Are You a Winner or a Loser?

In his book, "How to Unleash the Power of Your Subconcious Mind," James K. Van Fleet writes about how winners and losers think about their lives.

"Winners evaluate themselves on what they are, not on what other people think they should be. They do not allow themselves to be guided by other people's standards or beliefs. Winners do not allow others to act as their judge and jury.

"Losers constantly worry about what they think other people are thinking about them. For instance, if your boss looks at you and frowns or if he sounds a little gruff in the morning, that's no reason to think he's angry with you.

"He probably had a few cross words with his wife about the household bills before he came to work...

"I'll admit that years ago I too, used to be concerned about what other people might think of me. Then I happened to see a movie in which the hero, an Easterner, had come west to marry his sweetheart, a girl born and raised on a Texas ranch.

"One of the cowboys, the ranch foreman, made fun of the Easterner because of his city clothes and his city ways. He even challenged him to a fight, but the Easterner refused.

"Aren't you going to fight him?" his fiancée asked.
"But what will people think of you?" she asked.
"I'm not responsible for what other people think of me," he answered. "I'm responsible only for what I think of myself."

"Although I have forgotten the rest of that movie and I'm not sure whether the hero was Gary Cooper or Gregory Peck or someone else, I've never forgotten that one statement. It has helped me tremendously through the years in my relationships with other people.

"You see, to worry and fret and stew about what other people might think about you is a complete waste of time. You never become what other people think of you. You become only what you think of yourself..."

Hidden Power, p. 71

James K. Van Fleet,
Hidden Power - How to Unleash the Power of Your Subconcious Mind.

Vocabulary

unleash - release. The image comes from letting a powerful dog off its lead so that it can run freely.

genre' - type of literature.

judge - in a court the judge decides what punishment a criminal deserves.

jury - a group of ordinary people who listen to a case and decide if a person is innocent or guilty.

frown - look angry.

gruff - speak in a short angry-sounding way.

happened to see - saw by chance.

Easterner - someone from the East Coast of America.

sweetheart - the girl he loves.

fiancée - the girl he plans to marry.

fret and stew - worry.