Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Never Again
Never Again: I grew up in an internment camp, and no one American ever again should have to
A picture of me, at the time my family was incarcerated in Rohwer camp in ArkansasNearly 70 years ago, Executive Order 9066 authorized the U.S. military to remove any person from designated “military zones” without charge, trial or any kind of due process. This Order led to the forced evacuation and internment over over 120,000 Japanese Americans, two thirds of whom, including myself, my siblings, and my mother, were U.S. citizens. I spent over four years in two of America’s internment camps, in Rohwer, Arkansas and Tule Lake, California, simply because I and my family happen to look like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor.
Now a bill proposed in the U.S. Senate, S. 1253 (McCain/Levin) would authorize a similar sweeping authority, granted to the President, to order the detention–without charge or trial–of any person even suspected of being associated with a “terrorist organization.” I could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw that we hadn’t learned from the terrible lessons of the past.
We are a nation of laws, and we have a Constitution that guarantees certain inalienable rights, including the right to liberty, the right to a jury trial, and the right against unlawful search and seizure. And yet, in times of trouble, how quickly these cornerstones of our freedom are abandoned. We must be constantly vigilant against tyranny and injustice of all forms, especially when it isn’t politically expedient.
Please share this article and write to your senator, telling her or him to vote against S.1253, and to say loudly and clearly: “Never Again.”
–GHT
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
The power to do it
You can do it, when you have a good and meaningful reason. You can do it, if you commit to it and act on it and persist until the goal is reached.
You can start with what is, and make it into whatever you would like it to be. You can begin from where you are, and get to where you want to be.
Instead if idly letting the moments pass by, you can make full use of each one. Instead of complaining that you don’t know what to do, you can experiment with different approaches until you get it right.
You don’t ever have to settle for less than the very best from life. Because you can envision what you desire and you can work diligently to make it so.
Some would assume that the necessity of effort is a burdensome curse. Yet in reality it is one of life’s greatest blessings.
For it is the necessity of effort that enables you to dream your most treasured dreams, and then to make them real. You have the power to do it, and right here, right now, is when you can.
— Ralph Marston
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Mirrors
Mirrors.
There is this saying: Whenever the Ramayana is spoken—Hanuman is there.
In this small village of India they have these elaborate yearly Ramayana plays and each year Hanuman comes in the form of a wandering holy man and watches the play only to bask in the stories of his lord, Sri Ram.
Year after year he observes, centuries pass and one thing troubles him. There is this scene in which Sita is in the evil Ravanas flower garden being held captive.Every year the play does this scene with white flowers. This annoys Hanuman because he knew for a fact that the flowers were red and not white!
Finally after centuries of this tradition, Hanuman approached the play director and said, “Brother, how do you know that the flowers were white and not red?”The director replied, “That is what has been told for ages, the flowers were white!”
Hanuman argued, “Are you sure?” “I know for a fact they were red!”
An argument ensued and finally Hanuman revealed his true form as the monkey God in hopes to prove that “he would certainly know” of all people.The director, in awe, still referenced the Ramayana and said..the flowers were white. Ha..
Well Hanuman said, fine we will settle this! He snatched up the director and flew to the abode of Sita herself! Hanuman presented the director to Sita and said,
“Sita, this fool is trying to tell me that I am wrong! The flowers in the garden were red not white! Please correct him!”.
Sita, amused and smiling replied this:
“Hanuman, please end this foolish argument. The flowers were indeed white.. however, you were so angry at the evil Ravana for snatching me up—that everything you saw had a fierce red tint to it.”
“Now, please let this poor fellow go home!”——-
So, what is there to learn from this? Realize that we are all mirrors. What you see—you assign attributes to it: good, happy, bad, evil, sad and so forth.
However, those features are simply a mirror of your mind. You are creating their definition with your thoughts—and you are forgetting their true nature. Their true simplicity.
This isn’t only for objects but people as well. Friendly, mean, weird, shy..
These are only your interpretations. These are only mirror images plastered by the thoughts..What you see, you have created.
Take a look around you: it is all a mirror. Wherever you place your eyes—that form is made from characteristics in which you have given it.
Never forget this, never forget the complex simplicity that exists in this world.
To you it may be red, but to others it may be white.Om Gam Ganapatayei Namaha.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
12 Things Highly Productive People Do Differently
Being highly productive is not an innate talent; it’s simply a matter of organizing your life so that you can efficiently get the right things done.
So, what behaviors define highly productive people? What habits and strategies make them consistently more productive than others? And what can you do to increase your own productivity?
Here are some ideas to get you started…
- Create and observe a TO-DON’T list. – A ‘TO-DON’T list’ is a list of things not to do. It might seem amusing, but it’s an incredibly useful tool for keeping track of unproductive habits, like checking Facebook and Twitter, randomly browsing news websites, etc. Create one and post it up in your workspace where you can see it.
- Organize your space and data. – Highly productive people have systems in place to help them find what they need when they need it – they can quickly locate the information required to support their activities. When you’re disorganized, that extra time spent looking for a phone number, email address or a certain file forces you to drop your focus. Once it’s gone, it takes a while to get it back – and that’s where the real time is wasted. Keeping both your living and working spaces organized is crucial. Read Getting Things Done
.
- Ruthlessly eliminate distractions while you work. – Eliminating all distractions for a set time while you work is one of the most effective ways to get things done. So, lock your door, put a sign up, turn off yourphone, close your email application, disconnect your internet connection, etc. You can’t remain in hiding forever, but you can be twice as productive while you are. Do whatever it takes to create a quiet, distraction free environment where you can focus on your work.
- Set and pursue S.M.A.R.T. goals. – These goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Read more about this here.
- Break down goals into realistic, high impact tasks. – Take your primary goal and divide it into smaller and smaller chunks until you have a list of realistic tasks, each of which can be accomplished in a few hours or less. Then work on the next unfinished, available task that will have the greatest impact at the current time. For example, if you want to change careers, that goal may be driven by several smaller goals like going back to school, improving your networking skills, updating your resume or getting a new certification. And each of these smaller goals is supported by even more granular sub-goals and associated daily tasks. And it is these small daily tasks that, over time, drive larger achievement.
- Work when your mind is fresh, and put first things first. – Highly productive people recognize that not all hours are created equal, and they strategically account for this when planning their day. For most of us, our minds operate at peak performance in the morning hours when we’re well rested. So obviously it would be foolish to use this time for a trivial task like reading emails. These peak performance hours should be 100% dedicated to working on the tasks that bring you closer to your goals.
- Focus on being productive, not being busy. – Don’t just get things done; get the right things done. Results are always more important than the time it takes to achieve them. Stop and ask yourself if what you’re working on is worth the effort. Is it bringing you in the same direction as your goals? Don’t get caught up in odd jobs, even those that seem urgent, unless they are also important. Read The 4-Hour Workweek
.
- Commit your undivided attention to one thing at a time. – Stop multi-tasking, and start getting the important things done properly. Single-tasking helps you focus more intently on one task so you can finish it properly, rather than having many tasks started and nothing finished. Quickly switching from task to task makes the mind less efficient. Studies have shown that changing tasks more than 10 times during an 8-hour segment of work drops a person’s IQ by an average of 10-15 points.
- Work in 90 minute intervals. – In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Tony Schwartz, author of the NY Times bestseller The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working
, makes the case for working in no more than 90 consecutive minutes before a short break. Schwartz says, “There is a rhythm in our bodies that operates in 90-minute intervals. That rhythm is the ultradian rhythm, which moves between high arousal and fatigue. If you’re working over a period of 90 minutes, there are all kinds of indicators in your physiology of fatigue; so what your body is really saying to you is, ‘Give me a break! Refuel me!’”
- Reply to emails, voicemails, and texts at a set times. – This directly ties into the ideas of single-tasking and distraction-avoidance. Set specific time slots 2-3 times a day to deal with incoming communication (e.g. once at 8AM, once at 11AM, once at 3PM), and set a reasonable max duration for each time slot. Unless an emergency arises, be militant about sticking to this practice.
- Invest a little time to save a lot of time. – How can you spend a little time right now in order to save a lot of time in the future? Think about the tasks you perform over and over throughout a work week. Is there a more efficient way? Is there a shortcut you can learn? Is there a way to automate or delegate it? Perhaps you can complete a particular task in 20 minutes, and it would take two hours to put in place a more efficient method. If that 20 minute task must be completed every day, and a two-hour fix would cut it to 5 minutes or less each time, it’s a fix well worth implementing. A simple way of doing this is to use technology to automate tasks (email filters, automatic bill payments, etc.). Also, teaching someone to help you and delegating work is another option. Bottom line: The more you automate and delegate, the more you can get done with the same level of effort.
- Narrow the number of ventures you’re involved in. – In other words, say “no” when you should. The commitment to be productive is not always the biggest challenge, narrowing the number of ventures to be productive in is. Even when you have the knowledge and ability to access highly productive states, you get to a point where being simultaneously productive on too many fronts at once causes all activities to slow down, stand still, and sometimes even slide backwards.
Do what matters
The life you long to live is as close as your next action. All you have to do, is to do what matters.
The fulfillment of your most beautiful dreams can begin right now. All you must do, is to do what truly matters.
You are not here to live out someone else’s idea of a satisfying life. You have your very own unique perspective on what is important and meaningful.
If you’re continually frustrated with what you’re doing, the answer is clear. End your frustration by investing your time and effort in what matters.
When you know you’re doing what truly matters, the challenges and obstacles will still come your way. However, you will absolutely have the energy, the commitment, the drive and fortitude to successfully work through every difficulty.
Life is always best when you do what matters most to you. In all you do, do what matters, and bring your very best possibilities brilliantly to life.
— Ralph Marston
Read more: http://greatday.com/#ixzz1nA7aH6GK
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
If You Only Knew
Lately there seems to be many people suffering through the daily challenges of life, both around the country and around the world. The causes of these struggles are problems ranging from financial and economic change to health issues and relationship problems. The result is that a lot of people are asking a lot of questions about the nature of life. Maybe one of the people asking a question is you. These are questions whose answers would bring the peace, comfort and creative change that is longed for by many. The questions keep being asked but yet the answers seem as elusive as ever.
If you only knew that every question you have ever asked has an answer and that answer is always right in front of you. If you only knew that your ability to see that answer was one hundred percent dependent on your will to embrace the new information and how that information was going to change the way you look at yourself and the world around you. If you only knew that this is a self-sustaining and supportive universe whose sole purpose is to help you get the information you need to help you to create and experience what you desire. If you knew, what questions would you ask and what answers would you finally embrace?
If you only knew that your journey of self-awareness was the whole intent of your life and that life is always leading you to a greater sense of this awareness of who you are and what you are truly capable of doing and being. If you only knew that this greater sense of awareness leads to a greater sense of possibility for you in the world and that breaking through limitation was truly a simple matter of belief, perception and understanding. If you knew, what would you see as possible and what would you attempt to create in your world?
If you only knew that this greater self-awareness leads to a greater sense of self-acceptance, self-respect and self-love because what is revealed is always more and more of your undeniable perfection. If you only knew that not only do you matter but that you are the most important person in your world because it is you that is always affecting and giving life to everyone and everything around you. If you only knew that you are loved without end by a universe whose love is without end. If you knew, how deeply would you love?
If you only knew that life is truly all there is and that it is not a matter of if you will survive but rather only a matter of how you will choose to survive based on who you choose to be. If you only knew how beautiful you really are right now inside and out and the choice to see this and create form this is all the universe can truly respond to. If you only knew that this choice of self-definition is your greatest gift and in each moment you get to make this choice. If you knew, who would you choose to be right now?
If you only knew that no a single moment of your life has been wasted and the every moment has a purpose that is always and only for you, including this one. If you knew, what would you see is really happening for you in this moment?
If you only knew…
Howard Falco, is the author of a new book on self-awareness titled “I AM: The Power of Discovering Who You Really Are (Tarcher/Penguin) http://www.thebookIAM.com He is a spiritual teacher and speaker on the unlimited power of the mind and its effect on the creation and experience of reality. More about his work and schedule can be found at www.HowardFalco.com
Sunday, February 19, 2012
The subatomic particles
love each other so much
they form an atom,
which loves the other atoms
so much they get together
and form a molecule
which loves the other molecules
so much they bind together
and create matter
material reality
which is so attracted
to other matter
that it collaborates
and cooperates
and works together and creates
binding together
and life is born
and love amplifies
love animates
our very
existence
To not recognize
the overwhelming amount
of love present
in the world
around you
is to just be blind
Wake up
- Eric Allen Bell
Friday, February 17, 2012
The Habits That Crush Us
‘Don’t panic.’ ~Douglas Adams
Post written by Leo Babauta.
Why is it that we cannot break the bad habits that stand in our way, crushing our desires to live a healthy life, be fit, simplify, be happier?
How is it that our best intentions are nearly always beaten? We want to be focused and productive, exercise and eat healthy foods, stop smoking and learn to get rid of debt and clutter, but we just can’t.
The answer lies in something extremely simple, but something most people aren’t aware of:
We don’t know how to cope with stress and boredom in a healthy way.
The bad habits we’ve formed are often useful to us, in dealing with stress and boredom. Consider the bad habits that fit this bill:
- Smoking
- Internet procrastination
- Eating junk food
- Drinking
- Being rude/angry/depressed
- Watching TV or playing video games (if you become addicted & sedentary)
- Shopping (getting into debt, building clutter)
- Procrastinating on finances, paperwork, clutter (too stressful)
- Inactivity (avoiding exercise is a stress avoidance technique)
- Biting nails, chewing hair, clenching jaw
This isn’t a complete list, but all of these habits fill a strong need: they are ways to cope with stress and/or boredom. We have formed them as coping mechanisms, and they stick around because we don’t have better ways of coping.
So what if instead, we replaced them with healthier ways of coping? We’d get rid of the problems of these bad habits, and start getting the benefits of better habits.
Better Coping Habits
How can we deal with stress and boredom instead? There’s no one answer, but the habits we form should be ones that lead to healthier results. Some ideas:
- Walk/run/swim/bike
- Do pushups, pullups, squats
- Yoga/meditation
- Play with friends/kids
- Create, write, play music, read when we’re bored
- Learn to enjoy being alone, instead of being bored
- Take a daily walk and enjoy nature
- Deal with finances, clutter, paperwork immediately, in small steps, so that it doesn’t get stressful
- Take control of a situation: make a list, get started in baby steps, so things don’t get stressful
- Learn to be mindful of your breathing, body tension, stressed-out thoughts
- Get some rest
- Learn to savor healthy food that you find delicious
- Slow down
- Take a hot bath
- Learn to live in the present
These are some good examples. Each habit above will help cope with or prevent stress or boredom. If you replace the bad habits with these, your life will be less stressful and healthier. You’ll have less debt, less clutter, less fat, less disease.
Changing the Habits
The old habits of coping didn’t build up overnight, and they won’t go away overnight either. We built them up through years of repetition, and the only way to change them is also years of repetition.
But an important start is to realize why we do them — stress and boredom, largely — and realize that there are other ways to deal with these two problems. We need to be aware when stress and boredom start to kick in, and instead of being afraid of them, realize that they are problems easily solved by other habits. Let’s take the fear out of stress and boredom. Let’s learn that we can beat them simply, and prove that with repeated good habits.
Once you have that realization, follow the usual Zen Habits steps to changing a habit:
- Pick one habit at a time.
- Start very small – just a minute or two, if you want it to stick.
- Use social motivation like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or email.
- Be very conscious of your triggers, and do the habit consciously every time the trigger happens.
- Enjoy the new habit. You’ll stick with it longer if you do.
We have been crushed by the habits we’ve formed out of fear of stress and boredom. We can fight back, by learning to breathe, to smile, to go slowly. We can humble these giants that crush us by turning them into mere gnats to be shooed away with a smile.
Stop Putting it Off
If there’s something that must be done, go ahead and get it finished. Get busy, get it done, and feel the freedom of no longer having it hanging over your head.
Sure, it will take some focused, concentrated effort. Yes, it may be annoying and inconvenient. However, those are not reasons to avoid it. Those are great reasons to go ahead and get it behind you.
Instead of filling your day with worry and dread and resentment and guilt, fill it with effective, productive effort. Instead of making excuses and ending up getting nowhere, make some real progress and get the task behind you.
The energy you spend putting it off is one hundred percent wasted energy. The energy you spend getting it done is what will make a real, discernable, positive difference in your world.
So get yourself going and get it done. Now is the time and this is the place from which you can move confidently forward.
— Ralph Marston
Thursday, February 16, 2012
How to Do Zazen
Lay down a large flat cushion, a zabuton, facing a wall, and on top of that, place a zafu, a round, firm cushion. Sit down on the zafu and fold your legs. Cross them by putting your right foot on your left thigh and then your left foot on your right thigh. This is called the full-lotus posture. If you are unable to fold your legs in this way, simply place your left foot on your right thigh. This is called the half-lotus posture. Sit on the front part of the zafu, not on the middle of it, for the sake of good blood circulation. The zafu should be behind the place where your legs cross, and your knees should be firmly down on the zabuton. The weight of the upper part of the body should be distributed on three points—both knees on the zabuton and your buttocks on the zafu.
Sit up, straighten your back, with your buttocks naturally but firmly pushing outward. Keep your neck straight and pull in your chin. Without leaving an air pocket, close your mouth and put your tongue firmly against the upper palate. Project the top of your head as if it were going to pierce the ceiling. Relax your shoulders. Place your right hand on top of your left foot (palm up) and place your left hand in the palm of the right. Your thumbs should touch just above your palms.
Your ears should be in line with your shoulders, and your nose should line up with your navel. Keeping your eyes open as usual, look at the wall and drop your line of vision slightly.
Once you have taken the zazen position, open your mouth and exhale deeply. In order to work out the stiffness in your joints and muscles, slowly swing two or three times to the left and right, finally settling in an unmoving, upright posture. Once you have taken this immovable posture, breathe quietly through your nose.
Doing correct zazen means taking the correct posture and entrusting everything to it.
Excerpted from Opening the Hand of Thought, by Kosho Uchiyama.
Skeletons
Much The Same--Skeletons
"Get on your knees, beg for forgiveness, you broke everything and you can't fix it But you will not admit that you're no saint, a drunk, you steal, you lie And with a loss of grace you realize you're setting yourself up to take a fall
Looking back on life, does your past still keep you up at night? Can't ever be that way again Choose to live it wise, make a change to have a better life and never be the same again
No one is an innocent and no one can be called perfect You've got your skeletons and you're scared to the bone But I know what's in your head and I understand the old you is dead. You just wonder when this misery will end
Self righteous and hiding who you really are, trying to cover your scars But they're there, don't deny who you really are You play the fool when you drown your sorrows at the bar, that life wont get you very far Can't stand to go on another day, can't stand to look at your own face Just know that with the actions that you take, you'll never be the same"
here it is in listenable format:
The Importance of Being Amazed by Absolutely Everything
Not sure if i posted this already, but this is a speech given by author Terry Pratchett to Trinity College. Honestly, in my opinion all the world needs for world peace is to read more Terry Pratchett.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
The Thousand Cuts Fitness Program
Post written by Leo Babauta.
I’ve trained for marathons, triathlons, 10Ks, a 13.5-hour challenge, Ubanathlons, and more. But my favorite fitness program isn’t one where you train for a major event.
It’s where you get fit by a thousand little actions.
When the actions are tiny, they are easy. You have no excuse. You can do them anywhere, all day long.
I fold fitness into my life, like blueberries into batter, and it becomes a part of the recipe, not just a topping.
If you haven’t found a way to get fit, try the Thousand Cuts Fitness Program. There is nothing better for those who don’t have the time.
Here’s how it works:
1. Right now, do something that only takes 1 minute. It might be a few pushups, bodyweight squats, an attempt at a pullup, a few lunges. You have time to do 1 minute.
2. In an hour or so, go for a walk if you can. If you’re in decent shape, make it a fast walk. Add some hills for challenges. If you’re not in good shape, just walk. Later, add some spurts of fast walking.
3. Later in the day, do a few more 1 minute activities.
4. Gradually build the 1 minute activities into 2 or 3 minutes. Then 4 or 5 of them. Add more of them throughout your day.
5. As much as you can, turn the activities into play. Throw your kids around. Run through a park and climb trees and benches. Race people. Play a sport.
6. Get a pullup bar for your home. Every time you walk by it, try to pull yourself up. If you can do pullups, do a few, or 10, every time you pass the bar.
7. Get a kettlebell. Swing it a few times a day.
8. Run places. Walk places quickly.
Always be active. It’s not hard, if you do it in tiny bits. You can’t say no to 1 minute, or even just a few seconds. And if you do a thousand of them, you’ll be fit.
Fitness is a part of my life now, but it wasn’t when I started. I did it in little bits, without designating a certain time as “workout time”. My whole life is workout time.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Four Reminders
Here are four reminders about the way things are, may they bring you peace!
- Everything will change, every idea you have about yourself will die in time. All attainments are imaginary.
- What will happen will happen, your only choice is to relax. Peace is natural, suffering requires thinking.
- You cannot escape experience, who wants to escape? Who has the arrogance to demand more and greater things? Is this not enough? Find the one who thinks that thought.
- You are life and this is it. You are not more or less than this. Why are you afraid? You are home!
How to Make Your Life Soar
How to Make Your Life Soar ↘
Sometimes I see books promising a happy, abundant life that seem kind of complicated to me. As we’ve moved into 2012 I offer a recipe for a happy life that is simple and straightforward — but which I guarantee works. I know it works because I’ve proven it in my own life, and I’ve seen its results in the lives of countless other people over the ages.
Just two ingredients — courage and compassion
There are only two ingredients for this recipe I’m going to share with you today, and they are courage and compassion. But don’t be fooled into thinking that this recipe is too simple to be any good. It actually requires considerable skill and attention to do it properly.
For example, it is important to make sure that you apply these two ingredients of courage and compassion in precisely the right proportion according to the need of the moment. One circumstance may be so gut-wrenching that it demands an immediate expression of courage on our part. Nothing else will do.
But then, as we all know, another moment may come along that doesn’t especially call for courage. It calls for a change of heart so that we can see another person’s point of view in a difficult situation. Or feel the pain of another person, or of nature — or our own pain – and act with new understanding and love.
Personally, I think one of the hardest things in life is to be truly kind to ourselves. Let me remember the gift of compassion given freely to each of us at our birth, and if I am pushing myself too hard — as perhaps I am beginning to do right now — let me realize that and offer kindness and compassion into the situation so that balance is restored in my experience.
I have learned that these two virtues of courage and compassion are one. They are always together. They are the core of true character and we separate them — or attempt to separate them — at our peril. “A house divided cannot stand,” it was said long ago, and the words are as true today as they ever were.
I wish you success and joy as you meet the challenges and opportunities of the year to come.
(find more at to wake, to see)
Enjoy the effort
Effort can be complicated, inconvenient, tedious, frustrating and unpleasant. Yet it also can be liberating, enriching, empowering, fascinating and downright enjoyable.
Effort creates value, and is an essential part of life. Though it is not always easy, and sometimes fails to produce the desired results, it is always worth the trouble.
Though effort can often feel like a burden, that’s mostly because you have decided for it to feel that way. The great thing is, you can always choose to feel however you wish to feel about the effort you’re making.
As long as you’re making the effort anyway, you might as well embrace it and get the very most from it. There’s a reason why you’re making the effort, so your best strategy is to treat that effort as an opportunity rather than as a burden.
Yes, it may be complicated, yet that complexity will compel you to learn new and valuable things. Sure, it might be frustrating and tedious, and yet that will build the power of your patience.
Instead of resenting or fighting against the necessity of effort, be thankful that you’re in a position to make that effort, and by so doing to create new value. Choose to enjoy the effort, and you’ll get the greatest possible rewards from whatever you’re doing.
— Ralph Marston
Read more: http://greatday.com/motivate/120207.html#ixzz1mCepLmNC
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
12 Things Successful People Do Differently
I’ve always been fascinated by people who are consistently successful at what they do; especially those who experience repeated success in many areas of their life throughout their lifetime. In entertainment, I think of Clint Eastwood and Oprah Winfrey. In business, I think of Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett. We all have our own examples of super successful people like these who we admire. But how do they do it?
Over the years I’ve studied the lives of numerous successful people. I’ve read their books, watched their interviews, researched them online, etc. And I’ve learned that most of them were not born into success; they simply did, and continue to do, things that help them realize their full potential. Here are twelve things they do differently that the rest of us can easily emulate.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Watch Me Rise.
Have Heart--Watch Me Rise
""goddamn", he said, "i promised myself i'd never feel this fucking way
again, this world has got me praying on my knees for one peaceful thought
in my mind, my stride, my life, my time is consumed with a thousand thoughts
flying free like a flock of birds with no direction or intention of finding home
its so hard to think, its so hard to change
when this world doesnt see you any other way
in this world, they choose to see me, they choose to see me
like a setting sun
so its up to me, i have to see me, i have to see me
like the rising one
in my days somebody told me that the rain would always come,
always come to wash away the pain
but nothing changes and this world still wants me down
wants me down on my knees praying in that rain
born this way, die this way"
id rather die on my feet, than live on my knees
id rather die on my feet(repeated).....than live on my knees
id rather die on my feet...so you can watch me, you can watch me
watch me rise with the things we carry:
the loss, the scars, the weight of heavy hearts
so i say to the slaves of depression : carry on...
and sing the sweet redeeming song....
about living this life free and long
watch me, watch me, watch - me - rise", for Miles and miles"
Daily Motivator: You Can Make a Difference
When things go wrong, don’t despair. You can make a difference, so get busy and do it.
Don’t be afraid to acknowledge and accept what has already happened. Because you can take what is, whatever it may be, and use it to make a positive difference.
There’s no need to worry about whether or not you’re lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. It is always the right place and the right time for you to make a difference.
Making a difference demands much of you in the way of time, effort, skill and commitment. Fortunately, you’re entirely capable of giving all that and more in the service of making a meaningful difference.
Everything that happens is an opportunity for you to make a difference. Rather than wasting your energy on judgment and remorse, put that energy into making a difference.
Every one of your abilities gives you the ability to make a difference. Hold true to your vision of the best that life can be, and make a difference to make it so.
— Ralph Marston
Six Steps to Contentment
Contentment does exist, of course. It is one of the primary characteristics of our own true nature. It is one of the greatest blessings that life has to offer. But like anything truly worthwhile, it has a price.
1. Be willing to forgive.
How can we be content if we carry frozen in our heart — like an iceberg in the Arctic — the raw pain of past injustice? How can we be contented if we think someone, or something is doing is wrong? It is impossible.
The answer is simple. All you really have to do is forgive yourself, and you will automatically forgive everyone and everything else.
How can we forgive ourselves? How can we forgive the shame and fear that have inevitably accrued in our lives?
I find the key is to be still, and realize in the presence of my own eternal being what is forever perfect, timeless, and free. It has never sinned, and is without shame. What does it have to be ashamed about? What is there to forgive? Nothing.
2. Don’t be hostage to your goals.
We need goals in life, of course. We need dreams, and we need to follow our dreams. But I find there is a curious paradox here – a kind of creative tension — because we cannot be hostage to our dreams.
But what is most important? Being true to my own being, forever untroubled and unchanged by anything that happens in my life or anywhere else.
3. Don’t let thoughts rule.
Thinking is essential, of course. But I know I sometimes think too much. Don’t be afraid to give your mind a rest from time to time.
Idle or destructive thoughts cloud the blessing of contentment that is always with us, wanting to be allowed access to our heart.
As Socrates, that great and wise man once said: “Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.”
4. Give your gift.
What is the unique gift you bring to this world? Think about this. See if you can describe your gift in a single sentence. We are not just talking about a particular role or activity here, though that’s included, but the unique spirit, or essence that is yours.
Knowing what your gift is and giving it freely, consistently and with love is a sure path to contentment.
5. Listen to your own inner wisdom.
Contentment and wisdom go arm in arm. Even as I write these words a mental image comes to my mind of a pair of young lovers strolling blissfully together in a sunlit garden.
If you would know more contentment in your life, be still, and listen to that quiet voice of wisdom speaking to you from the depths of your being.
6. Love your own being.
Love your own limitless, unconquerable Self with all the passion that is in you. For it is the very source of the contentment and happiness that is your birthright and your “natural wealth.”
Friday, February 3, 2012
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