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| Your Thoughts Can Kill You
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Nick was a big, strong, tough man who worked in the railroad yards for many years. He was one of his company's best employees -- always there on time, a reliable, hard worker who got along well with the other employees. But Nick had one major problem. His attitude was chronically negative. He was known around the railroad yards as the most pessimistic man on the job. He perpetually feared the worst and constantly worried, fretting that something bad might happen.
One summer day, the crews were told that they could go home an hour early in order to celebrate the birthday of one of the foremen. All the workers left, but somehow Nick accidentally locked himself in a refrigerated boxcar that had been brought into the yard for maintenance. The boxcar was empty and not connected to any of the trains.
When Nick realized that he was locked inside the refrigerated boxcar, he panicked. Nick began beating on the doors so hard that his arms and fists became bloody. He screamed and screamed, but his coworkers had already gone home to get ready for the party. Nobody could hear Nick's desperate calls for help. Again and again he called out, until finally his voice was a raspy whisper.
Aware that he was in a refrigerated boxcar, Nick guessed that the temperature in the unit was well below freezing, maybe as low as five or ten degrees Fahrenheit. Nick feared the worst. He thought, What am I going to do? If I don't get out of here, I'm going to freeze to death. There's no way I can stay in here all night. The more he thought about his circumstances, the colder he became. With the door shut tightly, and no apparent way of escape, he sat down to await his inevitable death by freezing or suffocation, whichever came first.
To pass the time, he decided to chronicle his demise. He found a pen in his shirt pocket and noticed an old piece of cardboard in the corner of the car. Shivering almost uncontrollably, he scribbled a message to his family. In it Nick noted his dire prospects: "Getting so cold. Body numb. If I don't get out soon, these will probably be my last words."
And they were.
The next morning, when the crews came to work they opened the boxcar and found Nick's body crumpled over in the corner. When the autopsy was completed, it revealed that Nick had indeed frozen to death.
Now, here's a fascinating enigma: The investigators discovered that the refrigeration unit for the car in which Nick had been trapped was not even on! In fact, it had been out of order for some time and was not functioning at the time of the man's death. The temperature in the car that night -- the night Nick froze to death -- was sixty-one degrees. Nick froze to death in slightly less than normal room temperatures because he believed that he was in a freezing boxcar. He expected to die! He was convinced that he didn't have a chance. He expected the worst. He saw himself as doomed with no way out. He lost the battle in his own mind.
For Nick, the thing he feared and expected to happen came to pass. The old adage "Life is a self-fulfulling prophecy" held true for him. It will usually be true in your life as well. Many people today are similar to Nick. There're always expecting the worst. They expect defeat. They expect failure. They expect mediocrity. And they usually get what they expect; they become what they believe.
Story adapted from:
"Empires of the Mind"
Author: Denis Waitley
Told In:
"Your Best Life Now"
Author: Joel Osteen
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| Blog Comments
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What a great example of the power of the mind.
Poor Nick
Great post
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Posted by trevorjohn
on 2008-02-27 08:57:37
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That just might work then when it's mid August here in Florida? :) I think it's cold...I think it's cold...I think it's cold! Great post! God Bless!
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Posted by keepdreaming
on 2008-02-27 16:52:58
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The mind is indeed an incredibly powerful thing. It is ashame when it turns on us.
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Posted by HungryHeart
on 2008-02-28 00:26:29
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Oh how sad...Our mind does lead us to places where we do the unexpected..
We believe the first thing that comes in our mind and that is where we find trouble....Thanks for sharing this...
Excellent post.
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Posted by Hollis
on 2008-02-28 20:46:21
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Thank you for the post. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.
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Posted by prelude2it
on 2008-03-03 09:06:29
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I think sometimes our own mind can be our worst enemy.Its awful that we allow that to happen to us at times.Great post.
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Posted by kidatheart
on 2008-03-09 11:47:15
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| Views: 116
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