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Memorization uses the power of
repetition to put good things into my mind. It’s a gift that never
stops giving and asks nothing in return. Memorization went out of style
after I learned my multiplication tables. Although it’s nice to know
that six times six is thirty-six, what’s really important is I will
still know it when I am ninety-six. I will remember it for the rest of
my life. It’s an automatic thought that comes effortlessly into my
mind.
If I repeat a thought enough times, my mind starts repeating it back to
me. It becomes an automatic thought that pops into my mind whenever I
need it.
I use memorization to inject positive thoughts into my memory banks. I
memorize positive slogans, affirmations, and scriptures from the Bible.
I memorize speeches and empowering passages from inspirational writing.
A motivational book sitting on my bookshelf may look nice, but it will
not transform my life. If I put the same book into my mind, my life
will never be the same. Memorization gives me the power to change who I
am by putting positive things into my mind.
Copyright © 2013
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Life is all about focus.
It’s all too
easy to focus on the storms of life and worship at the altar of fear.
It’s easy to forget that storms come and go, but dreams can last
forever.
In more than thirty-three thousand miles of offshore sailing, we have
had winds to fifty knots on only three occasions. That makes about six
days of gale force winds during an eleven year sailing voyage around the
world. I think that our experience is fairly typical for people who do
trade wind circumnavigations. If you stay out of the higher latitudes
and don’t sail in hurricane season, it’s unlikely you will ever
encounter a storm that poses a significant threat to your yacht. That’s
the real world of sailing.
The fear mongers would have us live in a very different world. This
year, they predicted that hurricane season would be one of the worst on
record. There would be more storms and storms of greater severity than
at any time in recent history. Fear makes you tune in to the Weather
Channel so that you can listen to their forecasts of doom and gloom.
The Apostles of Fear would have you believe that we live in a dangerous
world, because fear is big business. Capitalism has embraced fear and
wants you to buy their particular antidote to fear.
I am not buying
what they are selling. Whether I am on land or sea, I am not afraid, but
I am tired of listening to the fear mongers. I wish they would go away
or go silent. They are boring me with their negative and toxic palaver.
I listened to the fear mongers tell me how dangerous it was to live in
the Middle East, and contrary to their prophecies of doom, I lived in
Saudi Arabia for sixteen years without a problem.
I listened to the fear mongers tell me about the perfect storm and how
dangerous it was to sail the seven seas, and contrary to their
predictions, in eleven years, I never sailed in winds over fifty knots.
I listened to the fear mongers tell me that catamarans were dangerous to
sail offshore, and I sailed one around the world without a problem.
I have figured
out that when people tell me that I should be afraid, they either don’t
know what they are talking about, they are trying to control me with
fear, or they want to sell me something as an antidote to the fearful
world that they are trying to cultivate.
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