KEEP ON DOING IT

Sometime in the early 50’s, Elvis was performing on stage, and during the course of the performance the girls “went crazy.” They screamed, they clapped, they jumped up and down. As a result, when “the King” finished singing, he walked behind the curtain, and spoke to the stage manager.

Elvis exclaimed,

“I have no idea why those girls were so fired up tonight.”

To which the stage manager replied,

“Well, whatever you are doing, keep on doing it!”

Later, Elvis would reminisce that he didn’t realize it then, but it was as if his hips and legs had a life of their own. Of course, he was widely acclaimed by some, and roundly condemned by others for all the “shaking and moving and going on” which occurred from the waist down.

And while I am not here to defend the most famous vocalist in history, (though I admittedly subscribe to the “Elvis Channel”) I love the line which the stage manager shared with him that day.

“Well, whatever you are doing, keep on doing it!”

At least I love the positive connotation of the phrase. Successful, goal-oriented people are those people who do the things which work on a consistent, repetitive basis.

As a Christian counselor and mentor, I do a great deal of teaching on the subject of mindsets. As believers we have been called to embrace the mind of Christ. Ephesians 4:22,24 instructs us to

“Take off the old man (or mindset). Put on the new man (or mindset”).

I liken these instructions to (metaphorically) taking off a dirty piece of clothing and putting on a clean piece of clothing.

Pt. 2

Putting on new and better and more profitable mindsets is a purposeful activity. It cannot be done by accident. (Only wrecks happen by accident).

To reflect again on that phrase the stage manager shared with Elvis, I think too many people in our world today continue to do what they have been doing, but what they have been doing never worked for them. And I think one of the most pervasive reasons repetitive, negative, unworkable actions don’t work is because people make their choices and follow through with the resulting motions based on their feelings.

I love adages, and perhaps the best adage I have come across in this area says,

“What feels good usually doesn’t work good.”

One of the homegrown phrases I use in my teaching about mindsets is,

“Sometimes we need to build a Berlin Wall between our thoughts (or emotions) and our actions.”

I don’t know a more relevant scripture which speaks to this consideration than one in the Book of Proverbs.

“Commit your works unto the Lord, and your thoughts (or emotions) will be established.” (Prov. 16:3)

Those well-thought, repetitive, positive actions done over the course of a year, five years, ten years or a lifetime yields good rewards. And I think if we commit ourselves to positive, spiritual mindsets and the actions which flow from them, we are likely to experience few regrets when our time on earth draws to a close.

by William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending