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Rick Burnett:  We want to close this interview series with some final guidelines from both Dr. Schuller and Dr. DiSiena.  We've "walked" through the entire book, Possibility Living, and the final chapter is "Possibility Living Begins Now!"  Tell us, is the road to Possibility Living going to be easy or will it be "narrow?"

Dr. DiSiena:   Well, the road probably will be narrow, and it will be a disciplined life.  That's a good thing.  The word discipline comes from the word disciple, which means to follow away.  What we want to tell people is that if they follow the high road then they will be richly rewarded now, at this time here on earth.  Those rich rewards will benefit them for a lifetime.  We highly encourage people to follow the path of Possibility Living and the will berewarded for the rest of their life.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:   This last chapter in the book is really an opportunity to motivate people and to inspire people to "get on the road" and start living the life.  You know, you can read books all day long, and you can hear philosophies and have all the knowledge in the world, but if you don't put any action with that knowledge it does little or no good.

Rick Burnett:  Once people have read the book it will be an ongoing experience, correct?

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:  Correct; if fact I think it will be helpful to read the book periodically.  In other words, come back and read the book in a year and see what new insights you'll receive.  After living this new "walk" for a year, you'll develop a much broader understanding and willing heart to see and read this book in a truly different light. 

Rick Burnett:  Dr. DiSiena, if you were to recommend a way for people to do this - what would you suggest?

Dr. Douglas DiSiena:  I would say first read through the whole book.  However, some of the chapters may not be applicable at that point in their life.  What is great is they can stop and really dwell on those chapters that they need to.   This book was outlined in such a way that each chapter can stand on its own, but if you put it all together, it gives you an entire lifestyle. 

Rick Burnett:  Perhaps when people are reading a chapter they could pray about finding other sources that will help them also; i.e., the bible, other books, etc.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:   You know there are many, many footnotes in this book.  In fact, I have to give special credit to Dr. DiSiena for all his footnotes.  I think he spent as much time working on the footnotes as he did writing the book!  So, those footnotes are very accurate and helpful.  If people want more information all they need to do is look at the footnotes and they'll find many references to books, articles, and publications that will be very helpful.

Dr. Douglas DiSiena:   The other thing I'd like to encourage people to do is encourage people to participate in our Possibility Living Seminar.  They can go to our website: www.possibiltyliving.org and see the scheduled dates for the next seminar.

Rick Burnett: People will be faced with many choices as they being this process; let's recap some of those choices.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:   The choice that people have is, do they want to live a life that is going to make them immediately popular, or do they want to live a life that is going to give them ultimate respect.  That is one of the ultimate choices that people have to make.

Dr. Douglas DiSiena:  I believe that every choice has a consequence.  If they are going to make a choice success for themselves it may be a difficult choice.  They may not get the reward; they may have to endure what we called delayed gratification.  Ultimately, that is what maturity is all about and that is what the wellness lifestyle is all about as well as what your spiritual walk is about.  If people really begin to understand the message and once we begin to motivate them, then the choice ultimately becomes easier to make.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:  I know people who put artificial sweeteners on everything.  They get a bowl of fruit and then open the artificial sweeteners and pour it all over the fruit.  I cringe at that idea!  But, for them that is something delicious.  To make that lifestyle change and not using the artificial sweeteners, or even taking a scoop of sugar and putting it on the fruit, is a dramatic change.  Once you make that lifestyle change so you can taste the actual fruit, you'll be surprised how delicious the fruit is without the artificial sweeteners, or sugar, or whatever you're doing to hide the real taste of the fruit.  That's just one small difference.  Then if you look at exercise - someone who hasn't exercised for a while and goes out and walks a couple of miles; they'll be very sore and hurting the next day.  It's at that point they have to make the decision if they want to make a lifestyle change, or do they just want to exercise once in a while and forget about it.  If you keep doing it for a couple of weeks you won't have sore muscles anymore.  Instead, you'll have the natural "high" of the endorphins, and you'll become addicted to the endorphins instead of being addicted to whatever you used to do instead of exercising.  You have to realize it takes time to make that lifestyle change.  You make those changes and you start living it and making a life time commitment.  You go through the tough times, the sore muscles, etc., and it will make you a better person.

Rick Burnett:  There are three characteristics people will have to have in order to persevere - what are they?

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:  I really believe it begins with maturity.  If we're going to move forward in faith and confidence in what we want to do, it really begins with maturity.  We have to realize we are no longer children.  If you look at a child, they are all over the place, they play and have fun - they don't have a care in the world  - they have no responsibilities.  If you give a child a piece of candy, they don't care if it's dinnertime or not, they'll just eat it.  That's being a child.  A child doesn't have any discipline.  Maturity is the understanding and realization that we have responsibilities and decisions to make and then follow through responsibly on those decisions.  So, it begins with maturity and it continues with faith.  The faith that gives us the ability to be ability to carry forth and move forward and realize that what we are doing will make a difference.  Sometimes it will require us to have courage.  Courage is not a lack of fear as some people often think.  Most people think that courage is a lack of fear.  Courage is not a lack of fear.  Courage is overcoming our doubts and that which holds us back.  Courage is the inertia that gives us the ability to move forward in spite of our fears and do what needs to be done.  If you look at scenarios of war, the men who have courage are in the foxholes.  When they are given the command to move forward, I promise you that every single one of those men will be scared to death.  But it's courage that will overcome their fear and they'll move forward anyway.  It's their command, it's what they're told to do.  It's their maturity and their faith in the cause of what they are fighting for which will pull them out of the foxholes and wins the war.

Rick Burnett: In the last chapter of the book, you also discuss immediate popularity as it relates to Possibility Living.  What do you mean by this?

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: That is a great illustration.  You might do things today that will give you immediate popularity; however, what we are talking about is moving forward and doing the right thing.  As Dr. Schuller said earlier, doing the right thing may not win you immediate popularity, but doing the right thing or taking the high road will also be doing the right thing for your family, or your friends by being an example.  When you follow the right path you can be a beacon for others to follow.

Rick Burnett:  Dr. Schuller, you end the book with some important words about ultimate respect.  Tell us about the story you heard in your youth.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller:  I first heard this story at a Christian youth camp.  A camp counselor whose name I don't remember gave the lecture.  He talked about making choices in your life. He talked about immediate popularity or ultimate respect.  That thought has stayed with me my entire life.  It's something that I ask myself when I make decisions.  I ask myself if I'm making a certain decision because it's going to make me popular, or am I doing it because it's the right thing to do.  So, I realize that I often have to make decisions that are not going to make me popular; but, because they are the right decisions they will produce ultimate respect!