Shaking Up Victory

“Shaken, not stirred”, that’s how James Bond likes his martinis. 

I’ve never really understood the difference.  You could shake or stir or mix it with maple syrup and the darn thing would still taste like paint thinner to me.  I suppose, like all thing’s alcohol related, it’s a matter of cultivating a taste.

First time I drank beer; I didn’t like it.  But I cultivated a taste for it.  Same thing with wine.  Same thing with Tequila and Bourbon.  The natural instinct is yucky but the cultivated instinct is malleable.  You can actually learn to like anything. 

Same principle with spicy stuff.  Jalapeno or Habanero peppers, Tabasco, Tapatio, Sriracha – many folks have developed a liking over time.  I used to slip in a few squirts of hot sauce in the kids’ scrambled eggs and ween them into the world of flavor and heat.  They learned to like it, albeit they don’t all prefer the same brand.

Truth share moment: I actually got too ‘cultivated’ with alcohol stuff – liked the effect – and eventually made a long and committed decision to find something else to take the edge off in my life.  Turns out I need life straight up. 

Here’s something that you and I can commit to continue to cultivate a taste for: victory! 

Perhaps you haven’t looked that word up in the dictionary in a while.  Here you go: an act of defeating an enemy or opponent in a battle.  

So, who’s the enemy?  What’s the act?

There’s a lot to consider here but I wanted to cultivate a thought today so that it develops into a taste and thirst and hunger in someone.  I want this for myself and for my friends on this journey!

I wonder if we really – honest and truly – know that our patterned thoughts could be the very hindrance holding us back from victory.  What if that way a person thinks (the pattern) is the road block?  I’m not sure they want to talk to me.  I don’t think folks actually want what I have to offer.  I’m shy.  I can’t really afford the time.  I failed.  Etc.

You were made to be victorious.  You truly were made for such a life.  Victory is yours. 

I want you to imagine something with me:

IMAGINE what it would be like if things worked out just the way you thought – the way you know is the right way for things to go.  IMAGINE yourself having a good talk with that person, having success in a decision you need to make, having victory in an area where you may have experienced setback or disappointment.  IMAGINE victory.

And then, I want you to act on that imagined vision.

You have a great mind!  You have a great imagination.  Take your thoughts captive to a victorious imagination and you will experience a new level of living you previously had not imagined!  Whatever is true or honorable, pure or lovely, commendable, honorable or worth celebrating in life (or with another) – cultivate an imagination that sees the world, and those in it, as you learn to see it anew.  Think about these good and right things with a fresh imagination. 

This isn’t an easy decision – but it is a life changing decision.  You’ll be navigating the world as a victorious beast (in the best possible meaning.)!

Make the call – make the decision – make it with the confidence of a victor.  That is your choice and I’m cheering you on to be courageous and confident.  You cannot be shaken!  You will be stirred to think anew!