Twenty five years ago, the youth program I volunteered at asked that I sing the song, "The Class of 95" written by Wayne Watson. The handed me the accompaniment tape and started practicing.  As the days went by, the pressure mounted because Wayne Watson's vocal range is much higher than mine.  I wanted to do a great job however it was physically impossible for me to sing it like Mr. Watson.  As much as I don't like to use the word, "can't," this was something I couldn't do - so I changed the melody. 

After I gave my performance to a fairly large audience, one of the leaders came up and said, "Troy, you changed the song! It was different and really good. Better than the original."  

Two weeks ago, my church asked me to lead a worship song in the key of B.  The key of B is two to three steps higher than my vocal range. There was only one thing I could do.  Since it was impossible for me to hit the same notes as the original artist, and dropping the song three steps would lose the impact of the song, I had to change the melody.  Which is what I did. 

Two nights ago, I felt the Lord telling me something in my dream. You see, life has been hard recently. Even with my positive outlook, I'm starting to have thoughts of, "I can't do it."  The message was crystal clear when I woke up the other day: Since I can't do it, change the melody. 

What are things in your life you can't do? 

How can you change the melody so the essence and impact stays the same, only you can accomplish it now? 

John C. Maxwell writes in his book, 3 Things Successful People Do, the seven signs of a great attitude: 

In his book, The Psychology of Selling, Brian Tracy shares five keys to effective listening: