Believing Pays Off

Silver Sandals
Chico’s is by far one of my most favorite places to shop for clothing. Each month, Chico’s home office mails out catalogs, showing their newest fashions. Sometimes I move quickly on items that I see that are of interest to me and sometimes I procrastinate. Procrastinating is not a wise thing to do when you see something you like in the Chico’s catalog because there is a great likelihood that it will be sold out soon after all the eager, fashion-conscious women receive their new catalog.
Spring of 2006, I noticed a pair of metallic silver sandals in the new catalog. I wanted them. I took no action though for several weeks. I called the store manager, Shawn, and described the sandals to her. Shawn said, “Oh Joy, they are all gone.” I asked her to check with the other Chico’s stores to see if there was a pair in my size. While she agreed to do the search, she was adamant that there was almost zero likelihood of the sandals being found.
I knew that for this to work, I needed to engage Shawn in believing that it was possible as well. I was determined and visualized the sandals on my feet. I conveyed my determination and conviction to Shawn. She told me that she would call if she found them. When I didn’t hear from her promptly, I knew that the shoes had not been located in another Chico’s store. Still, I kept believing. I wanted those sandals and believed that they were mine.
A few days later, Shawn phoned and said, “Joy, you won’t believe what happened.” “Oh YES I will believe it and I LOVE stories like this. Tell me what happened!” I responded.
Shawn shared with me that she “happened to decide” to clean out the back room. She was moving some shoe boxes and one of the boxes felt heavier than the other boxes, which were empty. Shawn opened the box and there were my shoes: silver metallic, size seven!
While I was very happy, I wasn’t surprised at all. My belief and conviction to have what I wanted had created a force field of thought. Shawn decided to be the one to clean out the back room. Any of the other staff would not have recognized the shoes’ importance. Was this coincidence? I choose to believe that my conviction and belief caused a chain of events that resulted in my reward of the shoes. Had I not believed, I would not have conveyed this determination to Shawn. If she hadn’t realized the importance of my having those sandals, it might not have made a big enough impression on her to have even thought to notify me when she found the shoes. But I DID believe, and in believing, got what I wanted.
Belief creates the feeling. It’s the feeling that draws it to you. When you have inspired thoughts you have to trust them and then act on them!
“Faith is to believe what you do not see. The reward for this faith is to see what you believe.” St. Augustine