Running the Obstacle Course to Success

By J. Marie Larson

    In the 1950's Dr. Norman Vincent Peale introduced his book, The Power of Positive Thinking to the minds of the western culture.  This was one of the first twentieth century books to address the concept of mind over matter and the belief that we mortal beings actually have control over the events in our lives.

    Since then a host of other individuals with similar philosophies have infiltrated the media world spreading the message that miracles are possible.  Although these messages carry a great wealth of wisdom, unfortunately they don't include any step-by-step instructions, distinctive formulas or clear-cut recipes.  In a culture steeped in scientific logic and reason (we even call Missouri the "show me" state) the average person, with a traditional western culture upbringing, can find the artistry of miracle making to be elusive.

    For some of us trying to attain that which we're being told we can have, there appears to be a great chasm between what we desire and what we actually receive.  On the one hand, we believe we can create miracles, while on the other, the miracles we want don't seem to manifest.  What is it that is going on between point A (what we desire) and point B (what we actually get) that alters the outcome?

    We could look at what's in between as being a mental obstacle course, much like the popular children's game Mousetrap from Milton Bradley.  Our thought or desire is the little steel ball.  In order to be successful, this little ball needs to run the gamut of all our opposing thoughts without getting stuck or falling and rolling off the board, to reach the end and capture (or manifest) our desire.  I don;t know if you;ve ever played this game, but when I have, it was a rare occasion indeed when the little ball would actually make it through the course without getting hung up on something along the way.

    I experienced these mental obstacles most recently when I was looking to get a different computer.  Since I am self-employed I am aware of every penny that goes in and out of my pocket.  I had a predetermined amount I was willing to spend, which I believe limited my resources to those machines that had been previously owned.  The computer I had been using was a somewhat antiquated mechanism barely able to redeem itself with low level word processing capabilities.  I had great expectations of a new and improved variety with unlimited potential.  There were several key points I most adamantly desired my new computer to have.  Hard drive space, RAM, and the ability to write to the CD-Rom, were components I did not wish to waver on.

    What I believed was a simple request to make manifest my desire for a better computer became a two and a half month exercise in mental frustration.  It seemed either I would find a computer meeting all of my personal specifications, but out of my price range or, I was able to afford it, but the machine's specs. fell well below what I really wished to have.  It was as though I was creating what I wanted, yet, not creating it.  How could this be?  If our thoughts make manifest our desires, and we do indeed create all physical matter, why then would we create something we wished to have only to make it unattainable?

    Without getting too technical, it may help to understand some simple concepts of quantum physics.  For example, the wave/particle