Sunday, April 5, 2009

Exercise 3

A beautiful tool for encouraging gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal. This is simply a note pad, or diary, or whatever brings you the most joy that you write in every day with 5 things you are grateful for on that day. The idea is not to repeat what you have already written wherever possible to encourage you to seek out more to be grateful for.

Even if it’s the worst day in the world, you could choose to be grateful that you have all your limbs, a shelter over your head, or food on your table. There is always something to be grateful for, whether it’s big or small. It could simply be that you’re so grateful that the worst day in the world is only 24 hours and tomorrow will be a new day.

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
- Thornton Wilder

A good time to write in your gratitude journal is just before you go to sleep at night. Keep it by your bed, and before you nod off to dreamland, reflect on the day and what you have to be grateful for today. This will put you in a beautiful frame of mind before sleeping, but most of all, it will encourage you the next day to look out for more to put in your gratitude journal. This is where the magic happens.

Consider how your life could change if every day you were always seeking out reasons to be grateful. Can you see the power in this beautiful technique? If you take nothing more from this e-book, I hope you try this.

No, no… Thank you!

Gratitude

One of the most powerful ways of attracting more positive experiences, and more prosperity into your life, is to experience gratitude for what you already have. Consider this, the Universe has done its job and sent you everything you ordered, even if you didn’t know you were ordering it. Therefore, if you aren’t even happy with what you have already been given, why would the Universe think to send you anything else?

“Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.”
- Margaret Cousins

Gratitude is one of the single most life changing choices to make, and yet it is also one of the easiest. Choosing to express gratitude for everything in your life will have a truly powerful impact on how you feel every day, what you attract into your life, and the people that you surround yourself with.

Now I know that you’re asking “how can I be grateful for everything? What about the [insert traumatic incident here] that happened to me? How can I be grateful for that?”. I would like to tell you that you should be even more grateful for the traumas, the losses, the dramas, the tragedies and all the other horrible experiences you’re suddenly referencing right now. They are the ones that have taught you the most, and made you the person you are today. There is usually so much more to learn from the tragedies than there ever are from the victories, and that’s why they form such an important part of our lives.

What you need to do though, is focus on the positive learnings from these experiences, and not dwell in the negative. Using this approach will mean you never look at what may seem at first as a negative experience, the same again. You will take it for what it is and look for the blessing, which is such a beautiful blessing in itself.

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you’,
that would suffice.”
- Meister Eckhart

I can personally say that this was one of the most life changing concepts that has ever had an impact on me.

To have things go “wrong” and smile knowingly, excited about the chance to grow and learn, means nothing has the power to make me feel unhappy again. What is that worth?

Haven’t We Been Here Before? (Continued)

Another way to say that would be that you will attract what you put your attention on, whether wanted or unwanted, so if your attention is on how you always get your heart broken… guess what? You’ll get more of it!

The way this works is that everything on this planet is energy; a vibration, not the solid forms that we see around us. Science and Metaphysics have broken down every particle of the human body, and everything that we consider matter or substance, to discover that we are actually made of energy, and so is everything around us.

“Follow your bliss and the Universe will open doors where
there were walls.”
- Joseph Campbell
Everything vibrates at varying levels, and when we are feeling flat, down, negative, or unhappy, we are vibrating at a low level, and attracting other low level vibrations to us. Conversely, when we are happy, positive, excited, energised, we vibrate at a higher level and attract more positive experiences to us, which are vibrating at the same level. This is where such sayings originated, as: being “on a roll” or a “winning streak”. When you’re up, you’re up and things seem to keep coming your way. In fact, Sales trainers often teach that the best time to make a sale, is when you’ve just made a sale. This is because you’re already vibrating at that high level and likely to attract more of the same.

The reason you may have a challenge with this is that it’s generally more natural to focus on your current reality than it is to focus on what you want. So rather than focusing all your thoughts and feelings on the abundance of wealth that the Universe has always had waiting for you, you may have been thinking of how you were going to afford to eat this month.

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny."
- Anonymous

To give you an example of how the Law of Attraction works, several years ago I put pictures of my perfect wedding on my vision board; with beautiful weather, on the beach, with me being head over heels in love with my new husband (who I hadn’t met yet)… not to mention my perfect engagement ring! I got married this last November and it wasn’t until I looked back at my old vision board recently that I realised I had lived out my exact dream wedding.

Not to mention how great it will make you feel to picture yourself driving your new car, living in your new home or marrying the man of your dreams.

“Within you now and always is the unborn possibility of a limitless experience of inner stability and outer treasure, and yours is the privilege of giving birth to it. And you will, if you can believe.”
- Eric Butterworth

A great tool to help you visualise and stay focused on what you do want, which I mentioned briefly above, is to create a vision board. A vision board is a collection of pictures (and words if you want them) of all of your goals and dreams.

Haven’t We Been Here Before?

Have you noticed that there are patterns in your life, where you find yourself again and again going through the same kind of experience, emotion or circumstance? Have you noticed that there are patterns in your life, where you find yourself again and again going through the same kind of experience, emotion or circumstance? (I couldn’t help it! ☺).

For instance, do you know of anyone who always has trouble with relationships? This person always seems to end up with that loser guy/girl and gets their heart broken every time. They may be the loveliest person on earth, yet this keeps on happening.

What about being accident-proned? Have you ever met anyone who always seems to have something go wrong, no matter what they do or where they are? They seem to be a magnet for disaster… and as I’m about to explain, that’s pretty much exactly what they are.
Is there a recurring pattern in your life that you can’t seem to shake? Are you attracting a constant flow of bills and debts rather than an unlimited flow of cash and cheques? There’s a very specific reason why this keeps happening and, best of all, once you know how it works, you can change it!


“Faith is expectancy. You do not receive what you pray for, nor
even what you say you have faith in. You will always receive
exactly what you expect.”
- Eric Butterworth

Put simply, the Universe has Laws. They are basic principles of life and have been around since time began. These laws are unchangeable, undeniable and absolute. No exceptions. Universal Laws apply to everyone, everywhere. They cannot be changed. They cannot be broken. Consider the Law of Gravity; no matter how much it may be nice for the law of gravity not to work sometimes, it will absolutely, positively, 100% always be in effect.
So too will the Law of Attraction. This powerful, universal law says that what you put out, you get back.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Exercise 2

I came across a beautiful technique recently to let go of the stuff that is holding you back, which is a simple, yet powerful visualization. Sit down somewhere quiet, where you will be comfortable and uninterrupted for about 10 minutes. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to get into a relaxed state and then just allow a picture to come into your mind. The picture is of you, in whatever environment you choose that brings you the most peace and joy. That may be sitting on the beach, sitting by a stream in a forest, or on a cloud in the sky… wherever you are happiest, and wherever your imagination takes you.

You will notice that parked nearby is a really big truck, with a strong, heavy duty tow bar, looking like it’s ready to tow something away. You know what to do; it is now time to reach behind you, and unclip your trailer. Immediately notice how much lighter your body feels with that immense weight lifted off.

Now turn around and have a look at what you have been carrying around all of these years. These are all of the emotions, experiences, and stories that you have hung on to for way to long that no longer serve you. These may be specific and detailed experiences, or simply emotions, such as fear, guilt or shame, that it’s time to let go of now.

“We must learn to let go, to give up, to make room for the things we have prayed for and desired.”
- Charles Fillmore

Allow yourself to feel whatever you feel at this point, and allow your intuition to create whatever picture it needs to for you. Whether your trailer is full of Louis Vuitton bags, garbage bags, boxes… or simply a pile of stuff, that’s perfect. Whatever it is for you, is exactly how it should be. Similarly if you’re having trouble getting a picture at all, but can allow yourself to feel the process, that’s perfect too… there are no rules.

After looking at your trailer load of stuff, and saying your final farewells, a big, burly man comes over to you, grabs your trailer and attaches it to the back of the truck. As he drives away with all of your stuff pay attention to how you feel. Do you feel lighter, happier, excited, anxious, ecstatic? Take a few moments to really feel what it means to release so much negativity, and start fresh with no load. Then once you’re done, take a few deep breaths and open your eyes.

Now, if you’re used to doing visualizations, this may have been easy for you, but if you’ve never really done them before, it can be challenging to get a picture. It differs for everyone, and THAT’S OK. You may feel nothing straight away, and that’s ok too. You may even find that you have some interesting dreams tonight, or over the next few days you may notice how much lighter you feel.

A positive side effect is that you may even find that you drop some unwanted weight as a result of this also. Carrying around emotional baggage can have a very strong impact on our physiology as well. How is that for a bonus!

Ahhh… how sweet it is to feel so free!

Let it Go

Now that you have established what it is that you’re lugging around with you, aren’t you suddenly aware of how heavy it feels? It’s as if someone attached a trailer to you when you were young, and over the years you’ve been piling stuff on to it without even realizing. It’s been subtle and happening quietly, and the trailer is dragging along behind you, so you don’t even see it, yet you can definitely feel something weighing you down.

Remember the feeling as a child, of having a spring in your step and bounding around the house or the yard full of energy, like one of those bouncy rubber balls? What happened to that feeling? I’ll tell you what happened… it’s hard to bounce around with a trailer full of stuff attached to your backside!! It’s time to let the stuff go… it’s not serving you.

“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.”
- Joseph Campbell

Imagine if you woke up tomorrow in a brand new place, with complete amnesia about who you were, where you had been or what your life experiences had been like so far. Yes, it could be a little frightening because it’s unknown… but imagine the possibilities! How exciting would the feeling be of beginning a brand new journey with no stuff to hold you back. You wouldn’t know if you were an heiress to a multi-billion dollar fortune, or a beggar off the street, so you could pretty much pick which one and starting feeling like that (I know which one I’d choose!).

Excercise 1

Set some quality time aside for yourself, and maybe set the mood for inspiration by lighting some candles, or putting on some soothing music; whatever works best for you. Take out a pen and paper and allow yourself to be truly honest with what you write down.

Consider what has been holding you back from achieving your goals and dreams, and from living the life that you desire. Allow your story to unfold, and write it all down so you have it on paper, as stories should be.

Do you feel there is something, or someone, in your life that is holding you back?

• Was your childhood traumatic in any way?
• Do you, or have you had an illness to deal with in your life?
• Were you not given many opportunities growing up?
• Write down anything else that you consider an obstacle or a hindrance in your success.

Once you have written down your story, take a few moments to review it and decide how you really feel about it. Are you giving it more power than it deserves? Now it’s time to make a decision. You need to decide if you want to continue hiding behind this story, or break free of it, take back control of your life, and choose success!

The object of this exercise is to make you aware of anything you may be hiding behind, that is stopping you from having everything your heart desires. Just being aware of it has so much impact, as awareness is the first stage of change.

Observe yourself over the coming weeks and months, and take note of the times when your story rears its head… It’s difficult to hide behind an excuse that you have put the spotlight on! You may even enjoy a chuckle at yourself, as you make the decision to step up and push through whatever challenge you’re faced with.

Go get ‘em tiger… Grrrr!

What’s Your Story?

We all have a story we’ve been hiding behind for years, giving us an excuse not to accomplish everything that we’ve dreamed of. Whether you’re already consciously aware of yours or not, I don’t know, but I’d bet that you have one. I’ll let you in on a little secret and give you an idea of what mine was:

“I grew up with very little money in my family, we never lived in our own home and I learned terrible financial habits from my parents. I was never exposed to anyone wealthy to learn how to be a success myself.”

There are really only three words to say in response to that… blah blah blah. Our history has absolutely nothing to do with our future. It is always and only what we choose to do with what we have learned that defines our future. No exceptions.

The great Oprah Winfrey, for instance, was raised in poverty and subjected to sexual assault when she was a child. She could have used that as an excuse for never making anything of her life, yet instead she not only rose above it, but used it to fuel her super success. As a result Oprah is one of the wealthiest women in the world today!

“Nothing is impossible; there are ways that lead to everything, and if we had sufficient will we should always have sufficient means. It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible.”
- Francois De La Rochefoucauld

We can all find a story to hide behind, to give us a reason for not achieving everything we’re more than capable of, or we can choose to achieve it anyway. What’s your story?

Mind Your Language

There is much to be said for the power of words. Just as everything that we attract starts with our thoughts, much of what we think is relayed in the words that we speak. This can be, and usually is, so automatic that we don’t even notice we’re doing it. For instance, how many times lately have you heard yourself say “I can’t afford it”? What about “that’s too expensive” or “I have so many bills” or “I’m in so much debt”… the list could go on, but I think you get the point.
Become aware of the images you are producing in your own mind with the words that you use, it is those images along with the verbal reiteration that will guarantee you manifest exactly that. Use positive language and use words that create positive images for example “Being wealthy makes me feel light and free and I have a bounce in my step!”. Compare this to “Being wealthy means I don’t have to endure the drudgery of working for someone else anymore”. Even though both are statements of what you want, one feels better than the other, this is because the mind does not process negatives like don’t and can’t, it simply conjures up an image of the words you’ve used. Remember: Always say it how you want it.

“Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.”
- Pearl Strachan

To give you an example, one of my coaches, several years ago, started pulling me up on the language I was using. Every time I said “I can’t afford it” he would stop me and give me other examples to use, such as “my money is otherwise allocated”. Eventually it became natural to use only positive terminology, but it just required some practice at first to break the habit. I also wore a rubber band on my wrist for a month, and snapped it every time I caught myself saying something negative! This is a very effective strategy.

Pay close attention to the language that you’re using, and you may start to notice just how often you are reiterating the very situation you don’t want to be in. Don’t give it that much power! Change your language to the positive; instead of saying “I can’t afford it”, why don’t you try “I can afford it but I choose not to buy it today”, or “I’ve chosen to given something else financial priority”.

Put yourself back in control and know that if you really wanted it, you could absolutely find the money.
Consider this… If someone you love was injured and had to be rushed to hospital, and it was up to you to pay the hospital bills to keep them there or they may die… do you think you would find a way to get the money? I think so.

Remember that you always have a choice, and, even though the choice may not be a pleasant one to make, it is in your hands. You can always afford something if you need it, you just may choose to prioritise food this week, rather than a new pair of stilettos!
Similarly, feeling alive, healthy and energetic are magnets for prosperity, and positive outcomes. If you want to attract fantastic people, experiences, and opportunities into your life, then start putting out the right energy.

“Speech is the mirror of the soul; as a man speaks, so he is.”
- Publilius Syrus

Next time someone asks you “how are you?” You could respond with “actually I slept really badly last night, I’ve got a terrible headache, plus the kids are sick at the moment and I’ve got bills coming out of my ears”. But I don’t recommend it. How do you think that would make you – not to mention the poor person who, incidentally, will never ask you that again – feel in that moment? CRAPPY!

So you may have had a bad night’s sleep and have a headache, but do yourself a favour and give yourself the best chance at feeling great. So when someone asks “how are you?” try; “I’m sensational! How are you?” or “I feel phenomenal, and I’m getting better!”. You’ll probably scare the heck out of people and they won’t know what to think, but you may even put a smile on their face too. Best of all, you will really start believing yourself and that’s when the magic happens.

Tell it how it is… Tremendous!!!

Achieving Prosperity

Mindset: Beauty & the Beast

You may or may not have heard of the term ‘lack’ or ‘poverty’ mentality, and I’m here to tell you that right here is where the changes begin. The first thing you need to do to change your financial situation, is to change the way you feel about your financial situation. If you’re constantly worrying about bills, bills and more bills, you’re dwelling on… you guessed it… bills! This is giving a negative situation far more attention than it deserves and making your own life miserable in the process.

Wealth is not just having money, it is about being abundant in every area of your life. To have loads of money and fantastic relationships but be constantly sick and run down isn’t wealth, similarly to be in amazing physical condition and spiritually in touch with the planet and still be lonely due to lack of friends is not wealth either.

“Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are right.”
- Henry Ford

There are plenty of millionaires out there who are constantly concerned about hanging on to their money, making sure they never lose it, focusing on not spending it too much for fear they won’t have it anymore. This is not a wealth mentality, it’s a lack mentality and it can’t possibly be enjoyable in any way. Can you think of anything worse than finally getting to a financially comfortable position and not allowing yourself to enjoy a moment of it?

Conversely, there are many families who have none of the material things many of us would now take for granted. Telephones, computers, even the opportunity to attend school, or a house with four walls and a meal every night is more than many families ever hope to see in their lives. Yet they can find peace and joy in small things, such as spending time with the ones they love, clean water, or a beautiful day. This is a wealth mentality, because wealth is so much more than money.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
- Winston Churchill

So the next time you go to tell your friends or family how many bills you have this month, or what you can’t afford to do, stop for a moment and be grateful for what you do have instead.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

PERFECT YOU

Work on your self:

For long you have cared about your parents, your spouse, your children your colleagues, its time to take care of you, its time to work on yourself. Give life a new approach treat your self well be nice to yourself.

Your clothes:


Take time to shop for nice clothes for yourself, they don’t have to be expensive just ensure they look nice, take time to wash them well and iron them, come out looking smashing, someone was once complemented that he looked good his reply was “it’s deliberate” .Look good deliberately all the time. Fulltime housewives, take your bath early as if you have an appointment to keep, dress nice smell nice treat yourself well live life per day, you are alive be happy to live.

Your meals:

How would you serve a very important visitor? With nice trays cutleries the choicest wine ,take time to give your self the celebrity serving make it often, once a week, once a month, it depends on your pocket but always ensure that each meal you take is nice, well cooked well served ,well eaten.

Take yourself out:

Imagine you had an old friend visiting from another town, where would you take him to? Take your self out often, even if you have 100 children to take care of, make it a habit to frequently take your self out, all by yourself, all alone keep telling your self you are giving yourself a treat, one day life will be over make sure you die smiling knowing you enjoyed the opportunity God gave you.

Make yourself beautiful:

Put extra effort to make yourself, extra beautiful no matter how beautiful you are. For ladies make nice hair styles, get clothes that fits you , not those in vogue, invest in nice perfumes, roll-ons, ensure your nails are nice, artificial or not, know the best make ups that fits you. Make it your duty to always look beautiful. For men all it takes is well ironed clothes. Dress complete ensure you are either completely formal or completely casual, use lovely perfumes mind your color combinations, have a good sense of personal hygiene.

Your weight:

I am personally on the big side, weight has an effect on your ego, do all you can to watch, manage or loose your weight, if there is nothing you can do for now, carry your self well always look smart don’t drag your feet, discipline yourself, check your weight regularly, get a slim down routine give yourself targets and do all you can to meet them, work on your tummy.

Make your self priceless:

Every where you find yourself make yourself irreplaceable, build your character carefully, respect people, run from gossips, don’t run people down. Apologize when you are wrong, don’t talk too much, don’t look down on people, in working environments do your work flawlessly, in all kinds of relationships go the extra mile. Call people to know how they are and tell them you called just to know how they are. Send I care sms, send cards with I care messages hand written in them, give people a listening hear, let them know they can confide in you, learn to keep secrets. Answer your phone calls politely, do all you can to build a reputation that will last even when you are long gone..

Get busy:

Irrespective of what you are presently into ensure you are always busy, if there is a need go back to school, please do, get an exam form, educate yourself, if you are not engaged don’t let your spouse refuse you because of your academic qualification, educate yourself. Learn new skills photography, sewing, hairdressing, playing musical instruments, cooking, and games, whatever. Keep yourself busy. Read, Work on your mind, get into the habit of reading, you could go to the library, download books from the internet or buy, read motivational books, fictions non fictions get into the habit of reading.

“The man, who won’t read, is no better than the man who can’t read.”

Build your sense of humor:

You don’t have to be a clown to make people happy, but a good sense of humor is a priceless asset, it works like medicine. It relieves people of their heartache and makes you a better person. Some people have to spend months to learn how to smile.

"A smile is just a curve that’s always around your lips it might not solve the problem, but it gives you an assurance that all will be well."

Things are usually not as bad as they first appear, choose to be happy, and choose to always make people happy.

Get praying:

I personally believe in the efficacy of prayer, God can do every thing, build a prayer routine, pray for yourself, tell God to make you a better person, pray for others. It will give you great joy to see that your prayer for someone worked.

Give:

“You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.”


When you have give, when you lack give. What will I do with all I have stored up? What joy will I have knowing that I have extra and the man next door has nothing? Make it a part of you to always give.

“Even if there is no reward for the giver, give.”

Visit motherless babies’ home, look around you for less privileged people, always look out for avenues to bless the next person.

DELETE

What bad experience did you go through in the past? Each time you remember it you feel terrible you probably don’t want to talk about it. Let’s learn a major lesson from our mobile phones, pick up your phone go to your phone book, select a phone number you don’t really need and delete it, what happens? It’s gone and except you save it back into the phone’s setting it’s gone for life.

Deleting your past experience might not be that easy, try thinking of all the people that hurt you, most likely the person was once a close person to your heart, a friend, a lover ,a parent, a sibling ,a neighbor, a cousin, an uncle ,whoever. Try remembering the good days you guys shared together. There’s no one that’s unforgivable no matter what he did. Do every thing to forgive and forget ,people believe that you can forgive but you can never forget ,but I discovered that if you truly forgive you will forget, and each time you remember and mention it, it only shows that you have not truly forgiven, unfortunately the person you end up hurting is you.

"Forgiveness is like setting a prisoner free and finding that the prisoner was you."

Forgive, forget, clear your mind make your self a better person, a happier person there should be no bad experience in your memory now, we just deleted it .

Self-Discipline

To really be able to focus demands a lot of self-discipline. Remember that your outcome depends on YOU, not on the world around you. If you want something badly enough you WILL do everything in your power to get it.

Self-discipline in this context is basically only letting yourself do what you WANT to do at that precise moment in time to be able to reach your goals more quickly.

Remember that YOU are the boss of your actions. YOU are the one who is in control. So ultimately YOU decide what and when to do things you need to do to achieve your ultimate success.

Your ability to manage your actions is directly related to the level of success and happiness you will experience throughout your life. Managing your actions is commonly known as exercising self-discipline.

It's absolutely not about restricting your lifestyle, or punishing yourself. It's about being able to work with your thoughts, behaviour and actions in order to reach the goals that you wish to reach.

Not having self-discipline is one of the main reasons why we fail at what we want to do, both professionally and personally. Excuse-making often creates lack of self-discipline, so drop all your excuses and start keeping habits that in themselves will create the self-discipline you need. Make routines that you know you are capable of sticking to, and keep them.

How do you attain self-discipline? A few options could be regular exercise, better, healthier eating, even learning to spend less money. It could be something like deciding to learn something new every single day or just getting up an hour earlier than you normally would.

Having self-discipline will help you to complete the most boring and mundane of the tasks you are focusing on. Should you find yourself sitting and thinking thoughts like “Oh, I’ll just do this instead” or “I can do that some other time” when you are working on your goals then STOP, take a deep breath and remember your self-discipline.

Philosophy Of Life V

Women’s Liberation

In stone age era women were not kept confined to walls and veils because there were neither walls nor veils nor we were civilized enough to feel need of it. Process of civilization had started during stone age. In early stages of civilization we started keeping women behind walls and veils to protect them against yet uncivilized world. The practice of keeping women keeping behind walls and veils continued for thousands of years. This period was so long that we forgot the basic purpose of keeping women behind walls and veils. Instead it became part of culture and tradition. We should realize our folly and liberate women, at least in civilized part of world, form walls and veils.

Life of a jeep

Disappointments, frustrations, failures, illness etc in our life are similar to roadblocks, bumps, twists and turns in path of jeep. Jeep has to be physically rugged if it has to continue to move. Unlike jeep we have to be not only physically but also emotionally rugged. As rugged jeep only can take care of its passengers, we can take care of our dependents.

"Earn but don’t burn".

Meaning of life

A lot of things have been said and written about the meaning of life specially by them whose thinking has been clouded by religious conceptions. There are no rainbows in clear skies. Answer to the question ‘what is meaning of life?’ depends on whose life and ‘meaning to whom’ we are talking about. Normally we talk about human life only.

What meaning can be thought of life of plant and animals which are slaughtered daily in millions and trillions to provide food value to human life? So we think only human life can have some meaning. Yes, our life does have lot of meaning for each other , because our life depends so much on each other. But what about meaning of our life to universe as a whole. Going by our latest scientific knowledge of universe, out of all stars and planets, life exists only on earth. On earth too life was neither there since its beginning, nor may last till its end. I think nothing more need to be said about meaning of our life to universe.

"High thinking and high living are poles apart".

Monday, March 30, 2009

Philosophy Of Life IV

Anger

We get angry whenever we find some body acting against our own interest and we are unable to restrain him. May be that although that persons actions are against our interest, they are perfectly serving his own interests.

I have myself gone through such situations several times. In these situations although I continue to restrain other person to best of my abilities, what controls my anger is my belief that at the core everybody is selfish including myself. Thus I see myself and the other person in same boat. Further I believe that it is my bad luck due to which I am suffering from that person. Thus I do not hold him fully responsible for my fate.

Arrogance

Arrogance results from two things. First from capability of successfully managing one's occupation. Secondly from taking full credit for the success.

Of course individual competence is necessary for success but does it account for every thing? If we think so, perhaps we are underestimating contribution of society and our luck factor for what we are.

Man is a social animal. Without society he is nothing but animal. Yet many behave as if they are self made.

Purpose of life

Purpose of life is to live purposeful life. But what is purposeful life? For those who are religious, religious life is purposeful life. For those who believe in universal religion and universal God , spiritual life as purposeful life.

According to Christianity, this world is temporary. All pains, pleasures and worldly purpose in this world are temporary. This world is going to end and thereafter God will create a new world, which will be permanent. All those living will die. Those living for Christ will find place in the new world and will live forever. Thus for them purpose of life is to find place in new permanent world.

According to Hinduism one of the four purpose of life is Moksha, i.e. freedom from cycle of life and death itself. According to some thinkers this world is an illusion. For them reality is nothing and nothing is reality. Along with the world, the life, and ‘purpose of life’ are illusory. When they go through personal tragedies, sometimes even hardcore illusionist’s mind may be taken over by emotions and illusory world may appear to be too real to be unreal.

Purpose of life may also keep on changing as we move on in life. For some it changes from worldly to out worldly, for others it may remain worldly throughout the life. Those who are neither aware of any out worldly purpose nor have any significant worldly purpose left to be achieved, life becomes purposeless.

Some people find it difficult to admit that life could also be purposeless. According to them, since God has created life, it can’t be purposeless, especially if it is human life.

There are millions and millions who are not able to manage basic necessities of life such as food and shelter. Can they think of any purpose in life? For them is there purpose in living or living is the only purpose? Is the need for purpose is a higher need after basic needs have been met with?

What are the options if to you your life seems to be purposeless? If you find your life
purposeless, most probably you are either atheist or agnostic. In that case to you the life of every body else also may also seem to be purposeless. You may take solace in the fact that you are not alone in going through a purposeless life. Even the life of those living apparently purposeful life may appear to you as purposeless as you find their purposes purposeless. To you perhaps life is nothing more than a chemical process. You do not worry about after life. To you life is like an onion. Peel it off layer by layer at the end you find nothing or life is like a broken pencil, it is pointless.

In life if you keep complaining about your fate,
Life may go in just complaining.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Philosophy of Life III

'Why me?' Syndrome

Quite often we see bad things happening to good people and we wonder why it should happen to them. We wonder because somewhere in our mind there is a belief that only good things happen to good people and vice-versa. The belief is so strong that it doesn't go in spite of witnessing innumerable examples contradicting it. The belief is outcome of tenets of most of religions. Naturally when bad happens to us, we are not able to see beyond haze of religious conceptions and misconceptions and can't help asking ' Why me?'.

"If good can happen, even if we do bad, why bad can't happen even if we do good?"

Goodness quotient

Man's goodness can be defined simply as his concern for others. Goodness quotient can be defined as ratio of his concern for others to his total concerns. Goodness is relative. A person is considered good if his goodness is higher than that of an average person in the society. No body is 100% good. Can we also say that nobody is 0% good ?

"Mahatma is one whose soul doesn't rest in peace till there are tears even in a single eye ."

Ganpati Bappa Morya

Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival , celebrated in India. On this day idols of Ganesh are installed at homes and public places with gaiety. Idols of Ganesh are bought in processions. On one such occasion, man, women, girls and boys were dancing on the tune of their favorite music albums shouting slogans ' Ganpati Bappa Morya' in praise of Ganesha. Procession after procession was passing through a street. There were also stray animals on the street witnessing the scene. Perhaps they were wondering what has happened to man ?

Friday, March 27, 2009

Confidence

Before we start, please keep one thing in mind; Confidence and arrogance are two totally different things. If you confuse the two, you will most certainly become a very unhappy person with very few real friends. Arrogance is NOT a “quality” and it won’t help you reach your goals any faster.

Confidence in oneself, or the lack thereof is what stops people from getting tightly focused on what they want to achieve. That little voice telling them they can't do something is their biggest UN-motivator. What can YOU do to gain confidence?

25 Tips Toward Boosting Your Confidence and Self
Esteem.

1. Love Yourself:

This can take a bit of practice and looks really funny, but try it, it works. When you wake up, give yourself a great big hug. Do the same when it’s time for sleep.

You’ve heard this said a million times before: “How can you expect others to love you if you don't love yourself?” It’s true. Practice the morning and evening hugs for 2 weeks, maybe 3 weeks if you're the stubborn type and you’ll see how well it works.

2. Look in the mirror:

Every time you pass a mirror, look into it and flash your biggest and best smile at yourself. It might feel strange at first, but eventually it’ll make you feel brilliant about yourself. Tell yourself “Looking good!” or “Wow, I love me!” or similar phrases often enough to actually start believing it.

3. Do things that make you feel good:

This can be anything from listening to music, trekking in the Andes, doing some volunteer work or even just taking a shower. Anything that gives you a positive feeling about yourself works for this one.

4. Listen to YOU:

Face it. Nobody knows you better than you know yourself, no matter how many people try to tell you differently. So if your body, mind or gut is telling you something, then take notice of it, and don't worry about what other people may possibly have to say about it.

5. Talk to YOU:

In times of stress, take a time-out break. Wander into your own mind and have a conversation with yourself about anything at all. Tell yourself how lucky you are to be you, and praise yourself for every good and positive thing you can attribute to yourself.

6. Remove negatives:

If anything feels like it’s dragging you down, get rid of it. If it’s clutter, tidy up, if it’s a friend full of negativity explain nicely that you don’t really feel up to talking right now. If it’s your kids acting up, leave the room for a while and so on.

7. Surround with positives:

Surround yourself with things that bring out good feelings in you. Examples could be things such as happy, upbeat friends, a nice new picture, a new car, an old comfy blanket, candles, pictures of your family, your girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse etc.

8. Rumours Die:

Did you hear something about somebody who said something about somebody else? Drop it! Rumours are nasty, horrible things that will only bring you down. Best way to kill a rumour? Ignore it!

9. Total Honesty:

Be totally honest with yourself at all times. If there’s something you don't like, admit it. If there’s something you don’t want to do “right now” and it isn’t necessary for health and safety reasons then just don’t do it until you feel like it.

Same goes for the positive aspects. If there’s something you want to do, and it’s not hurting anybody, then go ahead and do it. If you start feeling great about yourself for no apparent reason admit it and enjoy the feeling.

10. Responsibility

Take full responsibility for your own actions. Don't shove the blame for anything over onto someone or something else. We all make choices in our lives, and once we take responsibility for those choices we tend to choose better for ourselves.

Once we start to choose better, we feel better and things start falling into place. On the other hand, don't take over someone else’s responsibilities just because you feel “you have to”.

11. Pretend:

If you feel unsafe, unsure or nervous then go inside yourself and pretend you’re a hot-shot lawyer, actor, actress, singer or whatever you need to be. Make believe you’re presenting yourself as that person would until you feel better. Trust me, you WILL feel better, and eventually have no need to be anything but yourself.

12. Keep Trying:

If you’re trying to do something but don't get it right first time round, then try again, and again, and again, constantly learning from your mistakes until you get it right. When you finally DO get it right, you’ll feel wonderful about it.

13. Credit where credit is due:

If you’ve done something really good, and people compliment you on it, accept the compliments with thanks! Understand that they’re complimenting because they really ARE impressed with what you’ve done.

Believe in you and give yourself a pat on the back. (Although physically it would probably be easier to just give yourself a round of applause).


14. Stand Tall:

Standing up straight will ALWAYS make you feel better about yourself than slouching does. Stand with your feet slightly apart, suck in your tummy and behind, broaden your shoulders and straighten your neck. It’s an amazingly quick confidence boost.

15. Say Hello:

Make it a rule to say hi to at least one person you don't know EVERY day. Give them the smile you flash at yourself in the mirror, the biggest and best one you can find. They’ll smile back automatically, and they’ll walk away with a little extra confidence boost thanks to you.

People look their best when they smile, and they also feel better by smiling too! This ultimately means you get a confidence boost too, for making someone else feel good about themselves.

16. Never Say Never....Ever:

If you think something can’t be done, then you'll end up proving yourself right eventually. So never say never, just keep plugging along until it works for you. If other people are telling you it can’t be done, you're going to feel such immense satisfaction at actually doing it that your confidence will soar.

17. Get Active:

Don't sit around the house just doing nothing. Get up, go out, cycling, walking, exercising, anything that might invigorate your brain. A lively brain full of thoughts will help you gain confidence.

18. “Happy Foods”:

Happy foods, such as chocolate, strawberries, lemons, ice-cream etc will increase the serotonin levels in your brain, leading to an increased feeling of happiness.

Feeling happy is a natural confidence boost. So go on, enjoy your food! (in moderation, of course).

19. Face Your Fear:

Is there something you are afraid of? Face it full on. Doing something scary and overcoming the fear is a fantastic way to boost your confidence. So go on, jump out of that plane (with a parachute of course), drive that car, speak infront of a large crowd, ask for a promotion, or whatever it is that scares you. You'll feel absolutely brilliant once it’s done.

20. Willpower:

Create a goal that you really want to reach. Possibly something like weight loss before a certain time, giving up smoking or having a certain amount of money in the bank within so many months etc. Take baby steps, and use your willpower until you succeed at reaching your goal.

It will be really hard, as will power can be very elusive at times, but keep going and don't give up. Once you have reached that first goal by using your willpower you will have the confidence to create new goals AND reach them.

21. Ask questions:

Any time you find yourself worrying about something you haven’t done, or something you think you should have done, ask yourself positive questions. Instead of thinking “I’m terrible for missing my friend’s birthday” think “What can I do to make my friend feel special?”

Or, instead of “Why can’t I ever seem to do things on time?” change it to “What can I change to better manage my time” Creating positive questions will release the negative energies which have a tendency to pull down your self confidence.

22. Learn:

Accept that not everything works out the way we plan it. Decide to accept any mistakes and rejections as part of a learning curve that we all need to go through.

Without mistakes, you can’t learn from your own experiences. Remember, experience builds confidence, so always learn as much as you can.

23. List:

Write a list of every single thing you're good at, anything from clipping the dog’s toenails to putting up a shelf. Take the time to sit and actually think about what you ARE good at and add them all to the list. You'll be surprised athow many things you end up jotting down, no matter how minor or trivial they may seem at the time.

Whenever you have a spare 5 minutes, or if you're feeling a little low, take the list out of your pocket and read it. This is a great little way to give yourself a nice confidence boost.

24: Help out:

There are lots of ways to help others, and feeling useful and helpful are great ways of building your confidence. Just make sure you do things because you WANT to do them. You could call a good friend who may be down at the moment-even take them out for coffee, you will brighten both your days, or you could possibly help out at an old folks home or similar. Knowing that
people appreciate your help will boost your confidence for sure.

25: Show the way:

Think of the one thing you do best of all. Think long and hard about this one. Thought of something? Now, find a discussion group or similar related to that topic and spread your wisdom by answering questions, offering advice or help to anybody needing it. If you can’t find a group, you could even start one yourself.

People will look up to you and that will give you all the more reason to feel confident about yourself.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Philosophy of Life II

Religion

All religions originated with the aim of making the world a better place to live in. Originators and propagators of most of the religions realized that if every body works for self interest only there would be conflict of interests and weaker would suffer more. Hence in most of the religions, any activity which adversely affects others is considered immoral. The biggest challenge confronting religious heads was how to keep man away from doing immoral things. In most of the religions this challenge was met by taking recourse to the concept of God. God was attributed to be omnipresent, guaranteeing rewards and punishments either in this life itself or in the next life.

Morality

Man's actions are by and large governed by self-interest. Morality is a code of conduct to ensure that our actions are not just governed by self interest, but the interest of other members of the society is also taken into consideration. Morality has relevance only in context of society. No action is moral or immoral for a man living in isolation. Man's observance to this code of conduct, which we call morality or goodness, partly comes from within himself and partly results from external controls. Whereas taking care of interests of near and dear ones comes from within, external controls determine as to what extent we take into account interests of other members of society.

Promoting Morality

Following are different ways of promoting morality in society,

a. To make people good so that even the concern for others, apart from near and dear ones, comes from within.

b. To make them believe that it is in their own ultimate interest to be good to others. This approach is adopted by most of the religions.

c. To establish regulatory controls so that there is no choice but to act good.

In principle method 'a' is the best, ensuring that goodness comes from within but in practice it has proved to be most difficult method. Method 'b' has been the most successful till now, but with dwindling faith in religion and God this method may not work for long. Now all we can have is method 'c'.

"Keep controlling morality of others, yours will get automatically controlled by others"

Focus

Focus: Can it work for you?

Are you doing exactly what you want to do in your life today? Have you attained every goal you ever set yourself? If you can answer yes to these questions, then this Blog probably not for you. But wait! If you answered NO to these questions and your answers to the following questions are still NO, then this Blog a MUST READ for you.

Ø Do you find it EASY to concentrate and focus 100% on the task in
hand?

Ø Is it SIMPLE for you to exercise self-discipline when you need to?

Ø Are you CONFIDENT when talking with peers, partners or even
your kids?

Ø Have you LEARNT how the art of focus, confidence and selfdiscipline
changes lives?

Ø Can you look yourself in the mirror SMILING about everything
you've accomplished so far?

Ø Have you ever found yourself stuck in a rut with the feeling that
your life is going NOWHERE?

Ø Have you ever felt UNSURE about the steps you have taken, and
continue to take in your life?

Ø Are you EXACTLY where you want to be in life right now? No?


Don’t worry, and don’t feel bad. There are lots of other people just like you. People who have no direction, or they could possibly have a direction but just don’t know how to get there. I may just have the answer for you today.

Everybody’s life has its ups and downs, but not everybody is aware that they can actually DO something themselves to turn things around. Knowing how to focus, how to build up confidence and self-esteem, and knowing when to exercise self-discipline are HUGE steps toward a better life for yourself and those around you.

Ok, let’s get down to why you are REALLY reading this Blog. Let’s look at focus, confidence and self-discipline and see what we can do to make things work for you!

Focus

Focus is a scary word to most people. What can it do for us? How can it help us? Can we program ourselves to focus? Focus, confidence and self discipline all work hand in hand with each other.

Learning to focus can help us in many ways. It can help us realize what we really want in life, it can help us make good and informed decisions. It can also help us to accept ourselves just the way we are, without feeling the need to condemn ourselves or put ourselves down in any way, shape or form.

Focus can help us gain confidence, power and happiness. Focus can also help us remain grounded and stay on track. Focus can change confusion into absolute knowledge and self-criticism into love for oneself.

Always be aware that you ARE able to focus on what you want, and to focus your thoughts on anything at all. Try it now by thinking about the dishes, now change your focus and think about your car. Switch focus again and think about a dog. It really is that easy to focus on whatever you want to focus on.

We all need to learn to set aside time to be used on the one thing we want or need to focus on. It’s not a matter of “taking the time” to focus, but more a matter of “making the time”. If we are willing to make the time, we will focus a lot better on whatever it is you want or need to do.

You ask me how I can possibly make time to focus with four demanding children, 3 dogs and a new house? Easy, I can stay up for an extra hour when all the kids are in bed and the house is quiet, and MAKE the time to focus on what I’m doing with absolutely no distractions at all.

Oh, that’s right; you work too, so you’re too tired to stay up late. How about getting up half an hour early, before the madness at home begins? Before you go to bed, get everything ready for your early morning “focus time” so that you don’t have to run around looking for it when you’re half awake. Of course, this means you have to have a plan of action ready beforehand.

Decide when you are going to make time, and stick to it like glue. Don’t let ANYTHING take you away from that time. Make sure you have everything you need all in one place, a room, or even a corner of a room where you can sit in peace. Unplug the phone, turn off the television, and don’t even listen to quiet background music.

Whatever happens around you will distract you unless you learn how to focus. Sometimes it seems easier to just go along with these distractions than to focus on the end goal. Remember, if you let yourself go along with the distractions, you are losing sight of your goals. Sharpen your vision of what you want or you WILL be at the mercy of your environment.

When you want something you have to decide EXACTLY what it is you want. If you don’t know what you want, there’s no way on earth you’re going to be able to focus on it. So you want to pass that driving test that you’ve taken and failed umpteen times, or you want to pass that really important exam in school.

You might want to write a book, or build a website, run your own business, be a teacher or any number of different things. The main thing is you have to KNOW that’s what you want, and you have to set your aims high and demand yourself to focus on getting it.

Once you decide what you want, you have to decide WHY you want it. Visualize yourself in that brand new Mercedes or BMW, or in front of that school desk teaching the kids geography. The vision makes you feel good, right? So that’s why you want it, it feels good to do what you want to do, be who you want to be and own what you want to own.

Visualization is a major part in being able to focus. If you can actually see yourself in the position you want to be in, then it’s so much easier to focus on the task of getting there.

The next thing you have to do is to decide how you’re going to actually get what you want. What are you willing to sacrifice in the quest to get those great exam grades? What can you do without in order to start up your own business? How can you make your family life happier and more peaceful?

Sit back and close your eyes, imagining what it will be like to have what you want in life, and think long and hard about what you can give up so that you can get there.

Say you want a new sofa, but the only way you can get one is if you quit smoking. Envision the sofa, with you and your partner cuddling up on it. What colour is it? Is it big and fluffed up, or is it a small ultra-modern sofa? Focus on the sofa and want it badly enough, you WILL stop smoking so you can get it.

These are all small things and perfectly attainable with a little bit of focus, but what if you want bigger and better things than that? Well then you set goals for yourself. First overcome the exams, once that goal is reached go get that driving licence. Next you get a brand spanking new BMW.

Keep setting goals; as soon as you reach the first one, move on to the next, staying focused all the time on what it is you want.

Reaching that first goal will give you an incredible boost of confidence, which in turn will make it so much easier to get started on the next goal. The more goals you reach, the more confidence you will have in yourself and that will fuel the success of the next goal, and the next one after that, until there are endless possibilities for you.

Start off by writing down each and every goal you WANT to reach in your lifetime. Then write a daily plan for the goal you want to reach first. Write the plan before you go to bed at night, it gives your brain time to take it all in and work with it.

It’s amazing what the brain will do when we are sleeping. Also, writing the plan the night before helps free up that time during the next day so that you can purely sit and focus on the task at hand.

Make the plan a numbered list and cross each item off as you finish it. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you get through it this way. Once you’ve reached the outcome you want, move on to your next goal following the same pattern as before.

If you find your thoughts wandering in your “focus time” take a break, write down your thoughts and put them away somewhere for future reference. If you find there are multiple things you can do to attain your goals, figure out which of them is the one most likely to help you get there quickest.

Put the others on hold, they may come in useful when you’re aiming for that next goal.

If you lock your focus, and stick with it for as long as you have to, you WILL succeed. If you stick to one thing, one goal and focus on that, it's virtually impossible to not reap the rewards of your actions.

Philosophy of Life

Hard work and fate

There are two widely prevailing and mutually contradictory views on hard work. One is that however hard you work, you are only going to get whatever is there in your fate. Other one is that 'nothing is impossible'. First view is held by those who are influenced by experiencing failures in spite of hard work. Second view is held generally by those who have experienced success.

My views on hard work are somewhat statistical. To me fate is nothing but chance. While people say somebody is born in rich family by fate, I would say it is so by chance.

Thus it would be more appropriate to say that hard work doesn't guarantee success, but improves its chance.

"All fingers are not alike. If you stretch smaller ones to make all equal, it is socialism. If you cut bigger ones to make all equal, it is communism. If you do nothing to make all equal, it is capitalism. "

Alternate medicines

In greek the 'allo' means different. Perhaps allopathy meant a different therapy. Today it is no longer just a different therapy but since long time has established itself as main therapy. Alternate systems of medicines harp on the fact that allopathic medicines have side effects. Many of today's so called alternate medicines do not have any effect. Where is the question of side effects ?.

"Poor are poor , because rich are rich"

Existence of God

Existence of God is matter of faith. He exists at least to those who have faith in him. But it is the society which creates the faith and society consists of men. This brings us to famous question 'Man is God's creation or God is man's creation?

“In past people never questioned existence of God, because they knew he exists, in future also they will not. Because they will know he doesn’t."

What is Success???

Success is not an accident. It is a result of your attitude and your attitude is a choice. Hence success is a matter of choice and not chance.

Why does one person move forward with one success story after another, while others are still getting ready?

The common man seeks security, whereas the uncommon man seeks opportunity. If the answer of this question becomes part of the way you learn, it would revolutionize your life.

Success is no mystery. It is simply the result of consistently applying some basic principles. Similarly, failure is simply a result of making a few mistakes repeatedly.

How do we recognize success? To some people, success might mean wealth. To others, it is recognition, good health, a good family, happiness, satisfaction and peace of mind. What this really tells is that success is subjective.

The definition that I feel best defines "success" is:

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal.
- Earl Nightingale.

Lets simplify this definition:

"Progressive" means that success is a journey, not a destination. We never arrive. After we reach one goal, we go on to the next and the next and so on.

"Realization" means it is an experience. Outside forces cannot make me successful. I have to feel it within myself. It is internal not external. That is why what often appears as successful externally may be total hollowness within.

"Worthiness" refers to our value system without which goals can be unworthy. Which way are we heading? Towards positive or negative goals? Worthiness determines the quality of the journey. That is what gives meaning and fulfillment. Goals are important because they give us a sense of direction. Success without fulfillment is empty.


A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory.
- Arthur Golden