What do you do with your troubles?

A man hired a carpenter to help him restore an old farmhouse. The carpenter had a rough first day on the job. First, a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, then his electric saw quit. At the end of the day, his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While the man who hired him drove him home, the carpenter sat in stony silence.

On arriving, the carpenter invited the man to come in and meet his family. As they walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. Upon opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles as he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

After introducing the man to his family, the carpenter walked the man to the car. They passed the tree and the man's curiosity got the better of him. He asked the carpenter about what he had seen him do earlier.

"Oh, that's my 'Trouble Tree'," the carpenter replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, my troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again."

Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

"The prizes of life we fail to win because we doubt the power within." Wow! That sentence really says it all. When we finally eliminate all of those self defeating doubts that have haunted us for oh so long, we clear the path to having, doing or being anything and everything we have ever dreamed about. This story reminds us to live our lives the way we were born to live them ... confidently, courageously and without a doubt.

Just for a moment, imagine yourself living without worry and doubt, totally free to believe and achieve. What a way to go ... and grow! We need to stop doubting ourselves and start believing in ourselves, our plans and our dreams. Let's stop saying we can't and start saying we can, we can ... we can.

You and I have always had what it takes to be counted among the best of the very best. We can choose to live a life completely devoid of worry and fear when we choose to live without a doubt. The moment we start believing deep down in our hearts and our souls that we can do it, we will start living life on our terms ... without a doubt!