Master Key Week 8: The Root of All Good and Evil

Have you read or heard this New Testament Bible passage?

(1 Timothy 6:10), “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”. 

What do you think of this quote? Is greed really the root of many evils? And if so, what is the root of most of the good?

This blog entry isn’t going to dive into Bible passages to find the answer or explore a theological discussion about good and evil. I am just going to present you with a few ideas from The Master Key System – Part Eight  and let you decide.

First, would it make you feel better to know that there was one unchanging law that governed everyone equally? Well, there is, and you may be surprised what it is. Are you ready to learn it?

“Thought results in action”. Or as others have stated it “Thoughts are things”.

You may be thinking “OK. That is nice, but how do you get to the root of all good and evil?”

Consider if you had mostly constructive thoughts.

• Would you have a positive mental attitude?
• Would you focus on what you wanted from life?
• Would you use your imagination to idealize your future?

Consider if you had mostly destructive thoughts.

• Would you have a negative attitude toward life?
• Would you focus on the bad things around you and more misery coming into your  life?
• Would you imagine how terrible things could become in the future?

Throughout the ages, people have come to associate the results of harmonious, constructive thoughts as GOOD.  People have also come to associate the results of inharmonious, destructive thoughts as EVIL.

Notice the focus of most people is on the results. However, results are created by the thoughts you hold in your mind all day. What kind of thoughts are foremost in your mind? Will these thoughts lead to GOOD results or EVIL results?

Consider this story:

There was once a wise old man sitting at the gate of an ancient city. A young traveler stopped before entering the city and asked the old man, “What kind of people live in this town?” The wise man answered with a question, “What kind of people were in the town you just came from?” “Oh, they were liars and cheats and thugs and drunks, terrible people,” the young traveler replied. The old man shook his head, “The people in this town are the same way.” Later another stranger paused to ask the same question, and again the wise man questioned his questioner, “What kind of people did you just leave?” The second traveler answered, “Oh, I left a fine town. The people were good and kind and honest and hardworking.” The wise man smiled and said, “The people in this town are the same way.”

Are you starting to see how the thoughts you hold in your mind determine the results your experience throughout life?

Try this one simple exercise and see how your life starts to change.

Whenever a negative or destructive thought enters your mind, substitute it with a positive thought instead. Think of a very humorous or joyous moment in your life. Quickly move to the happy thought and push the unhappy, negative thought out of your mind.

Some people believe that any thought that is held for over 16 seconds will begin to draw corresponding results into your life. Knowing this, wouldn’t you want to strive to keep positive, uplifting and constructive thoughts present in your mind all day long?

Your thoughts are the root cause of the majority of good and evil results that enter your life. Knowing this, what kind of thoughts will you steadfastly hold onto today and tomorrow?

Master Key Week 7: Do Vacations Make You Work Faster?

I have some questions for you:

• Do you remember the last time you went on vacation?
• Do you remember the day before you left?
• Did you make a list of all the things that needed to be completed before you could leave?
• Did you work through the list quicker than you would have during a typical day?
• Did spend time watching TV or chatting with friends during this day or did you mostly focus on what needed to be accomplished?
• Did you read emails and spend time reviewing Facebook or did you attempt to get the important things done as expeditiously as possible?

As you guessed, I asked these questions to make a point. 

We can get more accomplished in less time if we make a plan, take personal responsibility for the plan and have a deadline for being done. I first learned about this “day before vacation” phenomenon over 25 years ago from Zig Ziglar. He suggests that we take what we learned from this experience and use it everyday.

Think how much more you could get done each day if you had a list of important tasks to complete before going to bed at night. How would you feel at the end of the day? Could you look at yourself in the mirror and say to yourself “I am pleased with what you accomplished today. I Love you.”?

So are you up for the challenge?

Will you treat tomorrow like it is the day before vacation?

How about doing this for the entire week?

1. What is your Objective for the week?
2. What are the Actions required to meet your objective?
3. How much Time will be required to complete your actions. Add 20% for unforeseen challenges.
4. Schedule it. If it isn’t in writing, it isn’t true.
5. The night before each day, review the tasks you will perform the next day.
6. Work your task list each day and complete everything on your list.

If you take on this challenge, you will be amazed at what you accomplish.

Let’s get ready for vacation!

Master Key Week 6: Are You Behaving Like a 90-Year-Old?

I have been blessed to have enjoyed the company of dozens of nonagenarians and even some centenarians.

Some of these people were my grandparents, great-grandparents and other relatives. Some were neighbors or friends at church and some were just acquaintances I met during my normal daily activities.  From what I have observed, the folks who have lived for at least ninety years all share many of the same attitudes, beliefs and habits. Below is a list of some of the qualities common among nearly all of these amazing people.

1. They have firm beliefs. They have developed these beliefs over many years and are not likely to change. Although some my view this as stubbornness, others see how these beliefs allow them to make decisions quickly and change those decisions slowly.
2. They focus their attention on what they want. Like a magnifying glass focusing the power of the sun, they will focus their attention on a what needs to be changed in their life and they seldom divert their attention until that change is accomplished.
3. They strive for independence. They don’t want to be a burden on anyone and prefer to live in their own home or living area if at all possible. They want to perform tasks themselves if they can.
4. They are helpful and giving to others. They are glad to help others in any way they can. They may volunteer or even donate money if they are able.
5. They are open to new experiences, tools and ideas. They have lived through significant changes in their lifetimes and they are open to embracing changes as long as it fits into their beliefs (see  #1 above).
6. They know their limits. They know what they can do and they know what they can no longer do. Although they have a strong sense of independence (see #3), they recognize when assistance or a team effort is needed.
7. They have developed a reliable support group. Through phone calls greeting cards, receiving visitors and even texts and emails, they keep in touch with others who love and care for them. They know they can reach out to this group for assistance if needed.
8. They are thankful: Thankful for what others do for them. Thankful for memories of the past. Thankful for what each new day brings. Thankful for life’s many blessings.
9. They enjoy life. As they go about their day, it is fun to watch as smiles, laughter and even tears come into their experience. They seem to enjoy it all.
10. They have love in their heart: This seems to sum it all up. They love the people around them, they love the world around them. They love the experiences that life brings.

So what do you think?

• Have you met many 90-year-olds with most of these qualities?
• Would these qualities be beneficial to anyone’s life?
• Which of these qualities do you possess?

Master Key Week 5: Welcome Adversity into Your Life

Have you ever woke up in the morning with sore muscles?

1. Starting a new exercise program.
2. An intense day of spring cleaning or working in the yard.
3. A guided Kayak tour on a lazy river.
4. A crazy day at a theme park rushing from ride to attraction to show.

The morning after any of these experiences, your muscles may greet you with an uncomfortable response to the prior day’s activities. This soreness isn’t really your body punishing you for working your muscles too hard. It is a sign that your body is adapting, building and preparing for future intense physical activity. If you decide to continue that new exercise program, you will find that the soreness soon decreases and the stamina and intensity you can bring to the exercises increases. your physical body responds to adversity by making improvements to handle future challenges.

Do you remember the first time you drove a car?

1. Depress the brake pedal.
2. Release the parking brake,
3. Shift into reverse.
4. Check your review mirrors.
5. Check up and down the street to make sure the road is clear.
6. Look over your shoulder and out the back window.
7. Slowly release the brake pedal.
8. As the car approaches the street, slowly turn the wheel to the right.
9. Once you’ve backed int the street, depress the brake pedal.
10. Shift into Drive.
11. Release the brake pedal and move your foot to the accelerator pedal.

All these actions just to back out of the driveway! Do you remember how much conscious thought you needed just to maneuver the car in very simple ways? However, as you continued to practice driving, your mind began to start performing many of the steps unconsciously. Driving became much easier and you had time to focus your thoughts on more advanced driving skills. Now that you have been driving for years, you have no trouble talking on the phone, drinking a bottle of water and listening to music all while maneuvering through heavy traffic. Over time, your mind has responded to each adversity that occurred while driving and has incorporated improvements to better handle future challenges.

Have you ever tried something once and given up, never to try again?

As you go through life, you encounter new experiences almost every day. Most of these new experiences will be accompanied by some level of adversity. How you decide to respond to that adversity will effect the path your life takes. For example, the first cigarette someone smokes is usually accompanied by some coughing or even some gagging. This adversity may cause the person to quit smoking right then and there, never to smoke again.

However, giving up at the first sight of problems is seldom a good idea. This is especially true if you have a clearly defined purpose in mind. Just as your body responds to adversity by improving and your mind responds to adversity by improving, so do all aspects of your life.

Are you ready to embrace the adversity that awaits you?

This is the question that has been entering my mind throughout the week. Many different sources have all been showing me the same simple truth: Life contains adversity. Growth requires plowing through the challenges. Avoiding adversity is avoiding growth.

Keeping all this in mind, I am now focusing on these ideas:

1. It is important to know how I want to live my life now and in the future.
2. Reading a descriptive statement of my Definite Major Purpose in life keeps me focused on my goals.
3. It is important I invest my time on activities that move my goals forward.
4. Activities not associated with my goals are not important.
5. There will be adversity as I am accomplishing my goals and these challenges will ultimately make my future actions easier to accomplish.
6. I always keep my promises; especially those promises I make to myself.

Are you avoiding a challenge that lies in the path of what you want in life?