Ten Keys for Finding Happiness

Ten Keys for Finding Happiness


Use these Ten Keys for Finding Happiness in Your Life

1. Live on purpose.
Joyful aliveness connects you with your purpose. Learn the skills you need to create happiness. Discover the activities and pursuits that make your heart sing! These engaging activities provide clues to your purpose and will assist you in finding happiness.

If you want to maintain desperation and unhappiness, then believe that life has no purpose.

2. Find Happiness right now.
No other time exists for experiencing happiness. Only the present moment contains the spark of life!



You may also create misery by constantly wanting to speed ahead to some other time. Most people live their lives wanting to exist elsewhere and elsewhen.



3. Accept total responsibility for your life! You create your reality and your emotions. Your power and focus exceed your wildest dreams. See this short video about finding happiness through creating reality.



You can choose to blame and whine, pretending that your life situation came from without, rather than from within. As within, so without. Accept total responsibility for all.



4. Act in boldness. Take on challenges and pursue lofty goals. Overcoming difficulties and obstacles provide some of the most exquisite joys in life.



To create misery, play it totally safe. Never do anything scary or risky. Follow your fears and let them guide your actions. For happiness and joy - feel the fear, and do it anyway!



5. Expect happiness. Hope consists of a perfect expectation of desirable things to come. Picture desirable things to come. You choose what to think about, and what to visualize in your mind's eye! Imagine yourself finding happiness.



Despair consists of a perfect expectation of undesirable things to come. To increase despair, simply imagine in detail terrible things that may happen to you. The better your imagination, the deeper the despair. You get what you truly expect, so expect happiness.



6. Increase your awareness. Feel your emotions consciously. Identify your core beliefs. Constantly learn and grow from the inside. Your unhealthy attitudes, habits, and behaviors will start to drop away like fall leaves. Watch this quick video on identifying emotions.



To maintain apathy and misery, just remain unaware. Allow clarity to flee from you like a deer from a hunter. Remain in unconsciousness and cloudiness - afraid to explore your beliefs.



7. Build your connections. Our relationships give life meaning and happiness. All of us truly connect to one another in the inner world. Building connections in the physical world builds on this inner reality and helps us in finding happiness.



To create misery, simply separate yourself from others. Think that you exist as an independent entity, and other people merely drag you down. Insist on separateness and division. Deny the truth of connectedness and pursue unreality.



8. Learn and read daily. We grow in large measure due to the people we meet and the books we read. Did you read 52 books last year? Did you foster more friendships? We create happiness when we grow and increase our wisdom.



To prevent happiness, try not to meet any new people this year, and don't read any new books either. Simply stay just the same person with the exact same ideas. For optimal joy, go for optimal growth and learning!



9. Serve other people. Truly recognize other people as real people, with needs and wants just like your own. Think how you can bring a smile to someone, and then do it! Give increased life in every encounter. Service is a huge key for finding happiness in your life.



To create misery, ignore other people and totally concern yourself with your own needs. Don't think of other people as real.



10. Prioritize your actions. Know your goals and purposes, and put power and faith into every action. Do each action with focus and purpose, and know why you choose the activities you expend your energy on.



If you want to decrease joy, simply do as many things as you can each day. Never think of which tasks connect with your goals, simply busy yourself with work.



Enjoy the Ten Keys to Finding Happiness

The Whole Secret to Finding and Living Your Purpose

The Whole Secret to Finding and Living Your Purpose


There is so much talk about finding your purpose. The general idea is that you will feel truly fulfilled when you find your purpose. Unfortunately, finding your purpose is often obscured by a general misunderstanding of what purpose is.



Without an accurate understanding of what purpose is you can go on a wild goose chase – trying thing after thing after thing trying to find what it is you are “supposed” to do. Let’s get clear on something – Purpose is a package that consists of two parts:



1. what



2. how



When we talk about purpose it is very common to mistake the what and the how. The what of purpose, the meat of purpose, is the same for every single human being on this planet. Your purpose, my purpose, your neighbor’s purpose, everyone’s what, is to love. That’s it. Period.



Now that you know what your purpose is, the juicy question is:



How can I love in the least obstructed, most beautiful, fulfilling way possible?



What is so wonderful about getting clear about the difference between the what and the how is that you can do the what RIGHT NOW! You don’t have to wait to discover the ultimate how. You can fulfill your purpose by being love more and more and more each day. Just love.



What is so interesting, and beautiful, about this is that simply by doing the what the how begins to reveal itself. All you have to do is pay attention to flow.



Think of flow as a great big “yes” from the cosmos.



When you love, you will begin to experience more flow. Flow makes things magical. You’ll notice things like:



* weird synchronicities



* things getting easy



* being more creative



* increases in your energy



* having answers just pop right into your head



What you want to do is to begin to pay attention to the ways you are loving when these things happen. For example – I notice that when I give away my work to someone, like a person who really, really needs a session but simply cannot afford it and is in really bad shape, just getting their butt kicked by life – well, sometimes it is put in my heart to help someone and not charge them so I honor that. The person then feels really grateful and will start to go into an indebted mentality. And what I say to them is: “Don’t worry about. By you receiving the session I get to get some new clients so I actually feel really grateful to you for letting me do this because I am about to get styled-out by the Cosmos.” Then, inevitably, I will get at least 1 new client and more often it’s a 3:1 ratio. This is flow.



Now there are things that I do, that I “give away”, where I do not then get styled-out by the Cosmos – I just feel drained or unappreciated or silly. This is not-flow.



Flow is like a trail of bread crumbs you simply follow and it will lead you to how you should be fulfilling your what. (Again, your what is your purpose to love.) Following flow is also really beautiful because it filters things for us. What I mean is that most of us feel simply overwhelmed by all the things we could be doingand we get confused by this: “Should I pursue a degree in ________ or should I just start a non-profit or should I make art or should I climb the ladder at work or should I write a book?” You get the idea.



By following flow, the way we should be loving that is most fulfilling to us will reveal itself so there is nothing to worry about or figure out. It’s really incredible. And quite the relief.



Our deepest talents and gifts and fulfillment all come to light, they all surface, by loving and then following the flow. What I find so interesting is that this dynamic – this dance between what, flow, and how – is so perfect and so brilliant. You see, when you love and you follow flow you step onto a path that grows you into the person you were born to be.



For each step you take in the direction that flow leads your mind is expanded a bit and your capacity to imagine and desire more and more wonderful things is grown. Too, your confidence will increase and your fearfulness will lose its grip on you. This means you will begin to love more and more boldly. You will become less and less obstructed by limitation – yours and others’.



All the processing in the world cannot touch the transformative power of living love, following flow, and discovering the how that is revealed in this approach. I would also like to say that personal fulfillment does not and cannot ultimately happen in isolation. We are connected and, as such, the things we do are only truly and deeply rewarding when they reflect the truth of connection. In other words, it ain’t just about you. Because you is about your totality, your wholeness. And your wholeness is realized only when you see, experience, and act as a member of a much larger whole. It is the difference in perspective equivalent to how a teenager sees things and how an adult sees things.



So this is pretty good news, isn’t it? You get to start living your purpose and feeling increasingly more fulfilled and you don’t have to even have the slightest idea of how you should be doing it.



In other words – you can be a waste disposal expert, a secretary, a CEO, a struggling artist, unemployed, or totally lost and you can still live your purpose. And you can find your how just by following the trail of breadcrumbs – you don’t have to know anything more than that and that path will lead you to the person you truly are meant to be.

Step Out of the Rush and Into Relaxed Living

Step Out of the Rush and Into Relaxed Living


A family went to its favorite park for a Saturday picnic lunch. While the three boys, William, Paul, and Michael, played together, running up and down the green rolling hills as fast as they could, Dad put the finishing touches on the meal while Mom put out the paper plates on a checkered picnic tablecloth.



Suddenly, they heard the youngest child, William, cry out, as if in pain. A second later, they were dashing in the direction of the distant sound, unable to see any of the boys because the hills obscured any direct line of sight. When they arrived, they found Michael, the eldest, standing over William, who was lying on the ground whimpering.



“What on earth have you done to your brother?” the mother demanded of Michael. “I’ve told you time and time again not to pick on him!”



“But, I didn’t,” Michael protested. “That’s not what happened!”



“Well, then,” asked the father, “Why is he lying here crying like this if you didn’t hurt him?”



Michael paused and looked over at his middle brother, Paul, hoping to find some kind of support. Finding none, he gathered himself and answered:



“We were all running up and down the hill, and while William was walking up, I was running down.” Michael looked over once more to Paul, but he could see Paul was actually enjoying the moment.



“And . . . ?” Mom and Dad asked at almost the same time, seeing that Michael was stalling for time.



“Well, I guess on the way down I ran over William . . . and that’s why he’s crying . . . but I didn’t mean to . . . honest!” said Michael.



“Then why did you trample over him?” asked the father in a tone that told Michael he wanted to hear the truth and nothing but the truth.



Michael paused to think over how to explain the incident and then, suddenly realizing exactly what had happened, spoke these words:



“I was just going too fast to stop,” he said, “and . . . well, William just got in the way. I’m sorry Dad. . . Mom . . . really, I am!”



We’ve all probably “run over” someone emotionally or hurt a friend, a loved one, or even a complete stranger while racing to get somewhere or do something “important.” And, like Michael, we regret it—most likely too late to do any good.



There may be no greater self-deception than the false notion that rushing through anything actually helps us in any way whatsoever. After all, if anxious thoughts and feelings had any power to deliver us to a place or time where peace awaits, don’t you think we’d have gotten there by now? Let there be no mistake here:



When it comes to being in a hurry, what difference does it make how fast you can get somewhere when all you find there is the next thing for you to rush through?



The following nine lessons contain special insights into the invisible pressure-filled states that cause human beings to run themselves ragged. The more clearly we can see that it’s impossible to reach a place of rest by rushing to get there, the sooner we’ll arrive at the true solutions that allow us to relax, slow down, and realize the relaxed pace of an inwardly liberated life. Study each of these lessons separately, but see them as telling one story whose happy ending goes something like this: You not only find the courage you need to step out of the rush, but you also awaken to a whole new order of yourself that gets everything done without you doing yourself in!



1. Anyone who rushes through life always finishes last! This is a truth unseen by the masses, but evident to those weary of going nowhere fast. You race as you do to escape the unhappiness you feel being where we are, running towards what you imagine will free you from that dissatisfaction. But such races are always lost before they begin because you can’t outrun yourself!



2. All forms of momentum are mindless, but never more so than when a mind—blinded by desire—runs after what it wants without any awareness of its action.



3. Patience is a great virtue whose cost is paid by becoming painfully conscious of what our impatience does to others.



4. The rush to judgment is a race that nobody wins!



5. Allowing the rushed state of another person to push you into an anxious state of mind is like letting the horse you’re about to ride convince you to wear the saddle!



6. You are well on our way to reclaiming your original fearless Self when you find your source of peace and contentment in just being alive.



7. Rushing through life lends the one who habitually hurries the feeling of being “important,” but loans such as these come at the high cost of always having to justify one’s unkindness—like when we have to convince ourselves that our impatience with others is a necessary evil along the way to that “greater good” towards which we think we run.



8. The main reason it’s wise to listen to one’s own heart—whenever we can step out of the rush and remember to do so—is because there’s much more to be learned from the parts of us that don’t “speak” in words . . .than those that do.



9. The most important thing to remember whenever you find yourself in a mad rush is that what you are really trying to get to is a quiet mind . . . a peaceable state of self reached only by realizing there is no place more empowering for you to be than in the present moment.

Failure Is The First Step Towards Success

Failure Is The First Step Towards Success


There is no such thing as failure – the only REAL failure is a lack of action.



We all have goals and dreams in life, and when we are on our own, when we are planning our lives they seem feasible – ambitious perhaps, but we tell ourselves that with hard work we can achieve them.



The next day however when we get into the real world and it is time to take action they seem a lot more difficult.



It is easy to sit at home and plan, and imagine yourself taking action, but when we get out into the real world there are many things which might hold us back.



Often these are just excuses we tell ourselves, to cushion ourselves from the reality that we just didn’t take action.



The reasons vary – from worrying what people will think of us, to not knowing exactly what to do, or pretending that the circumstances are not exactly right… All of these reasons when you break them down usually come to a fear of failure.



We are a proud race, we don’t like to admit defeat, or admit that we can’t do something.



We often protect our ego’s at all costs, and sometimes we trick ourselves to do this, subconsciously reasoning that if we don’t try we don’t fail, we will be successful as soon as we try tomorrow, or next time the circumstances are right… only tomorrow never comes, and the circumstances never quite fit. We move on to a different goal, and the pattern continues.



Break The Cycle!



If you keep doing the same things you will get the same results. To achieve something different we need to do something different, and this often involves getting out of our comfort zones and putting our pride on the line.



When you take the first steps in any pursuit – whether it is going for a job interview, volunteering to make a presentation often failure is inevitable. What really matters is how you perceive it – some people embrace failure – see it as a learning process and something they can learn from.



You need to frame it like this within your mind – to accept failure as inevitable and to actually embrace it. Failure is the first step on the path to success, and it is very rare that anyone who achieves massive success in any pursuit has had a clear path there, free from failure.



People Who Are Successful Always Failed At First!



On the way to success people who are industry leaders, inventors, entrepreneurs, they will have experienced failure on a massive scale. They will have encountered many obstacles and overcome them.



They don’t worry about failure, in-fact they see it as a signpost to success. If they are failing then they are making progress – they learn how to do something successfully, by naturally learning all the different ways not to do it first.



This can be seen in all areas of life:



• In the entrepreneur who makes a loss in his first year of business but goes on to sell his business after 5 years for several million dollars.



• In the person who tries to learn the skill of public speaking – they go through many sessions and hours of sweating, shaking, and stuttering through their performances before it starts to come naturally to them.



• In the person who finally loses the weight they have carried around for years. They spend years trying different diets, learning what works for them and what doesn’t and through persistence and trying again and again they find something that works really well for them.



• In the dancer who wants to dance on Broadway – they go to 100s of auditions, and in the end they get just one chance. The 99 other parts they went for are meaningless once they achieve their dream – it is all just part of the process.



There is also the analogy of the “failure rocket”: A rocket flying to the moon “fails” every few seconds – it is constantly just a millimetre off course, over the whole course of the journey this would mean it would miss the moon completely. However, the scientists constantly adjust the trajectory and put the rocket back on course. Eventually the rocket reaches the moon safely and the whole world sees this as a massive success.



You have to think the same way – to see your “failures” as feedback, not only as inevitable episodes on the path to success, but as beneficial lessons which you need to learn from in order to be successful.



Once you do this you lose the fear of failure and start taking positive steps towards your goals. Once you do this process once and achieve success at the end then it will become second nature to you – you will live your life by this rule and measure your success by the failure you have to go through.



Remember, if it was easy, and there was no failure required then everyone would be doing it and therefore the reward wouldn’t be that great

The Unseen Forces that Move Us

The Unseen Forces that Move Us

The one thing that we can all count on in life is change.  Making these changes for positive and inspiring things may not always come easy, or does it? Once we learn a few basic principles we find out the only thing that really stands in our way is within our own thoughts themselves. Our thoughts are made up of energy and the more light we cast upon them with positive uplifting ideas we start gaining awareness and these transitions start flowing better.
We don’t realize that these sometimes insurmountable obstacles we’re up against are put there by our own thought waves. That’s right, the unforeseen force that moves us is in fact our own mind. When we feel like all things in the universe are against us it’s actually our own inner conscience that says I feel this so it must be so.
The first step in our understanding has to be the realization that all change happens as part of our learning process here. Think of these human bodies we wear  as school uniforms and we all have to wear them as part of the curriculum. Every cell within these bodies carries a memory and has the ability to store memories like a filing system. This also means that we have a complete set of instructions built within us.
How do we access these instructions? Simple, we don’t have to reach in it pops up automatically in the form of intuition;  kind of like the sensor lights in our cars telling us something’s wrong. We put oil in the car when the light tells us to right? We already know how to trust that inner programming for things like breathing, eating and going to the bathroom. No one has to tell us to do those things we instinctively know and go on an autopilot.  All other aspects work that way as well but some how we put the breaks on at letting our instincts run the rest of the show.
Realizing the mirror effect that we have on each other is helpful in understanding the thought processes we go through. It is a key ingredient in learning how easy it is to commiserate with each other as a way of bonding. This is a great thing when the commiserating is of a positive nature but all too often it is a negative contagious thing that drags us to the bottom quickly. As an example say a friend calls to say they just had an accident. They start going on about what a stupid jerk the other guy was and how put out they have become. We could start in by saying you poor thing what horrible thing to happen, you didn’t deserve that and yeah what a jerk. Instead maybe say “you’re not hurt right?” “You’re covered by insurance right?” “Now you might get that new car you wanted right?” The accident happened for a reason but you may never see that reason if you only see the negatives surrounding it. It is essential that we look for the positives because they are always there just as much as the negative. The negatives are too but we need to ask ourselves why would anyone choose to focus on them given the choice?
So why do we repeatedly keep failing at things when these changes come up? It’s because we question those intuitive inspirations that come up. We tend to go with our feelings even if they’re negative not realizing that we have a choice to choose the positive instead. We let friends wallow in self pity because we feel sorry for them and we don’t realize that we’re making it worse for them when we help them linger in it. We are afraid of losing a friend if we tell them to get over it and move on. Everything in life is a choice and those choices make up our future. We make it as hard or as easy as need be. Changing your focus is changing your life. It doesn’t make sense to expect a positive outcome when your focus is on negative aspects.
So who’s fault is it that we think the way we do? Well it’s Mom and Dad’s fault of course. No not really but in a way it is. We are programmed at birth to look at things the way we do. It’s gone on for generations and we think we’re doing right by our off spring to keep them in line and mold them like we were molded. What we’re really doing is limiting our selves and our children every time the ideas we have seems off the wall so we put a stop to it. We have a great system in play here where we try things and many times we fail or don’t get it quite right but when we try those inspirations that come to us we find out what it entails and the possibilities become endless. When we dismiss our dream or our children’s dreams as if they are nothing but a pipe dream we sell our self short and we’ll never know what it could have been.

Top Ten Ways to Find Peace At Home

Top Ten Ways to Find Peace At Home


In an ideal world, our home is a place of peace away from the hectic outside world. Unfortunately, ideal worlds don't exist!
In order to make your home a sanctuary, you have to put in a little effort, but thankfully, it's easier than you think.
Here are ten ways you can find peace in your home:
1. Clear the Clutter. Many people never feel at ease when they're at home because their home is disorganized. Of course, a cluttered environment leads to a cluttered mind, and a cluttered mind is a chaotic one. If you take one weekend to clear the clutter from your home, you'll feel an immediate difference in your peace level.
2. Find a Hobby. Sometimes it's boredom that gets the best of us when we're at home. When you have a hobby to turn to, you'll find that it's a lot easier to feel peaceful and fulfilled.
3. Turn on the music. Listening to calming music will allow you to let go of the stress of the day and enjoy your time at home. Choose whatever kind of music you like, as long as it relaxes you.
4. Leave your work at work. If your home is an office away from the office, how can you ever find peace? Except for the rare occasion, leave your work at work, both physically and mentally. If you work from home, work in one dedicated space. Also, never work in the same room as you sleep, otherwise, you'll associate your bedroom as a workspace.
5. Create time to decompress. Do you rush home from work and immediately take on more responsibilities and chores? Instead, allow yourself even 10 or 15 minutes to relax and unwind before you begin tasks for the home. Doing so will mark a clear separation in your mind between work and home.
* You might want to just lie on your bed for a few minutes, read a book, or take a shower. This short time will rejuvenate and refresh you.
6. Be considerate. Be mindful of your family and their daily stresses as well. Too often, we take their presence and contributions for granted. Remember that the people you live with are human, too. Show your gratitude for them.
7. Use positive reinforcement. When someone in your family does something to contribute to the peace, be sure to praise them to let them know you appreciate what they did. This will help foster more peace in the future!
8. Pick your battles. You could fight a lot about little, insignificant things, but is it worth it? Instead, choose only the most important transgressions to challenge.
9. Allow things to roll off your back. When something isn't a big deal, just let it go. Instead, focus on maintaining your inner peace. You'll be glad in the long run that you decided to go this route; it makes life so much easier!
10. Cool off. When you're involved in a conflict at home, give yourself some time to cool off. Doing so will help you calmly talk about your feelings and come to a resolution. Or perhaps you just may realize that the issue wasn't as big of a deal as you first thought.
Maintaining peace in your home is important to the health and well being of every family member. Use these tips to nurture a peaceful environment so your home is a joy to come home to!

thats the best i can offer for now


6 Ways to Thrive in Tough Times

6 Ways to Thrive in Tough Times

Tough times can bring you to your knees. They can also raise you to new heights.
You can be stressed to the max on a bad day, yet, as long as life seems manageable, you don’t usually look for new strategies to get through it. The tendency is to pull yourself up by the bootstraps, grit your teeth and keep on going. During prolonged or sudden tough times, though, normal defense mechanisms are not enough to keep you from feeling vulnerable and overwhelmed.
It’s when events feel overwhelmingly beyond your control, that you either find new ways to cope or are pulled down by the undertow. Your usual defenses are inadequate to protect from overwhelming long-term stress. Stress can build gradually beyond tolerance level, or a surprising turn of events like those recently reported in the news can create the kind of vulnerability that demands openness to change.
The soft inner core of your being feels exposed. This exposure opens a crack in the old armor through which an opportunity for renewed life can shine.
Here are six tips that can help you thrive in tough times.
Nourish Yourself – Let go of the bootstraps for a few moments, acknowledge your stress and be kind to yourself. What nourishes you — inspirational reading, music, a cup of tea …? Are there people or places, a favorite chair or spot in nature that provide sustenance? Make nurturing yourself every day a priority.
Stay Present – Don’t project ahead. Take life one day, one moment at a time. Tough times are more manageable when you pay attention to making decisions and taking action on only the next step. Fearful preoccupation or worries about dire imagined future possibilities can leave you open to illness, accidents and errors in judgment that compound your problems. Scale down, simplify your activities and concentrate your precious energy supply on only what is critically important right now.
Accept Support – This can be difficult for people who prize self-sufficiency. Remember it is as virtuous to receive, as it is to give. Without the receiver, the giver has no way to share their abundant gifts. Don’t deprive your friends and family of the pleasure to help you when you need it. Shared burdens provide opportunities for enhanced closeness and appreciation for one another.
Trust Your Resilience - Chances are you have been through tough times before. What natural strengths did you rely upon in those situations? How did you make it through adolescence, childbirth, marriage, divorce, school, first job? What are your natural inner resources? Trust that you have what you need to see this tough time through.
Visualize Success – See yourself moving into a new chapter of life. How do you want to write that chapter? Creation begins in the imagination. If you can think it, you can create it. In order to be free to dream and hope for something new, you must let go of old visions, descriptions and limitations of the person you think you are or can become.
Forgive Past Errors – Forgive past hurts, and people who may have inflicted them, knowingly or unknowingly. This is not out of kindness to them, rather out of kindness to you. After all, you are the one carrying the burden of these hurts. Forgive yourself for mistakes or paths not taken. Release the burden of the past so you can travel lighter in the present.
In times of crisis and radical change, remember that living means growing. I have never seen anything in nature grow backward. So, as bad as you feel, and as much as you doubt it, if you are alive you are growing.
Growth is creative. So, take advantage of the opportunity in these tough times to re-create your life by nourishing yourself, staying present, accepting support, trusting your resilience, visioning possibilities and letting go of the past and perceived limitations.
Even though tough times are hard, they can also be the best times to explore ways to live more harmoniously with yourself and others.

How To Change Your Life

How To Change Your Life

Recently I’ve come across a lot of people who want to change their lives. They don’t want to change just one or two aspects of their lives – they want to change their lives completely.
But the truth is -it’s not their life that they want to change it’s the way they live their life and the circumstances that make up their life.
Your life consists of a number of aspects, and different things that take place at different times. You have your job, your friends, your social life, your family relationships, your finances, your home, and a number of other aspects that fill your life.
Now if you feel you want to change your life – take a closer look and you’ll find that there’s a good chance that you want to change certain aspects of your life.
Here’s the good news – if you change those aspects that you are not happy with it or don’t like – then you begin to dramatically improve the quality of your life.
How Change Begins
All change begins on the inside.
What you see around you, those aspects that make up your life and the quality of your life are merely a reflection of your own thoughts, beliefs, feelings and energy. Your reality – your life – is a mirror of who you are and what you believe.
If you are having difficulty in any area – simply examine your thoughts and beliefs about that area and you will see that your reality reflects your beliefs.
I know you may say: “Of course my reality reflects my beliefs that’s why I have these beliefs – my reality simply proves what I believe.” That may be the case – but that’s not the way it works.
Researchers have proved, what we believe has a direct impact on our reality.
How does this work?
Science has proven that your subconscious mind picks up on your beliefs and then acts as your driver – taking you to the situations, events and people that correspond with your thoughts and beliefs.
If you have negative beliefs and negative thoughts – your subconscious will take you to negative people, negative situations and negative events. You’ll simply end up creating a negative lifestyle.
If you believe that it’s difficult to make money – then your life will reflect difficulty when it comes to money.
So in order to change your life – to change those aspects that you are not happy with – you have to create the changes from the inside. Sometimes this is very difficult for people to do – because they refuse to believe that they are actually creating the life that they don’t want.
But only when you accept that you do create your life – and realize that you are responsible for things that unfold – then only can you begin to make changes to help you improve your life.
This means you have to change your beliefs, change your attitude, change your habits and change your actions so that you can change the situations that you are not happy with.
If you have a negative attitude – change it – and you’ll begin to improve the quality of your life.
If you have regularly have negative thoughts – change them.
If you have a negative belief system – create positive and empowering beliefs that work for you.
Give your driver – your subconscious a new set of instructions so that you start creating the life you want.
Change Your Attitude
To begin changing from within you should probably start with changing your attitude. This means changing the way you see things, changing the way you interpret things, changing the way you deal with people.
To do this you have to be more open minded, look at the positive side of things, search and find the positive spin on things, look for the good in people instead of just focusing on the negative.
Changing your attitude will take work. It will require that you throw out all those negative pre-conceptions that you have about people, situations and events in your life.
I suggest you start by taking stock of your attitude – do an attitude check up. The next time you respond to a person, or a situation – check and see if you have a positive or a negative attitude. If it’s a negative attitude – you have to change it.
Creating a new and positive attitude requires that you go from passing judgment, interpreting something, thinking that you know everything, etc., to being open minded, considering all possibilities, giving people the benefit of the doubt and focusing on a positive outcome while being ready to learn something new and grow in different ways.
When you do what I just outlined you give your subconscious mind a new set of instructions. You tell it that you are ready to see change unfold, that you are open to new possibilities, that you are willing to do what you can to improve your life and that you want more positive situations.
Your subconscious mind then responds to your new attitude by helping you improve your life. Your subconscious does this by guiding you to positive situations and people that will help you create the life you want. Good things happen to people with a positive attitude.
Give yourself and attitude checkup.
Begin changing your attitude.
Start attracting new and positive situations into your life.
Make changes from the inside and you’ll being to dramatically improve your life.
Careful What You Think…
You may be able to develop a positive outward attitude but remember – change has to begin on the inside – then your reality and the circumstances of your life will begin to change. This means removing, eliminating or changing any of your negative thoughts.
Negative thoughts lead to negative beliefs which lead to a negative attitude and ultimately create a negative life. In other words, keep those negative thoughts and life will only get worse.
If you always complain or focus on what is wrong, or point out what you don’t like in people you’ll only attract negative situations into your life.
So be careful what you think – because you might just get it.
The next time you find yourself having a negative thought change it. Switch it to a positive thought. If you don’t you’ll find yourself having a series of negative thoughts, which will lead to a negative attitude and a negative life.
For example: Suppose you want to meet the right person and you go to a part with a friend where you meet people who just aren’t what you are looking for. Instead of pointing out all of their flaws, think about their positive qualities. Think about the things that went well. You met knew people, while they may not be qualified to be the right person – they’re sill good people. By looking at their positive qualities you’ll attract more people with positive qualities.
By simply changing what you think you can begin changing the circumstances of your life.
Choose to have positive thoughts.
Eliminate negative thoughts.
Focus on the positive – and you’ll attract more positive situations.
Feed your subconscious mind positive messages, create empowering beliefs that will launch you to success and happiness.
Remember — you only get one life and one chance. Make the most of it. Stop defeating yourself, stop limiting yourself. Create all the success you want and deserve in life.  Start Living The Life You Want Now
Sincerely,

placidphyll

How to Master your Beliefs and Your Life

How to Master your Beliefs and Your Life

Your beliefs shape your inner world and manifest into experiences in your outer world.  Every thought you hold as "the truth" ends up creating what you see around you.  Every single thought is creating a dimension of your life.  When your mind has a negative opinion about something, you start forming a negative reality around you.  When you have a positive belief about something you create a positive reality. It's as simple as that.  So don't buy into the illusion that you're a martyr of this world.  You are simply creating the world around you in each moment based on what you believe.  You are a divine co-creator and your reality is based on what you believe it actually is. Change your belief about it and your life follows. That's how powerful beliefs actually are.

"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."

So what are the beliefs about yourself that make you feel super jazzed and excited about your life?  Perhaps they may sound something like, "You are totally amazing and everyone loves you!"  This may not yet be your belief, yet its one of the most magical statements to confirm about yourself.  Try it.  Walk around wherever there's a bunch of people (and don't talk to anyone) just repeat this thought about yourself silently and FEEL it in your bones.  "You are totally amazing and everyone loves you!"  Don't just think this thought with your head, feel it in your heart and gut, and imagine that it is true!  Believe that everyone else believes this thought about you and watch how things change.  Imagine that everyone you see has this thought in the back of their mind that they totally love you and think you are the greatest being that ever walked the planet!  You'll be amazed at what happens in your life even after feeling this for a few minutes in public.

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." ~By Albert Einstein 

Often I've heard people say, "I believed that I should win the lottery with all my heart and it never happened, so believing doesn't work." It's important to know that what you believe you need, deserve or should have isn't always best for you, which is why the Universe doesn't always give you what your ego wants.  Sometimes its better to not get what you want in one moment, just so that you get something better tomorrow.  The key is to trust the Universe KNOWS what its doing.  Perhaps the best belief of all is to know that the Universe always always always KNOWS best!  Especially when you think it doesn't.

"It is love alone that leads to right action. What brings order in the world is to love and let love do what it will." 

In the world of manifesting, changing your beliefs equals shifting your vibration and consciousness. If you want something from the Universe, you have to first feel like you deserve it and really honestly FEEL it.  You must be able to see yourself receiving it in some unexpected way with that big happy smile plastered over your face!  The experience of giving appreciation to yourself is one of THE fastest ways to get whatever it is you want in the physical world.  When you start sending yourself messages of love, self-worth, deservingness, creativity, inspiration, and trust its a lot easier to imagine that you deserve to be gifted a gold mine.

"To undertake a genuine spiritual path is not to avoid difficulties but to learn the art of making mistakes wakefully, to bring them to the transformative power of our heart." 

The best gift we can give ourselves of course is self love.  This type of love means that you are worthy if you get what you want OR don't get what you want.  You already deserve to have whatever your heart desires, yet when you believe you are worthy of some great desire you have, when you're constantly feeling loved, appreciated, and accepted in your inner world, its much easier to receive your desire when it comes to you. When nothing is going your way in life and you're forcing yourself to climb the Himalayas in flip flops, its a good time to breathe and give a little gentleness to yourself.  This always works when it comes to manifesting a richer more amazing life.  

"It is only by grounding our awareness in the living sensation of our bodies that the "I Am," our real presence, can awaken." 


 My friend Sasha has invested years and years of trial and error and experimenting with ways to master your beliefs... the easy way. And she wants to be your guide and show you exactly how to master your beliefs and upgrade your life. Lucky for you, it doesn't have to take years. It doesn't even have to take months. You can start changing your beliefs today.   Learn how to cultivate this natural ability to master your beliefs manifesting power in every area of your life by
simply visit her site Sasha xarian

21 ways to persuade people to do what u want

Want to know a powerful covert influence tool that allows you to get anything you
want - through your own acts or by subconsciously commanding others to render
it to you?
It does not take a magician or hypnotist to do it. Even an ordinary individual has
the capacity to achieve this covert influence technique through constant practice.
Imagine the power if you could just do a simple act and you'll instantly be able to
change your mood or energy level. Just imagine the power of having others do
whatever you want them to do without them being consciously aware of it.
When I mention the word oranges, your mind processes the image, your mouth
may begin to water, and you may even remember the times when you and your
special someone were enjoying and eating the oranges together.
Here's another example of this covert influence application.
 download the book and read it for your self

How to Master your Appreciation Vibration

How to Master your Appreciation Vibration
Experiencing a continuous appreciation for yourself, the world and everyone in it is the super highway to opening your manifesting powers, and connecting with the highest cosmic consciousness in the Universe, When your appreciation valve (in your heart) is 100% open for 24 hours in a row, extra little miracles start popping up all over your life! Try giving appreciation to everything you see, touch, taste, smell and hear for one day. One day, all day long, see if you can do it! This little practice is one of the most effective ways to becoming the master of your destiny. When you are in a constant state of gratitude you are communicating with the Universe from your higher mind, which allows you to be guided to receive your soul's dream life!!


"Understand the obstructions you are putting in the way of love, freedom, and happiness and they will drop. Turn on the light of awareness and the darkness will disappear. Happiness is not something you acquire; love is not something you produce; love is not something you have; love is something that has you." ~Anthony de Mello

Being in a constant state of appreciation is the ultimate goal of life. If you are challenged in the gratitude department you're not alone. Many don't know the secret to this ideal experience. It's like finding a diamond filled gold mine! First start paying attention to whatever the little things you don't appreciate at all. Find that which you are honestly thankful for and return to that thought and feeling as often as possible. Make a game of it! See how many times in a 5 minutes you can crank up your Gratitude Barometer and re-ignite that blissful state inside. Whenever you find that honest appreciation feeling for anything, or anyone, stay connected with it and within it. Soon it will grow and evolve into a habit of gratitude that includes even those things you never imagined you could ever possibly appreciate.

"The richest person is the one who is contented with what he has." ~Robert C. Savage

When you take the risk to appreciate what your mind cannot appreciate, an awesome expansive feeling begins building within your being. Whatever it is you've been in the pattern of not appreciating can and will be reversed. Perhaps you used to complain about the government, your spouse, her hair, his clothes, and lack of money you have in the bank. Then your cranky neighbor angrily came over and forced you to mow your lawn, would you be hard on yourself? It's always your choice. Whatever situation it is, there is a potential seed of acceptance within it. By first finding that grain of acceptance inside yourself, you will harness a new way of experiencing the outer world and a whole new dimension of consciousness becomes available. When you appreciate that which everyone cannot, you step beyo nd the collective "sheeple" mind into a realm of knowing that anything is possible.

"To be upset over what you don’t have, is to waste what you do have." ~Ken Keyes JR.


Try this exercise tomorrow morning. When you wake up and look in the mirror at yourself, take a few extra minutes to practice just looking and accepting what you see and feel. Just be OK with whatever your mind interprets, judges and projects onto that mirror image. Practice accepting your looks, your personality and your life just as they are. Remember, what you see with your mind is filtered through your imagination. Not everyone sees you the way you see you, we know your ideas aren't always going to reflect the real you. The real you, the infinite you is the soul that lives behind your eyes beyond the consciousness of the heart. Just practice appreciation first and approval will come later. Eventually in time you will totally accept what is here, on the inside and outside.

If you should ever feel off track, get overly upset about something, or simply trapped down in the dumpsters of your life, you are simply not focusing your attention upon what you appreciate. The most orgasmic energies in the Universe are available right there, right here, inside you now. Don't wait for them! It’s just about opening yourself up to experiencing them. It's a way of being with yourself, others and the Universe. Always noticing what you love about yourself takes practice to become a habit. The first nurturing, healing-feeling you can muster will grow stronger in you, when you make time to enjoy it. Let this new heartfelt channel of energy be the #1 focus of your day and watch in amazement as it blossoms throughout your life.



"The ordinary man lives in the brain unaware of himself in the Heart. The

enlightened one lives in the Heart. When he moves about and deals with

people and things, he knows that what he sees is not separate from the one

Supreme Reality which he realized in the Heart as his own Self." ~Ramana



The secret to mastering anything in your life is in how much FUN you can have within your experience. The vibration of appreciation is so enjoyable and contagious that it will change you and everyone's lives around you! The heartfelt feeling of gratitude contains magical seeds that plant the most enlightening, loving, delightful experiences to enjoy!! You plant one seed of appreciation with your spouse today, and before you know it you'll harvest the sweet fruit. By planting 100 seeds of gratitude a day you'll have an abundant fortunate future indeed. I challenge you to live your life believing that there is NOTHING that you cannot appreciate. Let's see how creative you are. If you can appreciate something that you've NEVER ever been able to appreciate you'll be one step closer to becoming an appreciation master.

Free ebook. Never Give up on your dreams

There is nothing more dear to the human soul than to follow a dream and nothing more tragic than giving up on your dream.


If you do this simple thing, follow this easy-to-understand principle, one day, despite all the obstacles
the world throws at you, your dream will come home to you. It will overflow your world with promise. All your pain will instantly disappear


Success is creating what you want the way you want it to be.


It is, in fact, a journey. And, like all journeys, your ship will sail through calm waters and buck in storms. If you stay on course, continually upgrading your navigational instruments and adjusting to feedback, you will reach your port of dreams.


Everyone has had the experience of shipwreck. Their most cherished dreams collapsed despite their best efforts.

The difference between those who succeed in life and those who fail are neither the number of shipwrecks nor the severity of the storms. The difference is in their persistence. It takes persistence to complete the journey. Some people choose to build one ship after another until they reach their port of call. Others abandon the journey as soon as they run into a reef.


Success, then, is a process. It is an incessant refinement of strategy until something finally works.


Success starts with goal setting, and then goal setting is followed by action. Neither your goal setting theory nor your actions have to be perfect. A key to success is to start anywhere; over time, your vision will clear and your actions improve.

Here is a simple but effective strategy.

1. Begin where you are with what you have right now.

2. Notice what is working and what is not working.

3. Keep trying out new things until you have better results.

4. Keep on adding what works and discarding what does not work.

5. Arrive at your goal.
Another name for success is mastery. When you attain mastery over something you know what to do to get the results that you want. And you can repeat this method over and over again to ensure a stream of rewards.

Mastery is persistence over time. Those who profit from persistence appreciate ongoing self improvement and motivation. In fact, intrinsic motivation will allow you to do anything, overcome any obstacle, and surmount any hesitation.
Furthermore, the more intense your motivation, the better your chances of success when you embark on any new enterprise.

The Most Sacred Blessing of All

The Most Sacred Blessing of All

You are an eternal being on a sacred roller coaster ride called Life. It's got tons of twists and turns to it, a massive uphill climb, a gigantic downhill drop, 24 loop-da-loops and many divine unexpected moments along the way. You have the choice in every moment how you're going to ride this ride. If you're going to grab on tighter with white fists clutching the fake steering wheel, or are you going to sit back and let your hands fly high in the air. However you decide to live your life is totally perfect, just know that the choice is always here to let go of everything in your mind and raise your hands in the air.

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." ~Albert Einstein

You are here to discover how EASY it is to be in constant state of joy on this wild journey. All the thoughts, experiences and feelings you encounter everyday are meant to do one main thing...to bring you fully into the now. This is where you can breathe and feel this overflowing abundance of peace, love and sacred consciousness. This peace is the most sacred blessing of all and provides the ultimate freedom. It allows you to unravel yourself and find the God Source within. Start with investigating your connection to this ever-present awareness that is within you, always watching you. Know it intimately and truly dive into your personal connection to it. Within your heart you will you find it, it has always been there... here...always. Being at peace with your mind creates the time and space to explore your life's greatest possible experience. Remember, whatever you focus on expands...

“Ecstasy is your very nature; not to be ecstatic is simply unnecessary."

Quiet the mind and you master THIS moment. Only then do you discover the divine purpose of your entire life. An awake aware mind lives in bliss and can manifest its desires 1000 times easier than a non-meditative mind. You can easily discover this Extraordinary Bliss within you through meditating on the eternal soul that you are. The constant discovery of this eternal being that you are is much bigger and better than any thought or experience you could ever have. It is the greatest blessing we can ever discover because it frees us from all of our suffering instantly! Once the mind stops its perpetual search "out there" and simply is being present to the eternal being that is here now, everything becomes very clear and instantly blissful.

"The quieter you can become, the more you're able to hear." ~Chinese Proverb

Whatever it is you most crave to experience in this lifetime, it is easily found through mastering this mind. Meditation is the link we've been missing our entire lives. It is the gateway to an eternal river of inner-bliss that naturally unfolds successfulness in everything we do. Like taming a wild horse, the mind can get crazier and wilder the more we attempt to control it. However, the more often we sit still, allowing for this quietness inside, the more your mind will discover the freedom to play, laugh with life, enjoy the play of duality and transcend all suffering. Only with a calm centered mind and body, we can explore any unknown and are metaphysically opening up the greatest manifesting channels of energy in the Universe.

"The only real valuable thing is intuition." ~ Albert Einstein

If there were only one purpose for meditating, it would be to transcend the drama and illusions created by your mind and deeply realize that you are the God Source behind it all. This constant realization will be the end of your suffering forever!! To embody this cosmic understanding simply takes letting go of ALL the ideas you have about who/what you are, and being open to the simple essence with you. This is the secret to connecting with the infinite essence inside. The magic all starts and ends with letting go of every idea about who you think you are. This lets the simple experience of being alive become a sacred daily blessing. Simply being an eternal being, breathing, walking, talking, connecting with others automatically opens up full access to your unlimited manifest ing powers. It also perpetuates a healing awareness in you that will allow you to attract more of the most positive loving experiences and people that you desire. You become a being of light, overflowing with joy, love, self-appreciation, self-approval, and self-love.

If you want total freedom from suffering right now, realize this one simple truth as many times as you can in the next week. You are an eternal being and will never die. This is a profound spiritual awareness and will come and go in your mind until you root it. These roots are drilled into the soil of your body when you decide you are ready to awaken to a higher state of consciousness. When you choose to bless yourself in this way, then the real blessings start to pour forth.

"To be ecstatic is natural, spontaneous. It needs no effort to be ecstatic, it needs great effort to be miserable."


The-Importance-of-Solitude-Worksheet pdf book

SELF-REFLECTION WORKSHEET  FOR YOU

The-Importance-of-Solitude-Checklist pdf book

Solitude will help you transform your shortcomings and bad habits. 
For instance, it will give you the chance to break away from those who entice you to do thing you don't want. You’ll be able to see yourself objectively
and change for the better. get the free pdf book today.

The importance of solitude for a balanced life

Get your free e book now ''The importance of solitude for a balanced life"

It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after one's own; but the great
man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance



“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.”

The power of Gratitude

Download this free e-book by just clicking on "The power of Gratitude link "


You will benefit a lot from this power of gratitude,its my wish that you share out this and recommend it for a friend."


“Let he who would,learn this: that everything, even dust and feathers,goes by Law and not by chance or luck.”

Your thoughts are the tools with which you carve your life story on the substance of the universe.When you choose your thoughts, you choose results.”

“People who can sincerely be thankful for things which they own only in imagination have real faith. They will
get rich; they will cause the creation of whatever they want.”


“Gratitude will keep you in close harmony with creative thought and prevent you from falling into competitive
thought. It will keep you from the error of thinking that the supply of riches is limited – and to think that
would be fatal to your aims!”





“The only time we
suffer is when we
believe a thought
that argues with
what is.
All the stress that
we feel is caused
by arguing with
what is.”


“Nothing on
earth can resist
an absolutely
non-resistant
person.”

take care of selves as you enjoy reading these materials  free of charge.

Take time to relax and ease your stress


Would you like to receive more financial abundance from the Universe? Would you like to be free from stressful financial issues forever? The secret to becoming Financially Receptive is to embrace a state of relaxation instead of stress about your current financial state. That's right! The more you relax into and surrender through your current stressful relationship with money, the more your energy field expands and opens, naturally attracting more prosperity into your life. 

The energy of relaxation carries a high vibration that instantly shifts you into a receptive state and consequently allows the Universe to fill your request for abundance. On the other hand, when you are stressed, you automatically shut down your manifesting channels, repelling that which you want to manifest. Vibrationally speaking, what you want to attract literally cannot get into your field because the energy of stress blocks it. So relax...really relax.... going infinitely deeper and deeper into it. Allow the feeling of any financial burden to be lifted from your life forever.

"The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~

The good news is that it is easy to relax and it feels soooo good to do so! Relaxation is your natural state, and therefore you can effortlessly tap into the part of you that is always relaxed and knows that you are divinely supported. Deep relaxation is something we ALL look forward to, yet how frequently do you give this gift to yourself? Can you simply decide to let yourself relax more than you ever have before this month? When you MAKE TIME to relax, you open up your field to receiving more abundance from the Universe.
Simply let yourself decide when you are going to relax this week. Claim your space! Before you relax it's always good to recite this all-powerful financial affirmation, "The more naps I take, the more money I make!" Here are three techniques to relax about your current finances, and thus receive more abundance from the Universe:

1. Relax your BodyMind through Conscious Breathing
Whenever you notice you are worrying about money, stop what you are doing and begin to do deep breathing. The very act of breathing takes you deeper into your body. Breathing anchors you into your physical form, which is abiding in the God-Source that is always here now. This Source is the most loving, abundant state you'll ever find. So take a moment right now and take 3 deep breaths. With each breath, breathe in relaxation, and with each out-breath, release any stress or tension you have. Do you notice a feeling of deeper peace in your body yet? Breathe deeper and include all of the thoughts and emotions that you're stressed about. Breathe until you can feel the peace. Then, let in this glorious peace because you deserve it!! This will center you, and automatically re-open your energy field to receive the abundance that is wanting you.
"Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” ~

2. Experience Gratitude for the Abundance You Do Have
One of the most powerful ways to open up your ability to receive more abundance is to relax into the energy of gratitude. The act of feeling grateful for the money that you DO have instantly shifts the energy in every cell of your body, as well as those electrons in your bank account! As you flood your body-mind with gratitude, you start to feel complete and whole on the deepest levels. When you are thankful, you know that your "cup runneth over", and are no longer in the habit of desperately searching for ways to fill it up.
The old world unconscious search for something to fill you up is what creates the lack in your bank account. This yearning, needing, and searching feeling creates stress in your body which blocks the abundance you are here to receive. Connecting with deep feelings of gratitude means everything is already perfect exactly as it is, and that manifesting more money is not the most important thing in life. This concept frees you from money, and on one level instantly makes you financially free! So every time you start to strive for more abundance in your life, stop... and be grateful for what you already have. You'll see how effortless it is to receiving more financial prosperity down the road.
"When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears." ~

3. Daily Visualize Receiving The Prosperity You Desire
Visualization supports your entire mind-body in relaxing, and thus receiving more abundance because it creates a blue-print for success in your subconscious mind. When you create a mental movie of what the abundance you want looks and feels like, your subconscious believes that this mental movie is your current reality. The subconscious mind does not know the difference between reality and imagination. When you imagine biting into a spicy taco, you start to salivate right? Your mind believes and knows that you are ALREADY abundant right now, your whole body goes "Ahhhhh" and simultaneously starts magnetizing what you want in your life. The key to a highly effective visualization is to connect strong feeling states to the pictures that you create in your mind. So take a moment right now and see yourself manifesting what you do desire. Feel it in your body and keep turning up the volume on the strong abundant and positive feelings this imagery creates.
"Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into." ~ Wayne Dyer

Click Here to Get your Free ebook "become a money magnet"

click on the link to download this free book and audio
read the ebook and learn more hidden insights of the world

Courage: Excerpted from “What Does That Mean? Exploring Mind, Meaning and Mysteries 

“Strength is granted to us all when we are needed to serve great causes.”
— Winston Churchill
What is courage? Is it a selfless act that’s offered for the benefit of others? Is there a higher form than this?
There are acts of bravery that are clearly in the name of self-preservation. There are true accounts of those who have freed themselves from traps by cutting limbs from their bodies. That takes the proverbial guts to accomplish, but what I want to examine transcends personal gain—the selfless courage that’s offered on behalf of others. Where does this come from, and what is it?
If fear is largely about being abandoned, then perhaps the social side of that anxiety cultivates and perpetuates the idea of selfless courage. Perhaps it arises from some deeper sense or urge than socialization. Are we wired to admire and foster selflessness?
Movies portraying such courage move me in very emotional ways. In fact, I don’t know anyone who, watching a well-acted film telling a story of selfless courage, isn’t moved by the portrayal. Why is that? What does that mean?
Is it possible that selfless courage, expressed in an act that offers life or limb for others, is taught to us in the same way that we learn our other values? Do you think that extremist Muslims can watch a suicide bomber and find themselves as moved by this act of courage as an American viewing a fictional character saving the planet by sacrificing himself? Is courage a matter of cultural relevance?
Cultural Relevance
Some things seem universal, such as laughter, crying, and a parent who runs into a burning house to rescue a child. People going to the aid of others in natural disasters fall into this category as well. Is courage universal but guided by local morality? Apparently not all life everywhere is universally held to be sacred. How can that be?
In all parts of the world, children are taught something called ethnocentricity. This is the notion that they were born into the best country, have the best system of government, and so forth. Thus the notion of national loyalty is fostered. Young people are equally enculturated with a system of values that supports the social group into which they’re born and raised. Religion plays its role and further deepens the “truth” of life. So in aggregate, individuals know little about who or what they might have been and believed if they’d been born somewhere else. Morality then becomes totally culture dependent—right?
Universal Values
Are there any values that should transcend all others and be universal? Obviously, preservation of life is one such moral imperative, for without it we’d be left with just the law of the jungle and the survival of the fittest. Our civilized world at least pretends to believe in the value of life or there would be no charges of crimes against humanity, nor would there be the charitable actions of governments when major tragedies hit other nations. Is this all just a matter of reciprocity? In other words, do I give you the right to life so that you’ll do the same for me? Or is there truly a moral imperative that moves the human psyche to offer this right to everyone unilaterally?
One would think that religion and government, which are the tools society uses to teach values, would insist on basic, universal moral principles. What does it suggest when our institutions promote different standards? What does it mean when the life of someone who practices a particular religious faith is valued more than that of someone who doesn’t? How can that be called holy?
Theories in penology (the study of prison management and the treatment of offenders) insist that at least one element underlying punishment is the need or right for society to exact a sort of revenge, to see justice carried out. Following from this, victims’ families weigh in on death-penalty cases, and their needs (desires) are taken into consideration. This is a form of getting even—or “evener.” Is it a healthy way for society to practice justice? Is this another form of differentiation between the relative values of comparable lives?
What if you learned that capital punishment didn’t deter crime? What if you knew that it cost much more to execute criminals than to warehouse them in solitary confinement for life? What if you discovered that lifelong isolation was more of a deterrent than being put to death? What if it was revealed that a statistical error rate existed in death-penalty cases, showing that a certain number of innocent individuals were found guilty and their lives taken by society for crimes they didn’t commit? At what point would you decide that capital punishment was inappropriate—or would you?
You may think that you share the moral imperative that all life is sacred until you reflect on your views regarding capital punishment, or perhaps you already oppose it and nothing has changed for you. How do you feel about the worst criminal you can bring to mind? Is there anything within you that would cause you to take up arms and use them with the intent to kill?
The Value of a Life
It seems that for all of us there’s some mitigation regarding the relative value of life. A boat is sinking and only six out of eight people can survive. Two are old, in their 80s, and the rest are young (30 and younger). Whom do you save? Oh, but wait a minute—one of the older people is a genius with the answer to a significant world problem in his head, just waiting to arrive at his destination and present the material to the right people. One of the younger children is dying of cancer and has only a week or less to live. Now whom do you pick?
What if you’re among the passengers, only one of whom can’t be saved. The others are all fearful and willing to push and shove to be among the survivors. You have two small children and a spouse, and the other remaining passengers are all big burly men, none of whom will be left behind. What do you do? Is this courage?
Defining Courage
When we see courage, we know it—or do we? Does our culture teach this response? Is there an innate definition or root for courage per se? Does self-sacrifice count? If so, doesn’t that mean that acts of altruism are also courageous? Indeed, wouldn’t that mean that Mother Teresa’s life was an act not just of charity and love, but of supreme courage?
If fear is all about pain or abandonment, is courage the opposite? Is it the absence of fear? We can easily see through this shallow question, for many so-called acts of valor have taken place in the midst of the hero’s or heroine’s deeply felt fear.
As we inquire into the nature of courage, it becomes evident that it isn’t just some bold act, such as rushing into a burning building. In reality, it includes many softer versions, if you will. Sometimes an act of terrorism may be disguised as courage—or is this quality not a universal moral imperative? Does it have any natural root in the makeup of being human? What does that mean? Are there any values that aren’t culture dependent, culturally trained, or quid pro quo in nature? What does that say about being human?

7 Powerful Steps Towards Wisdom

“I changed my mind.”
These are four of the most powerful words in the English language. They can prevent you from being manipulated into an undesirable outcome and launch you on the road to personal and spiritual growth. Depriving yourself of the freedom to change your mind will lock you into a rigid mindset that can hamper your successes and your development.
Early in life you may have been led to believe it’s not good to change your mind. There are numerous words with negative connotations associated with those who do change their minds: fickle, indecisive, hesitant, unsure, wavering, erratic or wishy-washy. You’d much prefer to be known as steadfast, decisive, confident and sure.
Skilled manipulators use this near-universal conditioning against you every day. For example, how many times has a salesman asked you, “Are you in a position to make a decision today?” Once you agree to this proposition, you’ll feel pressure to “make a decision today,” and buy the product, even if you have reservations. After all, if you don’t buy, you’d be indecisive.
But this is not what changing your mind is all about. Changing your mind means that after thinking about the subject or after gathering more complete information, you came to a different conclusion – a better and more informed decision. This is not being indecisive. It’s being logical, prudent and wise.
What would happen if you weren’t allowed to change your mind? You’d be forced to believe the sun revolves around the earth. Your evolution on every level depends on your ability to assimilate new information and “change your mind” as to what it means and how it applies.
Psychologists call the unease you feel when you hold two conflicting opinions cognitive dissonance. The theory is that you will be unwilling to simultaneously hold two apparently contradictory beliefs in your mind and will attempt to modify one or the other to minimize the dissonance or conflict.
If you told the salesman that “you would be in a position to make a decision today,” and yet, you feel you need more time to gather additional information and think it through, you are experiencing dissonance. The skilled salesman will use your cognitive dissonance to push you to a buying decision today! If he lets you think it over, you may not make the purchase or may buy from someone else. Ever buy a new car after talking to only one dealer?
Imagine what would happen with instances of more deep-seated beliefs. You think so-and-so is the best candidate, the finest restaurant or the fastest car. To complicate matters, also imagine that you are on record as publicly stating that so-and-so is the best candidate, the finest restaurant or the fastest car. You have invested your “credibility” in this belief. What happens when new evidence comes along that contradicts this deep-seated belief? You immediately discount it.
Not only do you have the dissonance associated with trying to hold two contradictory beliefs in your mind simultaneously, but, even worse, if you accept the new idea, that might mean the first one was WRONG and you’ve lost your invested credibility!
How would most people handle the situation? Most people don’t like being wrong, so they would either ignore the new idea or, even worse, come up with all sorts of counter arguments as to why it’s wrong. In extreme cases, they may outright lie to others and to themselves, just to avoid the cognitive dissonance. To an independent observer, this appears totally irrational. To a student of human behavior, it is understandable.
As mystics, we’re after the truth. So if it turns out the second idea is more accurate, serves us better, or is otherwise superior to the first, we owe it to ourselves and to others to accept it, at least until a better idea comes along. We may be forced to utter three words that are even more powerful than “I changed my mind”:
“I was wrong.”
Being able to admit a mistake is a sign of humility, which is a prized mystic virtue. It does not mean you’re a doormat or that you are subservient to somebody else. Changing your mind after gathering more complete information and thoroughly thinking things through is a sign of being logical, thorough, thoughtful and wise.
Your prime allegiance is to the truth, regardless of where it originates.
There is tremendous freedom in uttering these powerful words. Your cognitive dissonance vanishes. You don’t have to expend any energy defending the idea of “being right.” You are free to pursue the truth without baggage.
Once you get into the habit of allowing yourself to say “I changed my mind” and “I was wrong,” you will experience newfound freedom. You will have taken 7 powerful steps towards the mystic virtue of wisdom. You will have also added the foundation of another mystic virtue: detachment. We will discuss more mystic virtues in future .
Best wishes,

What Committing To Something Means And Why You Should Do I

In The Meaning Of Life and various articles on how to win someone’s heart, how to find a wife / husband, there is a central theme of thought creating reality. How does this actually happen though? Why is it more effective to think about the things you want? We’ll answer this question through the concept of commitment.

What Is Commitment?

What does it mean to commit to something? What does it mean when you say something like “I will finish school”?
Let’s look at a person committed to finishing college vs. a person who isn’t. Let’s say both of these people failed a class and are on the verge of dropping out. What would each person do? What would each person think?
Here are some possible thoughts each of the two people:
Committed Student
* I have to finish college. What can I do to get a better grade?
* How can I convince my adviser to not kick me out and give me a second chance?
* That guy seems to get better grades I do, wonder how I can be more like him.
* I must do better, I have to study harder.
* I can’t go to parties anymore because I really need to not fail.
* There must be some way for a motivated student to stay in.
* What can I change about myself so that I can do better next semester?
Uncommitted Student
* Hey, I gave it my best shot. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.
* I can go to work at my dad’s business if they don’t let me back in.
* Bill Gates never finished college and he turned out just fine.
* College is overrated anyway.
* What more could I have done?
* I’m already making $1 million/year elsewhere. What do I need school for?
We can see that the committed student only has thoughts about how he can finish college while the uncommitted student continuously second guesses himself and plans for the cases where he isn’t going to finish school. Therein lies the meaning of commitment.
To commit: To no longer consider possibilities that are inconsistent with the object of your commitment.
For example, if the committed student had a thought about quitting college, he would quickly put it out of his head. “I’ve committed to finishing college and this solution doesn’t give me what I want”. The “solutions” that has to do with alternatives of quitting college are no longer considered solutions!

Why Commit?

Isn’t it bad to commit then since it cuts you off from considering all possibilities? After all, what if the committed student could lead a better life if he doesn’t finish college? For example, if he was already making $1 million/year elsewhere, maybe that’s a reasonable alternative, right? Well, yes and no.
Yes, it’s possible that the student can lead a better life outside of college. However, in order to give himself the best chance of finishing college, he sacrifices that particular possibility!
That’s because there are only so many hours in a day and so much time your brain has to think. If your brain is thinking about what it would be like to quit school, then it’s not thinking about ways to stay in school. Each decision in life has so many possibilities and alternatives that thinking about any one branch (such as ways to quit school and be okay) can take a very long time. Wouldn’t you be much more likely to come up with a solution if you’d used all that energy to think about ways you can stay in school? Maybe you would’ve gotten a lot more studying done!
In a way, a commitment is just a really big decision. When you decide something, you prune away other possibilities. For example, if you choose to eat a chocolate ice cream, you are giving up the possibility of eating a strawberry ice cream, eating a steak, or one of infinite other things you can do.
When you commit, it is a decision to work towards a particular long(er) term goal. You are saying, “I will no longer consider other alternatives because this is what I want to do. I will think about ways to accomplish this goal and banish all thoughts that are not towards this end”. You dedicate all your energy to making this dream a reality, making it almost impossible for you not to succeed.
Additionally, you will have a metric to judge things. If you commit to something, then things that help you towards your commitment are good, and things against your commitment are bad. You’ll always have some framework to evaluate your problems so that you won’t ever be haunted by indecision.
When people see this type of confidence, they are much more likely to join you on your quest also, making it even more likely that you’ll succeed!

Should You Commit?

Of course, there are advantages to not committing too. You get to keep your options open in case something better comes along. However, doing so poses significant risks in that you’ll develop a habit of jumping from thing to thing, never quite getting anything accomplished.
Not committing does have its place however. For example, if you have no clue what kind of sport you like and you’re trying them out, so it can be a useful philosophy at times.
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each:
Commitment
* Locked in, refuse to consider other alternatives.
* Focused - much more likely to succeed because you’re focused.
* Confidence - No doubt, since your mind is only focused on how to obtain the object of your commitment.
* Always have a guide as to what’s right and what’s wrong.
* Can overcome great adversity.
* Inspires people to follow you because they can trust you - you have integrity.
Not Committing
* Flexible, lots of options.
* Highly likelihood of not getting anywhere with it.
* Quits at the first sign of trouble.
* Hard to get people to tag along because you don’t believe in the cause yourself.
* Mind can change easily.
Of course, each of these has their own strengths. However, I have found that when you commit, it’s rare that you don’t succeed. In situations like romantic relationships, it’s absolutely vital so that an atmosphere of integrity and trust can be built.
So go ahead, commit to something. Tell yourself, “I’ll do it or I’ll die - whichever happens first”! Don’t worry, you’ll succeed!

Think and grow rich

“Think and Growth Rich”
“I think, therefore I am”
“You become that which you think about”

One general theme emerges if you spend enough time looking for the meaning of life and looking through personal development literature - your thoughts create your reality. Before you click the back button on your browser and dismiss this as a bunch of mumbo jumbo, this actually can have a lot of scientific basis in reality! You’re probably skeptical, and I don’t blame you. After all, thinking about a thing doesn’t make it happen, right? Imagining a million dollars isn’t going to get you a million dollars, right? Thinking about getting your orange peeled certainly doesn’t seem to make it peel itself… It probably seems unrealistic to anyone with an ounce of common sense!
But wait! When you turn on your radio and television, pictures and sounds seem to come out of nowhere. Doesn’t that sound pretty unrealistic too? And yet there they are! There’s certainly nothing connecting the TV or radio to anything else. You just turn it on, and hey, there’s light and sound. There certainly seems to be “things” appearing out of nowhere!
“Yeah, but it’s powered by electricity and there’s liquid crystals or cathode ray tubes projecting photons,” you say, “There’s all sorts of electrons bombarding the screen, releasing energy to create the images we see. On the other side, somebody used some electricity (or other form of energy) to power their transmitter, caused some electromagnetic waves, and your receiver on your TV/radio gets those signals and converts them.” In short, in goes some energy, some waves happen, and out comes some matter really far away!
Hmmmm, so then, what happens when you think? Your thoughts are waves too! Since we don’t completely understand how our brain works, isn’t it possible that part of the brain is a transmitter that runs on the energy from our body, and sends out waves of thought? After all, we don’t really know how thought works either! Maybe depending on the receiver at the other end, those waves are somehow converted into matter, and if thought results in actual physical matter being created, then does that not qualify as thought creating reality?
In physics, there is a theory that says all matter vibrates and has a wave component. If that is true, then everything is connected. If our brains are sending out wave after wave of thought, who can say exactly what effect they’re having? After all, EM radiation doesn’t go away in space! Once it’s sent out, it keeps going light years away and centuries later! Who’s to say thought waves don’t operate the same way?
In this light, “thought creates reality” is not nearly as far away or as implausible as it would appear! After all, people thought that it was impossible for radios to work the way it does now. All it would take for this theory to be true is for someone to discover a way to measure thought waves emanating from other people!
This would also make things like telepathy very plausible. If you are sending out thought waves, then it would make perfect sense for someone “tuned” to you to be able to receive them. It would also make things like seeing dead people, ghosts, etc. completely within the realm of reason as well! Maybe those things just send thoughts in ways only certain people can perceive. There are definitely articles that say ghosts exist and seeing them is just a matter of you wanting to. You wanting to - you tuning your perceptions to receive “ghost frequencies”.
Following this train of thought, if people are transmitters of thought to other people, then perhaps people are receivers of thought as well. After all, we get ideas seemingly out of nowhere sometimes when we are seeking creative solutions. Maybe they’re someone else’s thoughts that you just tune into when you ask that question. Who knows?
This would mean that all of our thoughts are connected somehow and there is a collective consciousness. In a way, this is like the Borg from Star Trek. We have our own thoughts, but we can tune into the collective consciousness and broadcast ideas to each other.
If you keep sending wave after wave of “cure cancer” into the collective consciousness, would it not seem more and more likely that someone will come up with a solution for it? Or maybe there are other types of receivers of your thought who gets that thought and acts on it. We know so little about how the universe works, but we do know that energy, waves, and matter aren’t as disconnected as we think they are! e = mc^2, right?
Another interesting idea is that since each little bit of matter contains a lot of energy, it takes a lot of sustained thought in order to turn energy into its physical form. This is consistent with ideas in books like Think And Grow Rich, where persistence is deemed to be very important. It also is congruent with the general motivational advice that you should “keep at it” and “keep going after your goals”. Maybe it just takes a while for your thoughts to manifest into reality.

With so many unknowns, who can really say? Evidence certainly seems to point to thought creating reality as being more likely than not likely!!

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