Here's an excerpt from Chapter 7 ("Vision") of my self-help book, on the importance of having a vision:

I'm sorry to say that the ezine "Inspirational Success Tips" has been discontinued, due to the autoresponder, Freeautobot.com suddenly disbanding it. But, that's fine with me, as it means less to worry about. For those interested in my ezine articles, I recommend my new self-help book, which is compiled from my articles.

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FORGET IT! FORGET YOUR FAILURES AND MOVE ON TOWARD YOUR DREAMSBy James M. Becher

FORGET IT! FORGET YOUR FAILURES AND MOVE ON TOWARD YOUR DREAMS.
It is a fact of life that all of us will inevitably fail
in something in someway at sometime along the bumpy road
of life. As illustrated by our first poem (above), when this happens, we need to be able to forget it and move on toward our dreams and goals. If you've sinned, ask for and accept God's forgiveness and then forgive yourself.
To quote Steve Goodier, Publisher@LifeSupportSystem.com, "Unfortunately, no delete key can correct the past so that memories no longer hurt, frighten or humiliate. The past is what it is -- past. And that, too, is good to remember. It is past. Over. Finished. There is no taking it back, yet no purpose is served in re-living and rehashing old memories. It is gone. Let it be a teacher. Let us learn from its harsh les¬sons as well as its joys. Then let us leave it where it be¬longs -- in the past."
Robert H. Schuler tells of a shocking experience he had when a car dealer friend insisted he drive a demonstration model, and when he put the car in reverse, suddenly the digital odometer started registering the MPH in reverse.
As he says, "In times of defeat, it's easy to think of going backwards. If we're going backwards, let's not count it! The secret of success is to look ahead."
To quote Norman Vincent Peale:
"One of the most important of all skills is that of forgetting. It is said a man is what he...eats. A man is what he forgets. ...to be happy and successful you must cultivate the ability to say to yourself--forget it! Memory is one of our greatest facilities, [and] It is a great skill to be able to be selective and say, 'I will hold this...this other, I will cast from me."
Why is this so important? Because, and I speak from
experience, if you don't, the memories and regrets will eat at your mind like a cancer and will paralyze your progress to the extent that you will never be able to move ahead.
And, after all, the failure you are remembering with so much regret may not be as big of a setback as you think.
To quote the mother superior in "The Sound of Music," when the Lord closes a door, He opens a window." But we will never see the window if we are focused upon the closed door.
But, what can we do, if, having tried to forget it, the
thoughts persist in our mind? To further quote from Dr. Peale:
"There are only 2 things to do:
(1)do everything you reasonably can about it,
(2) then practice forgetting it. Walk away from it
in your thoughts. Conceive of it as lying back there growing ever more dim against the horizon as each day carries you further from it."
But, not only must we walk away from the old, but walk toward the new. Start filling your mind with new ideas and prospects for success. If you find your mind blank, try praying. Ask God to fill your mind with fresh new ideas.
Then trust that He will. (See Phil.3:13, our verse for the week listed in the Quotes section below).

Excerpt from Formula for Dynamic Living By James M. Becher

Let’s suppose for a moment that we all believe in God. If we believe that He made us, then He best understands how we function. And is it not reasonable that he would have left us some sort of instructions for this thing called life? Well, He did. It's called the Bible. When you buy a VCR, say or a stereo, it usually comes with a manual. But how often do we, in our haste to enjoy the product, try to set it up and run it without checking the manual? We think it seems so simple. Just plug this here and push that button. And then we wonder why it doesn’t work. Well, it's time to check the manual. It’s the same with life. If your life is messed up, perhaps its time to check the manual.
FORMULA FOR DYNAMIC LIVING :
DL=(GGE+GPS)xPSI
dynamic living =
God Given Equipment [potential]
+God's Principles of Success
X Proper Self Image.
------
FOR MORE ON GOD'S SUCCESS PRINCIPLES AND WHY I PUBLISH THIS EZINE, CLICK ON THE TITLE OF THIS ARTICLE.
AND CHECK OUT MY LENSE ON FAITH FOR DAILY LIVING.CLICK HERE
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QUOTES :

1)"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious
triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to rank with those
poor spirits who neither enjoy
nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows
neither victory nor defeat.
-- Theodore Roosevelt 1855

2)"If we might have a second chance to live the day's once more,
and rectify mistakes we've made to even up the score. If we might
have a second chance to use the knowledge gained, perhaps we
might become at last as fine as God ordained.
But though we can't retrace our steps, however stands the score,
tomorrow brings another chance for us to try once more. "
---Unknown

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POETRY CORNER: Help me believe in beginnings (author unknown)

Help me believe in beginnings
God of history and of my heart,
so much has happened to me during these whirlwind days:
I've known death and birth;
I've been brave and scared;
I've hurt, I've helped;
I've been honest, I've lied;
I've destroyed, I've created;
I've been with people, I've been lonely;
I've been loyal, I've betrayed;
I've decided, I've waffled;
I've laughed and I've cried.
You know my frail heart and my frayed history -
and now another day begins.

O God, help me to believe in beginnings
and in my beginning again,
no matter how often I've failed before.

Help me to make beginnings:
to begin going out of my weary mind
into fresh dreams,
daring to make my own bold tracks
in the land of now;
to begin forgiving
that I may experience mercy;
to begin questioning the unquestionable
that I may know truth
to begin disciplining
that I may create beauty;
to begin sacrificing
that I may make peace;
to begin loving
that I may realize joy.

.......
Help me to believe in beginnings,
to make a beginning,
to be a beginning,
so that I may not just grow old,
but grow new
each day of this wild, amazing life
you call me to live
with the passion of Jesus Christ.

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PURPOSE

PURPOSE By James M. Becher
I was made to realize recently the importance of purpose in the Divine scheme of things. Without purpose, we are like the proverbial man who "jumped on his horse and rode off in all directions at once." As Rick Warren reminds us, in his book, "The Purpose Driven Life," it all starts with God." So easily we forget this simple fact. One thing he says is that "the purpose of your life fits into a much larger cosmic purpose that God has designed for eternity. "
God had a purpose when he created the universe and He had a purpose when He created us.(Rom.9:11)
Thus, our lives have a purpose. Thus, instead of being driven by guilt, anger, fear, resentment, materialism or need for approval, we should be driven by our purpose, that is, God's purposes for us. This will give our life meaning. It will also simply and focus our life. Without a clear purpose, you will tend to make decisions based on pressures, circumstances or you present mood. Without a purpose, you may try to do too much and thus become fatigued. Without a clear purpose, we are constantly changing our direction. A knowledge of our purpose is what should motivate us and thus, energize us. And knowing our purpose prepares us for eternity, because we were made to last forever. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says the God has put eternity in our hearts (Eccl.3:11). Pardon the preaching for a moment, but I can't get away from it--when you stand before God, He will ask you two questions: 1)What did you do with my Son, who died to save you? and 2) What did you do with what I gave you? One crucial thing which we must realize is that we were created to be loved by God. Think about that for minute--the creator of the universe made you in order to love you. Of course, we rejected His love which is why he had to send His Son to die for us in order to bring you back to Himself. We will all have to live somewhere forever. If you accept by faith the gift of His son, it will be in heaven with Him. It's simple, but if you need further instruction, please write me at inspirasucestipe@bellsouth.net with "Salvation" in the subject.
But, let's get back to earth. Whether you are prepared for eternity or not, to get anywhere in this life, you need to realize what your purpose is. It is almost impossible to have a vision without purpose. And without a purpose, any goals which we might set would be meaningless. So let us ask ourselves, what is our ultimate purpose in life. The Westminster confession summed it up this way: "What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." In fact, as C.S. Lewis said, "In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him." Have you ever thought about that--to enjoy God? If you are in sin, you are enjoying the pleasures of sin, but, as the Bible tells us in Heb.11:25 , the are "for a season." On the other hand, the Psalmist says of God, "At your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Ps.16:11b ) It also says "The heavens declare the glory of God and …" All creation gives glory to God and we can enjoy the fruits of God's creation, and in so doing bring Him glory. Everything that God created brings glory to him except for two classes of beings, the fallen angels (demons) and us (man.) We have all failed to give Him the glory He deserves. That's why Paul adds the second phrase in Rom.3:23. After stating the universally known fact that "all have sinned," he adds "and come short of the glory of God." If it were Hebrew poetry, this would be considered a parallelism, that is, two phrases referring to the same thing. Thus, sinning fails to glorify God and failing to glorify God, ultimately is sin. Thus Paul also tells us "Whatever you do, whether ye….do all to the glory of God. How can we do that? Just by being aware of what we are doing and asking ourselves "would this glorify God." Try it for a week and see if it doesn't change some of your habits, what you watch and listen to, etc.
But you may ask, "How do I know if a particular thing is glorifying to God or not?" Since all true beauty and creativity originated with God, the apostle gives us another test in Philippians 4:8: "..whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about these things." If a certain activity truly meets all these requirements, I believe we can say it is glorifying to God.
The bottom line is this: When anything in creation fulfills its purpose, it brings glory to God. So it's sort-of a circle. Our chief purpose is to glorify God and when we fulfill our purpose, we do glorify God. But how do we find our specific purpose, or purposes in life? By getting to know God. We do this first through accepting the gift of His son, as mentioned earlier, and second through reading His word, applying it to our lives, and through prayer and worship. Then, through prayer we can also discover the gifts He has given to each of us and how He wants us to use them for His glory. Part of that may include reaching out and telling others about Him. We also glorify God, as I said, by running our leisure activities through the sieve of Philippians 4:8. All of the above bring glory to God, and thus helps to fulfill our ultimate purpose.