It All Makes a Difference

In order to change your life you must consciously do more things that end up in the 'closer to' column.

Everything we say and do makes a difference.  There are not many thoughts or actions that are neutral.  In fact, we could almost go as far as saying, no thoughts or actions fall into the ‘doesn't make a difference’ category because every thought or action actually will fall into either the ‘closer to’ or ‘further away’ from my goal column.

To reach your goal, you must first have a goal, a target, or a destination - some kind of mark that says “THIS IS WHERE I WANT TO BE.”

Once you define that, everything you do has to be weighed against the fulfillment of that goal.  You must ask yourself, "Will this bring me closer to fulfilling it or further away or make no difference?”

Many times we make the mistake of lumping too many of these decisions in the ‘doesn’t make a difference’ column.  We wonder why we aren’t getting closer to our goal, or why it still seems so far away.  If we would look at that category ‘doesn’t make a difference’ we would see that those items/actions/thoughts should actually have been placed under the column that  takes me ‘further away’ from my goal.

Too many times we think we can do a few things and 'wah lah'!  We will arrived at our dream, our goal, or our destination.

When in reality, you and God are actually creating something out of nothing and it takes a lot more energy than you think to make that nothing into something.

When you create something out of nothing barriers need to be broken, and space has to be made, and substance has to be formed - both in the physical and spiritual realm.  Your creation has to be born.

Going forward is a difficult task.

We have to take every piece, every ounce of strength, discipline, and determination to bring our goal into reality.  An example we probably all can relate to is dieting and getting into shape.

We start out with big goals, dreams of losing 20, 30, 50, even 100 pounds – whatever our situation is.  We find a diet plan and we map out what we are going to eat and how we are going to exercise.

We go along great for a few days, maybe even the whole week, or amazingly the whole month.  We are doing great.  We have lost 2, or 5, or 10 pounds – whatever the figure.

You say to yourself, "This is no problem, I can do this. This weekend I am going to celebrate and have that ice cream I always loved.  It doesn't matter."

So you have the ice cream.  You feel a little guilty, but are sure that this one time won’t make a difference.

Then you think, "Well, maybe I could have those chips too, while I’m at it.  I’ll get right back on my eating plan tomorrow.  This one time won't matter."

The next day you wake up, feeling sluggish for some reason (it can’t be the junk food you ate?  Right?).  Your decide to skip exercising that day.  You rationalize your decision - "Tomorrow I’ll feel stronger and I'll exercise then.  My body must need to rest today."

Before you know it, you’re back to your old way of eating and not exercising and wondering if you’ll ever be able to lose the weight and get in shape.

You were going along so well, what happened?  What happened is you placed too many of those decisions in the ‘it doesn’t make a difference’ column, when they really should have been placed in the ‘further away’ column.

You see, every bit of progress we make is a result of making more decisions that end up in the 'closer to' column than the 'further away' column.  These decision line up with our goal and build up, step-by-step, and add momentum.

Our goal is something that must be kept dangling in front of our eyes, like a carrot held in front of the donkey.  And EVERY decision possible must be one that goes under the ‘closer to’ column, which will add to the goal.

It requires a daily, every second, and every minute determination to get to where you want to be.    It has to be on the forefront of your mind.  You can’t slack off.  If you do, you may drive off the road that leads to the fulfillment of your goal.

You see, every decision matters - every day.  Day after day, month after month, year after year. You aim toward the same goal and never giving up the ground you claimed.  As you put more and more things in the ‘closer to’ column, you will make the progress that you need to and you will actually realize your goal. 

Next time you find yourself saying, "It doesn't matter," think again.  Take every ounce of strength you have and make the decision that will fall into the 'closer to' column.  When you do, you will change your life pattern to match the winner that is inside of you!

©2001-2003 Rose Martin Ministries, Inc.

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