An extremely important concept that few realize or believe is that anybody can be a winner, although not everybody is. It is a fact that winning in the overall "game" of life does not require that you first have to be rich, famous, fast, strong, big, tall, of a certain racial background, or of genius intelligence.

However, winning does require that once you make a commitment to be a winner, you stay focused on attaining your desired goal. Occasional obstacles that knock you off your feet are nothing compared to the immeasurable unhappiness and deep sense of failure that often result from giving up on or getting sidetracked from the goal. To arrive at the finish line at the end of your "race," you have to finish the race — that is why it is called the "finish line."

Life is meant to be lived fully, not partially. Winning can only be complete; there is no such thing as a partial victory.

PLAYING THE GAME OF LIFE & PLAYING LIKE A CHAMPION

The game of life is remarkably like an athletic game. The number of boxers, tennis players, runners, baseball players, and swimmers enshrined by the press and idolized by their adoring publics for their incredible physical skills are merely a fraction of countless other athletes who toil at these sports but fail to become world-class champions. You see, the champions of every sport have been knocked down, hurt, locked in a slump and made to sit on the bench just as the non-champions have.

What is the defining difference between champions and non-champions? There is something in champions that will not allow them to remain prone on the canvas, rooted on the sidelines, or encased on the bench. Although the often equal skills of champions and non-champions bring them together and would appear to make them equivalent in potential, skill alone does not make them equal. The difference between champions and non-champions — the difference that separates their worlds — is the quality and state of their minds.

You can win at the game of life — and only if you decide to play like a champion.

INSIDE THE MIND OF THE CHAMPION THERE IS NO ROOM FOR DOUBT

The champion has the mind of a winner. And the winner's mind is filled with a firm, unshakable belief in good. A winner leaves no room for doubt. Doubt to a winner is like what being out of condition is to an athlete — a real handicap. The winner stays in condition by staying with this belief.

In order to achieve good, one's mind has to be free of any encumbrances: blocks, barriers, and other "deadweight." The only thought allowed to occupy and condition the winner's mind is that good, and only good, is and will continue to be one's constant expectation and experience. That means the winner forgets whatever happened that was not good in the past, sets new goals, and moves forward to achieve these goals — that is, the winner gets on with his/her life.

Condition your mind and it will change the condition of your life.

FORGIVING, THE ULTIMATE FREEDOM

Forgiving literally creates the spiritual energy that brings subsequent blessings directly to the forgiver. Think of what the word forgiveness means: "to give forth," or "to give in exchange." That means it is you, the offended one (supposed victim), who first give something to the person who offended or harmed you. That "something" might be the benefit of the doubt, a word of pardon, an expression of kindness, or even best wishes; or an acknowledgment that the matter is no longer a problem or conflicting issue, and that "bygones will be bygones."

By giving forth like this, your act of forgiveness creates the exchange of good-for-bad/healing-for-hurt/peace-for-pain that transforms your experience. To forgive is to set the prisoner free — and then discover the prisoner was you! Conscious, constant acts of forgiveness keep you in a continucus state of receiving blessings.

Forgiving, as defined by the American Heritage College Dictionary, Third Edition, means "To excuse for a fault or an offense; to pardon." Forgiveness is an act of pardon by one who has been wronged or victimized by another.

Your forgiving the wrongdoer is less a "favor" you are doing him or her than a favor you are doing for yourself. You see, forgiving enables the "victim" to keep his/her mind free and spiritual lines open.

FORGIVENESS OPENS THE DOOR FOR ABUNDANT BLESSINGS

Forgiveness is a spiritual principle that frees the forgiving victim from the "past" and rewards him/her with authority and control of their present, and, of course, future. In her book The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity, Catherine Ponder states that forgiveness is an act causing a "vacuum" that forces Nature to fill it with only good for you, the forgiver.

Your understanding of the fact that Nature abhors a vacuum should inspire you to forgive everybody who has ever hurt you, betrayed or deceived you, or otherwise conflicted with you. Forgive all such persons instantly and silently affirm,

"There is no ill will between you and me. Only good occurs between us. I now view you with respect and understanding, and I continue to bless you and the good I see in, and wish for, you."

Use this affirmation or compose your own similar and uplifting words. This particular tool in your act of forgiveness is so powerful that Ponder describes actual cases in which forgivers experienced physical healings and financial success by deliberately creating — with their act of forgiveness — the "vacuum" that Nature could fill only with good and abundant blessing for them. Forgiveness clears and cleans the slate, settles the account. Your "account" thus empty and unoccupied with grudges, resentments, and negative feelings about others (or yourself), Nature goes to work to fill the vacuum you have created.

As surely as there is a law of gravity, Nature must use this vacuum. Ponder advises that whenever you experience lack or limitation in anything, you should immediately go into quiet meditation for at least thirty minutes, making this a daily practice and specifically forgiving all who have wronged you, while affirming good for them, until you experience the success and abundance you desire. And the anticipated success and abundance will occur every time.

TO GUARANTEE COMPLETE SUCCESS, YOU MUST COMPLETELY FORGIVE

In the midst of your daily interactions with others, constantly practice the act of forgiveness. See others as well as yourself in the best light, blessed with your best thoughts. Doing this will help to make your "Forgiveness List" shorter at those times in your meditations specifically devoted to forgiveness. As you engage regularly in the forgiveness process, forgive yourself as well. This act is as important as forgiving, and being forgiven by, others.

In her book How to Stay UP: Letters from Edna Lister, Lister explains that if there appears to be delay in one's experiencing the result (healing, financial success, harmonious relationships) one desires, it is because full faith in the act of forgiveness has not been invested by the forgiver. The forgiveness process must be done diligently and with total and continuous faith; you cannot waver between hot and cold, or, worse, be lukewarm. Incomplete faith will result in complete failure.

The truth of your being is that you can never be hurt or harmed. Therefore, since there are never victims, only "volunteers" (throughout the tides of history, every so-called victim had a hand in his/her "victimization"), forgiveness is one of the two most important acts — the other being loving — that humans can and must perform to cleanse the mind and free the soul. Indeed, the best way to get even is to forgive... and forget it! Forgiveness, then, is itself an act of love performed at the highest spiritual level.

Forgiveness is the laser-sharp tool the winner uses to cut the ship's dead-weight anchor so that he/she can navigate on the high seas of success.

Reprinted with permission of the publisher,
Devorss & Company, Publishers. www.devorss.com
©2003. All Rights Reserved.

This article was excerpted from:

Little Green Apples: God Really Did Make Them!
by O.C. Smith & James Shaw.

This book is an action-directed life manual that teaches readers the form and formula for living life and living it abundantly. An astute and articulate observer of life, as a glancing review of his hit pop songs will prove to anyone, Rev. O.C. Smith, in writing this book, is 'singing' his best song yet. As you turn each page, be prepared to experience a powerful dose of O.C.'s joy, love, wisdom and happiness. Like the eye-opening taste of a crisp green apple, O.C. will wake you up to a new understanding of life.

Info/Order this book.

About the Authors

Ocie Lee Smith, Jr. was born in Mansfield, Louisiana. During his teen years he truly loved singing at parties and performing at school social events. He attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, majoring in psychology. O. C. would tell you with a smile, "This was not a bad preparation for life in show business." Following college, he joined the Air Force and Special Services as an entertainer on military bases all over the world. Once his 'hitch' was over, he headed for New York and a full-time career as a singer.

James Shaw has been a speechwriter for Chicago Cubs legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Banks and is a frequent media commentator who lectures throughout the United States on public school law and socially urgent issues regarding children and families. He earned his doctorate from the Claremont Graduate University and received Phi Delta Kappa's Best Dissertation of the Year award for 1997. In 2000, the California State Legislature honored him with its Certificate of Recognition for his writings on children and families.