Favorite articles from The Certain Way
What the Young Man Heard
By Rebecca Fine
In the latter half of the 1800s, when the telegraph was still "high tech," a young man in Baltimore, Maryland, woke up one summer morning giddy with excitement. In fact, it had taken him half the night to get to sleep at all.
Today was the day he'd apply for his first job! But what was really exciting was that, if he were lucky enough to be chosen for the position, he'd actually be getting PAID for something that absolutely enthralled him. He'd be a real, bona fide telegraph operator!
His mind was so filled with wonderful pictures of himself sending and receiving important messages, communicating with people miles away — even clear across the country — that the possibility of NOT getting the job couldn't get a foot in the door.
He didn't even mind wearing a stiff collar and tie. After all, this was an important job, and he liked the idea of looking the part. Giving his shoes one last buffing, he dashed out the door and raced downtown to the telegraph office.
Inside, the office was already bustling with activity and noise, including the sound of the telegraph clattering away in the background. Several other applicants were seated in the waiting area, hunched over paperwork. Our young man saw a stack of job applications with a sign instructing candidates to take one, fill it out, and then wait to be called into the Director's office for an interview. So he eagerly grabbed one and sat down.
The form itself took only a few minutes to complete, and as he finished and started to look around at the other job hopefuls in the room ...
... the young man suddenly jumped from his chair and with his paperwork in hand, marched over to the Director's office door and went right in without even knocking!
"Did you see that?" one of the other jobseekers snorted. "We're supposed to wait until we're called, and that rube barges in like he owns the place."
"Yeah, that's some nerve, but it just cuts down the competition," said another, and they all laughed.
Moments later the laughter and comments stopped as the Director's door opened and both he and the beaming young man came out into the waiting area.
"Gentlemen," the Director said, "thank you for coming, and I wish you all well. The job has been filled."
Stunned into silence, no one said anything for a moment. Then, the fellow who had started the derisive comments sputtered, "Now wait a minute. This isn't fair! We were here first but we never even got a chance, and he gets the job just like that?"
The others grumbled in agreement, but the Director put up his hand. "Here's the thing," he said.
"All this time you were sitting here, the telegraph has been clicking away, saying: 'If you can understand this, come on into the office right now. You've got the job.'
As he clapped his hand on the young man's shoulder, he smiled broadly and said, "This young fellow was the only one of you who heard or understood the message."
Why did this young man alone hear and understand the message? Listen to what Scottish psychologist R. D. Laing had to say on this subject:
"The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change -- until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds."
You'll probably need to read that a couple of times. (I sure did!) Then just let it sink in a bit.
Now, wouldn't it be great if you could just put on a special pair of glasses that would magically cause all the opportunities that come your way every single day to stand out from all the background "noise?" To jump into sharp relief against what Mr. Wattles calls "mere appearances" so that you could notice them?
Just imagine that for a minute. Everything looks normal one moment — all the everyday hassles, the BIG problems, the regular stresses and frustrations, and so on. Life going on all around, as usual.
And then you put on your magic specs (which, by the way, are extremely cool and you look fabulous in them!), and — wow! — the entire world looks SO different!
Suddenly you see connections you hadn't noticed before. Suddenly what previously looked like a HUGE problem you were trying to put off dealing with has magically morphed into a lucky break.
And people look different, too — even some of the grumpy, disagreeable ones are starting to shape up.
Yeah, wouldn't it be great if you could do that?
Well, you can!
And you don't need magic glasses any more than the young man in our story above needed a special hearing aid.
Why did he, and he alone, hear opportunity knocking?
It couldn't be because he was the only one interested in the job. There were other applicants sitting there with him.
It couldn't be because he was the only one who knew Morse code. After all, it was a telegrapher's job they were after.
It couldn't be because he was more experienced. This was his first job.
And it wasn't for any of those other reasons Mr. Wattles tells us don't really matter (right there in Chapter 2).
Have you figured out why our hero heard the message? Well, here's a clue from Mr. Wattles in The Science of Getting Rich:
"Contemplate your picture in your leisure hours until your consciousness is so full of it that you can grasp it instantly. You will become so enthused with its bright promises that the mere thought of it will call forth the strongest energies of your whole being."
Bingo! There it is! His mind was so filled with his clear mental image of himself as a telegraph operator that he could see, hear, smell, and taste that "image." He really wanted it and could vividly imagine himself having it. It was REAL to him — as real as if it were already true.
And it called forth the strongest energies of his whole being. It allowed him to hear what others couldn't.
When your mind is so focused in this way, you are STRONGLY impressing your image on the Formless and causing that image to move toward you, to move into physical reality. You become so attuned that your senses are heightened and your awareness expands. You can see and hear and notice things that totally escaped you before.
Your brain's special 'pay attention to this!' system Did you know your brain even has a special area that handles this whole area of "noticing?" It's called the Reticular Activating System (RAS), and part of what it does is cause you to notice things that were ALWAYS there before unnoticed until you somehow clue it in about what to start noticing.
For example, did you ever get a new car (or even just think a LOT about getting one) and then it suddenly seemed that EVERYONE must have just bought one? Suddenly, that very same model — even the same color — is showing up EVERYWHERE?
That's the RAS at work.
It's filtering all the zillions of messages your five senses are constantly passing along and deciding which ones are important — important enough for you to consciously notice. (It's determining also what goes into your subconscious mind where the belief system that runs your life is built.) And one way you "program" your RAS to send up a "hey, look at this!" signal is by what you focus on by CHOICE.
It's what we're referring to when we say that what you see around you depends on what you're looking for — in experiences, circumstances, in other people, and on and on. And it works just as well when you put your focus, faith, and feeling on what you do NOT want, too. It's totally neutral, and it's on the job in your every waking moment.
With a new car, of course, the novelty wears off fairly soon, your interest fades, and so the RAS stops signalling you to notice all the lime green Volkswagen Beetle convertibles whizzing by.
But when you follow Mr. Wattles' advice, you're giving the RAS steady instructions to keep its radar going. And the result is like wearing those magic glasses:
"Imagine an environment and a financial condition exactly as you want them, and live all the time in that mental environment and financial condition until they take physical shape.
"See the things you want as if they were actually around you all the time. See yourself as owning and using them. Make use of them in imagination just as you will use them when they are your tangible possessions.
"Dwell upon your mental picture until it is clear and distinct, and then take the mental attitude of ownership toward everything in that picture. Take possession of it, in mind, in the full faith that it is actually yours. Hold to this mental ownership. Do not waiver for an instant in the faith that it is real."
When you do this, when you enthusiastically and steadily hold your vision — like the young man in our story — you'll be amazed at what you start to notice and astonished at how you seem to hear and see wonderful opportunities where others do not!
--- .--. .--. --- .-. - ..- -. .. - -.-- .. ... -. --- .-- .... . .-. .
---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Need a guide to Morse code to decipher the message above? Go here: www.babbage.demon.co.uk/morseabc.html
Monday, July 16, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Baseball player boosted his income 700% in 10 days
article fromThe Certain Way
How A Down and Out Baseball Player Boosted His Income 700 Per Cent in Ten Short Days
By Rebecca Fine
$185 may not seem like much (at least not here in North America), but when it's your whole month's pay — and when last month you were getting only $25 — it takes on some serious significance.
Now imagine yourself back in the year 1907, and that $185 starts to look a whole lot better, doesn't it?
That's when a young baseball player named Frank Bettger discovered a simple secret that changed his whole life.
And while he probably didn't realize it, he also discovered a surefire way to "more than fill [his] present place" and to give everyone he encountered "the impression of increase."
Bettger made his discovery the way many of us learn our best lessons: He was under the gun and HAD to come up with a solution. He'd been fired by the manager of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, team, and things looked pretty grim. But as we learn in the amazing 1910 forgotten classic, The Science of Getting Rich, TRUTH is usually difficult to see when "appearances" loom large.
Was getting sent down to a bush league team that paid peanuts a good thing or a bad thing? Well, let's see ...
As the manager sent Frank on his way, he gave him these words of advice: "Whatever you do after you leave here, for heaven's sake, wake yourself up, and put some life and enthusiasm into your work!"
See, Frank had been so nervous, so scared that he'd been holding back on the field, taking it easy and playing it "safe." He thought he was successfully hiding his fear from everyone, but he was only holding himself back, holding himself down.
(Ever been THERE? I sure have!)
Fortunately, Frank took his manager's words to heart. On his first day with his new team in Connecticut he determined that from then on, no one would ever be able to accuse him of being lazy. He said, "I made up my mind to establish the reputation of being the most enthusiastic ball player they'd ever seen in the New England League.
"I thought if I could establish such a reputation, then I'd have to live up to it."
My friend, that last line right there is brilliant strategy! And Frank implemented his strategy right away. That first day, with the temperature nearing 100 degrees, he became a wild man on the field, running, throwing and hitting with force and feeling — and leaving players, coaches, and spectators all shaking their heads and wondering what on earth was going on.
For example, he slid into third so energetically that the third baseman fumbled the ball and Frank was able to go on and score just when the team really needed a run.
And here's the zinger: It was all a show, just an act, just pretend. Frank was practicing what people today call "Fake it 'til you make it." He didn't feel enthusiastic at all. He just CHOSE to act "as if" he did.
Did it work? Well, listen up to Frank's own words ...
It worked like magic. Three things happened:
1. My enthusiasm almost entirely overcame my fear. In fact my nervousness began to work FOR me, and I played far better than I ever thought I was capable of playing. (If you are nervous be thankful. Don't hold it back. Turn it on. Let your nerves work FOR you.)
2. My enthusiasm affected the other players on the team, and they too became enthusiastic.
3. Instead of dropping with the heat, I felt better during the game and after it was over than I had ever felt before.
The next morning the newspapers were all over Frank, calling him an inspiration. Better yet, within ten days his $25 a month shot up to $185, and Frank notes, "Let me repeat — nothing but the determination to ACT ENTHUSIASTIC increased my income 700% in ten days! I got this stupendous increase in salary not because I could throw a ball better — or catch or hit better, not because I had any more ability as a ball player. I didn't know any more about baseball than I did before."
And two years later Frank's income had multiplied an incredible 30 times over — all because of enthusiasm.
Now some of us scoff and approach this subject in a way my great-grandma would have called (excuse me, please) "bass ackward." We think things have to be really good and THEN we'll be enthusiastic. But that's sort of like telling your car that if it'll only get you across town right now, you'll fill up the gas tank later!
One of the questions I get asked most has to do with the concept of being bigger than your present place — so that you are ready to evolve upward into a larger place (with larger rewards). The other most frequent question is, how do I give the impression of increase to others?
Well, my friend, Frank has shown us one EXCELLENT way to do both! In fact, enthusiasm is probably the most important and most effective way. And you CAN do it, and you can begin doing it right this very moment. (In fact, Mr. Wattles would surely say that THIS is an appropriate use of the will, don't you agree?)
Don't feel enthusiastic? So what? Be like Frank! Anthony Robbins has people stand up, lift their chins and look upward, hold their arms out wide, put big smiles on their faces, then vigorously swing their arms together in a big handclap while shouting "Yes!" And then again, and again, and so on.
See, one part of the enthusiasm formula — as Frank discovered on that sweltering baseball field — is that if you make a change in your physical state, you get a corresponding change in your emotional one. Try it.
Don't like your present job? What if you temporarily pretend you do and attack it with fresh enthusiasm — yeah, even fake enthusiasm — today? All day. Just play the part. You might get an immediate change in the situation — or you might have to keep on pumping enthusiasm in for a while.
What have you got to lose?
And if you DO like what you're doing, you can still load in a fresh supply of enthusiasm and see what happens. It worked for Frank! And it's worked for countless others through the years. It works as well or better today as it ever did. I know this from my own experience and you probably know it, too — even if you've forgotten.
(Not to worry. Frank forgot it himself and had to rediscover it years later when he became a salesman — a sorry, sorry salesman 'til he rediscovered the power of enthusiasm.)
The founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley, once advised, "Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn."
My friend, if you're in that place where nothing seems to be going right, or perhaps it's more that nothing's really WRONG, but you're just feeling restless or dissatisfied, it's time to light your own fire — and to be the great, blazing torch of a person you were born to be!
You can — and you ARE! If you need to do this, please start right now, this very moment. You'll see (and feel!) great results in every area of your life.
And our world needs the light. YOUR light.
How A Down and Out Baseball Player Boosted His Income 700 Per Cent in Ten Short Days
By Rebecca Fine
$185 may not seem like much (at least not here in North America), but when it's your whole month's pay — and when last month you were getting only $25 — it takes on some serious significance.
Now imagine yourself back in the year 1907, and that $185 starts to look a whole lot better, doesn't it?
That's when a young baseball player named Frank Bettger discovered a simple secret that changed his whole life.
And while he probably didn't realize it, he also discovered a surefire way to "more than fill [his] present place" and to give everyone he encountered "the impression of increase."
Bettger made his discovery the way many of us learn our best lessons: He was under the gun and HAD to come up with a solution. He'd been fired by the manager of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, team, and things looked pretty grim. But as we learn in the amazing 1910 forgotten classic, The Science of Getting Rich, TRUTH is usually difficult to see when "appearances" loom large.
Was getting sent down to a bush league team that paid peanuts a good thing or a bad thing? Well, let's see ...
As the manager sent Frank on his way, he gave him these words of advice: "Whatever you do after you leave here, for heaven's sake, wake yourself up, and put some life and enthusiasm into your work!"
See, Frank had been so nervous, so scared that he'd been holding back on the field, taking it easy and playing it "safe." He thought he was successfully hiding his fear from everyone, but he was only holding himself back, holding himself down.
(Ever been THERE? I sure have!)
Fortunately, Frank took his manager's words to heart. On his first day with his new team in Connecticut he determined that from then on, no one would ever be able to accuse him of being lazy. He said, "I made up my mind to establish the reputation of being the most enthusiastic ball player they'd ever seen in the New England League.
"I thought if I could establish such a reputation, then I'd have to live up to it."
My friend, that last line right there is brilliant strategy! And Frank implemented his strategy right away. That first day, with the temperature nearing 100 degrees, he became a wild man on the field, running, throwing and hitting with force and feeling — and leaving players, coaches, and spectators all shaking their heads and wondering what on earth was going on.
For example, he slid into third so energetically that the third baseman fumbled the ball and Frank was able to go on and score just when the team really needed a run.
And here's the zinger: It was all a show, just an act, just pretend. Frank was practicing what people today call "Fake it 'til you make it." He didn't feel enthusiastic at all. He just CHOSE to act "as if" he did.
Did it work? Well, listen up to Frank's own words ...
It worked like magic. Three things happened:
1. My enthusiasm almost entirely overcame my fear. In fact my nervousness began to work FOR me, and I played far better than I ever thought I was capable of playing. (If you are nervous be thankful. Don't hold it back. Turn it on. Let your nerves work FOR you.)
2. My enthusiasm affected the other players on the team, and they too became enthusiastic.
3. Instead of dropping with the heat, I felt better during the game and after it was over than I had ever felt before.
The next morning the newspapers were all over Frank, calling him an inspiration. Better yet, within ten days his $25 a month shot up to $185, and Frank notes, "Let me repeat — nothing but the determination to ACT ENTHUSIASTIC increased my income 700% in ten days! I got this stupendous increase in salary not because I could throw a ball better — or catch or hit better, not because I had any more ability as a ball player. I didn't know any more about baseball than I did before."
And two years later Frank's income had multiplied an incredible 30 times over — all because of enthusiasm.
Now some of us scoff and approach this subject in a way my great-grandma would have called (excuse me, please) "bass ackward." We think things have to be really good and THEN we'll be enthusiastic. But that's sort of like telling your car that if it'll only get you across town right now, you'll fill up the gas tank later!
One of the questions I get asked most has to do with the concept of being bigger than your present place — so that you are ready to evolve upward into a larger place (with larger rewards). The other most frequent question is, how do I give the impression of increase to others?
Well, my friend, Frank has shown us one EXCELLENT way to do both! In fact, enthusiasm is probably the most important and most effective way. And you CAN do it, and you can begin doing it right this very moment. (In fact, Mr. Wattles would surely say that THIS is an appropriate use of the will, don't you agree?)
Don't feel enthusiastic? So what? Be like Frank! Anthony Robbins has people stand up, lift their chins and look upward, hold their arms out wide, put big smiles on their faces, then vigorously swing their arms together in a big handclap while shouting "Yes!" And then again, and again, and so on.
See, one part of the enthusiasm formula — as Frank discovered on that sweltering baseball field — is that if you make a change in your physical state, you get a corresponding change in your emotional one. Try it.
Don't like your present job? What if you temporarily pretend you do and attack it with fresh enthusiasm — yeah, even fake enthusiasm — today? All day. Just play the part. You might get an immediate change in the situation — or you might have to keep on pumping enthusiasm in for a while.
What have you got to lose?
And if you DO like what you're doing, you can still load in a fresh supply of enthusiasm and see what happens. It worked for Frank! And it's worked for countless others through the years. It works as well or better today as it ever did. I know this from my own experience and you probably know it, too — even if you've forgotten.
(Not to worry. Frank forgot it himself and had to rediscover it years later when he became a salesman — a sorry, sorry salesman 'til he rediscovered the power of enthusiasm.)
The founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley, once advised, "Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn."
My friend, if you're in that place where nothing seems to be going right, or perhaps it's more that nothing's really WRONG, but you're just feeling restless or dissatisfied, it's time to light your own fire — and to be the great, blazing torch of a person you were born to be!
You can — and you ARE! If you need to do this, please start right now, this very moment. You'll see (and feel!) great results in every area of your life.
And our world needs the light. YOUR light.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Positive Thoughts 15
Change your thoughts, and you change your world. -Norman Vincent Peale
When we deserve love the least is when we need it the most!
Creativity can be described as letting go of certainties. -Gail Sheehy
I am always doing things I can't do; that's how I get to do them. -Pablo Picasso
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. -Gandhi
Allow others to give you loving care. Receive without guilt or apologies. -Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.
If children live with criticism, They learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, They learn to fight.
If children live with ridicule, They learn to be shy.
If children live with shame, They learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, They learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, They learn to be patient.
If children live with praise, They learn to appreciate.
If children live with acceptance, They learn to love.
If children live with approval, They learn to like themselves.
If children live with honesty, They learn truthfulness.
If children live with security, They learn to have faith in them- selves and others.
If children live with friendliness, They learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
– Dorothy Law Nolte
We only go around once. There's really no time to be afraid. So stop. Try something you’ve never tried. Teach it. Do it. Risk it. -Jon Blais
Take time to think... it is the source of power.
Take time to play... it is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to read... it is the fountain of wisdom.
Take time to pray... it is the greatest power on earth.
Take time to love and be loved... it is a God-given privilege.
Take time to be friendly... it is the road to happiness.
Take time to laugh... it is the music of the soul.
Take time to give... it is too short a day to be selfish.
Take time to work... it is the price of success.
Take time to do charity... it is the key to fulfillment.
– Author Unknown
I would rather stumble a thousand times
Attempting to reach a goal
Than to sit in a crowd In my weather-proof shroud
A shriveled and self-satisfied soul.
I would rather be doing and daring
All of my error-filled days
Than watching, and waiting, and dying
Smug in my perfect ways. I would rather wonder and blunder
Stumbling blindly ahead
Than for safety's sake
Lest I make a mistake
Be sure, be safe, be dead.
– Unknown
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit…
Rest if you must—but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won if he’d stuck it out.
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It's when things go wrong That you mustn't quit.
– Unknown
To fully live,
to fully love,
to get close to someone,
Is to become vulnerable
and risk getting hurt.
But to stay in my shell
where I feel
comfortable and safe
is a greater risk by far—
For to risk nothing
is to risk everything.
Instead of living fully
I'll be dying slowly
And never will discover
the joy of loving nor the high
achievement of becoming
all that I was meant
and created to be.
– Dick Innes
"I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately triumph than to triumph in a cause that will ultimately fail." – Jim Elliot
"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." – Cyril Connolly
Everyone can be great because everyone can serve...You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. -Martin Luther King Jr.
A good laugh is sunshine in a house. -William Makepeace Thackeray
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. -T.S. Eliot
It takes courage to grow up and be who you really are. -E.E. Cummings
Remember that unpleasant feelings will pass. Notice rather than react. -Barbara Ann Kipfer
Born to Fly
A naturalist visiting a farm one day was surprised to see a beautiful eagle in the farmer's chicken coop. Befuddled, he asked, "Why in the world is that eagle living with chickens?"
"Well," answered the farmer, "I found an abandoned eagle's egg one day and laid it in the coop, and a chicken adopted it and raised the creature after it hatched. It doesn't know any better; it thinks it's a chicken." The eagle was even pecking at grain and strutting awkwardly in circles.
"Doesn't it ever try to fly out of there?" asked the naturalist, noticing that the bird never lifted its gaze. "No," said the farmer, "I doubt it even knows what it means to fly."
The naturalist asked to take the eagle a few days for experiments, and the farmer agreed. The scientist placed the eagle on a fence and pushed it off, bellowing, "Fly!" But the bird just fell to the ground and started pecking. He then climbed to the top of a hayloft and did the same thing, but the frightened bird just shrieked and fluttered ungraciously to the barnyard, where it resumed its strutting.
Finally, the naturalist took the docile bird away from the environment to which it had grown accustomed, driving to the highest butte in the county. After a lengthy and sweaty climb to the hillcrest with the bird tucked under his arm, he peered over the edge and then spoke gently: "You were born to soar. It is better that you die here today on the rocks below than live the rest of your life being a chicken. It's not what you are."
Then, with its keen eyesight, the confused bird spotted another eagle soaring on the currents high above the bluff, and a yearning was kindled within it. The naturalist threw the majestic beast up and over the edge, crying out, "Fly! Fly! Fly!"
The eagle began to tumble toward the rocks below, but then it opened its seven-foot span of wings and, with a mighty screech, instinctively began to flap them. Soon it was gliding gracefully, climbing in ever-higher spirals on unseen thermals into the blue sky. Eventually, the mighty eagle disappeared into the glare of the morning sun. The bird had become what it was born to be.
Have you discovered your God-given purpose and potential—and have become or are becoming all that you were born to be?
You don't have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.
-Dan Millman
God, if I can't have what I want, let me want what I have. -Anonymous prayer
I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know that just to be alive is a grand thing. -Agatha Christie
We know nothing of tomorrow, our business is to be good and happy today. -Sydney Smith
We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today. -Dale Carnegie
When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. -Chinese Proverb
It isn't hard to be good from time to time. What's tough is being good every day. -Willie Mays
The human heart, at whatever age, opens only to the heart that opens in return.
-Maria Edgeworth
See all beings as enlightened, providing you with the education you need to awaken. Thank them. -Barbara Ann Kipfer
Wisdom is knowing when to speak your mind and when to mind your speech. -Unknown
Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been.
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Good habits are as easy to form as bad ones. -Tim McCarver
Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. -Dave Gardner
Freedom is the oxygen of the soul. -Moshe Dayan
You miss 100 percent of all the shots you never take. -Wayne Gretzky
When we deserve love the least is when we need it the most!
Creativity can be described as letting go of certainties. -Gail Sheehy
I am always doing things I can't do; that's how I get to do them. -Pablo Picasso
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. -Gandhi
Allow others to give you loving care. Receive without guilt or apologies. -Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.
If children live with criticism, They learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, They learn to fight.
If children live with ridicule, They learn to be shy.
If children live with shame, They learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, They learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, They learn to be patient.
If children live with praise, They learn to appreciate.
If children live with acceptance, They learn to love.
If children live with approval, They learn to like themselves.
If children live with honesty, They learn truthfulness.
If children live with security, They learn to have faith in them- selves and others.
If children live with friendliness, They learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
– Dorothy Law Nolte
We only go around once. There's really no time to be afraid. So stop. Try something you’ve never tried. Teach it. Do it. Risk it. -Jon Blais
Take time to think... it is the source of power.
Take time to play... it is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to read... it is the fountain of wisdom.
Take time to pray... it is the greatest power on earth.
Take time to love and be loved... it is a God-given privilege.
Take time to be friendly... it is the road to happiness.
Take time to laugh... it is the music of the soul.
Take time to give... it is too short a day to be selfish.
Take time to work... it is the price of success.
Take time to do charity... it is the key to fulfillment.
– Author Unknown
I would rather stumble a thousand times
Attempting to reach a goal
Than to sit in a crowd In my weather-proof shroud
A shriveled and self-satisfied soul.
I would rather be doing and daring
All of my error-filled days
Than watching, and waiting, and dying
Smug in my perfect ways. I would rather wonder and blunder
Stumbling blindly ahead
Than for safety's sake
Lest I make a mistake
Be sure, be safe, be dead.
– Unknown
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit…
Rest if you must—but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won if he’d stuck it out.
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It's when things go wrong That you mustn't quit.
– Unknown
To fully live,
to fully love,
to get close to someone,
Is to become vulnerable
and risk getting hurt.
But to stay in my shell
where I feel
comfortable and safe
is a greater risk by far—
For to risk nothing
is to risk everything.
Instead of living fully
I'll be dying slowly
And never will discover
the joy of loving nor the high
achievement of becoming
all that I was meant
and created to be.
– Dick Innes
"I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately triumph than to triumph in a cause that will ultimately fail." – Jim Elliot
"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." – Cyril Connolly
Everyone can be great because everyone can serve...You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. -Martin Luther King Jr.
A good laugh is sunshine in a house. -William Makepeace Thackeray
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. -T.S. Eliot
It takes courage to grow up and be who you really are. -E.E. Cummings
Remember that unpleasant feelings will pass. Notice rather than react. -Barbara Ann Kipfer
Born to Fly
A naturalist visiting a farm one day was surprised to see a beautiful eagle in the farmer's chicken coop. Befuddled, he asked, "Why in the world is that eagle living with chickens?"
"Well," answered the farmer, "I found an abandoned eagle's egg one day and laid it in the coop, and a chicken adopted it and raised the creature after it hatched. It doesn't know any better; it thinks it's a chicken." The eagle was even pecking at grain and strutting awkwardly in circles.
"Doesn't it ever try to fly out of there?" asked the naturalist, noticing that the bird never lifted its gaze. "No," said the farmer, "I doubt it even knows what it means to fly."
The naturalist asked to take the eagle a few days for experiments, and the farmer agreed. The scientist placed the eagle on a fence and pushed it off, bellowing, "Fly!" But the bird just fell to the ground and started pecking. He then climbed to the top of a hayloft and did the same thing, but the frightened bird just shrieked and fluttered ungraciously to the barnyard, where it resumed its strutting.
Finally, the naturalist took the docile bird away from the environment to which it had grown accustomed, driving to the highest butte in the county. After a lengthy and sweaty climb to the hillcrest with the bird tucked under his arm, he peered over the edge and then spoke gently: "You were born to soar. It is better that you die here today on the rocks below than live the rest of your life being a chicken. It's not what you are."
Then, with its keen eyesight, the confused bird spotted another eagle soaring on the currents high above the bluff, and a yearning was kindled within it. The naturalist threw the majestic beast up and over the edge, crying out, "Fly! Fly! Fly!"
The eagle began to tumble toward the rocks below, but then it opened its seven-foot span of wings and, with a mighty screech, instinctively began to flap them. Soon it was gliding gracefully, climbing in ever-higher spirals on unseen thermals into the blue sky. Eventually, the mighty eagle disappeared into the glare of the morning sun. The bird had become what it was born to be.
Have you discovered your God-given purpose and potential—and have become or are becoming all that you were born to be?
You don't have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.
-Dan Millman
God, if I can't have what I want, let me want what I have. -Anonymous prayer
I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know that just to be alive is a grand thing. -Agatha Christie
We know nothing of tomorrow, our business is to be good and happy today. -Sydney Smith
We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today. -Dale Carnegie
When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. -Chinese Proverb
It isn't hard to be good from time to time. What's tough is being good every day. -Willie Mays
The human heart, at whatever age, opens only to the heart that opens in return.
-Maria Edgeworth
See all beings as enlightened, providing you with the education you need to awaken. Thank them. -Barbara Ann Kipfer
Wisdom is knowing when to speak your mind and when to mind your speech. -Unknown
Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been.
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Good habits are as easy to form as bad ones. -Tim McCarver
Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. -Dave Gardner
Freedom is the oxygen of the soul. -Moshe Dayan
You miss 100 percent of all the shots you never take. -Wayne Gretzky
What Kind of Life Are You Attracting?
What Kind of Life Are You Attracting?
The Law of Attraction says that what we direct our emotions to will be pulled into our lives.
By Lynn Grabhorn
Way back in the thirties a couple of guys in the Orient were attempting to prove that thoughts were real things, and that different kinds of thoughts create different kinds of vibration. So they decided to see if they could actually photograph vibrations of thought. And by golly they did, right through steel walls, an experiment that's been replicated many times since. (See From Enigma to Science, by George W. Meek, Samuel Weiser Inc. 1977.) But they also proved something else perhaps even more important. They found that the more emotion the thinker/sender charged his thoughts with, the clearer the picture turned out to be! These fellows were possibly the first to prove that there is magnetic energy attached to our thought, and that thought is propelled by our emotions. What they missed, though, is that because the vibrational waves (emotions) we send out are magnetically charged, we are literally walking magnets, constantly pulling back into our world anything that just happens to be playing on the same frequency or wavelength.
For instance, when we're feeling up, filling with joy and gratitude, our emotions are sending out high frequency vibrations that will magnetize only good stuff back to us, meaning anything with the same high vibratory frequency that matches what we're sending out. Like attracts like.
On the other hand, when we're experiencing anything that joy isn't, such as fear, worry, guilt, or even mild concern, those emotions are sending out low-frequency vibrations. Since low frequencies are every bit as magnetic as high frequencies, they're going to attract only cruddy stuff back to us, meaning anything of that same low frequency that will cause us to feel (and vibrate) as [badly] as what we're sending out. We may be flesh and blood, but first and foremost we are energy-magnetic energy at that. Which makes us living, breathing magnets.
The Law of Attraction says that what we direct our emotions to will be pulled into our lives.
By Lynn Grabhorn
Way back in the thirties a couple of guys in the Orient were attempting to prove that thoughts were real things, and that different kinds of thoughts create different kinds of vibration. So they decided to see if they could actually photograph vibrations of thought. And by golly they did, right through steel walls, an experiment that's been replicated many times since. (See From Enigma to Science, by George W. Meek, Samuel Weiser Inc. 1977.) But they also proved something else perhaps even more important. They found that the more emotion the thinker/sender charged his thoughts with, the clearer the picture turned out to be! These fellows were possibly the first to prove that there is magnetic energy attached to our thought, and that thought is propelled by our emotions. What they missed, though, is that because the vibrational waves (emotions) we send out are magnetically charged, we are literally walking magnets, constantly pulling back into our world anything that just happens to be playing on the same frequency or wavelength.
For instance, when we're feeling up, filling with joy and gratitude, our emotions are sending out high frequency vibrations that will magnetize only good stuff back to us, meaning anything with the same high vibratory frequency that matches what we're sending out. Like attracts like.
On the other hand, when we're experiencing anything that joy isn't, such as fear, worry, guilt, or even mild concern, those emotions are sending out low-frequency vibrations. Since low frequencies are every bit as magnetic as high frequencies, they're going to attract only cruddy stuff back to us, meaning anything of that same low frequency that will cause us to feel (and vibrate) as [badly] as what we're sending out. We may be flesh and blood, but first and foremost we are energy-magnetic energy at that. Which makes us living, breathing magnets.
Allow Good Things Into Your Life
Allow Good Things Into Your Life
By using positive affirmations, we can build confidence and get what we want out of life.
By Charlene M. Proctor, Ph.D
Everyone gets off track from time to time – it’s normal and a consequence of living in a complex, stressful world. Attract abundance and maintain a good mental equivalent by raising your vibration. Raising your vibration means giving loving attention, or energy, to what you want. We get faster results by attuning to an idea of what we want and then allowing it to come into our lives, because we are already in a state of thankfulness that it is here. That is another reason we write affirmations in the present moment: there really isn’t any other time in our lives that is important. Live in the now, thank in the now, love in the now, and allow prosperity to happen in the now, knowing it is already present.
When we concentrate on the effects of the world, rather than our supply, we lower our vibrational quality, making it much harder to demonstrate what we want. You’ve heard the concept of alignment and finding “center” from many spiritual teachers, achieved by chanting, prayer, meditation, chakra balancing, even martial arts or exercise. Those activities help raise your vibrational quality by helping you to identify or resonate with the true self, so that goodness can manifest. Essentially, you are attuning to your God-force. That is why in affirmations, we focus on the “I am” within us and align our vibrational quality with that of our God/Goddess energy. We do a pretty job of cultivating our own negative programming and often bring to the table a lot of negative assumptions about money and abundance that lower our vibration. You might recognize these.
It was never meant for me to have money.
I’m poor but clean (or good, pure, happy, content).
If I want to lead a spiritual life and be closer to God, it means I must have to give everything up.
I’ll be like Christ (or Buddha, Rumi, Mohammed, Mother Teresa) because not having any material wealth means I am purer (or righteous, religious, going to get a better afterlife).
You can live a pure life only without material items.
I don’t want to learn about how money works – I’ll just let ______________do it.
I just want to spend money.
I only care about large sums of money. Why should I pick up a penny off the sidewalk?
It’s not worth my time, so I’ll just do a mediocre (or lousy) job. This shows overall disrespect for your true supply when it’s giving you an opportunity. Choose not to do the job instead!
Prosperity means I have to take something away from someone else.
I can’t enjoy wealth because I feel guilty.
I will never be able to afford that. You are building a “can’t afford” consciousness. You will bring more events and things into your life that you cannot afford.
I can’t imagine having a million dollars – I wouldn’t know what to do with it.
If I had a million dollars, I’d give it all away.
If I become wealthy, why should I be generous? I struggled so long, I’m going to let everyone else know how it feels not to have anything.
People who have money are wealthy snobs.
Being rich is selfish. You can have too much money.
Rich people consume all the world’s natural resources. I love the earth too much to be rich.
Money represents temptation and evil.
I don’t deserve what I really want.
I don’t want this deal not to work out. If you’re constantly worried about lack, you’ll attract it.
I just want to be rich. This one is particularly self-defeating, because you’ll spend your energy on getting the money without any focus on how to do it.
You won’t be able to demonstrate the law of being with this type of mental muck. Start affirming that you are a prosperity magnet because you possess the boundless wealth of the universe without exception. Spend time raising your vibration. Say that you attract all good things today, not tomorrow or next week. Love yourself, praise your abilities in the present moment, and build feelings of confidence.
I am a prosperous, intelligent, capable individual who can do anything.
I deserve health, wealth, love, and happiness in my life. I thank the universe for my opportunities.
I pay my bills with love and joy… Come on, you can do this one!
…I love that I have the ability to pay this bill, and I rejoice in the goods and services I have received as a result of this bill.
I see the abundance in the universe everywhere I go. I see it in myself.
I am a loving individual, who is part of unlimited creation; therefore, I am unlimited in what I can do.
I am my divine self and I choose to demonstrate my highest good. I prosper everywhere I go because I love life.
I am an open channel to receive my abundance from the universe. I am open to new opportunities.
Remain open to the possibility that the universe is infinitely more creative than you in choosing the channel for abundance to flow through. If you outline exactly how you want to receive your good, you are definitely giving the idea some clarity. But be flexible. Devising a mental equivalent to own the winning lottery ticket might be a way to manifest abundance, but you are limiting the avenues by which good can come to you. Likewise, it’s great to visualize opening the front door to discover a huge basketful of money, but it is more likely that the universe will present prosperity through people and opportunities. Be attentive and keep your options open.
Maintain high vibrational quality by practicing verbal harmlessness. Always extend loving thoughts to those around us. What you see in others is what you will see in yourself, and you’ll reproduce that vibration in your immediate environment. You are attracting that which you are, or think you are. If you are attuning to the highest vision of your true self, how can you go wrong? There are also two words you need to eradicate from your vocabulary: hate and try. Hate, because you can’t have hate as part of your mindset even if you are talking about the corned beef sandwich you had for lunch. Try, because if you say you will try something, it implies that you aren’t going to do it now, only sometime in the future.
Learn to set a mental equivalent of gentleness and generosity and act with poise, grace, loving-kindness, ease, and serenity. You’ll be surprised how little practice you will need until you permanently internalize those peaceful qualities within and find others possessing those qualities who are part of your everyday experience.
Practicing verbal harmlessness also applies to what you say about you. Nothing lowers your vibration quicker than self-criticism. Whatever you say about yourself applies to everyone because we’re the same soul substance – and what you see in a mirror is what you will see in every person in your life. If I say I am weak, poor, or broke, I am saying you are too, because we are the same substance. Further, if I say I am stupid, I have just called the Divine stupid – not empowered thinking! By putting yourself down, you are conditioning your mind to believe it, which means you are focusing on lack in yourself. How can the infinite self lack? Become conscious of the spirit within you as your infinite supply. Know that you are composed of perfect soul material. Keep your affirmations in the present tense, be positive, stop using hate and try, stop self-criticism, and know that you are already wonderfully rich.
By using positive affirmations, we can build confidence and get what we want out of life.
By Charlene M. Proctor, Ph.D
Everyone gets off track from time to time – it’s normal and a consequence of living in a complex, stressful world. Attract abundance and maintain a good mental equivalent by raising your vibration. Raising your vibration means giving loving attention, or energy, to what you want. We get faster results by attuning to an idea of what we want and then allowing it to come into our lives, because we are already in a state of thankfulness that it is here. That is another reason we write affirmations in the present moment: there really isn’t any other time in our lives that is important. Live in the now, thank in the now, love in the now, and allow prosperity to happen in the now, knowing it is already present.
When we concentrate on the effects of the world, rather than our supply, we lower our vibrational quality, making it much harder to demonstrate what we want. You’ve heard the concept of alignment and finding “center” from many spiritual teachers, achieved by chanting, prayer, meditation, chakra balancing, even martial arts or exercise. Those activities help raise your vibrational quality by helping you to identify or resonate with the true self, so that goodness can manifest. Essentially, you are attuning to your God-force. That is why in affirmations, we focus on the “I am” within us and align our vibrational quality with that of our God/Goddess energy. We do a pretty job of cultivating our own negative programming and often bring to the table a lot of negative assumptions about money and abundance that lower our vibration. You might recognize these.
It was never meant for me to have money.
I’m poor but clean (or good, pure, happy, content).
If I want to lead a spiritual life and be closer to God, it means I must have to give everything up.
I’ll be like Christ (or Buddha, Rumi, Mohammed, Mother Teresa) because not having any material wealth means I am purer (or righteous, religious, going to get a better afterlife).
You can live a pure life only without material items.
I don’t want to learn about how money works – I’ll just let ______________do it.
I just want to spend money.
I only care about large sums of money. Why should I pick up a penny off the sidewalk?
It’s not worth my time, so I’ll just do a mediocre (or lousy) job. This shows overall disrespect for your true supply when it’s giving you an opportunity. Choose not to do the job instead!
Prosperity means I have to take something away from someone else.
I can’t enjoy wealth because I feel guilty.
I will never be able to afford that. You are building a “can’t afford” consciousness. You will bring more events and things into your life that you cannot afford.
I can’t imagine having a million dollars – I wouldn’t know what to do with it.
If I had a million dollars, I’d give it all away.
If I become wealthy, why should I be generous? I struggled so long, I’m going to let everyone else know how it feels not to have anything.
People who have money are wealthy snobs.
Being rich is selfish. You can have too much money.
Rich people consume all the world’s natural resources. I love the earth too much to be rich.
Money represents temptation and evil.
I don’t deserve what I really want.
I don’t want this deal not to work out. If you’re constantly worried about lack, you’ll attract it.
I just want to be rich. This one is particularly self-defeating, because you’ll spend your energy on getting the money without any focus on how to do it.
You won’t be able to demonstrate the law of being with this type of mental muck. Start affirming that you are a prosperity magnet because you possess the boundless wealth of the universe without exception. Spend time raising your vibration. Say that you attract all good things today, not tomorrow or next week. Love yourself, praise your abilities in the present moment, and build feelings of confidence.
I am a prosperous, intelligent, capable individual who can do anything.
I deserve health, wealth, love, and happiness in my life. I thank the universe for my opportunities.
I pay my bills with love and joy… Come on, you can do this one!
…I love that I have the ability to pay this bill, and I rejoice in the goods and services I have received as a result of this bill.
I see the abundance in the universe everywhere I go. I see it in myself.
I am a loving individual, who is part of unlimited creation; therefore, I am unlimited in what I can do.
I am my divine self and I choose to demonstrate my highest good. I prosper everywhere I go because I love life.
I am an open channel to receive my abundance from the universe. I am open to new opportunities.
Remain open to the possibility that the universe is infinitely more creative than you in choosing the channel for abundance to flow through. If you outline exactly how you want to receive your good, you are definitely giving the idea some clarity. But be flexible. Devising a mental equivalent to own the winning lottery ticket might be a way to manifest abundance, but you are limiting the avenues by which good can come to you. Likewise, it’s great to visualize opening the front door to discover a huge basketful of money, but it is more likely that the universe will present prosperity through people and opportunities. Be attentive and keep your options open.
Maintain high vibrational quality by practicing verbal harmlessness. Always extend loving thoughts to those around us. What you see in others is what you will see in yourself, and you’ll reproduce that vibration in your immediate environment. You are attracting that which you are, or think you are. If you are attuning to the highest vision of your true self, how can you go wrong? There are also two words you need to eradicate from your vocabulary: hate and try. Hate, because you can’t have hate as part of your mindset even if you are talking about the corned beef sandwich you had for lunch. Try, because if you say you will try something, it implies that you aren’t going to do it now, only sometime in the future.
Learn to set a mental equivalent of gentleness and generosity and act with poise, grace, loving-kindness, ease, and serenity. You’ll be surprised how little practice you will need until you permanently internalize those peaceful qualities within and find others possessing those qualities who are part of your everyday experience.
Practicing verbal harmlessness also applies to what you say about you. Nothing lowers your vibration quicker than self-criticism. Whatever you say about yourself applies to everyone because we’re the same soul substance – and what you see in a mirror is what you will see in every person in your life. If I say I am weak, poor, or broke, I am saying you are too, because we are the same substance. Further, if I say I am stupid, I have just called the Divine stupid – not empowered thinking! By putting yourself down, you are conditioning your mind to believe it, which means you are focusing on lack in yourself. How can the infinite self lack? Become conscious of the spirit within you as your infinite supply. Know that you are composed of perfect soul material. Keep your affirmations in the present tense, be positive, stop using hate and try, stop self-criticism, and know that you are already wonderfully rich.
8 Affirmations to Move Past Pain
8 Affirmations to Move Past Pain
Use these affirmations to help you overcome the past and focus on moving forward.
By Charlene M. Proctor, Ph.D.
Affirmations are a simple tool we can use to feel better about ourselves. By repeating aloud or silently the positive things we want for our lives, we train our minds to embrace new and joyful possibilities. The following affirmations will help you release negative patterns of the past, gain insight into the present, and learn to forgive. What have you got to lose, except a heavy burden?
Remember to sit quietly and read each affirmation slowly.
1. If You Have Regrets
Life is a curving and fluid journey. Because I am always moving through learning stages, I cannot look back or measure. I learn through my relationships because that is how I begin to define who I am. Nothing is unforgivable in life. I know nursing this hurt is holding me back from fully being with others; therefore I choose to thank the universe for giving me another opportunity to develop my soul by knowing another person. I move easily through this experience.
2.If You Can't Release the Past
Today I take all my unhappy memories out of my body and place them in a basket. My pain, my anger, and my resentments are placed in this basket. I have an angel that takes this basket of unhappiness from my hands and flies to the outer reaches of the universe and transforms it into loving energy that will revisit me later today. I forgive those around me and ask for divine assistance to hold me in a state of continual forgiveness.
3.If Your Family Did Not Allow You to Bloom
Spring is guaranteed to come. I can bloom no matter what the weather, because I am growing spiritually each day. Today I take time to notice how I have bloomed so beautifully despite my circumstances. I am capable of reaching for the sun and sky because that is my natural state. I am reaching upward every day and do so joyfully, knowing I am grounded in the life cycle of spiritual development.
4.If You Have Trouble Forgiving
I forgive because I am capable of expressing compassion. By forgiving, I release this situation from my energy field and feel clear-headed and full-hearted. I forgive because I am able to rise to my higher self and feel lighter. My light knows no boundaries when I forgive. Life feels lighter when I forgive.
5.If You Have Frequent Family Feuds
I choose to be a spectator, not a participant, in a negative energy generation. I facilitate healing by taking time to ask for divine assistance for this family's difficulties. I visualize these family members embracing one another for their diversity and know that each one helps another on their soul journey. Every loving and positive word I speak about my family helps to generate more healing.
6.If You Have a Bad Attitude
Today I change my focus by championing a new cause. I am the ambassador of positive thinking. I spread health, wealth, love, and happiness wherever I go. I love watching how my positive statements dissolve negativity in others. I am my own instrument of renewal of positive energy, and my positive outlook is stored deep within me. Every positive statement I make is rewarded.
7.If You Repeat the Same Patterns
I keep experiencing the same events in my life because I have not learned a lesson at the deep level of the soul. I am committed to changing my behavior, attitude, and negative belief systems. I learn from past mistakes. Life is a self-educational process and I am a perceptive individual. I watch others as they model what I need to learn. I love all my talents as well as my imperfections because that is what makes me the beloved person I am.
8.If Your Family Has Patriarchal Attitudes
I am a spark of the Divine; therefore I am of the same soul substance as everyone else. From this day forward, I recognize my gifts of both male and female energy and reclaim a balanced image of my infinite power. Those who do not believe in me are denying part of their own divine nature; therefore they have no power over me. I am supported by Mother God!
Use these affirmations to help you overcome the past and focus on moving forward.
By Charlene M. Proctor, Ph.D.
Affirmations are a simple tool we can use to feel better about ourselves. By repeating aloud or silently the positive things we want for our lives, we train our minds to embrace new and joyful possibilities. The following affirmations will help you release negative patterns of the past, gain insight into the present, and learn to forgive. What have you got to lose, except a heavy burden?
Remember to sit quietly and read each affirmation slowly.
1. If You Have Regrets
Life is a curving and fluid journey. Because I am always moving through learning stages, I cannot look back or measure. I learn through my relationships because that is how I begin to define who I am. Nothing is unforgivable in life. I know nursing this hurt is holding me back from fully being with others; therefore I choose to thank the universe for giving me another opportunity to develop my soul by knowing another person. I move easily through this experience.
2.If You Can't Release the Past
Today I take all my unhappy memories out of my body and place them in a basket. My pain, my anger, and my resentments are placed in this basket. I have an angel that takes this basket of unhappiness from my hands and flies to the outer reaches of the universe and transforms it into loving energy that will revisit me later today. I forgive those around me and ask for divine assistance to hold me in a state of continual forgiveness.
3.If Your Family Did Not Allow You to Bloom
Spring is guaranteed to come. I can bloom no matter what the weather, because I am growing spiritually each day. Today I take time to notice how I have bloomed so beautifully despite my circumstances. I am capable of reaching for the sun and sky because that is my natural state. I am reaching upward every day and do so joyfully, knowing I am grounded in the life cycle of spiritual development.
4.If You Have Trouble Forgiving
I forgive because I am capable of expressing compassion. By forgiving, I release this situation from my energy field and feel clear-headed and full-hearted. I forgive because I am able to rise to my higher self and feel lighter. My light knows no boundaries when I forgive. Life feels lighter when I forgive.
5.If You Have Frequent Family Feuds
I choose to be a spectator, not a participant, in a negative energy generation. I facilitate healing by taking time to ask for divine assistance for this family's difficulties. I visualize these family members embracing one another for their diversity and know that each one helps another on their soul journey. Every loving and positive word I speak about my family helps to generate more healing.
6.If You Have a Bad Attitude
Today I change my focus by championing a new cause. I am the ambassador of positive thinking. I spread health, wealth, love, and happiness wherever I go. I love watching how my positive statements dissolve negativity in others. I am my own instrument of renewal of positive energy, and my positive outlook is stored deep within me. Every positive statement I make is rewarded.
7.If You Repeat the Same Patterns
I keep experiencing the same events in my life because I have not learned a lesson at the deep level of the soul. I am committed to changing my behavior, attitude, and negative belief systems. I learn from past mistakes. Life is a self-educational process and I am a perceptive individual. I watch others as they model what I need to learn. I love all my talents as well as my imperfections because that is what makes me the beloved person I am.
8.If Your Family Has Patriarchal Attitudes
I am a spark of the Divine; therefore I am of the same soul substance as everyone else. From this day forward, I recognize my gifts of both male and female energy and reclaim a balanced image of my infinite power. Those who do not believe in me are denying part of their own divine nature; therefore they have no power over me. I am supported by Mother God!
The 90/10 principle
The 90/10 principle Author:
Stephen Covey - Management Guru
Have you read this before? If not, discover the 90/10 Principle. It will change your life (at least the way you react to situations).
What is this principle?
10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react. What does this mean?
We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane arriving late, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%.
How? By your reaction.
You cannot control a red light., but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react.
Let's use an example.
Imagine, you are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened. What happens next will be determined by how you react. Here is how people react typically:
Ø You curse.
Ø You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over.
Ø She breaks down in tears.
Ø After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table.
Ø A short verbal battle follows.
Ø You storm upstairs and change your shirt.
Ø You come back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school.
Ø She misses the bus.
Ø Your spouse must leave immediately for work.
Ø You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school.
Ø Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit.
Ø You get pulled over, After a 15-minute delay and throwing a $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school.
Ø Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye.
Ø After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase.
Ø Your day has started terrible.
Ø As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse.
Ø You look forward to coming home.
When you arrive home, you find a small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter.
Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning.
Why did you have a bad day?
A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?
The answer is "D".
You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day. Here is what could have and should have happened.
Ø Coffee splashes over you.
Ø Your daughter is about to cry.
Ø You gently say, "It's ok honey, you just need, to be more careful next time".
Ø Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs.
Ø After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus.
Ø She turns and waves.
Ø You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff.
Ø Your boss comments on how good a day you are having.
Notice the difference? Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different.
Why? Because of how you REACTED.
You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% is determined by your reaction.
Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle.
o If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass.
o You don't have to let the negative comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.
o How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic?
Ø Do you lose your temper?
Ø Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off.
Ø Do you curse?
Ø Does your blood pressure skyrocket?
Ø Do you try and bump them?
WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive? Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it.
o You are told you lost your job.
Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job.
o The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day.
Why take out your frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on. Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse.
Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it. The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle. The result? Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache. We all must understand and apply the 90/10 principle. It CAN change your life!!!
Stephen Covey - Management Guru
Have you read this before? If not, discover the 90/10 Principle. It will change your life (at least the way you react to situations).
What is this principle?
10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react. What does this mean?
We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane arriving late, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%.
How? By your reaction.
You cannot control a red light., but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react.
Let's use an example.
Imagine, you are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened. What happens next will be determined by how you react. Here is how people react typically:
Ø You curse.
Ø You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over.
Ø She breaks down in tears.
Ø After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table.
Ø A short verbal battle follows.
Ø You storm upstairs and change your shirt.
Ø You come back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school.
Ø She misses the bus.
Ø Your spouse must leave immediately for work.
Ø You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school.
Ø Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit.
Ø You get pulled over, After a 15-minute delay and throwing a $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school.
Ø Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye.
Ø After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase.
Ø Your day has started terrible.
Ø As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse.
Ø You look forward to coming home.
When you arrive home, you find a small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter.
Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning.
Why did you have a bad day?
A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?
The answer is "D".
You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day. Here is what could have and should have happened.
Ø Coffee splashes over you.
Ø Your daughter is about to cry.
Ø You gently say, "It's ok honey, you just need, to be more careful next time".
Ø Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs.
Ø After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus.
Ø She turns and waves.
Ø You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff.
Ø Your boss comments on how good a day you are having.
Notice the difference? Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different.
Why? Because of how you REACTED.
You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% is determined by your reaction.
Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle.
o If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass.
o You don't have to let the negative comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.
o How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic?
Ø Do you lose your temper?
Ø Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off.
Ø Do you curse?
Ø Does your blood pressure skyrocket?
Ø Do you try and bump them?
WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive? Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it.
o You are told you lost your job.
Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job.
o The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day.
Why take out your frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on. Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse.
Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it. The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle. The result? Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache. We all must understand and apply the 90/10 principle. It CAN change your life!!!
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