Defense
Here in the U.S., we're near the end of the NFL, or professional
American football, season. The university-level season just
finished. A national championship at the university level means
pride, home-town glory, and a better chance at a big-money
professional contract. A national title at the professional
level means... pride, home-town glory, and lots of money.
At this level, deep into the playoffs, teams are often
well-matched and games can go down to the last few seconds. When
a team has the ball and a very short time to score, they often
go into what's called a "hurry-up offense." The opposing team,
needing to prevent the offense from scoring, goes into a very
conservative "prevent defense." Commentators groan when they see
a prevent defense. Why? Because, often as not, the only thing
the "prevent defense" prevents is victory.
I have a friend who talks to me about his efforts to meet women.
He uses Internet dating sites, trades emails, occasionally meets
someone in person. He's told me about some of these encounters.
A few times he's been terribly excited, having just made what
he's convinced is some wonderful connection with a new woman.
But sure enough, within a few weeks, she's called it off.
Funny thing, outside of these new dates, he never has anything
good to say about women. In fact, I think he likes individual
women just fine, but doesn't like women as a whole very much.
So, in his dating habits, is he really in a sincere courtship
mode? Or does he actually go into his "prevent defense," acting
as if he wanted a relationship, but in effect preventing exactly
what he's trying to achieve?
In Lesson Twelve of Prosperity, "Overcoming the Thought of
Lack," Charles Fillmore writes:
--We mold omnipresent substance with our mind and make from it
all the things that our mind conceives. If we conceive lack and
poverty we mold that. If we visualize with a bountiful eye, we
mold plenty from the ever-present substance.
You've heard that we can only hold one thought at a time in our
minds, right? If you warn your child not to spill the milk, what
mental picture does the child form? Spilled milk. If I tell you
not to think of a pink elephant, what immediately comes to mind?
You can't not think of it, can you?
If that's true, how can preventing hurt lead us to satisfaction?
How can preventing failure lead us to success? The answer,
surely, is that it can't. The thought that dominates is the one
we will manifest, that will become our reality.
We often operate out of fear. Rather than leading healthy
lifestyles, we try to avoid getting sick. Rather than actively
working towards prosperity, we focus on avoiding poverty. But
that's a "prevent defense." We don't save our way to prosperity.
We don't hoard our way to wealth. Abundance can only happen when
we take positive action toward it, with a mindset of gratitude
and acceptance toward what's coming rather than worry about what
we want to leave behind.