Picture This

The ol brain to me plays a huge roll in what I can and will achieve.  It seems right that as I think of myself, I am.  It really seems to me to be like the old saying, ‘two men looked through prison bars, one saw mud, the other stars.”
I remember hearing a story that went something like a guy was bed bound in hospital.  Each day his mate in hospital in the same ward would go to the window and describe what he saw.  Gardens, people, traffic, shops, houses. Eventually he died.  As a matter of interest, the bed bound guy asked someone to look out the window for him.  Turned out the first guy was blind.  There was just a wall.   He was simply painting a picture of what he saw in his mind’s eye.
For me it really matters what I see in my minds eye.  That determines how far I can go or if I see myself as domed to a life of drudgery.  The way I see myself matters.  It can seem fanciful, or a bit out there, but it works.
It is one of the reasons visualization has taken on a key role in achieving these days.  I knew someone who had a mental issue, and they would visualize the worst.  No matter if their experience was positive, they would visualize something that never happened that was guaranteed to take the gloss off the event.  It was around that time I learned the brain cannot distinguish between what is real and what is imagined if it is associated with strong emotions.
I do not adhere to imagining I am the best in the world as, unless really talented, that may be a bridge too far.  I do adhere to imagining me being the best I can be.
I have a fairly simple roll but I imagine being the best I can be.  I welcome people to our church.  To me rocking up to a new place can be a daunting exercise.  I admire those that do it.  My role I feel is to make people feel welcome.  To make a fuss of them.  It is not a persona I take on and take off.  It is a part of me.  I feel to improve my abilities.  That involves visualizing before hand.  It involves praying before hand.
Having done that, I feel what I do is just an extension of what I already do and my aim is to take it further so that others have the best experience they can when coming to our fellowship.
So for me it is a matter of being the best I can be and employing any workable caring means to achieve it.