Today is the day I decided to live! Today is the day I thought 'what the heck' and meant it! Today is the day when I face tomorrow with a sense of hope. This is my life, my decisions, and I will have to give an answer for it. But its mine. No more excuses!

Today is the day I got my personal 'get out of jail free card'. I had finally had enough of the fears and the worries and the what if's. In the end I understood that it was not just what happened to me that counted, in fact, in some ways that counted less than a truth I truly came to see.

It is how I feel about it. How I feel about myself. How I feel about the world.

I finally wanted to stop begging off that I was different, weaker, less. I turned round to the world with a smile, cupped my hands and beckoned to the world. 'Bring it on!'

What initiated this change? Prayer. Years and years of work on myself - coaching, training, investigating, learning about my inner world. 15 years in fact. If you want it badly enough, it will come. Or even if it doesn't at least you know you gave it your best shot.

I want to encourage you like Winston Churchill encouraged the British people during the Second World War. 'Never give up, never give up, never give up.'

I haven't, despite an abusive upbringing, being bullied to the point of a mental breakdown, a failed marriage, a religious faith almost shipwrecked, and the loss of almost everything I held dear.

God is faithful, my friends. He gave me back a new wife, more children, a place to live, friends, my faith, and best of all He still loves me.

So don't give up.

Douglas Cartwright is a personal clarity engineer who helps people 'renew their minds and live their words'. To find out more, visit http://www.livingwords.net and book your free introductory session. This powerful change experience is not for everyone. But it might be for you. Come to the site and find out.