PROGRAM SUCCESS – OCTOBER 2009 PAGE 39
Publisher ' s Editorial Winners & Losers Darryl A . Barrs www . programsuccess . net Orlando , Florida October 2009
Winners & Losers
The Bible tells us an interesting story in Luke 16:19 , of two men ; one rich and the other poor . The poor man would have himself carried each day to the gate of the rich man ’ s mansion to beg of the crumbs , which fell from the rich man ’ s table . Not once did the rich man oblige a morsel .
Then one day both men died . At death , the Angels carried the poor man into Abraham ’ s bosom , and the rich man was ushered to hell . From his torment , the Bible says , the rich man could see the poor man resting in comfort . Can you imagine the thought of both men at this reversal of fortune ? What a difference a day makes .
That ’ s life . We all can taste the sweet juices of the fruits of the mountaintop of success one-day , and the very next day the abandon shadows of the dark valley of pain and defeat can cover us . Life is not constant , things will either get better for us or things will get worse . Our own personal actions determine the course of direction our life takes each and everyday .
We all want to win . Be better and do better . Tomorrow we want to see ourselves further along than we were yesterday . Closer to our goal . Some basic keys to success are : 1 ) Plan Your Work & Work Your Plan , and 2 ) To Thy Ownself Be True .
No matter what your goal in life is - you must have a plan . Where you want to go and how you ’ re going to get there . Everyday you must do something credible that genuinely sets you closer to reaching that goal . Monitor your steps and “ To Thy Ownself Be True .”
Self-evaluation is very important in life . What does it profit you to lie to you ? To correctly evaluate yourself , you must first take away all the gray-areas . The world we live in is Black or White , Right or Wrong , Up or Down . Many times when we evaluate ourselves , we find it hard to admit being wrong , so we pencil ourselves in a gray-area . Not quite Black ; Not quite White … Gray ! Somewhere between right and wrong – in the middle .
To Thy Ownself Be True . You can ’ t help you when you think nothing is wrong with you . Whatever plans you make in the presence of self-denial are programmed for failure , which is the opposite of Program Success . The truth is that every moment of your life you are at all times , either Right or Wrong , Up or Down , a Winner or a Loser ... No Gray-Areas .
In your relationships , don ’ t be afraid to admit being wrong or doing something stupid . You can grow from a negative experience and build a positive future relationship knowing what you did wrong . Don ’ t deny being down in life when things just aren ’ t connecting . Everybody have stages when it ’ s hard paying bills or getting a desirable job . “ Constructive Discontentment ” is not liking your present situation enough to the point of doing something about it .
Finally , when you plan your work and work your plan , you must evaluate your progress . Everyday you are either a Winner or a Loser . You are a Winner when you do those things you planned to do and they take you closer to achieving your goal . You are a Loser when you fail to do what you planned and expected of yourself .
Don ’ t place yourself in a gray-area saying you ’ re all right when you know you haven ’ t done what you should and are not where you want to be . That ’ s self-destructive behavior and it only attributes to failure and underachievement .
Understand this , as our Bible story teaches us , one day can make a big difference . At anytime a Winner can become a Loser , and a Loser can become a Winner . It ’ s your actions that determine your direction . Only what you do matters towards your success . But first and most importantly , you must know where you are today . Are you Down staying Down ? Down going Up ? Up going Down ? Up going Up Higher ? To Thy Ownself Be True .