way things are.
Jesus said we should dare to call God our Father and have a
relationship with him based on love. God has loved us with an
everlasting love. He loves us from the top of our head to the tip of
our toes, and it doesn’t get any better than that.
God’s love is an eternal fact that
endures in spite of who we are and what we have done. When we dare to
call God our Father, we come alive spiritually and become a new
person. Old things pass away and all things become new. There is no
limit to how good our life can become when our life is full of God’s
love. That is why there should be no ambivalence in our relationship
with God.
God is on our side ready to pour his
love into our heart and mind. It should be easy to love God with all
our mind, all our heart, and all our strength. It’s the most sensible
thing we could ever do. A zero ambivalence relationship with God does
more to make our life better than anything the world has to offer. It
heals our damaged emotions and makes us into new people, and the
positive effects of God’s love last for eternity.
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THE POSITIVE WEB RING
The Positive Web Ring has twelve positive web
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If you are fighting against depression, visit
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If you struggle with negative thinking, visit
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The wheel of change always turns in the direction of what you put into
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Give your mind a push in a positive direction today. Cruise your way
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PositiveWebRing.com
PositiveSelfTalk.com
PositiveThinkingRadio.com
PositiveGraphics.com
PositiveChristianRadio.com
PositiveButterflies.com
EradicateDepression.com
MaximumStrength PositiveThinking.com
ZeroToleranceToNegativeThinking.com
TooManyDrummers.com
GodLovesU.com
Maxingout.com
NoNegativeThinking.com
RED SEA CHRONICLES DVD
When Dr. Dave isn't working as a flying doctor for the Indian Health
Service, He is sailing around the world on his sailboat. Find
out what it's like to sail on the ocean of your dreams by watching
Captain Dave's DVD.
Red Sea
Chronicles DVD Previews |
