A Wise Man, Mr. Goethe

The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Goethe

I stumbled upon the above quote of Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe  many years ago. I believe the year may have been 1989. I taped it to my refrigerator, as I wanted to be reminded daily of its profound message. I then started taking courses to better myself. I bought books, and workbooks on overcoming obstacles, and creating a more fulfilling life for myself and my daughters.

In one class, Taking It To The Limit, taught by Dr. Gwen Roquemore we were instructed to write three goals on a post card, and on the opposite side write our address. One year after that date Dr. Gwen sent them to us. I had achieved every goal.

She taught us some of the principles of creative visualization laid down by the author Shakti Gawain in her book Creative Visualization. We created image books out of photo albums. We were instructed to cut pictures from magazines of people we admired, looks we wanted for ourselves, things we wanted to accomplish, etc. and place them in the book. We were to keep it near by and look through it often. I kept mine on the coffee table for years.

By the year of 1999, I had accomplished nearly all of what I had visualized in that book. I still have a few to go, and have added them to what I now call my bucket list. Such as carve a decoy, learn how to play golf, go on a family sleigh ride through the snow, and look gorgeous in a pair of jeans. The last being less important now than it was in 1986, when I was thirty-five years old and single.

I had written in a journal that I wanted to become a published writer, but I didn't put it in my image book. Writing our goals down is the first step to committing ourselves to accomplish them, and just as Goethe quoted providence does take over and opens up all sorts of unforeseen assistance in accomplishing that goal.


“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)