Years ago a young woman came to me for help. To maintain confidentiality, I will invent a name for her. I’ll call her Mary. This young woman in her late thirties had a history of self-mutilation and suicidal behavior. She came in for pastoral counseling, and I agreed to see her only if her psychiatrist agreed and was kept fully informed.

That issue out of the way, her first appointment was made. My secretary brought me her file, including the pre-process forms I used. As I reviewed the information in the file, I was taken by the fact that one of her prior therapists was a famous psychiatrist. I thought to myself, “And what on earth am I to do if this person couldn’t help her?”

When you’ve hit the depths of despair, often you feel as though life holds nothing for you.  You’re drifting from one dead end job to the next and consumed by money worries.  Your wife may just have left you, your home is about to be repossessed and you’re scared your boss plans to fire you.

During life’s toughest moments, it’s extremely challenging to feel positive about the future, let alone next week or even tomorrow.  Yet some of the greatest visionaries hit rock bottom before finding the will and determination to climb the ladder of happiness, health, wealth and success to make their dreams become reality.  What they all had in common is the fact that they set goals for the future, helping them to create positive mental images of how life can be and give motivation to work towards it.