Beloved, I Pray that You May Prosper

'Enhancing self-esteem is 80 percent about completing your past and 20 percent about designing your future.'
Dr. Joe Rubino

Vic Johnson of "As A Man Thinketh Net" said something real good! I just have to share it with You too! Here is what he said: "True or false: A person with a lot of self-confidence has a healthy self-esteem?

"If you answered true you're like most people (myself included) who think there's a connection. The truth is self-confidence is our belief in an ability we possess, while self-esteem is much deeper. It's how much we value ourselves --- or more simply, how much we like (and love) ourselves.

"When I came to the realization that I had a low self-esteem I was shocked because I was very self-confident. But the longer I looked at it, the more I realized that I had developed that self-confidence to try and make up for the poor self-esteem. And when I looked around at others I knew who were excessively self-confident, I could see the signs of low self-esteem.

"Case in point: Take former boxing world champion Mike Tyson. Does he appear to be self-confident? Absolutely. Even overly confident when it comes to boxing. But his actions in recent years scream a different story when it comes to esteem. His many acts of self-sabotage are undeniable evidence of a person who deep down in their knower actually hates who they are.

"It is impossible to live a happy and successful life with a low self-esteem!"

Vic is SO right! The past month has been a real difficult time for me ...several deaths in the family and among friends ...some difficulties with relationships! It has been a difficult time ..but good at the same time. Every time such difficulties come into my life my first reaction is to run or fix things fast so that I can be rid of them or rid of the emotions ...but it doesn’t work. 3 John 1:2 says so well. It says: „Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as your soul keeps well and prospers.” God is concerned with our soul’s prosperity as much as He is concerned with our material prosperity. We can’t truly prosper when our souls are not prospering. I am learning a lot at the moment about myself ...and things that I should get rid of in my attitude and conduct. I’m like in training right now ...and it is painful at times ...real painful ...but I can see that it is painful because of my own wrong thinking. My wrong thinking makes things difficult for me ...and my wrong thinking has its roots in my past! ...so, I am facing my past and the hurts of my past ...and allowing God's Love to heal them. I don't want to go on with my life, dragging my past hurts with me! So, I'm changing my wrong thinking ...and I’m learning to trust God in new ways. It is uncomfortable because I am not used to it ...but I’ve always become stronger and my trust has grown and my faith has grown ...and some extra baggage has been lifted when I have allowed those lessons into my life ...and I like myself a lot more afterwards. So, inspite of all the emotions I am grateful and I know a lot of good is coming out of it. ...I'm like an onion that is being peeled! ;-) ...but it is all good!

Love and blessings to You all!