There are three fundamental levels in our universe: physical, metaphysical and causal. Over and above these, there is a transcendental sphere. There are three levels in the human entity, too: crude, subtle and causal. And one reflected consciousness besides. There is no question of any development in the conscious sphere because the soul is a non-attributed transcendental entity. Where there is imperfection and impermanence, there is scope for development. The movement from imperfection towards perfection is called progress. There cannot be any development in the transcendental sphere, which is perfect and eternal, but it is there in the psychic sphere. The crude body is made up of five primitive factors like air, earth, sky, fire and water, which are crude manifestations of the macrocosm. They are the constituent parts of the physical bodies of all created beings.
The one who is the origin of all beings is the Supreme entity that belongs to all, equally. To get protection and to enjoy the manifested universe of the Supreme Entity is the right of each and every being. The physical body is imperfect and impermanent because it is under the bondage of time and identity. Human beings have an incessant and indomitable desire to liberate themselves from the bondage of relativity. If there were such longing, there would he no intellectual development. Those who are struggling hard all the time for physical existence get little time for mental development. The problem of bread and butter will predominate. The guarantee of equal opportunity and minimum requirements of life to all is an essentiality for the well-integrated elevation and evolution of the human personality.
The physical body cannot attain liberation from the triple bondages of relativity. There are and will be relative variations in the degree of bondage from individual to individual, but whatever be the variations, each person will have to fight ceaselessly for their intellectual progress. Otherwise, there will be no mental growth.
Basic elements and vested interests that do no like to see a free and prosperous humanity invent and advocate different kinds of “isms” to exploit the ignorant masses under the guise of lifeless dogmas. In the name of “isms” they sow the seeds of dissension and fissiparous tendencies in the society to perpetuate their exploiting machinery. Human society is one and indivisible. There is no fundamental difference between one human being and another. All derive the life force from one and the same source. Hence talk of dissension and differentiation is against humanity.
In the microcosmic entity, the subtler world is above the cruder one. The same occurs in the microcosmic entity. Human beings should concentrate more towards their intellectual progress. Otherwise, the mind will be converted to matter. Mind cannot remain stagnant. Hence, everyone must contemplate higher and subtler phenomena or should take the ideation of the Cosmic Self. The crude and the subtle mental bodies are part of the psychic body. Hence, we cannot ignore anyone. The need for equal opportunity inferiority complex is a kind of mental ailment. Intellectual pursuit is essential for intuitional development, though intellectual pursuit can bring about only a temporal emancipation. We must acquire perfection by regular exercise and vigorous pursuance for our goal of intellectual progress.
Be Happy – Acquire Perfection.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Be Happy – Always Prefer Love
If we go through the depth of our acts, we would feel that those acts are promoted by some sentiments, emotions or thoughts and which are results of some vibes. The reality of our acts is in fact based on strings of vibrating particles.In other words, we and everything else in the universe consist of vibrations. These vibrations are the results of actions or you can say that our acts are reactions of something already happened. They can create a sense of anger, hate, neutrality or love. If we make analysis of the quality of the vibrations created under different circumstances and felt by us, we may find that the highest, lightest, fastest, finest, largest and the most powerful of all frequencies is of the vibration of unconditional love.
The vibration of unconditional love is sheer joy, utter bliss, and total transcendence. It is healing, uplifting source of all that is. Some of us call that ultimate love vibration, God. Others use different names. The moniker makes no difference. God is love. Love is God; love is the Goddess, too. This creates some obvious questions, however. If everything is love, why is there so much ugliness and nastiness in this world? Why is our ultimate love-essence so well hidden? Why so much alienation, separation, suffering, and cruelty? Why are we wounded, fearful, and lacking instead of whole, loving, and abundant?
Sages have maintained for centuries that the physical world is just an illusion. For being ‘unreal’, however, it certainly packs a powerful and painful bite. But, generally, we feel that the physical world we inhabit is very real. It serves many useful purposes, the most important of which is to reflect back to us the state of our vibes. There are many ways to do this. We influence our vibrations every time we meditate, pray, chant, assume yoga postures, consume certain foods, herbs, or supplements, visualize and more. And while the effects of the preceding activities are often very positive, they also tend not to be permanent. To keep experiencing the benefits, we have to repeat the chanting, the meditating, the yoga postures, the visualizations, the supplements, and so forth. Some maintain that this is simply spiritual discipline. But it can also devolve into a spiritual treadmill, tying us to routine and repetition even when it may no longer make much sense for us to continue.
Instead, why not just go straight to our actual vibrations? Most of us intuitively sense that love is healing. What we don’t yet realize is what wounds us in the first place. We are in the dark about what keeps us separate from that ultimate love vibration, locked into cycles of misery, poverty, violence, and despair. If we go through our own working, we will find that our self judgment does not vibrate. Let us shine the light at long last on how self-judgment injures us at the energy-essence level because it does not vibrate. Self-judgment stops what is meant to be our free-flowing essences into a fixed interpretation of our experiences, even when that interpretation is mistaken or no longer valid. Once parts of our vibrating essences are stopped entirely or slowed by self-judgment, we experience pain and disease at all levels of self: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. We manifest lack instead of abundance, disease instead of health.
Self-judgment hampers and twists the vibration of our essences into something barely recognizable and often repulsive. Self-judgment is the pervert, the liar, the deceiver, spreading darkness and disconnection, revealing in pain and may-hem. If self-judgment sounds like a more familiar term, such as Satan or the Devil, well, the shoe certainly fits.
All of us go through out lives reeling unknowingly from the self-judgments trapped within our vibrating essences which, as a consequence of self-judgment, do not vibrate as freely as they could and in some places do not vibrate at all. And, just as self-judgment wounds us individually, the collective reality we know as the human condition on earth suffers in the extreme from the combined impact of all of our self-judgments. Once we remove the slightest self-judgment from our vibrating essences, we would have healed not only ourselves individually, but our world collectively.
Actually, we are linked to each other and all that is through out interconnected vibrations. When self-judgment slows part of our vibrating essences, the rest of us suffer as well, even if indirectly. The reverse is also true. When we remove a self-judgment from our vibrating essence, we help heal every-one and everything else around us.
Healing our vibrating essences, then, is the greatest gift we can offer to others as well as to ourselves. Far from being selfish or self-absorbed, healing self at the vibrating essence level is the ultimate act of generosity because doing so helps others heal, too. So, for being happy, we must learn to love, we must learn to prefer love over our anger and hate and feel that if we love others, they may also reciprocate. If we harm or hurt others, they can also do the same to us. Why should we live in the world of fear? We must love each other and make this world happy.
Be Happy – Always Prefer Love.
The vibration of unconditional love is sheer joy, utter bliss, and total transcendence. It is healing, uplifting source of all that is. Some of us call that ultimate love vibration, God. Others use different names. The moniker makes no difference. God is love. Love is God; love is the Goddess, too. This creates some obvious questions, however. If everything is love, why is there so much ugliness and nastiness in this world? Why is our ultimate love-essence so well hidden? Why so much alienation, separation, suffering, and cruelty? Why are we wounded, fearful, and lacking instead of whole, loving, and abundant?
Sages have maintained for centuries that the physical world is just an illusion. For being ‘unreal’, however, it certainly packs a powerful and painful bite. But, generally, we feel that the physical world we inhabit is very real. It serves many useful purposes, the most important of which is to reflect back to us the state of our vibes. There are many ways to do this. We influence our vibrations every time we meditate, pray, chant, assume yoga postures, consume certain foods, herbs, or supplements, visualize and more. And while the effects of the preceding activities are often very positive, they also tend not to be permanent. To keep experiencing the benefits, we have to repeat the chanting, the meditating, the yoga postures, the visualizations, the supplements, and so forth. Some maintain that this is simply spiritual discipline. But it can also devolve into a spiritual treadmill, tying us to routine and repetition even when it may no longer make much sense for us to continue.
Instead, why not just go straight to our actual vibrations? Most of us intuitively sense that love is healing. What we don’t yet realize is what wounds us in the first place. We are in the dark about what keeps us separate from that ultimate love vibration, locked into cycles of misery, poverty, violence, and despair. If we go through our own working, we will find that our self judgment does not vibrate. Let us shine the light at long last on how self-judgment injures us at the energy-essence level because it does not vibrate. Self-judgment stops what is meant to be our free-flowing essences into a fixed interpretation of our experiences, even when that interpretation is mistaken or no longer valid. Once parts of our vibrating essences are stopped entirely or slowed by self-judgment, we experience pain and disease at all levels of self: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. We manifest lack instead of abundance, disease instead of health.
Self-judgment hampers and twists the vibration of our essences into something barely recognizable and often repulsive. Self-judgment is the pervert, the liar, the deceiver, spreading darkness and disconnection, revealing in pain and may-hem. If self-judgment sounds like a more familiar term, such as Satan or the Devil, well, the shoe certainly fits.
All of us go through out lives reeling unknowingly from the self-judgments trapped within our vibrating essences which, as a consequence of self-judgment, do not vibrate as freely as they could and in some places do not vibrate at all. And, just as self-judgment wounds us individually, the collective reality we know as the human condition on earth suffers in the extreme from the combined impact of all of our self-judgments. Once we remove the slightest self-judgment from our vibrating essences, we would have healed not only ourselves individually, but our world collectively.
Actually, we are linked to each other and all that is through out interconnected vibrations. When self-judgment slows part of our vibrating essences, the rest of us suffer as well, even if indirectly. The reverse is also true. When we remove a self-judgment from our vibrating essence, we help heal every-one and everything else around us.
Healing our vibrating essences, then, is the greatest gift we can offer to others as well as to ourselves. Far from being selfish or self-absorbed, healing self at the vibrating essence level is the ultimate act of generosity because doing so helps others heal, too. So, for being happy, we must learn to love, we must learn to prefer love over our anger and hate and feel that if we love others, they may also reciprocate. If we harm or hurt others, they can also do the same to us. Why should we live in the world of fear? We must love each other and make this world happy.
Be Happy – Always Prefer Love.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Be Happy – Seek Guidance unhesitatingly
It is a known fact to all that this great earth where we took birth is a big school and our needs teach us to live. We all learn here and enjoy our lives. It very much depends upon our attitude, our resources and our circumstances what we learn and how we enjoy the fruits of our learning. Whether we know anything else or not, we do know that we exist. It means there is a self and it is only a question of realizing it. Can anyone climb Mount Everest? Definitely not, because every body does not get the capacity to do that. But all of us have a self, and realizing it is an inward process, so it is definitely possible. It is our determination which puts us to work. If we do not decide to do anything, we won’t do. Sometime, we feel that we are under some compulsion to do or to abstain from doing something – that too can not happen if we do not affirm to do or to abstain to do. Our brain and heart won’t help us to proceed unless we decide to act upon. We are master of ourselves. Just, we need to realize it.
What you can do on the outside depends on many things. When it comes to what is within you, it is just a question of your willingness. If you are interested in living your life with full depth and dimension, how can you live without self-realisation? If you are interested in experiencing all the possibilities you carry within yourself, how can you explore them without self-realisation? Self-realization is not an abstract dimension that is not relevant is not an abstract dimension that is not relevant to people. Every human being should strive for it because the more you realise about yourself, the better you live.
When we say self-realization, standing your physiology or your psychology alone, we are taking about understanding the very fundamentals of who you are. When you stand here, you look at yourself as a person, but how did this person happen? This body, when it was born, it was so mall. Now it has become so bit – how? Was it created from inside or from outside? Definitely from inside. So that which creates this body is within you; the very source of creation is within you. Without knowing that, you do not know much about yourself. So when the very source of creation is within you, self-realization means befriending the Creator within you. And if the Creator is you friend, what is your problem with life?
A Guru becomes relevant to you only when you have an aspiration to constantly enhance your life; when you want to touch dimensions within which you yourself have not been able to touch. When people hear the word “Guru”, they may have a lot of resistance, essentially because of the misuse of the word. A Guru is like a road map. If you want to travel uncharted terrain, do you go without a road map? You can; maybe you will anyway reach there. But there are also chances that to reach a destination which is right next to you, you come back, or you may never get there.
When you want to walk uncharted terrain, choose a person who has already walked the terrain. A Guru has already walked the path, so you are just seeking guidance; you are using him as a live road map. “Can’t I do it without a Guru?” – Definitely you can but what could be done in a short span of time, you may take lifetimes to do it. When the guide is about the inner dimension, we call him Guru because –“Gu” means darkness, “Ru” means dispeller – the word Guru essentially means one who dispels the darkness (within).
Your whole perception of life is through the five senses. If you look at these five sense organs, you can clearly see that all of them are outward bound. But now you want to look inward in a completely different way. Because you do not have this perception right now, the inner dimension is not visible to you, so you seek help. Let’s say you need surgery to be done. You go to a surgeon, because you trust that he will do it better than you. Self-realisation is a much deeper surgery than your doctor does. Your doctor cuts only the physical body; but here, you have to cut through many layers of your own misunderstandings and misperceptions. If you are trapped in a prison and you want to get out, it is good to have outside help. Bondage is an inside job; you need outside help for liberation. That is where a Guru fits in. You must seek guidance unhesitatingly whenever you need it. If you feel what the other one or your Guru will say to you on your seeking guidance, you won’t be able to get solution of your problem, your curiosity and you will feel tense or you will have to ignore. Your true Guru will always be ready to reply your questions. Sometime, arrogance also plays a detrimental role. That too will have to be given up and only then, you can achieve your mission.
Be Happy – Seek Guidance unhesitatingly.
What you can do on the outside depends on many things. When it comes to what is within you, it is just a question of your willingness. If you are interested in living your life with full depth and dimension, how can you live without self-realisation? If you are interested in experiencing all the possibilities you carry within yourself, how can you explore them without self-realisation? Self-realization is not an abstract dimension that is not relevant is not an abstract dimension that is not relevant to people. Every human being should strive for it because the more you realise about yourself, the better you live.
When we say self-realization, standing your physiology or your psychology alone, we are taking about understanding the very fundamentals of who you are. When you stand here, you look at yourself as a person, but how did this person happen? This body, when it was born, it was so mall. Now it has become so bit – how? Was it created from inside or from outside? Definitely from inside. So that which creates this body is within you; the very source of creation is within you. Without knowing that, you do not know much about yourself. So when the very source of creation is within you, self-realization means befriending the Creator within you. And if the Creator is you friend, what is your problem with life?
A Guru becomes relevant to you only when you have an aspiration to constantly enhance your life; when you want to touch dimensions within which you yourself have not been able to touch. When people hear the word “Guru”, they may have a lot of resistance, essentially because of the misuse of the word. A Guru is like a road map. If you want to travel uncharted terrain, do you go without a road map? You can; maybe you will anyway reach there. But there are also chances that to reach a destination which is right next to you, you come back, or you may never get there.
When you want to walk uncharted terrain, choose a person who has already walked the terrain. A Guru has already walked the path, so you are just seeking guidance; you are using him as a live road map. “Can’t I do it without a Guru?” – Definitely you can but what could be done in a short span of time, you may take lifetimes to do it. When the guide is about the inner dimension, we call him Guru because –“Gu” means darkness, “Ru” means dispeller – the word Guru essentially means one who dispels the darkness (within).
Your whole perception of life is through the five senses. If you look at these five sense organs, you can clearly see that all of them are outward bound. But now you want to look inward in a completely different way. Because you do not have this perception right now, the inner dimension is not visible to you, so you seek help. Let’s say you need surgery to be done. You go to a surgeon, because you trust that he will do it better than you. Self-realisation is a much deeper surgery than your doctor does. Your doctor cuts only the physical body; but here, you have to cut through many layers of your own misunderstandings and misperceptions. If you are trapped in a prison and you want to get out, it is good to have outside help. Bondage is an inside job; you need outside help for liberation. That is where a Guru fits in. You must seek guidance unhesitatingly whenever you need it. If you feel what the other one or your Guru will say to you on your seeking guidance, you won’t be able to get solution of your problem, your curiosity and you will feel tense or you will have to ignore. Your true Guru will always be ready to reply your questions. Sometime, arrogance also plays a detrimental role. That too will have to be given up and only then, you can achieve your mission.
Be Happy – Seek Guidance unhesitatingly.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Be Happy – Revisit Your Religious Beliefs
A human is a member of a species of bipedal primates in the family Hominidae. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection and problem solving. This mental capability has allowed humans to make far greater use of tools than any other species. Humans are distributed worldwide, with significant populations inhabiting most land areas of Earth. Today, the human population on Earth is greater than 6.7 billion.
We, the humans are social by nature and particularly adept at utilizing systems of communication—primarily spoken, gestured and written language—for self-expression, the exchange of ideas and organization. In course of time, we have created complex social structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families to nations. Social interactions between us have established an extremely wide variety of traditions, rituals, ethics, values, social norms and laws, which together form the basis of human society. We are distinctive as a species on the Earth by having a perception of beauty and aesthetics at least to a point which results in a material culture. This, when combined with the desire for self- expression and a proportionally large brain-size, has led to innovations such as art, written language, music and science.
We seek to understand and influence the environment around us by trying to explain and manipulate natural phenomena through philosophy, art, science and mythology. This natural curiosity has led to the development of advanced tools and skills. Although we are not the only species to use tools, we are unique in building fires, cooking our food and clothing ourselves; as well as using other advanced technologies. We pass down our skills and knowledge to the next generations and so are regarded as dependent upon culture.
To lead the life in a structured society, we have created code of living, named as religion. In other words, we can say that a religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendent quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power, God or gods, or ultimate truth. It may be expressed through prayer, ritual, meditation, dance, music and art, among other things. It may focus on specific supernatural, metaphysical, and moral claims about reality (the cosmos and human nature) which may yield a set of religious laws, ethics, and a particular lifestyle. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and religious experience.
The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction. Religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system, but it is more socially defined than personal convictions, and it entails specific behaviors, respectively. The development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. It considers psychological and social roots, along with origins and historical development. And today, different communities have codified their religions differently and sometime, their different sets of beliefs have created inter-section clashes or difference of opinion so greatly that they go to violence to prevail their own school of thinking on the other community.
Prima facie, religions present a common quality, the "hallmark of patriarchal religious thought": the division of the world in two comprehensive domains, one sacred, the other profane. Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and scriptures are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion is also often described as a way of life or a life stance.
Religion and happiness have been studied by a number of researchers. For example, the Handbook of Religion and Health describes a survey by Feigelman (1992) who examined happiness in Americans who have given up religion, in which it was found that there was little relationship between religious disaffiliation and unhappiness. A survey by Kosmin & Lachman (1993), also cited in this handbook, indicates that people with no religious affiliation appear to be at greater risk for depressive symptoms than those affiliated with a religion. The Legatum Prosperity Index reflects the repeated finding of research on the science of happiness that there is a positive link between religious engagement and wellbeing: people who report that God is very important in their lives are on average more satisfied with their lives, after accounting for their income, age and other individual characteristics.
However, the staunch believer of some religions have created fundamentalism to that extent that they do not afford to bear any different view other than what they hold. Moreover, they do not wish to review even if their views have become obsolete in course of time or not. Fundamentalism refers to a belief in, and strict adherence to a set of basic principles. When such beliefs became a major concern for inter-community peace, an innovative idea was moved by Sarvadharma Sansad – parliament of religions – under the leadership of Swami Agnivesh to start a mini social revolution of sorts by charting a programme to deal with seven sins complied in the Vatican. The Sarvadharma Sansad members, borrowing the idea of coalition governments from politics, decided to found a group of various religious leaders who would work for social transformation in society.
The rationale behind the initiative is: If political parties from completely different ideologies can come together to remain in power supposedly to serve the nation, why can’t religious leaders of different faiths come together to initiate people from across the spectrum to cooperate and work towards removing some of the basic evils in society? The group believes that rather than trying to understand one another’s religion by learning dogmas or scriptures of different faiths, the best form of inter-religious dialogue effect of such dialogue through effect of such dialogue through concrete action.
After a Vatican official listed the present-day social sins, a long-planned convention of Sarvadharma Sansad was held with the purpose of creating public awareness to spread the movement. Participants pledged to work towards the betterment of society by observing the seven virtues or by abstaining from the seven sins – first in their own lives, and later by influencing others to do the same.
The seven issues of the common minimum programme agreed upon by the Sansad are quite simple. They can be practised as well as propagated by most people. They are:
1) Create a casteless society by promoting inter-caste marriages;
2) Work towards gender equality by vehemently opposing female foeticide and the dowry system;
3) Work towards communal harmony by granting equal opportunities, respecting of all religions and having common celebration of major religious festivals;
4) Work against the use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs by opposing government policies that encourage their consumption to earn revenues;
5) Work towards encouraging scientific temper and oppose widespread superstitious beliefs;
6) Work towards eradicating corruption in public and private places;
7) Work towards freeing society by opposing child labour, exploitation of the poor and other forms of injustice.
During the convention, some religious leaders prone to social activism argued for adding some more issues such as the protection and conservation of environment and opposition to any kind of military spending, which each country wastes each year on arms. For it is by discouraging violence that one can bring about real peace. On our part too, we can adopt all or some of the principles mentioned above and make this world happier by revisiting our religious beliefs held so far.
Be Happy – Revisit Your Religious Beliefs.
We, the humans are social by nature and particularly adept at utilizing systems of communication—primarily spoken, gestured and written language—for self-expression, the exchange of ideas and organization. In course of time, we have created complex social structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families to nations. Social interactions between us have established an extremely wide variety of traditions, rituals, ethics, values, social norms and laws, which together form the basis of human society. We are distinctive as a species on the Earth by having a perception of beauty and aesthetics at least to a point which results in a material culture. This, when combined with the desire for self- expression and a proportionally large brain-size, has led to innovations such as art, written language, music and science.
We seek to understand and influence the environment around us by trying to explain and manipulate natural phenomena through philosophy, art, science and mythology. This natural curiosity has led to the development of advanced tools and skills. Although we are not the only species to use tools, we are unique in building fires, cooking our food and clothing ourselves; as well as using other advanced technologies. We pass down our skills and knowledge to the next generations and so are regarded as dependent upon culture.
To lead the life in a structured society, we have created code of living, named as religion. In other words, we can say that a religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendent quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power, God or gods, or ultimate truth. It may be expressed through prayer, ritual, meditation, dance, music and art, among other things. It may focus on specific supernatural, metaphysical, and moral claims about reality (the cosmos and human nature) which may yield a set of religious laws, ethics, and a particular lifestyle. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and religious experience.
The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction. Religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system, but it is more socially defined than personal convictions, and it entails specific behaviors, respectively. The development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. It considers psychological and social roots, along with origins and historical development. And today, different communities have codified their religions differently and sometime, their different sets of beliefs have created inter-section clashes or difference of opinion so greatly that they go to violence to prevail their own school of thinking on the other community.
Prima facie, religions present a common quality, the "hallmark of patriarchal religious thought": the division of the world in two comprehensive domains, one sacred, the other profane. Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and scriptures are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion is also often described as a way of life or a life stance.
Religion and happiness have been studied by a number of researchers. For example, the Handbook of Religion and Health describes a survey by Feigelman (1992) who examined happiness in Americans who have given up religion, in which it was found that there was little relationship between religious disaffiliation and unhappiness. A survey by Kosmin & Lachman (1993), also cited in this handbook, indicates that people with no religious affiliation appear to be at greater risk for depressive symptoms than those affiliated with a religion. The Legatum Prosperity Index reflects the repeated finding of research on the science of happiness that there is a positive link between religious engagement and wellbeing: people who report that God is very important in their lives are on average more satisfied with their lives, after accounting for their income, age and other individual characteristics.
However, the staunch believer of some religions have created fundamentalism to that extent that they do not afford to bear any different view other than what they hold. Moreover, they do not wish to review even if their views have become obsolete in course of time or not. Fundamentalism refers to a belief in, and strict adherence to a set of basic principles. When such beliefs became a major concern for inter-community peace, an innovative idea was moved by Sarvadharma Sansad – parliament of religions – under the leadership of Swami Agnivesh to start a mini social revolution of sorts by charting a programme to deal with seven sins complied in the Vatican. The Sarvadharma Sansad members, borrowing the idea of coalition governments from politics, decided to found a group of various religious leaders who would work for social transformation in society.
The rationale behind the initiative is: If political parties from completely different ideologies can come together to remain in power supposedly to serve the nation, why can’t religious leaders of different faiths come together to initiate people from across the spectrum to cooperate and work towards removing some of the basic evils in society? The group believes that rather than trying to understand one another’s religion by learning dogmas or scriptures of different faiths, the best form of inter-religious dialogue effect of such dialogue through effect of such dialogue through concrete action.
After a Vatican official listed the present-day social sins, a long-planned convention of Sarvadharma Sansad was held with the purpose of creating public awareness to spread the movement. Participants pledged to work towards the betterment of society by observing the seven virtues or by abstaining from the seven sins – first in their own lives, and later by influencing others to do the same.
The seven issues of the common minimum programme agreed upon by the Sansad are quite simple. They can be practised as well as propagated by most people. They are:
1) Create a casteless society by promoting inter-caste marriages;
2) Work towards gender equality by vehemently opposing female foeticide and the dowry system;
3) Work towards communal harmony by granting equal opportunities, respecting of all religions and having common celebration of major religious festivals;
4) Work against the use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs by opposing government policies that encourage their consumption to earn revenues;
5) Work towards encouraging scientific temper and oppose widespread superstitious beliefs;
6) Work towards eradicating corruption in public and private places;
7) Work towards freeing society by opposing child labour, exploitation of the poor and other forms of injustice.
During the convention, some religious leaders prone to social activism argued for adding some more issues such as the protection and conservation of environment and opposition to any kind of military spending, which each country wastes each year on arms. For it is by discouraging violence that one can bring about real peace. On our part too, we can adopt all or some of the principles mentioned above and make this world happier by revisiting our religious beliefs held so far.
Be Happy – Revisit Your Religious Beliefs.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Be Happy – Feel Your Presence
Keeping your mind and heart clean is an important key to your success, whatever be your ambition of life. Because there is an awakening that comes from a clear mind, ascertained by wandering thoughts and pre-occupations, and there is an awakening that comes from a clear heart, willing to engage with life as gift and as an ever-unfolding revelation of the purpose of creation. Such an awakened status can’t respond indifferently to life because it sees the outstretched hand of the creator at every turn and in every particle of experience. It cannot turn away from feeling, no matter what feelings may occur, because it perceives emotional depth as the great gift of individualized consciousness. This gift stirs the response of individualized life to the source of life as it displays itself in all living things.
To be awake and present is to take responsibility for noticing – for maintaining an intimate connection between the self and the rest of the world. It is to know that within the domain of this relationship lays a profound revelation of the source of all within every gesture, every interaction and every experience that takes place. It is to perceive the sacred in every moment. In today’s over scheduled world, being continuously busy is sometimes a necessity but often a choice based on the drive for outer success, wealth and the symbols of what is often taken to be a ‘life worth living’. Being busy, as opposed to having time ‘on one’s hands’, is perceived by many as a testimony to a life that has merit, purpose and meaning.
By contrast, idle hands – hands that remain to time, suggest that time is being wasted – that one could do more, achieve more, accomplish more. No matter if these hands are connected with one’s heart and with the heart of the world. For many, it is only the visible ‘doing’ of things that creates a sense of security and lets us know that time has meaning. The existence of a space of silence in which awareness can broaden is often not considered a gain. Nor is simply being here, responsive to the very air we breathe, considered a virtue. Is it any wonder, then, that we, as a collective humility, have forgotten have placed ‘noticing’ on the back burner of experiential values. And what would we notice if we took the time to do so?
In order to answer this question, it is helpful to sit in one place, breathing quietly, eyes somewhat unfocused, listening, seeing, sensing. Though one can do this profitably in a bare room, it is easier, at first, to sit in an environment where there is just a little movement present. Now, close the eyes and pay attention to the other senses. Feel the comforting fabric of surrounding life as if it were an envelope or cocoon, gently cradling one’s essential self. Notice every thing without discrimination and opinion. Try to feel the intimacy of connection with what is.
Spending time for a few minutes each day being awake and noticing is a good way to awake and noticing is a good way to begin the practice of being present. It is a good way to begin to expand one’s idea of what constitutes a meaningful life. And yet more than this is needed if one is to truly embrace what is, and to be ‘present in the present’. What is needed is the greater opening of the heart to the one self that exists within all.
This perception of unity and oneness has an opportunity to grow at any moment in which we interact with another soul. It is nourished by an absence of judgement and by a willingness to be open to the deeper levels of who that other might. Such openness comes from state of innocence and of childlike grace. It comes from knowing that the ‘other’ is part of the same ‘all that is’ as oneself, therefore of one heart, one breath, one life. The gift of being present as it applies to relationships is that it brings love to every interaction, no matter how small or insignificant. It brings the divine into every perception, no matter how ordinary. And it brings gratitude into each moment as it unfolds.
As a sense of being present deepens and one’s capacity to notice flowers, the deep richness of life and of love can be found everywhere and separation nowhere. In this state, one senses only the one who lives within all. One feels the essence within every other. Here, consciousness can affirm the greater life of which it is a part:
I am and you are. We are both of the stars and of the dust of the earth. We are both of the rocks and of the sandy shores. We are water and we are sky; we are earth, and we are air. We are the breath that lie breathes through itself, in a single and continuous song of creation.
We have to combine our feelings of being present in every task we are undertaking. Once we devote ourselves to the task being undertaken, we focus ourselves with all the energies at our disposal, we are sure that we may incessantly have every chance of success in accomplishing our jobs. Be happy – we may feel our presence.
To be awake and present is to take responsibility for noticing – for maintaining an intimate connection between the self and the rest of the world. It is to know that within the domain of this relationship lays a profound revelation of the source of all within every gesture, every interaction and every experience that takes place. It is to perceive the sacred in every moment. In today’s over scheduled world, being continuously busy is sometimes a necessity but often a choice based on the drive for outer success, wealth and the symbols of what is often taken to be a ‘life worth living’. Being busy, as opposed to having time ‘on one’s hands’, is perceived by many as a testimony to a life that has merit, purpose and meaning.
By contrast, idle hands – hands that remain to time, suggest that time is being wasted – that one could do more, achieve more, accomplish more. No matter if these hands are connected with one’s heart and with the heart of the world. For many, it is only the visible ‘doing’ of things that creates a sense of security and lets us know that time has meaning. The existence of a space of silence in which awareness can broaden is often not considered a gain. Nor is simply being here, responsive to the very air we breathe, considered a virtue. Is it any wonder, then, that we, as a collective humility, have forgotten have placed ‘noticing’ on the back burner of experiential values. And what would we notice if we took the time to do so?
In order to answer this question, it is helpful to sit in one place, breathing quietly, eyes somewhat unfocused, listening, seeing, sensing. Though one can do this profitably in a bare room, it is easier, at first, to sit in an environment where there is just a little movement present. Now, close the eyes and pay attention to the other senses. Feel the comforting fabric of surrounding life as if it were an envelope or cocoon, gently cradling one’s essential self. Notice every thing without discrimination and opinion. Try to feel the intimacy of connection with what is.
Spending time for a few minutes each day being awake and noticing is a good way to awake and noticing is a good way to begin the practice of being present. It is a good way to begin to expand one’s idea of what constitutes a meaningful life. And yet more than this is needed if one is to truly embrace what is, and to be ‘present in the present’. What is needed is the greater opening of the heart to the one self that exists within all.
This perception of unity and oneness has an opportunity to grow at any moment in which we interact with another soul. It is nourished by an absence of judgement and by a willingness to be open to the deeper levels of who that other might. Such openness comes from state of innocence and of childlike grace. It comes from knowing that the ‘other’ is part of the same ‘all that is’ as oneself, therefore of one heart, one breath, one life. The gift of being present as it applies to relationships is that it brings love to every interaction, no matter how small or insignificant. It brings the divine into every perception, no matter how ordinary. And it brings gratitude into each moment as it unfolds.
As a sense of being present deepens and one’s capacity to notice flowers, the deep richness of life and of love can be found everywhere and separation nowhere. In this state, one senses only the one who lives within all. One feels the essence within every other. Here, consciousness can affirm the greater life of which it is a part:
I am and you are. We are both of the stars and of the dust of the earth. We are both of the rocks and of the sandy shores. We are water and we are sky; we are earth, and we are air. We are the breath that lie breathes through itself, in a single and continuous song of creation.
We have to combine our feelings of being present in every task we are undertaking. Once we devote ourselves to the task being undertaken, we focus ourselves with all the energies at our disposal, we are sure that we may incessantly have every chance of success in accomplishing our jobs. Be happy – we may feel our presence.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Be happy - Lead Happy Financial Life
For what purpose, do we all work? We work for getting money to meet our requirements. Without finance, we can not have good education, good accommodation, maintain our health, our mental peace, follow our spirituality related pursuits and our social terms, meet our essential obligations etc. etc. Availability of sufficient finance at the time of our need is a key to our happiness. We are a transition generation trying to find a balance between retaining our traditional values and also finding a way to adopt the changing lifestyles as per the modern taste. For this, we need finance readily available as and when required. But managing money has been a constant challenge for today's young generation.
With the change in time, our requirements have gone up. We are more brand-conscious than any generation before has ever been, our wardrobe should have 10 or more different styles of attire for every occasion; vacations abroad are common; buying a house and a car by availing loans has also become common. Educational loans and vacation loans are also on the rise.
Our Attitude regarding debts
Have you ever heard of your dad or granddad take a loan for a vacation or for that matter for a festive and high spending involved occasion like a wedding? Do you recall them buying clothes because retail therapy helped their blues every other month? In fact, the average person belonging to the previous generation would spend money on clothes for festivals, weddings or periodically once or twice a year. They always preferred quality over quantity on anything purchased: be it furniture, utensils, clothes or home accessories.
Dissolving our stress in enjoyments
Today's generation likes living life to the full. What is the point in hoarding away money for a future which is as unpredictable as the weather! They would rather enjoy themselves to the hilt, while the party lasts! Stress is a huge factor that contributes to these drastic lifestyle changes one is a witness to these days. Today's generation works very hard and plays harder. They want to experience everything in a short span of time. They are impatient to reach their goals and in the hurry to reach their destination they forget to savor the simple pleasures of life that our parents and grandparents had all the time for. They lived within the incomes they received and saved as much as they could. Their income expense statements showed more cash inflows rather than outflows.
However, the younger generation argues on this aspect. We have but one life and it is too short, so we need to pack all the action in before old age sets in. What's the point in trying to spend on entertainment, travel, food, looks and grooming with creaky joints and false teeth.
We must save something as our parents did
There sure is a point there. Our dads and grand-dads lived like an ant generation. Slaving away day after day in the same environment, in the same job for years together, stowing away finances in different debt instruments to accumulate and serve their purpose, when they are old.
Of course, some invested it in land, stocks, gold, etc. as well, which was left to their discretion and knowledge in such matters. The point then is to step back and look at both the lifestyles. Take the good out of both and ensure that our life is to the fullest, with the best of both worlds.
How should we lead happy financial life?
1. Ensure that there is an emergency fund created for a rainy day. A job loss, recession, illness, etc. could prove to be a temporary setback for which you may incur additional expenses best managed with this emergency fund.
2. Keep impulse purchases to a minimum. Indulging in branded items for certain purchase choices like consumer durables and other long lasting products is fine. However, it does not mean that you should go overboard with being brand conscious all the time. In case of clothes, look out for the sales season where you avail discounts, shop for quality over quantity, which is any day better. However, if you are the kind who loves a lot of variety and like to outgrow your liking for the same kind of clothes over a period of time, indulge in less expensive clothes with a comparatively lesser shelf life, which can be discarded and refilled with other choices.
3. Don't live life king size all the time, try and bring it down a few notches most of the time. For example, instead of planning a vacation that is out of the continent, you could try a vacation spot in your own country, which will bring the same benefits in terms of relaxation and fun and yet be less cumbersome on your purse strings.
4. When there is a boom, there is bound to be crash around the corner. So hold your horses and don't overindulge in luxuries, tomorrow may not work out as planned, nevertheless it is wise to be prepared for it, even if it is bound to take you by surprise. A little foresight could save you from a load of trouble.
5. Take care to have a mixed portfolio with investments in debts and equities apart from an emergency fund and other savings.
6. Debt counselors advise that 60 per cent of your income should be set aside for savings and investments and 40 per cent should be able to cover your living expenses as well as any debt expenses you might have incurred.
7. Use your credit card judiciously and keep a tab of your debts to ensure they are safely manageable. In fact, do not take a loan unless it fits it well with the rest of your financial goals and you can safely repay it without any stress to your budget.
By all means, enjoy life, but in moderation. Balance is the key element to have the best of both worlds. A little bit of this and a little bit of that make for a wholesome, balanced life sprinkled with variety.
Be happy - Lead happy financial life
With the change in time, our requirements have gone up. We are more brand-conscious than any generation before has ever been, our wardrobe should have 10 or more different styles of attire for every occasion; vacations abroad are common; buying a house and a car by availing loans has also become common. Educational loans and vacation loans are also on the rise.
Our Attitude regarding debts
Have you ever heard of your dad or granddad take a loan for a vacation or for that matter for a festive and high spending involved occasion like a wedding? Do you recall them buying clothes because retail therapy helped their blues every other month? In fact, the average person belonging to the previous generation would spend money on clothes for festivals, weddings or periodically once or twice a year. They always preferred quality over quantity on anything purchased: be it furniture, utensils, clothes or home accessories.
Dissolving our stress in enjoyments
Today's generation likes living life to the full. What is the point in hoarding away money for a future which is as unpredictable as the weather! They would rather enjoy themselves to the hilt, while the party lasts! Stress is a huge factor that contributes to these drastic lifestyle changes one is a witness to these days. Today's generation works very hard and plays harder. They want to experience everything in a short span of time. They are impatient to reach their goals and in the hurry to reach their destination they forget to savor the simple pleasures of life that our parents and grandparents had all the time for. They lived within the incomes they received and saved as much as they could. Their income expense statements showed more cash inflows rather than outflows.
However, the younger generation argues on this aspect. We have but one life and it is too short, so we need to pack all the action in before old age sets in. What's the point in trying to spend on entertainment, travel, food, looks and grooming with creaky joints and false teeth.
We must save something as our parents did
There sure is a point there. Our dads and grand-dads lived like an ant generation. Slaving away day after day in the same environment, in the same job for years together, stowing away finances in different debt instruments to accumulate and serve their purpose, when they are old.
Of course, some invested it in land, stocks, gold, etc. as well, which was left to their discretion and knowledge in such matters. The point then is to step back and look at both the lifestyles. Take the good out of both and ensure that our life is to the fullest, with the best of both worlds.
How should we lead happy financial life?
1. Ensure that there is an emergency fund created for a rainy day. A job loss, recession, illness, etc. could prove to be a temporary setback for which you may incur additional expenses best managed with this emergency fund.
2. Keep impulse purchases to a minimum. Indulging in branded items for certain purchase choices like consumer durables and other long lasting products is fine. However, it does not mean that you should go overboard with being brand conscious all the time. In case of clothes, look out for the sales season where you avail discounts, shop for quality over quantity, which is any day better. However, if you are the kind who loves a lot of variety and like to outgrow your liking for the same kind of clothes over a period of time, indulge in less expensive clothes with a comparatively lesser shelf life, which can be discarded and refilled with other choices.
3. Don't live life king size all the time, try and bring it down a few notches most of the time. For example, instead of planning a vacation that is out of the continent, you could try a vacation spot in your own country, which will bring the same benefits in terms of relaxation and fun and yet be less cumbersome on your purse strings.
4. When there is a boom, there is bound to be crash around the corner. So hold your horses and don't overindulge in luxuries, tomorrow may not work out as planned, nevertheless it is wise to be prepared for it, even if it is bound to take you by surprise. A little foresight could save you from a load of trouble.
5. Take care to have a mixed portfolio with investments in debts and equities apart from an emergency fund and other savings.
6. Debt counselors advise that 60 per cent of your income should be set aside for savings and investments and 40 per cent should be able to cover your living expenses as well as any debt expenses you might have incurred.
7. Use your credit card judiciously and keep a tab of your debts to ensure they are safely manageable. In fact, do not take a loan unless it fits it well with the rest of your financial goals and you can safely repay it without any stress to your budget.
By all means, enjoy life, but in moderation. Balance is the key element to have the best of both worlds. A little bit of this and a little bit of that make for a wholesome, balanced life sprinkled with variety.
Be happy - Lead happy financial life
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Be Happy – Keep Yourself and your family secured
A few days back, I had an opportunity to meet my Guru once again. After some initial chatting, he immediately asked about what I had my worries. Though it was just a strange question put up by him so suddenly and after a long period during which virtually we did not have any contact, I knew that in the past also, he had been asking about my well-being as if he was diagnosing by reading my face or concluding through the informal chatting and suggesting the viable way out. This time, I tried to skip his question by diverting his attention to some other topics but again, he asked me why I was not so comfortable.
At last, I had to tell him that I was not sure about the future of my family after my death if that took place the next day or after some time until another source of income got developed to support them after me. My savings were not enough to do it and my income was getting depreciated due to price hike. The global recession is threatening the easy survival too. “Oh! It means that you have not got secured yourself and your family so far,” he asked me. “What should I do? I could not save any surplus after meeting expenses of education, food, clothing, health, conveyance and accommodation to start some business. After doing my job, I could not spare much time to undertake some part time job to do so,” I tried to convince him.
He did not agree and told me, “No, I do not expect such reply from a person like you. Even less educated persons are securing them so that their family does not suffer after they are not with them. Now, there are so many products available in the market through reputed Insurance Companies that you can enjoy your life when you are active. And if some thing wrong happens with you, you and your family can go on smoothly. After you even, your family can be well looked after.”
What he insisted is that with the increasingly uncertain times, what with terrorist attacks and tumultuous financial markets, getting an insurance cover for me and my family has become imperative. However, many of us do not take decisions because of it being such a big ball of wax.
Choosing the right kind of insurance cover not only determines the care that we receive should our health take a wrong turn, but it can be the wild card in our financial plan. There are many benefits of an insurance cover; however, topping the list of benefits is the financial support that a family gets in the event of the untimely death of the income provider.
As getting the insurance cover is an important aspect of a sound financial future, choosing the right insurance cover is equally important.
First and foremost, choosing an insurance policy must be based on our current and projected income or simply put our current and projected ability to pay the insurance premiums, our medical state, our age, future financial plans, etc.
Secondly, you also need to look at:
Cost-Benefit Ratio
The cost of the insurance cover depends upon many reasons, some mentioned above and other factors depending on what is covered in the cover or its riders. Thus, you have to keep a close eye on the cost of buying insurance and ensure that it justifies the benefits covered under the policy. Simply put, a right balance must be struck between the cost and benefits available.
Cover
You need to ensure that the insurance covers all your dependants and that it also covers the majority of health problems.
Thirdly, the promises made by different insurance companies are all fine; however, it depends on you whether you need a pure insurance cover or you need an insurance cover coupled with an investment opportunity.
The four major kinds of insurances that most people opt from are:
Term Insurance -- Term life insurance or term assurance is life insurance which provides coverage for a limited period of time.
Endowment Policy-- An endowment policy is a life insurance contract designed to pay a lump sum after a specified term (on its 'maturity') or on earlier death.
ULIPs -- Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) provides for life insurance where the policy value at any time varies according to the value of the underlying assets at the time.
Money-back Policy -- Unlike ordinary endowment insurance plans where the survival benefits are payable only at the end of the endowment period, money back policies provide for periodic payments of partial survival benefits during the term of the policy.
When comparing these plans it is important that you keep in mind the factors that were talked about in the first point. Let's take a look at an example:
John is a 25-year-old businessman who wishes to take an insurance cover for InRs. 20 lakh (InRs 2 million) for a period of 20 years. There are two options he can choose from.
Option 1 -- He can opt for an endowment/money-back policy and pay a premium of InRs. 90,000 annually. If he survives through the policy term, he shall be eligible to receive the entire sum assured and vested bonuses, if the same are declared by the insurance company.
Option 2 -- He pays InRs. 4,000 annually and enjoys the risk cover of InRs. 2 million. Being a term insurance cover, he is not eligible to gain any survival benefit from the insurance company and the insurance premium paid can thus be treated as the cost of covering his life for 20 years.
Whereas under Option 1, he has earned an annualized return of about 6%; Option 2 gives him about 9% returns during the period. Therefore, it is important for John to decide what he wants and opt for a plan accordingly.
It's important to correctly identify your dependents' financial needs to establish just how much life insurance cover to arrange. A general rule is to choose a policy providing at least ten times your salary, but more may be appropriate, with the amount varying depending on how you intend it to be used.
Basically you decide how much you want your dependents to receive in the event of your death, and your premiums will be determined accordingly. Hence, make sure you keep all these factors in mind, compare different plans and choose your cover accordingly.
Be Happy – Keep Yourself and your family secured.
At last, I had to tell him that I was not sure about the future of my family after my death if that took place the next day or after some time until another source of income got developed to support them after me. My savings were not enough to do it and my income was getting depreciated due to price hike. The global recession is threatening the easy survival too. “Oh! It means that you have not got secured yourself and your family so far,” he asked me. “What should I do? I could not save any surplus after meeting expenses of education, food, clothing, health, conveyance and accommodation to start some business. After doing my job, I could not spare much time to undertake some part time job to do so,” I tried to convince him.
He did not agree and told me, “No, I do not expect such reply from a person like you. Even less educated persons are securing them so that their family does not suffer after they are not with them. Now, there are so many products available in the market through reputed Insurance Companies that you can enjoy your life when you are active. And if some thing wrong happens with you, you and your family can go on smoothly. After you even, your family can be well looked after.”
What he insisted is that with the increasingly uncertain times, what with terrorist attacks and tumultuous financial markets, getting an insurance cover for me and my family has become imperative. However, many of us do not take decisions because of it being such a big ball of wax.
Choosing the right kind of insurance cover not only determines the care that we receive should our health take a wrong turn, but it can be the wild card in our financial plan. There are many benefits of an insurance cover; however, topping the list of benefits is the financial support that a family gets in the event of the untimely death of the income provider.
As getting the insurance cover is an important aspect of a sound financial future, choosing the right insurance cover is equally important.
First and foremost, choosing an insurance policy must be based on our current and projected income or simply put our current and projected ability to pay the insurance premiums, our medical state, our age, future financial plans, etc.
Secondly, you also need to look at:
Cost-Benefit Ratio
The cost of the insurance cover depends upon many reasons, some mentioned above and other factors depending on what is covered in the cover or its riders. Thus, you have to keep a close eye on the cost of buying insurance and ensure that it justifies the benefits covered under the policy. Simply put, a right balance must be struck between the cost and benefits available.
Cover
You need to ensure that the insurance covers all your dependants and that it also covers the majority of health problems.
Thirdly, the promises made by different insurance companies are all fine; however, it depends on you whether you need a pure insurance cover or you need an insurance cover coupled with an investment opportunity.
The four major kinds of insurances that most people opt from are:
Term Insurance -- Term life insurance or term assurance is life insurance which provides coverage for a limited period of time.
Endowment Policy-- An endowment policy is a life insurance contract designed to pay a lump sum after a specified term (on its 'maturity') or on earlier death.
ULIPs -- Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) provides for life insurance where the policy value at any time varies according to the value of the underlying assets at the time.
Money-back Policy -- Unlike ordinary endowment insurance plans where the survival benefits are payable only at the end of the endowment period, money back policies provide for periodic payments of partial survival benefits during the term of the policy.
When comparing these plans it is important that you keep in mind the factors that were talked about in the first point. Let's take a look at an example:
John is a 25-year-old businessman who wishes to take an insurance cover for InRs. 20 lakh (InRs 2 million) for a period of 20 years. There are two options he can choose from.
Option 1 -- He can opt for an endowment/money-back policy and pay a premium of InRs. 90,000 annually. If he survives through the policy term, he shall be eligible to receive the entire sum assured and vested bonuses, if the same are declared by the insurance company.
Option 2 -- He pays InRs. 4,000 annually and enjoys the risk cover of InRs. 2 million. Being a term insurance cover, he is not eligible to gain any survival benefit from the insurance company and the insurance premium paid can thus be treated as the cost of covering his life for 20 years.
Whereas under Option 1, he has earned an annualized return of about 6%; Option 2 gives him about 9% returns during the period. Therefore, it is important for John to decide what he wants and opt for a plan accordingly.
It's important to correctly identify your dependents' financial needs to establish just how much life insurance cover to arrange. A general rule is to choose a policy providing at least ten times your salary, but more may be appropriate, with the amount varying depending on how you intend it to be used.
Basically you decide how much you want your dependents to receive in the event of your death, and your premiums will be determined accordingly. Hence, make sure you keep all these factors in mind, compare different plans and choose your cover accordingly.
Be Happy – Keep Yourself and your family secured.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Be Happy - Just believe upon Yourself
Think on some thing and create some thoughts about that particular thing, issue or matter – and make it into your life!Those who tried, have not just pulled themselves out of depths of despair and been cured of diseases, but surprisingly, even influenced their financial status by just believing in themselves and a happy outcome! When you focus on something, no matter what it happens to be, you are really calling that into existence – The Secret resolution.
We are living in the new age of super-optimism. Is tapping this mood gene enough to put our life in order? We may ask ourselves: Do we think the future will be good or bad? If we believe good, then the optimist in us will do things to make it better. Like attracts likes. Everything that’s coming into your life you are attracting into your universe. You are the most powerful magnet in the universe . . . so as you think a thought, you are also attracting like thoughts to you are also attracting like thoughts to you.
If you’re an optimistic, you’ll be thinking happy thoughts; your life will have happy moments. When you focus your thoughts on something you want, and you hold that focus, you are in that moment summoning what you want from the Universe. We may repeatedly assert, “I’m a true optimist, and I’ve never given up believing good things will happen to me. I think the energy of the good vibe translates into positive action for me.” It will create strong belief upon yourself.
Latest studies on optimism show how optimists have more stable cardiovascular systems, more responsive immune systems than pessimists. They also have a stronger sense of self-efficacy. So they’re more likely to invoke healthier behaviors because they think they can make a difference. The new view of optimism theory says that for optimism to have real impact on health, outlook is less important than behaviour, because for optimism to work, you have to actively practice it in your daily life, merely thinking positive is not enough.
Being optimistic has long been considered an asset when battling an illness or overcoming an adversity. It is the view of a leading medical practitioner, “I’ve seen patients heal faster if they have a positive attitude towards their illness. They want to walk again and don’t give too much attention to their pain. If a patient has courage and resolve, he’ll heal faster. I’ve seen this miracle happen a number of times. Optimists aren’t just smiley-faced romantics. They’re realists who resolve to solve problems.
If you believe the future will be good, you’ll persist though tough times whether you’re naturally cheerful or not. In a study, Harvard graduates who were optimists at age 25, had better health outcomes for the next three decades. Says Jill Nedimark of Psychology Today, “it is the act of engaging with the world, of taking concrete steps towards goals, that improves health. Grounded optimism gives the brain a built-in action potential: it replaces emotion with motion.” Everything starts with one thought. Emotions are an outcome of our thinking. Every thought changes the chemistry of the body. To be considered an optimist you have to have a positive long-team outlook and some degree of hope for the future.
At a Healthcare Centre the gynaecologist interviewed six of her pregnant patients before delivery. They display varying degrees of optimism in reply to the questions like what’s your vision for the future? Are you scared? Are you happy and positive? Here are some of the answers: X, 26, six-month pregnant, says, “I’m very happy. I see a smiling baby everyday in my dreams. I tell myself, I’m healthy.” The doctor has given her a clean cit: “She’ll have a healthy normal delivery.” Y, 30, three months into her pregnancy, says, “I’m very nervous. I don’t know what will happen. Will I be able to tackle the pain?” The Doctor says, “There may be some complications.” These studies reveal that there is power in positive thinking.
Optimists have less labour pains and few chances of miscarriage” she explains.
If you’re an optimist working harder at a task, your stress hormones may go up. Your immune system may slip. But it’s like doing crunches at a gym. Short-term, more crunches hurt. Long-term you get payback in terms of health. Optimism leads to increases well-being as it leads you to engage actively in life. Optimism is whether people will remain engaged in life after falling ill. if you have a disease, and focusing on it, talking to people about it, you’re creating more diseased cells. Tell yourself 100 times a day: ‘I’m fit, I’m healthy’. Say, ‘I feel wonderful. I feel good’. And give powerful images and energy to yourself to feel healthy.
Optimism has less to do with mood and more to do with persistence. We adopt negative beliefs and unfounded fears from the world around us. These become our Invisible Fences. We think they are real. We may question our Invisible Fences, bring some awareness to them, challenge them and pin them down so that when one confronts us, rather than running away from it, we may exercise the force of will and talent of heart to run through it. That is the meaning of true optimism. It’s not just in thought but in action too. If one door closes, another opens
Consider this: Optimistic patients who received bone-marrow transplant for cancer were able to sustain their relationships and renter the world more headily. Carol Farran, author of Hope and Hopelessness, was diagnosed with breast cancer at 42. Farran says, “I had panic attacks when I discovered the limps. Then I took control of my feelings. The idea is to learn something good from a negative experience. I made new choices. I wanted to bring back hope in my life. The ability to reframe life is an optimistic strategy. Active coping is what makes you go on. You need to fix a problem and look for hidden benefits.”
But how does optimism work? Says actor Shekhar Suman, “When I lost my son, things couldn’t get any worse. There’s no sorrow or despair beyond that. How does one remain an optimist? By showing gratitude for the blessings. I looked at the brighter side of life. If you have the right spirit, life only gets better.”
Chicken Soup for the Soul creator jack Canfield was deep in debt before he made it big. Now his best-selling books have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, and Canfield travels the country teaching his brand of optimism. He says, “Everything you focus on can have an effect on your life. All of that affects how we feel, and the feelings actually send out a wave into the universe, and anything that’s vibrating in a similar level gets attracted into our life. Most people focus on the bad and sad things. We talk about our current reality – ‘I’m in debt. I’m over-weight. I’m not happy, I’m sad’. And the more you think about that, the more you attract that (negativity).”
HOW TO BE OPTIMISTIC
You can only have one thought at a time.
This is the key to feeling optimistic, enjoying your life, and fulfilling your vision for a delightful life. You only can keep one thought in you head at a time. So, what would your one thought be? Dwell on what you want to accomplish. Do not dwell on what you do not want.
Expect the best.
What are you thinking about? Do you have goal or an exciting vision for living your life? Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” Generally, at you begin your day or a project, you frame-of-mind proves extremely important.
Strong ambition.
Wishy-washy people do not go very far. They get swayed by whatever crosses their paths. In contrast, the people who move mountains, people who get things done, are people who feel a profound sense of mission. They dive into their projects with gusto. Every highly successful person is a maniac on a mission.
Assumption to change how you think.
The way you handle situations has served you to some degree. Now, you have a tremendous opportunity to feel more confident and optimistic than you ever may have dreamed possible. You can unleash your energy and hone your focus on what you most want.
Persistence.
Persistence is a key to feeling happy. Fascinating research done at Stanford University proves that persistent people achieve more than their less persistent colleagues.
Be Happy - Just believe upon Yourself.
We are living in the new age of super-optimism. Is tapping this mood gene enough to put our life in order? We may ask ourselves: Do we think the future will be good or bad? If we believe good, then the optimist in us will do things to make it better. Like attracts likes. Everything that’s coming into your life you are attracting into your universe. You are the most powerful magnet in the universe . . . so as you think a thought, you are also attracting like thoughts to you are also attracting like thoughts to you.
If you’re an optimistic, you’ll be thinking happy thoughts; your life will have happy moments. When you focus your thoughts on something you want, and you hold that focus, you are in that moment summoning what you want from the Universe. We may repeatedly assert, “I’m a true optimist, and I’ve never given up believing good things will happen to me. I think the energy of the good vibe translates into positive action for me.” It will create strong belief upon yourself.
Latest studies on optimism show how optimists have more stable cardiovascular systems, more responsive immune systems than pessimists. They also have a stronger sense of self-efficacy. So they’re more likely to invoke healthier behaviors because they think they can make a difference. The new view of optimism theory says that for optimism to have real impact on health, outlook is less important than behaviour, because for optimism to work, you have to actively practice it in your daily life, merely thinking positive is not enough.
Being optimistic has long been considered an asset when battling an illness or overcoming an adversity. It is the view of a leading medical practitioner, “I’ve seen patients heal faster if they have a positive attitude towards their illness. They want to walk again and don’t give too much attention to their pain. If a patient has courage and resolve, he’ll heal faster. I’ve seen this miracle happen a number of times. Optimists aren’t just smiley-faced romantics. They’re realists who resolve to solve problems.
If you believe the future will be good, you’ll persist though tough times whether you’re naturally cheerful or not. In a study, Harvard graduates who were optimists at age 25, had better health outcomes for the next three decades. Says Jill Nedimark of Psychology Today, “it is the act of engaging with the world, of taking concrete steps towards goals, that improves health. Grounded optimism gives the brain a built-in action potential: it replaces emotion with motion.” Everything starts with one thought. Emotions are an outcome of our thinking. Every thought changes the chemistry of the body. To be considered an optimist you have to have a positive long-team outlook and some degree of hope for the future.
At a Healthcare Centre the gynaecologist interviewed six of her pregnant patients before delivery. They display varying degrees of optimism in reply to the questions like what’s your vision for the future? Are you scared? Are you happy and positive? Here are some of the answers: X, 26, six-month pregnant, says, “I’m very happy. I see a smiling baby everyday in my dreams. I tell myself, I’m healthy.” The doctor has given her a clean cit: “She’ll have a healthy normal delivery.” Y, 30, three months into her pregnancy, says, “I’m very nervous. I don’t know what will happen. Will I be able to tackle the pain?” The Doctor says, “There may be some complications.” These studies reveal that there is power in positive thinking.
Optimists have less labour pains and few chances of miscarriage” she explains.
If you’re an optimist working harder at a task, your stress hormones may go up. Your immune system may slip. But it’s like doing crunches at a gym. Short-term, more crunches hurt. Long-term you get payback in terms of health. Optimism leads to increases well-being as it leads you to engage actively in life. Optimism is whether people will remain engaged in life after falling ill. if you have a disease, and focusing on it, talking to people about it, you’re creating more diseased cells. Tell yourself 100 times a day: ‘I’m fit, I’m healthy’. Say, ‘I feel wonderful. I feel good’. And give powerful images and energy to yourself to feel healthy.
Optimism has less to do with mood and more to do with persistence. We adopt negative beliefs and unfounded fears from the world around us. These become our Invisible Fences. We think they are real. We may question our Invisible Fences, bring some awareness to them, challenge them and pin them down so that when one confronts us, rather than running away from it, we may exercise the force of will and talent of heart to run through it. That is the meaning of true optimism. It’s not just in thought but in action too. If one door closes, another opens
Consider this: Optimistic patients who received bone-marrow transplant for cancer were able to sustain their relationships and renter the world more headily. Carol Farran, author of Hope and Hopelessness, was diagnosed with breast cancer at 42. Farran says, “I had panic attacks when I discovered the limps. Then I took control of my feelings. The idea is to learn something good from a negative experience. I made new choices. I wanted to bring back hope in my life. The ability to reframe life is an optimistic strategy. Active coping is what makes you go on. You need to fix a problem and look for hidden benefits.”
But how does optimism work? Says actor Shekhar Suman, “When I lost my son, things couldn’t get any worse. There’s no sorrow or despair beyond that. How does one remain an optimist? By showing gratitude for the blessings. I looked at the brighter side of life. If you have the right spirit, life only gets better.”
Chicken Soup for the Soul creator jack Canfield was deep in debt before he made it big. Now his best-selling books have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, and Canfield travels the country teaching his brand of optimism. He says, “Everything you focus on can have an effect on your life. All of that affects how we feel, and the feelings actually send out a wave into the universe, and anything that’s vibrating in a similar level gets attracted into our life. Most people focus on the bad and sad things. We talk about our current reality – ‘I’m in debt. I’m over-weight. I’m not happy, I’m sad’. And the more you think about that, the more you attract that (negativity).”
HOW TO BE OPTIMISTIC
You can only have one thought at a time.
This is the key to feeling optimistic, enjoying your life, and fulfilling your vision for a delightful life. You only can keep one thought in you head at a time. So, what would your one thought be? Dwell on what you want to accomplish. Do not dwell on what you do not want.
Expect the best.
What are you thinking about? Do you have goal or an exciting vision for living your life? Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” Generally, at you begin your day or a project, you frame-of-mind proves extremely important.
Strong ambition.
Wishy-washy people do not go very far. They get swayed by whatever crosses their paths. In contrast, the people who move mountains, people who get things done, are people who feel a profound sense of mission. They dive into their projects with gusto. Every highly successful person is a maniac on a mission.
Assumption to change how you think.
The way you handle situations has served you to some degree. Now, you have a tremendous opportunity to feel more confident and optimistic than you ever may have dreamed possible. You can unleash your energy and hone your focus on what you most want.
Persistence.
Persistence is a key to feeling happy. Fascinating research done at Stanford University proves that persistent people achieve more than their less persistent colleagues.
Be Happy - Just believe upon Yourself.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Be Happy - Have Fun
We can be happy if we make others happy. Self centric happiness does not last longer. We must make it permanent by making others too happy. “Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good.” -Calvin Coolidge. “To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.” –Confucius. “The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.” –Confucius. “If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.” –Confucius. “Sincerity and truth are the basis of every virtue.” –Confucius.
We may commit, “We are Always Truthful, Positive, And Helping Others.” If enough individuals become always truthful, positive and helping others, it will change the world we live in. We are sure it will change. The only possibility that this will happen depends on us only, including you and millions of others like you. If we want, we must start with ourselves by doing our best to live our commitment 100% and recommend others to do the same. Generally, everyone at some time in his or her life had been taught to be truthful, positive and to help others. However, there is a huge difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it without exceptions. Olympic athletes win Gold Medals not by knowing what to do. They win them because they practice doing the right things over and over and over again until it becomes a part of them.
This same principle applies to you and everyone else. It’s not what you know. It’s what you do that counts and makes a difference in your life. Framing commitments is one thing, but saying and living it over and over and over again will make it a part of your life. Your life will become a positive example for others to follow. They will feel your energy and want to feel the same way.
The same holds true when you teach or learn. The things that are stressed and repeated over and over again are remembered. What you teach or learn once is quickly forgotten. Do you still remember the alphabet and the time tables that were taught to you in preparatory school? Do you remember how much repetition it took you to learn them until you knew them by heart? Since the teacher always learns more than the student, the more you share your commitment with others and discuss it with them, the more aware and happier you will become. These selected words are simple to understand, but will have a profound influence on your life and everyone that you share them with. They have the power to change the world once they gain a critical mass. You are invited to keep these words 100% and help make our world a better place.
If you want to keep the commitment and encourage others to do the same, the following are some ways you can help. I’m sure that you will come up with many more ideas on your own as you become more creative.
Parents
If you have young children, what better gift can you give them then teaching them to be always truthful, positive and helping others in their formative years? Children are the future leaders of our world. The values you teach them will greatly impact their lives and many others. When you put your children to bed at night, repeat your commitment out loud with them. Spend some time discussing how their day was in relation to these words. If you keep it simple, they will understand what you are teaching them and remember it when they leave home and enter the world.
If you have teenagers, discuss upon each word with them. Make it a point to sit down with them every day or as often as possible and follow the same steps above. Be open and honest with them and they will eventually be the same with you. They are young and have to make their own mistakes, but at least help them to keep their mistakes small.
If your children have left home, share your commitment with them and repeat in every contact. Then, watch how much closer they will become to you as your conversations become more open and meaningful, especially if they are raising children of their own.
If you have grand children, make sure you make them committed to your own oath, in case their parents don’t.
Married Couples and Domestic Partners
Share your commitment with your spouse or partner. Since we are all individuals, we have different interest and priorities. Fair compromises and kept agreements are the key to all successful relationships. Your commitment is a great foundation for all relationships to build upon.
Don’t forget to tell your friends and associates about your commitment. Then, have fun discussing it with them.
Individuals
Tell your family, friends and associates about your commitment and inspire them to follow. Since everyone has different strengths and weaknesses on their memory sheets, you can help each other to increase your awareness and happiness by keeping your commitment with them and sharing your experiences.
Teachers, Professors and Principals
Where appropriate, teach the importance of your commitment and the insights to your students. If possible, tell their parents about its importance. If you truly understand the value of your commitment, use your imagination and help make it regular exercise of reminding them to make it their own.
Coaches
Young and mature athletes relate very well to the importance of the commitment. Study this and use it to help them to focus on improving the process and allow the outcome to take care of itself. Winning is merely the by-product of doing the process better than your competition. Part of the process is to develop a great mental game by learning to control your emotions and to play on instinct.
Your commitment will keep both you and your team honest. An honest person knows his weaknesses and works to improve them.
Corporate CEOs and Business Owners
It’s one thing to have a mission statement and code of ethics; it’s another thing to live by them. To make your commitment a part of your business culture, place copies of it on the walls of your business and on your desks. Recommend that your employees reflect upon it at least once a day and conduct their affairs with your business accordingly. Give your customers and prospects a copy of your commitment. Tell them that this is how you run your business. Feel free to include your commitment in your advertising and marketing campaigns.
Employees
Give a copy of your commitment to your manager, boss or owner of where you are employed. If you can’t live by your commitment where you work, find another job where you can or start your own business.
Politics
“If you ever injected truth into politics, you would have no politics.” -Will Rogers. “Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.” -Albert Einstein. We are all citizens of the same world. We must learn to love each other and forgive the injustices that we inflict on each other. Injustices can be met with force and cause more hatred and injustices. Or, injustices can be met with the power of the truth and compassion to see both sides of the issue and deal with them fairly for all concerned. We must follow the examples of the great celebrities like Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela.
If our present world leaders won’t deal with the issues while always being truthful, positive and helping, hopefully our children or their children will do so when it’s their turn to lead the world. However, if we don’t teach our children to live by our commitment 100% of the time, the world and its injustices will never change. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” -Albert Einstein. Many governments rule their citizens by fear. When the citizens no longer have fear, the government loses its power to control by fear and intimidation. Eliminate fear from your life and encourage your fellow country men and women to do the same. If you can’t be brave, teach you children to live by your commitment when they are young so they can be brave and defend their inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness when they grow up.
World Leaders
If you are in charge or control of a country and its policies, you are in a position of power to do many great things. Do your country and the world a major favor by living your commitment 100% of the time and leading your country accordingly. When you make decisions, forget yourself and your special interest groups. Do the right thing and be fair to all sides of the issue.
Talk Show Hosts
Email Oprah, and ask her to put you on her show. If you have other favorite talk show hosts, tell them about the commitment and recommend that they have you appear on their show. If you are a talk show host or its producer, go through these lines on your show. You and your audience’s spirits will be uplifted by the message.
Authors and Producers
If you are an author and like the message contained in these lines, write your own book stressing the value of always being truthful. Don’t just casually mention it and move on. Write a whole book about the value of being truthful, positive and helping others, especially being truthful. If you are a movie producer, produce movies about the values of the truth. If you are television producer, make a series centered on the truth.
Generous Individuals
If you can afford it and would like to help change the world for the better, start running advertisements in your favorite paper or media that say: I Am Always Truthful, Positive, And Helping Others. Sponsored by: your name. Advertising works through repeating the message you want to deliver. If you want the world to be a better place, why don’t you have some fun and start getting the message out to the masses. Since you can’t take it with you, plant some seeds that will help improve the values of our world while you are still here. You will have a lot of fun and it will make you happy.
There will be individuals who feel that your commitment is not for them or just treat it lightly. However, if they keep seeing your ads and they keep hearing about this from their family, friends, associates and total strangers, these repeated impressions will eventually have an impact that will change their lives and our world for the better.
Use Your Imagination
If you got the message and start keeping the commitment to the best of your ability, your spirit will suggest many other ways to share this with others. Listen to your gut feelings, get rid of your fears and help spread the word. If you do, you will have fun helping to change our world for our children and their children’s children.
Be Happy – Have Fun by making all happy by keeping up your commitment.
We may commit, “We are Always Truthful, Positive, And Helping Others.” If enough individuals become always truthful, positive and helping others, it will change the world we live in. We are sure it will change. The only possibility that this will happen depends on us only, including you and millions of others like you. If we want, we must start with ourselves by doing our best to live our commitment 100% and recommend others to do the same. Generally, everyone at some time in his or her life had been taught to be truthful, positive and to help others. However, there is a huge difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it without exceptions. Olympic athletes win Gold Medals not by knowing what to do. They win them because they practice doing the right things over and over and over again until it becomes a part of them.
This same principle applies to you and everyone else. It’s not what you know. It’s what you do that counts and makes a difference in your life. Framing commitments is one thing, but saying and living it over and over and over again will make it a part of your life. Your life will become a positive example for others to follow. They will feel your energy and want to feel the same way.
The same holds true when you teach or learn. The things that are stressed and repeated over and over again are remembered. What you teach or learn once is quickly forgotten. Do you still remember the alphabet and the time tables that were taught to you in preparatory school? Do you remember how much repetition it took you to learn them until you knew them by heart? Since the teacher always learns more than the student, the more you share your commitment with others and discuss it with them, the more aware and happier you will become. These selected words are simple to understand, but will have a profound influence on your life and everyone that you share them with. They have the power to change the world once they gain a critical mass. You are invited to keep these words 100% and help make our world a better place.
If you want to keep the commitment and encourage others to do the same, the following are some ways you can help. I’m sure that you will come up with many more ideas on your own as you become more creative.
Parents
If you have young children, what better gift can you give them then teaching them to be always truthful, positive and helping others in their formative years? Children are the future leaders of our world. The values you teach them will greatly impact their lives and many others. When you put your children to bed at night, repeat your commitment out loud with them. Spend some time discussing how their day was in relation to these words. If you keep it simple, they will understand what you are teaching them and remember it when they leave home and enter the world.
If you have teenagers, discuss upon each word with them. Make it a point to sit down with them every day or as often as possible and follow the same steps above. Be open and honest with them and they will eventually be the same with you. They are young and have to make their own mistakes, but at least help them to keep their mistakes small.
If your children have left home, share your commitment with them and repeat in every contact. Then, watch how much closer they will become to you as your conversations become more open and meaningful, especially if they are raising children of their own.
If you have grand children, make sure you make them committed to your own oath, in case their parents don’t.
Married Couples and Domestic Partners
Share your commitment with your spouse or partner. Since we are all individuals, we have different interest and priorities. Fair compromises and kept agreements are the key to all successful relationships. Your commitment is a great foundation for all relationships to build upon.
Don’t forget to tell your friends and associates about your commitment. Then, have fun discussing it with them.
Individuals
Tell your family, friends and associates about your commitment and inspire them to follow. Since everyone has different strengths and weaknesses on their memory sheets, you can help each other to increase your awareness and happiness by keeping your commitment with them and sharing your experiences.
Teachers, Professors and Principals
Where appropriate, teach the importance of your commitment and the insights to your students. If possible, tell their parents about its importance. If you truly understand the value of your commitment, use your imagination and help make it regular exercise of reminding them to make it their own.
Coaches
Young and mature athletes relate very well to the importance of the commitment. Study this and use it to help them to focus on improving the process and allow the outcome to take care of itself. Winning is merely the by-product of doing the process better than your competition. Part of the process is to develop a great mental game by learning to control your emotions and to play on instinct.
Your commitment will keep both you and your team honest. An honest person knows his weaknesses and works to improve them.
Corporate CEOs and Business Owners
It’s one thing to have a mission statement and code of ethics; it’s another thing to live by them. To make your commitment a part of your business culture, place copies of it on the walls of your business and on your desks. Recommend that your employees reflect upon it at least once a day and conduct their affairs with your business accordingly. Give your customers and prospects a copy of your commitment. Tell them that this is how you run your business. Feel free to include your commitment in your advertising and marketing campaigns.
Employees
Give a copy of your commitment to your manager, boss or owner of where you are employed. If you can’t live by your commitment where you work, find another job where you can or start your own business.
Politics
“If you ever injected truth into politics, you would have no politics.” -Will Rogers. “Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.” -Albert Einstein. We are all citizens of the same world. We must learn to love each other and forgive the injustices that we inflict on each other. Injustices can be met with force and cause more hatred and injustices. Or, injustices can be met with the power of the truth and compassion to see both sides of the issue and deal with them fairly for all concerned. We must follow the examples of the great celebrities like Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela.
If our present world leaders won’t deal with the issues while always being truthful, positive and helping, hopefully our children or their children will do so when it’s their turn to lead the world. However, if we don’t teach our children to live by our commitment 100% of the time, the world and its injustices will never change. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” -Albert Einstein. Many governments rule their citizens by fear. When the citizens no longer have fear, the government loses its power to control by fear and intimidation. Eliminate fear from your life and encourage your fellow country men and women to do the same. If you can’t be brave, teach you children to live by your commitment when they are young so they can be brave and defend their inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness when they grow up.
World Leaders
If you are in charge or control of a country and its policies, you are in a position of power to do many great things. Do your country and the world a major favor by living your commitment 100% of the time and leading your country accordingly. When you make decisions, forget yourself and your special interest groups. Do the right thing and be fair to all sides of the issue.
Talk Show Hosts
Email Oprah, and ask her to put you on her show. If you have other favorite talk show hosts, tell them about the commitment and recommend that they have you appear on their show. If you are a talk show host or its producer, go through these lines on your show. You and your audience’s spirits will be uplifted by the message.
Authors and Producers
If you are an author and like the message contained in these lines, write your own book stressing the value of always being truthful. Don’t just casually mention it and move on. Write a whole book about the value of being truthful, positive and helping others, especially being truthful. If you are a movie producer, produce movies about the values of the truth. If you are television producer, make a series centered on the truth.
Generous Individuals
If you can afford it and would like to help change the world for the better, start running advertisements in your favorite paper or media that say: I Am Always Truthful, Positive, And Helping Others. Sponsored by: your name. Advertising works through repeating the message you want to deliver. If you want the world to be a better place, why don’t you have some fun and start getting the message out to the masses. Since you can’t take it with you, plant some seeds that will help improve the values of our world while you are still here. You will have a lot of fun and it will make you happy.
There will be individuals who feel that your commitment is not for them or just treat it lightly. However, if they keep seeing your ads and they keep hearing about this from their family, friends, associates and total strangers, these repeated impressions will eventually have an impact that will change their lives and our world for the better.
Use Your Imagination
If you got the message and start keeping the commitment to the best of your ability, your spirit will suggest many other ways to share this with others. Listen to your gut feelings, get rid of your fears and help spread the word. If you do, you will have fun helping to change our world for our children and their children’s children.
Be Happy – Have Fun by making all happy by keeping up your commitment.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Be Happy - Transform Your Emotions
Positive emotions elevate your chemistry. This allows your natural talents and abilities to increase. The more skilled you become at transforming your negative emotions into positive ones in regard to the same fact, the happier you will become. This you know that everything you experience in your life is merely a fact. It is the negative emotions you attach to those facts that keep you from reaching your goals and being happy. For example, getting up at 5:30 AM to exercise is a fact. If you hate getting up early, guess what happens to your chemistry and motivation to get out of bed when your alarm goes off? It is important to focus on the personal satisfaction you will receive if you do get up and exercise, instead of focusing on hating to get up. Focus on your desire to be in shape and to be in control of your memory sheet. “He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.” –Confucius.
The technique of transforming your emotional association to facts is done by changing your focus. When you go through life, it is much easier if you focus on the positive, instead of the negative. Here are some personal experiences from my friend’s life, as he narrated, that may help you to understand how to do it. When he swam in the
When you jump into water that is 48 degrees or colder, you may experience a burning sensation on your skin. You do not know if it is hot or cold, it just burns. Then, you hyperventilate for about a minute until you catch your breath. It can be a horrible or wonderful emotional experience depending upon what you choose to experience. chose the latter – to make it a wonderful experience.
You may be thinking to yourself that you could care less about swimming in freezing water. But, how would you feel knowing that you swam the
Creating positive emotions of love and bravery allow you to push on in spite of your discomfort. Positive emotions cause your brain to secrete chemicals that block out the pain and give you additional energy. For example, the "runner’s high" is created by individuals pushing themselves beyond the wall of pain and fatigue until their brains secrete endorphins, a biochemical with properties similar to morphine. Athletes love and become addicted to this high.
If you find yourself in situations that approach your pain and fatigue thresholds, consciously realize that pain and fatigue are facts. You can choose how you want to experience them emotionally. Instead of hating or fearing pain and fatigue, focus all your attention on the pleasure you receive from controlling your memory sheet. Love knowing that you control your destiny and are on your way to becoming the best of the best. Happiness and success are the rewards for pushing yourself beyond what others are willing to do.
It is possible that while preparing yourself for a particular target, you may ignore the focus in other parts of your life and it is also possible that some factors of other parts of your life may hold you back when you are going to strike upon the target. You will have to prepare yourself all around. It is important to realize that your emotional state affects your entire life and everything that you do.
Train yourself to transform all your negative emotional reactions into positive ones by changing your focus. It is a challenge to always remain positive. It can be accomplished with effort over time as you train your memory sheet to respond with positive emotions, instead of negative ones. You can transform your negative emotions into positive ones by creating a mind set that your glass is always half full. You don’t want to go through life with a glass that is half empty. The liquid is in the middle of the glass, but there can be two different emotions to the same fact. One is positive and one is negative. It is up to you to decide if your glass is half full or half empty. If you believe that your glass is half full, you will have a higher level of chemistry then if you believe that your glass is half empty. As simple as this concept sounds, it can make the difference between living a happy life or an unhappy one. The nice thing about it is that it’s your choice and totally in your control.
Remember, every situation in your life is nothing more than a fact! While you may not be able to control the facts, you can control your emotional response to them. If you do, you will have more fun and be more successful. All it takes is a conscious effort to realize that any negative emotional response you have to any fact, fair or unfair, poisons your chemistry and hinders your natural abilities. Once you completely understand that negative emotions in any degree contribute to your unhappiness and failures, you can start transforming the negative emotions on your memory sheet into positive ones by simply changing your focus. It is done by working at it, over and over, until it becomes an instinctive habit. Learn from your mistakes and make the appropriate adjustments.
Become the master of your memory sheet and your emotions. Love life and accept all of its challenges. Be brave and determined to succeed in spite of all odds or hardships. Olympics is the most respected and widely watched sporting event in the world. The Gold Medal is a symbol of mankind’s highest level of achievement in the world of sports. It is the reward for years of personal sacrifice and self-discipline. Olympic athletes are very dedicated and focused individuals. They work very hard to perfect themselves and their performance. They cannot afford to have any negative emotions, and not do their very best because it will cost them their dreams. Are you doing your best to achieve your dreams?
To master your memory sheet and transfer your negative emotions into positive ones requires the same constant effort of an Olympic athlete. However, it can be accomplished. All it takes is a strong desire and persistent action on your part to meet your commitment all the time at your disposal. And you would be happy again.
Be Happy – Transform Your Emotions.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Be Happy – Differentiate Between You and Others (Part 3)
We feel that there are a number of factors do not permit us to acquire the desired happiness. Hate, Anger or Irritations are amongst them. Just like fear, hate comes in many degrees. Intense hate causes individuals to kill and nations to go to war. It can manifest itself in lesser degrees, such as anger, or mild irritations. Since hate is a strong word and you may avoid relating to it, anger is substituted for hate in this section. Anger is harder to eliminate than fear because it is usually much more intense, appears in a flash and tends to stay with you. As a result, your chemistry falls farther and faster than with fear. Anger’s extreme negative chemical reaction throws off your ability to reason clearly, distorts your judgment and may lead to bizarre behavior. Plus, anger tends to linger because you dwell on it far longer than fear. Fear more readily disappears once you get past your concern about a future outcome, and return to the present.
Some of you have memory sheets with very little anger while others are full of rage, and explode at the drop of a hat. In either case, your anger affects your judgment and ability to reason. If you get angry, fast and furious, you have a lot of work ahead of you unless you are extremely determined and self-disciplined. However, by training your memory sheet you can greatly reduce your anger and shorten its duration if you try hard enough. It is just a matter of desire, awareness, time and effort.
It is imperative to totally and completely understand that negative emotions are poison. They destroy your chemistry and cause havoc with your performance, judgment and health. If you do not comprehend that anger causes unhappiness, you will allow it to continue.
If you are thirsty and I give you a glass of gasoline, would you drink it? Of course, you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t even think twice about drinking it. So why allow a fact, fair or unfair, upset you and rob you of the ability to reason and function at your full potential while handling that fact? “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Whatever begins in anger, ends in shame.” -Benjamin Franklin. “There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust.” -St. Francis De Sales. “Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased habit.” –Epictetus.
Now you can write down all of the things that you hate, get you angry or irritated on a piece of paper. It is important that you are honest with yourself and take the time right now to list what angers or irritates you as well as things that you hate.
I hate or get anger at or get irritated by:
1) _______________________________________
2) _______________________________________
3) _______________________________________
4) _______________________________________
5) _______________________________________
Take a look at what you have just written down. Whatever you have listed, they all have one thing in common. They are all facts that you react negatively to. While you may not be able to change the facts, you can change your negative emotional response to them if you choose to.
Any time you encounter a fact that you prefer not to have in your life, three possible situations exist. One, you can leave the situation and remove yourself from the fact. Two, you can change the situation and fact to one that you prefer. Three, you are stuck in the situation and have to deal with the fact.
No matter what facts you are stuck with or encounter in your life, you always have the choice of how you respond emotionally. It takes a very strong person not to hate or get angry at unjust actions or behavior. However, hate begets hate and anger begets anger. If you respond to an injustice with hate or anger, you are adding fuel to the fire. Why do you think mankind is in a continual state of war? Is it because of love or hate?
“We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.” -Albert Einstein. “Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.” -Albert Einstein. You may not be able to control the facts around you, but you can control your emotional response to them. A positive attitude is a great asset since it increases your brain's chemistry and creativity to help you find a solution to your situation.
Convert your anger into determination. Then work harder and smarter to change the facts into positives or accept them for what they are if you can’t change them. Always look for the best, no matter how adverse your situation may seem. My philosophy is “If it does not kill you, it makes you stronger by overcoming it and the negative emotions on your memory sheet.”
Our commitment is not for weaklings, brooders and pouters. It is for individuals who want to be great and fly with the eagles. Anger and the desire for revenge is not a show of strength and character. It is a lack of self-control. You are better off without anger. If my straightforwardness upsets you, look for the truth in my message. Learn to get rid of your hate, anger, and petty irritations. Otherwise, your memory sheet will have you repeat them over and over again.
If you repeat your commitment, “I am always truthful, positive, and helping others”, you will find that your self inspiration may transform your negative emotions of hate, anger, and irritations into positive emotions. As longer you live by this commitment, the easier it may become to remain positive and take the high road. After a while, it becomes hard to be negative or remain negative no matter what facts you may encounter. It just takes self-training, training, and more training until you can become that way. Whenever an injustice may happen to you or in the world, you will realize that ignorance is the cause. Then, you would pray for the person or those that perpetrates the injustice. The two quotes below may help you to keep you emotions on the high road, instead of stooping to the level of those that cause the injustice. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” -Jesus Christ, while hanging on the cross. “A good man is a bad man’s teacher, and a bad man is a good man’s job.” -Lao Tzu. Since the world’s injustices are not going to be solved by more injustices in the belief that the end will justify the means, you will realize ultimately that the solution is there in improving your emotions and encouraging millions others to do the same. Since you can’t solve a problem with the same mindset that created it, hopefully the combined efforts will eventually make this world a better place for those who will follow us after we would have done a lot in this direction.
My friends, relatives and all those who ever came in my contact confirm that I very rarely get angry. When I do, I immediately notice the chemical changes in my body and just let the anger go. I don’t suppress the anger. I acknowledge the fact that I reacted negatively to and consciously choose to release my anger. Why be angry? It’s bad for your health and makes you do things that you regret doing once you have calmed down.
Here is a game plan for reducing and eliminating your anger. First, as soon as you notice you are angry, stop and acknowledge that you are angry. Do not suppress your anger, or it will build and fester. After acknowledging you are angry, realize that you are merely reacting to a fact and have a choice of how to respond. You can continue to be upset or you can decide to release your anger.
Here is an excellent method for releasing anger. Take ten deep breaths and slowly exhale after each breath. This will relax you and calm you down. Then, make a big smile and talk to your memory sheet. Tell it that you refuse to let a fact get you upset no matter how unfair or unjust the fact may be. Facts are merely facts! You may not be able to control the facts, but you can control your emotional response to them.
The more times that you consciously release your anger, the easier it becomes. After a while, you will start laughing at the things that use to get you angry. If I ever run across an angry person that wants to vent on me or argue, I just smile and let them vent. It takes two to tango, and two angry people to fight or argue. Since I don’t respond with anger, I know the angry person will eventually calm down. Once that happens, I have a civil conversation and discuss the facts that they were angry about. Sometimes we end up being friends.
Realize that there are three sides to every argument or disagreement. They are: your side, their side and the truth. Instead of defending my side, I look for the truth behind the facts and what I may have done or not have done to cause the problem. Even if I’m only at fault 1%, I’ll take responsibility for my actions and do my best to correct them. Many of your personal confrontations and our world’s challenges could be solved with a similar approach.
We should no longer have things in our life that we hate to do. We may divide our life into things that we prefer to do and prefer not to do. Most of the things in our life we love doing. When we have to do things that we prefer not to, we do it with a smile knowing that even the Buddha chopped wood and carried water. We use these opportunities to master my memory sheet and raise my chemistry.
The more our chemistry and understanding rises, we may out that there would be fewer things we prefer not to do. It would make us happy when we cross off tasks that we will finish from our daily-to-do list, especially the ones we prefer not doing and have to do.
When we find something that angers or irritates us, it may make us smile because we may find another fact on our memory sheet that we can change our negative response into a positive one and increase our chemistry in the process. We are more concerned about changing our negative emotional reactions into positive ones, than the facts -- fair or unfair -- that we encounter in our life. You will become that way too if you start reflecting you’re your commitment throughout the day.
If you are working to eliminate anger from your memory sheet, do not become discouraged or get mad at yourself when you respond to facts with anger. Remember, your memory sheet wants you to repeat your past and will not give up without a fight. Be patient. Be determined. Stick to your game plan. Before going to sleep, talk to your memory sheet. Tell it how you want to respond in the future to the facts that upset you during the day. After a while, your memory sheet will help you in your battle to change your emotional response to facts as you become less angry, and your anger lasts for shorter periods of time.
Some individuals feel that their anger fuels their determination. However, can you always quickly transform your anger into determination? If you can, why wait to get angry before you become determined? This may seem like unnatural way to go through life, but it sure beats going though life being angry and unhappy. Try it, you’ll like it.
Greed
Greed is excessive or reprehensible acquisitiveness. “Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.” -Erich Fromm. “The avarice person is ever in want; let your desired aim have a fixed limit” –Horace. There is nothing wrong about acquiring money, possessions and things to make your life more comfortable as long as you don’t lie or become selfish in the process. The best way to make a lot of money is to provide an honest product or service that helps others.
“Men are rich only as they give. He who gives great service gets great rewards.” -Elbert Hubbard. “If you would take, you must first give, This is the beginning of intelligence.” -Lao Tzu. “For it is in giving that we receive.” -St. Francis of
Jealousy
Jealousy results when you desire something that another person possesses and you can’t have or you resent them for having what you want. “The disease of jealousy is so malignant that it converts all it takes into its own nourishment.” -Joseph Addison. “The jealous are possessed by a mad devil and a dull spirit at the same time.” -Johann Kaspar Lavater. Jealousy can only exist when you are looking outside of yourself for happiness. You came into this world alone and without possessions. When you leave this world, you can’t take anyone or anything with you, except your spirit. I don’t know what will happen to my spirit when it’s time to leave this world. However, my gut feelings tell me that I will move on to another dimension, higher or lower, depending upon the character I developed while I was here on Earth. Some people refer to it as “heaven or hell.” Since I can’t take any possessions or things with me when it’s time to move on, why be jealous of what others have. The only thing that I’ll take with me is my spirit. So I’m spending my time here helping others and developing my character by doing my best to live with my commitment 100% of the time.
I firmly believe the more truthful, positive and helpful to others that I become, the higher I will move up the ladder when it’s my time to move on. Hopefully, you will feel as I do and make living the commitment one of your methods to climb up the ladder as high as you can before it’s your time to move on. I’m positive that the commitment will enhance whatever religious beliefs you may have.
Wouldn’t our world be a better place if everyone else felt the same way? Why be jealous of people or things, when all you have that really matters is your character and how well you treat others? If you have faith in your own abilities and understand the big picture of life, you can achieve what you want through your own efforts and God’s help. Anytime you have any degree of love, generosity, praise, bravery or multiple combinations of these emotions, your brain secretes positive chemicals which enhance your natural ability and happiness.
Love is the strongest positive emotion. Love is what drives individuals to noble deeds. Love allows the spirit to push on against incredible odds, hardships and obstacles. Always love your fellow human beings and have compassion, in spite of the frustrations you encounter.
There is a huge difference between loving what you do and liking what you do. Love creates a passion within you that cannot be denied. Love overcomes the option of quitting when times get tough. If you want to be happy and successful, find what you love to do and do it with all your heart and soul. Success and happiness will follow!
Generosity is liberality in spirit, acts and giving. To me the best time of the year is Christmas or the Holiday Season because during this brief time of the year, the masses of society observe the spirit of giving and forgiving. It is a great time to be alive.
Why limit your generosity and kindness only to the religious days when you can do it every day of the year?
Praise is expressing a favorable judgment to or approval of another. When someone does something well, let them know. When someone fails, praise them for their efforts and encourage them never to give up striving to reach their dream.
Bravery allows you to face and overcome your fears. Bravery gives you the faith and courage to continue your quest against all odds. Learn to live in the present and keep improving the process until you achieve your desired outcomes. It takes extreme bravery and faith to commit yourself totally to a journey where there are no guarantees that you will reach your destination. You must be brave and have supreme confidence in yourself to always be truthful, positive and helping others without exceptions. If you do, a meaningful life full of joy and happiness will be yours.
Since the proof is in the pudding, all you have to do is reflect on your life and your level of happiness to know that what I’m sharing with you makes total sense. Don’t just take my word for it. Prove it to yourself by doing your best to live your commitment 100% of the time and watch how much happier you become as a result.
For getting happy, we need to differentiate between us and others by giving up the demerits which make us unhappy. Once we do, we would be different and happy. Be Happy - we must differentiate ourselves.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Be Happy – Differentiate Between You and Others (Part 2)
For being happy, you need to differentiate between you and others and in this process our thoughts play a major role. Whenever you form your thoughts, they get two components: facts and emotions. Every stimulus you receive through your nervous system is nothing more than a fact. However, you attach emotions to these facts and they are recorded on your memory sheet. Whenever a similar situation or fact recurs, your memory sheet automatically plays back the previously recorded emotional response.Your emotional response is acceptable if the emotions are positive. However, negative emotions (big or small) cause adverse chemical secretions that literally poison your brain’s ability to function. Once you comprehend the profound influence negative emotions have on your brain’s chemistry, you can become much more objective and less emotionally involved with the facts in your life.
You may start restructuring your negative emotional attachments to certain facts recorded on your memory sheet. Facts are merely facts! However, you can choose your emotional response to them. You will have to accept the facts you can’t change but if you can change the facts you should do with a positive attitude. Anytime you have any degree of love, generosity, praise and bravery or multiple combinations of these emotions, your brain secretes positive chemicals and enhances your natural abilities to change the facts to what you desire.
It is a lot easier to be always truthful than to be always positive. To become always positive it is imperative that you are at least always truthful, especially to yourself. Otherwise, the negative emotions on your memory sheet will rule your life because they will lower your chemistry and diminish your ability to reason. You will continue to rationalize why you are justified for allowing negative emotions to remain on your memory sheet and influence your thoughts and actions to your detriment as well as to the detriment of those around you.
In the process of becoming always truthful, you will remove many of the negative emotions that motivate you to lie. Once you are honest with the outside world and yourself, the next step is to start reducing and eventually eliminating all the negative emotions on your memory sheet that you have associated with certain facts in your life. While you may not be able to control the facts, fair or unfair, you encounter in your life, you can choose how to respond emotionally to these facts. Anytime you have any degree of hate, greed, jealousy, and fear or multiple combinations of these emotions, you are lowering your brain’s chemistry and hurting yourself.
Fear
Fear normally leads the list of negative emotions in all sports and life in general. Yet, fear is the easiest negative emotion to overcome if you are objective and understand its source. It can be fear of failure, making a mistake, losing your job, spouse, health, life or the countless other fears you may have.
Fear can manifest itself as a strong emotion, causing you to hyperventilate and your knees to shake. It can create stress and ruin your health. Fear can be a weaker emotion and cause you to be indecisive and keep you from taking action. Anytime you allow fear to enter your emotions, whether it is strong or weak, your judgment and natural abilities suffer.
Reducing fear and eventually eliminating it is easier if you know why it exists and what to do about it. The first step is to clearly understand that the emotion of fear adversely affects the chemistry of your brain and all of your natural abilities. Next, realize your thoughts have two components: facts and emotions. Every situation you face in your life is nothing more than a fact. Facts are merely facts! It is the fear you have attached to certain facts that allows fear to exist, not the facts. Stop reading and write down all of your fears on a piece of paper. It is important that you are honest with yourself and take the time right now to list your fears in the following way:
I have fears about or I’m afraid of:
1) _______________________________________
2) _______________________________________
3) _______________________________________
4) _______________________________________
5) _______________________________________
After you have written down all of your fears, take a look at the facts that you have attached your fears to. Without seeing the list you have written down, all the facts that you have attached fear to have one thing in common. They are all potential outcomes that have not yet occurred. Once you clearly understand that you are afraid of something that has not happened, you are on your way to reducing or eliminating your fears. On reflection you’ll realize fear is always associated with concern over a future outcome before it even occurs. Fear cannot exist in the present.
Stop and let this sink in! It is only when you are concerned about a future outcome that fear can exist. Since you can only physically exist in the present, you only have control of the present. How well you control the present determines the future outcome -- good or bad. Once you clearly understand that your fear about a future outcome contributes to your downfall by lowering your chemistry and reducing your ability to function at your best, it becomes easier to face and handle your fear. The only way to successfully overcome fear is to stay in the present. Focus on what you can do in the present moment and let the outcome take care of itself – win or lose.
Fears are based on imagined scenarios that may or may not happen. Most imagined fears never happen. “Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world” -Ralph Waldo Emerson. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” -Franklin D. Roosevelt. Napoleon Hill tells, “Fears are nothing more than states of mind”. “When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.” -Winston Churchill. “If you see 10 troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that 9 will run into the ditch before they reach you.” -Calvin Coolidge. “We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.” –Seneca. “Cowardice … is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend the functioning of the imagination.” -Ernest Hemingway.
“How many feasible projects have miscarried through despondency, and have been strangled in their birth by a cowardly imagination.” -Jeremy Collier. “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.” -William Shakespeare. “Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid it will never begin.” -Grace Hansen. “If you listen to your fears, you will die never knowing what a great person you might have been.” -Robert Schuller. “You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.” -Dale Carnegie.
Since fear can only exist in your mind when you are concerned about a future outcome, separate the facts that you have fears attached to into two types. One by future outcomes that you have some degree of control over and the other by future outcomes that are out of your direct control.
Before you jump into the water, you have total control over the fact of being attacked by a shark. Once you jump into the water, you are at the mercy of your imagination and God or the attractor fields your mind creates. From my own personal experience I can tell you that it is a very eerie feeling when you are half a mile from shore and you start having fears about being attacked by a shark. If you dwell on it long enough, it can paralyze you and make you want to stop swimming so the sharks won’t notice you. However, you can’t stop swimming until you reach shore because you will drown or die from hypothermia since the water is so cold. The only way to eliminate the fear of sharks is to never get in the water or stop thinking about being attacked by a shark, especially while you are in the middle of a swim and really don’t have a choice.
There are many fears you can create in your imagination if you choose to. By merely changing your focus, you can immediately transform your negative emotions into neutral or positive ones, depending upon what you choose to focus on. Since fear can only exist when you are imagining a future outcome, change your focus and stop dwelling on your fears.
You can focus on the present task at hand, protection or help from God or a Higher Power in the form of a white light, or you can clear your mind of all thoughts by not thinking and allowing your subconscious to act on instinct. All it takes is training until changing your focus becomes second nature or instinctive.
Once you train your mind or memory sheet to focus solely on the present or whatever you choose, fear will no longer have a reason to exist in your life. Since the only thing that you can control is the present and your thoughts, why allow your imagined fears about the future to lower your chemistry and take away from your natural abilities?
Any time you are involved with a future outcome, there are probabilities of success and failure. Your thought selection affects your chemistry, which changes these probabilities and potential outcomes. “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” -Winston Churchill. To increase your chemistry and probability of success, you must focus totally on being successful if everything goes right. No one is a fortune teller and you don’t know what is going to happen. However, you raise your chemistry and increase your probability of success if you are totally positive and have faith that everything will go right. You have the power to choose what you want to focus on. Even if the odds are a million to one against you, train yourself to focus solely on the one chance of being successful. If you allow any imagined fears or doubts about the future outcome to creep into your thoughts, you lower your chemistry and dramatically increase your probability of failure.
Of course, you won’t be successful all of the time. However, if you are brave and willingly accept the risk, learn from the valuable feedback that your mistakes provide and keep trying until you succeed, you will live a much fuller and happier life.
Take a lesson from the great inventor Thomas Edison, who didn’t have any formal education or scientific training. In the process of discovering how to make an incandescent light bulb work, he made over ten thousand experiments that failed. He learned from his numerous mistakes, never gave up and the rest is history. It is obvious that
Fear is the easiest negative emotion to reduce and eventually eliminate, if you train your mind to stop thinking about the future outcome, do the best you can do and learn from your mistakes. Scientific research has revealed that human beings learn and remember what they have learned through repetition. Isn’t it amazing then, that so many individuals expect to read a book one time and retain it forever? It takes time and effort to get rid of your fears as well as your other negative emotions. You can call it “polishing your wheel.” You have to keep polishing your wheel if you want it to shine and keep shining. The constant reference to living your commitment 100% of the time is somewhat repetitious, but that’s necessary. It is designed to be repetitious to encourage you to make living it a major goal in your life. Once you decide to use the commitment to guide your thoughts and actions, it’s important to keep repeating it over and over and over again until you live your life that way without any exceptions. “To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice.” –Confucius.
In the next post, we may discuss more factors. Till that time, we may differentiate ourselves with others. Be Happy – differentiate yourself with others.
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