I know you probably have heard of the movie, The Wizard of Oz right? Well, for those of you, who have somehow managed to miss this movie, let me give you a brief description of it.

A young lady named Dorothy is upset with her home life and decides to run away. But before she can get very far, a tornado strikes. Her entire house flies away in the cyclone. She lands in a land called Oz.

Now, all of a sudden, Dorothy wants to get home. When she was home, she wanted to run away. Isnt that just like us? We are never happy.

Anyway, she learns that the only person who could help her get home is The Wizard and he lives in Emerald City (am I confusing The Wizard of Oz with The Wiz?)

Nevertheless, on her journey to meet The Wizard, she meets a scarecrow, a tin man and a lion, each of who decides to join her on her journey to meet The Wizard. They figured if he was going to do something for her, then perhaps he could do something for them too.

See the scarecrow needed a brain. The tin man needed a heart and the lion needed courage. They figured The Wizard would be able to give them what they needed.

They take you through this long journey through The Land of Oz, where it becomes apparent to everyone except the individual that he already has exactly what he is looking for but he doesnt believe he has it.

The scarecrow, who believed he didnt have a brain, was the one who came up with all the ideas and was able to defeat The Wicked Witch of the West (or was it East?)

The tin man was so sensitive and cried so much that everyone but him could tell he had a heart of gold and the lion, defended and defeated everyone who came in their path. He, too, had what he was looking forcourage.

I tell this story because I was watching it the other day with Erica and Eli and it reminded me about how so many of us are today.

We settle for anything and everything because we believe we do not have what it takes to be successful. We believe we are not skilled, or smart enough, or strong enough to get the job done. Yet, if we were to ask others, people who know us well, what they thought we were good at, they could run off an entire list of things that we can do well. And, when we hear the list of things that others think we excel at, we deny it. We say, No, not me. I couldnt do that. For real? You think so? We find it hard to believe.

So we continue to search for The Wizard. And when we find him, we discover that he is just a nice, old man standing behind curtains working a Wizard machine and that everything we ever needed was right inside of us all along.

What are you seeking that appears to be out of reach?

What do you desire for your life?

What do you really wish to do but feel you do not have what it takes to accomplish it?

Chances are you do have it. You already have all that you will ever need to be the person you desire to be. All it takes is for you to recognize it, claim it, and visualize your way to success.

See, in the movie The Wizard of Oz it wasnt until The Wizard, or nice, old man behind the curtains gave the scarecrow a piece of paper, the tin man a golden locket, and the lion a medal of honor, that they started to believe in themselves.

Are you that person who needs a picture-framed diploma hanging around your office before you believe you have what it takes?

Then make one up yourself.

You have a computer. You can put together a certificate. Make it say whatever you want it to say. Say something like, I, Dawn Fields, am certified to Do, Be and Have ANYTHING I desire. I am fully capable and able to do whatever it is that I wish to do with my lifeRIGHT NOW, in this VERY moment. So long as I invite the God that is within to go along for the ride.

Now go out and be the best that you can be.