CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF:
     The First Challenge
                       Written by: J. PSALMS


“What we focus our attention on will become our experience. So why not focus only on the things that we want for
ourselves mentally, physically and financially.  After reading something like this, my life changed!
As I walked into an office for an interview, this statement crossed my mind. After practicing intellectual answers for
questions and skimming over this company’s policies, I was nervous. How could I get a job like this? This was a
respectable, high paying, professional job. I kept telling myself to relax but for some reason I couldn’t shake this
nervousness. I went in and answered every question to the best of my ability (or so I thought) and smiled to add
charm. To make a long story short…a candidate with less experience got the position. I was furious! What did this
person have that made up for no experience? What did they have that I didn’t have?
The night after, I sat and dissected the interview and my thought and feelings preceding it. The first thing that
came to my mind was a nervous and insecure feeling. I was very qualified for the position and with experience in
that field; I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t chosen. Soon after, I realized that the confidence I lacked showed me
to be unfit for the job. Why was I nervous? Why would a company have confidence in me when I’m too nervous to
be confident in myself? If I actually believed that this job was mine would I have been nervous? What effect did my
confidence have on the employer’s final decision? This experience served as a gateway to lessons to come.
Every religion as well as the laws of nature has proven that what our conscious mind registers to our
subconscious mind alters our feelings, thoughts and even our actions. I stopped and took a long hard look at what
was being fed to my subconscious mind and how it related to my thoughts about my own potential. Being one of
the first unmarried women in my family to give birth gave my family a distorted view of me. This view was almost
always displayed on faces at gatherings. It was as if they expected me fail or only reach average. Had their
response been different, would I feel different? There are few television shows that show single motherhood and
the few that do glorify the misery in that life. If it showed a happier, more ambitious young mom, would I have been
more motivated about my own situation? A popular song came on the radio. I danced a little as I quoted the words
of an artist that said that the epitome of a successful woman was one with no kids or just one baby daddy. If the
words of this song were different, would my self-esteem be higher? After time reading, learning and just thinking, I
came up with an answer all too simple!!
As easy as it is for the average to blame others, there is no person other than yourself that can control your
feelings on anything especially the direction your life is headed in. With my own set of obstacles, I made it a point
to expect the best out of any and every situation I encounter. The eyes only see what the mind registers. This set of
events involves the subconscious and conscious mind. When an expectation of greatness is registered to my
subconscious, which controls what I see, say and do, there’s no other option but success.
After learning this, I started to pay close attention to the music I vibe to, the shows I regularly tuned into and even
the conversations that I held. Although normal for me, they all needed repair. After all, if they were what they should’
ve been, would I have been feeling hopeless, unsatisfied with life or nervous in the interview? Everything and
anything that doesn’t speak greatness over you, speaks lack and mediocrity. Even though it may go unnoticed at
first, it eventually has an effect on you.
It is a passion of mine to reach every mind that has become a product of another’s opinion by doubting their
abilities and potential. I challenge every person with self imposed limits to dissect the things in your everyday life,
change them just a little (to start) and see what type of effect it has on your thoughts and attitude. Surround your
self with only things that glorify where you would like to be in life. Only speak the things that you desire and speak
them with confident expectation. After a while, notice how those old conversations don’t keep your attention, or
how that song isn’t a favorite anymore or how often miss that show. Your mind and body at this point only accepts
greatness from your surroundings and anything less is unable to penetrate!!! Don’t limit this experiment to
material things. Do it for your relationships, jobs, school and everything else you encounter. Then see how your
interview goes!!

All things are possible with the right attitude. Things are bad only when you say they are. So why not keep telling
yourself that they are good!
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