Tony Williamson - Dollar for your thoughts

'Belief kill, an' belief cure'

- Jamaican proverb

Max Lucado, best-selling author, made a statement which caught my eye and is the basis for this article. He said, "You weren't an accident. You weren't mass-produced. You aren't an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted and lovingly positioned on the Earth by the Master Craftsman."

A most important element of life's success is the importance of believing in yourself. Many people fail to achieve their full potential because they concentrate their belief on 'I can't' instead of 'I can'. Call it what you will - self-esteem, a right attitude or positive thinking, if you do not believe, you will not achieve. There is a purpose to your life, and the Master Craftsman has given you the inner resources, the talents, the abilities to achieve your goals and to fulfil your dreams.

DAMAGE FROM OUR CHILDHOOD

We come into this world with only two fears, scientists tell us - the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. Everything else we now fear was instilled in us by our parents, our society, our relationships and our experience. In fact, many people have to overcome serious mental damage done to them by their parents or caregivers when they were children, damage which they carry around today as emotional baggage. Let me be specific.

A great number of children in this country have been told by teachers, parents and caregivers that they are 'dunces'. Angry mothers have told their sons, "Yu wutliss wretch. Yu no good. Yu just like yu puppa."

As a child growing up, I was aware of the horrible verbal and physical abuse by a neighbour of her adopted daughter. Between physical beatings, she was told the most horrible things - that she was trash, would amount to nothing, and things of that nature. The girl, a bright, winsome child, was able to overcome this to become an outstanding college professor in science subjects - but not before she left that environment of abuse.

An upbringing that exposes people to false negatives - that they are dunces, no good and worthless - is the seedbed for a lack of belief in themselves as they become adults. Many verbally abusive caregivers have good intentions but let their anger at a child get the better of them. They are unaware of the power of words.

They remember the highly erroneous jingle, 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt.' Nothing could be further from the truth. Sticks and stones may damage your body. Words damage your mind, leaving emotional scars that you may carry to your grave.

FREEING YOURSELF

Bob Marley popularised Marcus Garvey's words, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds." Here are some steps to take in overcoming fear and believing in yourself:

1 If you were told as a child that you were destined to fail, you were given false information. You are destined to succeed, not to fail. God made you a winner, not a loser. The Master Craftsman made you special, for a purpose, and He gave you the ability to succeed. Believe that.

2 By a deliberate decision, you must forgive those who sowed the seeds of failure in your mind. Say, like Jesus, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they were doing."

3Develop the 'I can' attitude and drop the 'I can't' philosophy. Paul R. Scheele, chairman,

Multimillionaire businessman Paul Geddes was driven to build an empire despite being at the bottom of his class. - File