Ever Figure College Costs?

Take a calculator and go to work on costs of college. Not Harvard or Yale or Duke, but a state university. Before you are through, you will have a sore hand and a tired mind. And maybe feel a little panicky. Those warnings about how quick they grow up and how expensive college is going to be when they graduate from high school come home to roost. There are any number of ways to think about the challenge of funding college, if you are like most people who live from pay check to pay check and have only thought of saving for college as a great idea, but unrealistic.

Funding college is only one of thousands of challenges we face in a lifetime. Each day brings routine problems or heavy duty difficulties and dilemmas. Nothing has changed. Life has always been this way. The challenge on the front end involves making decisions that lead away from disaster. Like the request of the Lord's Prayer,"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil", we can make intelligent choices that work in our favor, preventing many avoidable trials. Critical thinking is invaluable at this point. Getting competent counsel is also
important.

How we think about life that swirls around us and in us is the most critical issue. The two attitude mountains of positive and negative ultimately determine the outcome of many problems. We cannot control life, but we have absolute and final control over our thinking about life. In fact, our brain perceives and defines every event of our lives. Our thinking is the key that unlocks positive possibilities or, in fear, shuts the door and hides. The problem is not funding college, unless your thinking tells you it is. Funding college is not impossible
unless your thoughts take you down that negative street. "Everything is possible to him who believes" (Jesus), and Believing is a way of thinking.

The Budda said,What we think, we become.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts, we make the world.
- The Buddha

When we grasp the significance of what Jesus and Budda said, when we believe what they said, our entire approach to life can change and we can know empowerment that comes from within our
psyche.

Thrilling really.

THE BIG THREE OF ME

I going to write for the next few days about what I call, THE BIG THREE OF ME.

The Big Three of Me consists of self-image, self-esteem, and self-worth. You possess The Big Three to one degree or another. Self-Image is our starting point because self-esteem and self-worth are determined by self-image.Your self-image is an incredibly important part of your life.There are very few things in your life that carry more power to affect you, positively or negatively, than the image you have of yourself..

 Self-Image is how you see yourself. When you look in a mirror you see an image of your body. How you see your physical apperance is a large part of your self-image. But, body image is only part of the picture. You are thinking all the time and your thinking begins and ends with you and your relationship with your environment. Self-Image is how you see yourself in relationship with your environment. Your environment has many facets. Your self-image is your opinion about you in relation to all those facets.

If someone asks you how you see yourself with regard to your intelligence, don't say, "I don't know." You do know. But, if you are like so many, and I include myself in that number at one point in my life, you may not think very much about what you think about. In other words, you are thinking but you are not alert or conscious of your thoughts. You have a self-image related to all things and you know what that image is.
Self-Image includes every area of your life. Are you good at math? Are you talented. Do you see yourself as a "people person?" Are you an affectionate person? Are you athletic? The list is endless. And the image is seldom a snapshot. It is a DVD, a movie.

You are not born with an image of yourself. Your self-image comes from the millions of messages that you receive from parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, teachers, preachers, friends, enemies, books, television, movies and millions of other sources (including your own messages) of information about you in relation to your environment. Some
of these messages are true. Many are false. Examination and inventory of the messages is always a very good idea. I have heard individuals say, "But, I have always believed that about myself" or "People have always told me that I was (fill in the blank)." But, is it true?


Some of the self-images we have are true and we either have to accept them or change them. The Serenity Prayer carries a very  important idea in than regard.
                                                         God, grant me serenity to accept things I cannot change.
                                                         courage to change things I can,
                                                         and wisdom to know the difference.


That prayer would apply very well to your self-image. Your self-image carries your ideas and images of you. It is often the "Permission Center" for your daily life. It also can serve "Prohibitions on Dreams, Possibilities and Goals". It can be the biggest liar, illusionist and thief, or it can be best motivator and encourager you've ever known. Just make sure that it is telling you the truth.

Review: Self-Image is how you see your self. It is a movie more than a portrait. You are not born with it. You get it from everywhere, everything, everyone and yourself. Sometimes it is true and sometimes it isn't. IT MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE.