These are my favorite passages for a book about self belief by Brian Mayne

simple: ‘if you think you can, you can, and if you think you can’t, you can’t.’

‘No,’ replied Sam with a huge grin, ‘your wish is my command. It is my purpose to get you whatever you want.’ Joseph sat back against his pillow feeling very excited and extremely confused. After a moment of thought he looked up at Sam and said, ‘I don’t understand, why have you come here?’ ‘I have always been here, Joseph. It is my duty to get you the things that you want. Since the very beginning I have been with you. I am the one who makes your wishes come true. Whatever you ask for is what I get for you.’ ‘But I don’t ask for things,’ said Joseph, frowning. The genie leaned forward, looked deep into Joseph’s eyes and said in a knowing voice, ‘You are always asking Joseph. You ask me every time that you make a wish. And a wish is anything that you want with intensity – that means anything that you think about a lot, anything that makes you feel strong feelings, like happy or sad. If you continue to think the same thought all of the time, it becomes a wish. The more you think about it, the stronger the wish grows. Your strongest wish becomes my command and duty to make it happen for you.’

“But the other part of his head was connected to a deep knowingness that the genie spoke truth. He had an undeniably strong feeling that there was something very special about the genie, maybe even a new friend. The thoughts that sprang from these feelings bubbled up enough confidence for Joseph to overcome his fears. Looking up at Sam he said with open curiosity, ‘I want to believe you, to believe in genies, really I do. But I don’t understand. My head aches from thinking, I don’t know if I’ve ever thought so hard. And I still don’t understand how you can be part of me and at the same time still be you. I want to know how it all works, especially how to tell you what I want, honestly I do. But at the moment I don’t understand, I only wish I did.’ Sam took a deep breath, puffed up his chest and beamed bright with happiness. The already enormous grin on his face grew twice as large and, with a look of total delight in his dancing eyes, he reached out a friendly hand, chuckling in a soft voice, ‘Your wish is my command! Trust your feelings Joseph, take my hand, and I’ll take you on an adventure.’

‘Inner space,’ replied Sam. ‘We are in the space between the world of thoughts and the world of things. What you mistook as a shooting star was really a thought and we are taking the journey of a thought.’

‘It’s quite small isn’t it, the world of thoughts?’ said Joseph kneeling on all fours so as to lean over the edge of the carpet and look down at the island. ‘Oh, this is just your world, Joseph, your very own island of understanding,’ answered Sam with a grin. ‘The world of thoughts is bigger than you can imagine.’

‘There are all kinds of thoughts in your head, Joseph,’ Sam said, nodding at the drifting grey thought. ‘This one here is a stray thought, it has no special purpose, nothing that it is meant to do. It just drifts wherever it is taken. Thoughts are like people sometimes, Joseph. If they have no purpose, mission or special thing to do, then they just drift wherever the wind blows and often feel lost.’

‘Yes,’ replied Sam. ‘New beliefs and ideas can take a while to settle and stick. Sometimes we need to think the same thought many times before we fully accept it as being right and true. Everyone creates their own world, Joseph. Some people create a happy world. Some people create a crazy world. And some people even create a sad world. It just depends on what thoughts you choose to think.’

‘Your best is always good enough, and you are loved, Joseph,’ said Sam, pulling him closer. ‘Some people are better at showing love than others, and sometimes people forget how important it is, but always you are loved. The most important thing, Joseph, is that you learn to love your self.’

‘I’ve learnt that thinking happy thoughts makes you feel good,’ said Joseph, ‘and thinking sad thoughts makes you feel sad.’ ‘Anything else?’ asked Faith, in a searching tone. ‘Yes,’ replied Joseph instantly, the experience of the river still being fully with him, ‘thoughts are like magnets and attract other thoughts of the same type.’

‘There is no-thing be afraid of anywhere Joseph! Understand that fear is not a thing – it is a feeling, and for those people who live with a feeling of fear, every “thing” and any “thing” in their life will become frightening. However, in truth, there is no “thing” at all to be afraid of.’

‘Yes,’ replied Sam, ‘there are many types of fear, but those are all false fears, Joseph, they are not real, they are just what those people imagine could happen to them. Real fear can be your friend,’ continued Sam who had taken again to rubbing the end of his chin. ‘Real fear is that feeling that you get if you stand too close to the edge of a cliff, or are about to step out into a busy road. It is a strong feeling that warns you to be careful, that there may be danger. But when you imagine that something could be bad or terrible in your future, and that thing hasn’t even happened, then that is a false fear, and not the type of friend that helps.

‘Remember, Joseph, we are all free to think about whatever we want, and whatever we think about gives us a feeling. Think about how bad things will be and you will feel fear and sadness. Those feelings, make it hard for you to be your best, and if you continue to think those thoughts for long enough, they become wishes and then I make them happen.’ ‘But you wouldn’t make anything bad happen to me would you?’ Joseph, asked feeling a sudden twang of despair at the thought that Sam may not really be his friend. ‘Only if you wanted me to,’ answered Sam. ‘As I have told you, you are the captain and I am the crew. You are the one who decides what you want, and I am the one that makes it all happen. You are the wisher and I am the grantor. And a wish is anything, good or bad, happy or sad, that you think about a lot and with strong feelings. Fear is a strong feeling. Tell me, Joseph, what are you afraid of right now?’

‘There are no real monsters, Joseph,’ replied Sam, now leaning back on one arm. ‘Fear itself is the only monster. Fear is like a monster that is always hungry and what it most likes to eat is more fear. The more you feed the fear monster, the more it wants. If you don’t want to feel frightened, don’t feed the fear monster by thinking more thoughts of fear.’

‘You are already doing it,’ replied Sam, with an encouraging smile. ‘You are successful at making things happen, simply be more specific about what you really want. It is like anything else in life, Joseph, think about where you want to go, not where you fear you may end up.’

‘Again,’ said Sam, ‘and this time, say your thought out loud – it is always more powerful when you speak aloud what you are thinking.’

‘Firstly honour your fear Joseph, thank it for warning you. It is OK to feel afraid when there is genuine danger,’ said Sam, calmly and reassuringly. ‘Most importantly of all, remember the wisdom Faith shared with you at her pool, “the key to confidence, that will set you free, is to see and say things as you want them to be”. See and say it, as if you have already succeeded.’

“Every time Joseph said the magic words ‘I Like My Self’ or ‘I Love My Self’ a warm safe feeling swept through his insides and bubbled to his face in a beaming smile. And the more often he said it, the longer the feeling lasted.”

books Learning Law of Attraction Sam the Magic Genie