Now let’s look at this a little closer:

You were born with a purpose, a destiny. What is this purpose and destiny?

Your true destiny is to become a successful champion and make a difference in the lives of all who come in contact with you.

Are you living your purpose? There are really three answers to this. You are either living your purpose completely, to a degree or perhaps not at all.

Do you really WANT to follow your destiny? Of course you do! Some of the things you feel in your heart are a part of your destiny may seem impossible to you at the moment.

The good news is that you CAN fulfill your destiny! It IS possible for you to reach your dreams!

How can I be so sure? Your desires (or dreams) are a part of who you are. This is how you were created. (Read John 10:10 in the Bible). And you have the power to follow what is in your heart!

Read on to discover more about this.

How can you really start to live according to your destiny?
First your spirit needs to come alive. How? By simply committing your life to Christ.

In John 1:12, in the Bible we find John the Baptist making this promise: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right (or power) to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name”. (This is the New American Standard Translation of the Bible).

There are 3 very important key words in this promise:

1. But
This word “but” is the beginning of a new hope! John had just made a very sad declaration: “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him”. (John 1:11 in the Bible)

What was John saying here? Jesus was walking among His OWN people but they did not recognize Him and so they did not receive Him. In fact they did the opposite. They rejected Him, and yes they killed Him.

His own people (who were also born to be champions) rejected Him. This meant that they rejected their birthright also.

BUT — (as many as received Him, to THEM He gave ..) This is the hope.

2. Received
Have you received Jesus Christ into your life? Or have you rejected Him?

Now I am NOT talking about following religion (which is a set of man made rules and traditions). No, I am talking about building a living relationship with the Living God.

I am talking about learning to know Christ as your best friend. The book of Proverbs calls Him “a friend that sticks closer than a brother“.

Really relating to Christ is about having Him as your friend AND as your GREATEST Mentor and Teacher. His command to His disciples consisted in two words: Follow Me!

Why should Jesus Christ your GREATEST mentor and teacher?

• Well the truth is, no one else cares for you like He does.
• No one else that ever walked the face of this earth died for YOU.
• No one else that lived on this earth was perfect. He was and is God Himself (the Son).

Are you following Him today?

Your decision to follow Christ is the beginning of learning to live the abundant life of a champion that you were destined to live.

If you have not already made a decision to follow Jesus, make it today.

We will look at the third key word in John 1:12 in the next article which will be posted on Oct 20th, 2009.

Do you know that a survey was once made by a team sent out by Jack Canfield. This group followed 100 school children for one complete day making note of the words which were spoken by these youngsters.

Astounding Result:
The average number of positive words spoken by these children was 72.
The average number of negative words spoken by these children was 684!

Another statistic: By the time a child is 7, he or she has heard the words “no, don’t or can’t” 17 million times versus the word yes (and other positive words).

Now we know that words and thoughts create the atmosphere around you.

With so many negative words spoken around you and by you, what kind of atmosphere surrounds you?

With so many negative words spoken around you and by you how can your champion spirit develop?

What would happen to your champion spirit?

In an atmosphere such as the one we have described the growth of your champion spirit will be totally stunted. Your spirit will be dormant even dead.

Your spirit can come alive!
Now if you read and believe the Bible, you will know that the way to quicken (or make alive) your spirit is to accept Jesus Christ into your life. (Read John 3:16 and Romans 8:11 in the Bible)

Your spirit needs to develop.
But it does not stop there. You now need to develop your champion spirit so that you become a PRACTICING CHAMPION. This is the person you were created to be.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10 New International Translation of the Bible)

You were created to live life to the full!

How can you become the champion you were born to be?

Romans 12:2 New International Translation of the Bible)
2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Yes, you need to renew your mind so you can experience the abundant life that has been given to you.

This is going to take effort on your part.

The first thing to do is to make a DECISION that you WILL become the champion you were born to be.

Now you need a PLAN of action. Start to take notice of what you are thinking and speaking.

Focus on one area at a time and DETERMINE to change the way you think and speak. Start speaking and thinking like a champion.

Be sure to come back and visit here again soon to find more tips and inspiration to turn your life around and become the champion you were born to be.

This is the condition of so many people in the world today. But it does not have to be.

First of all, let’s establish a fact: EVERYONE was born a champion.

There are two indisputable proofs.

Proof No #1.

Psalm 139:13-15 (New International Version)
13.  For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

15.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth …

Proof No #2.

Science tells us that you and I arrived on this earth BECAUSE you had already made a one in a million achievement. At the time of your conception you won the race against the millions of competing sperms and were the one that fertilized the egg that created the human being (YOU).

Yes, you arrived on this earth as a champion!

You need to develop your champion spirit.
There is no such thing as a “self-made champion” There are only self developed champions. You cannot make what already is. You can only restore or develop it.

So how come there are so many champions acting as losers?
They allowed the negativity around them to enter their gateways (their thoughts, eyes and ears). They may have even participated in these attitudes. Thus instead of developing the champion spirit, they developed the attitude of a loser.

How do you develop your champion spirit? Take care of your gateways!

• Feed your mind with motivational and inspirational teachings, books, cds, mp3s and videos.

• Feed your eyes with vision! FOCUS on your dreams, your goals and your daily plan of action. Never focus on any negative stuff around you.

• Feed your ears with positive conversations as well as the videos and mp3s you watch and listen to. Move away from all negative conversations. Refuse to take part in them. Seek out people who are highly motivated and positive and take time to chat with them as opportunity permits.

Solomon stated in Proverbs 23:7 (King James Version)
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he ..

It is interesting to note that the word translated into English as “thinks” actually means “gatekeeper” in Hebrew. When I first discovered that, I was fascinated.

You decide what resides in your subconscious mind. Your thoughts become the gatekeeper of your life as they evaluate what you hear, see and think (and even touch and smell).

Then you decide what is allowed to be archived into your subconscious mind where this data will become a part of the foundation of your life!

So the challenge is today. Are you developing the champion in you?

This little exercise will help you make sure you are still on course.

A trip away will always give you the opportunity to gain a new perspective on your daily routines. There is nothing like getting away from your familiar surroundings for a while to help you to think clearly.

I recently had this opportunity and it was certainly good to be able to have some time to think clearly and re-evaluate many areas of my life.

Here are some questions I was considering. I am sharing these with you because I think that it is good for all of us to ask ourselves these questions from time to time. This will ensure that we stay on course.

Is what I am doing right now leading me in the direction I really want to go.
In other words, am I really fulfilling my destiny? You might be thinking: But I am not sure what my destiny is. How can I find that?

Your destiny is within you. When you are moving in the direction of that inner compass there is a satisfaction, a “knowing” that you are doing what you were born to do.

One good test is: Are you passionate about what you are doing?

Am I using my time in the most productive way?
We are creative beings, and being productive is a part of productivity.The more productive we are, the better we feel about ourselves and the world around us.

I had to admit that not every day was as productive as I would like it to be.

So I started looking for areas where I was perhaps getting bogged down with unnecessary details. (Yes I found some of those There were some things I would be eliminating from my schedule when I returned home.

How are the negative influences around me affecting me?
Now this a question that perhaps we need to ask ourselves regularly. Of course the ideal situation is to get rid of all negative influences around us. But that is not always possible.

For example: you may work with some negative folk, or need to deal with such people in business.

However if you and I are not careful some of these influences can “rub off” onto us. Have you ever noticed that? You may be mostly a very positive and cheerful person. Yet suddenly you find yourself speaking negative words, grumping a little and every getting upset over things that would not normally bother you.

What happened? Of course you might be facing some unusually difficult challenges in your life. But if that is not the case, perhaps some negativity has managed to rub off on you?

I wrote an article about this over on my blog Mindset for Living. (Decide How Daily Experiences Will Affect Your Mind)

There is more coming on topics around this subject too over on Mindset For Living

Do I have enough positive influences around me?
Now this is something we can control. Perhaps it is time to start extending your circle of friends and associates. Start reaching out to some highly motivated folk. If you cannot find them in your immediate sphere, try Twitter. There are masses of great folk there who will certainly inspire and motivate you.

Is my mind as active as it should be?
When life gets tough or even dull (it shouldn’t though) – we can tend to “switch off”

You might want to take a look at my articles about Coping or Conquering. It takes an active mind to conquer, while it is rather easy to drift along in a passive state when you are simply coping.

It is a good idea to write down some of your discoveries in your journal. And if you find some things in your life that need changing, don’t forget to take action!

P.S. You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kiwichamp

One of these strong impressions that stands out for me was a conversation with our tea lady who was from Holland. I was working in the Education Board in New Zealand. Our “tea lady”, who’s name has slipped my mind, had just made a trip to Holland after being away for about 10 years.

She was devastated when she returned to New Zealand. She had found nothing in Holland to be as she remembered it. Everything had changed. For some reason that made quite an impression on me at the time. Most likely deep in my heart I knew that one day I could be facing something similar.

Sure enough that day came. It was 15 years since I last stepped off the plane in Christchurch, New Zealand. In May of this year (2009) I decided that 15 years was enough, well too long really. I expected changes so there were no shocks.

However there were some pleasant surprises as of course much progress has been made. New Zealand is well up with the times in terms of the digital age.

Actually in some things, it is ahead. Christchurch is a city of 348,435. The country now has 4,262,072 (It used to be 3,000,000 people and 60 million sheep. Today there are about 40 million sheep. (Dairy and deer farming are increasing).

Yet you see digital signs letting you know how many spaces are left in the all of the main carparks in the city.

The bus system is like a metro. The main bus terminal looks like an airport. Out around the city many of the bus stops have a digital boxes on the bus stop posts. You simply press a button on this box to find out when your bus is expected to arrive.

The port hills are the same. Christchurch is located on the Canterbury plains with the alps in the background and the port hills right behind the city. Across the hills is the port of Lyttleton (pictured above) and other smaller settlements located in various bays. The difference is that now you can either take the footpath and climb the hills or simply jump on the gondola and ride up.

Memories are a good thing, as long as you don’t allow them to hinder your present and future. Of course you definitely don’t want to hang on to the bad memories. But even good memories can hinder you from enjoying the changes of the present and future.

The best thing is to enjoy the present, and be flexible enough to realize that today only comes once in a lifetime!

Are you making the most of your present?