they all have something to say about life

Don't take life too seriously. You'll never get out of it alive.
Author : Elbert Hubbard

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.
Author : Albert Schweitzer

There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.
Author : George Sand

Brief is life but love is long.
Author : Alfred Lord Tennyson

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
Author : Albert Einstein

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.
Author : Alfred Lord Tennyson

 

The life of a Diamond----

Graphite, a naturally occurring crystalline form of carbon, is one of the softest elements known to man.When the mineral
endures vast amounts of pressure and heat over many years the soft mineral becomes the strongest in the world, a diamond. When a high quality diamond is found it is cut so that it will reflect as much light as it can.This is science, but I believe if you look deeper you'll see that it is also an analogy about life.
We enter this world as babies, delicate and in need of others for our survival. In a best case scenario your life will be full of family and friends that will give you love and guidance. They will try to teach you the ropes pulling from their own experiences and knowledge. Even with this information we still can't be protected from the inevitable hardships life brings our way. It is up to each of us hold tight to who we are when the pressure is on, when we do we are solidifying ourselves and growing strong.When we empathize with others, continue learning, and growing we are shaping ourselves. Then we, like diamonds, are able to reflect light into the lives of others.
Personally, my journey has had its share of rough spots and that's just a part of life. Still, I wont complain because I've been blessed with some great friends who are family, as well as family. Remember that it doesn't matter who you are now, what baggage you've brought with you,or where you're from, we all have choices to make…Life is about who you become.

 

As you read the following story, put yourself in my shoes. Does any of it sound familiar to you?
A few nights ago, a few memories popped into my head as I was dozing off. It was of an old argument, many months ago. In real life, I had remained calm, which calmed him down too, and we left on good terms. But it was unresolved internally – I still felt slighted and misunderstood. At first I simply let the thoughts pass, but after a while something in me latched on to them.
Before I knew it, an hour had passed. I had gone through countless variations of the argument. I fantasised about all the different ways I could have humiliated him, looked cool, or walked away feeling like a superior man. I even fantasised about slapping him around a little bit. When I snapped out of this reverie, I noticed with dismay that my body was in pain. My chest and throat had tightened and heated up, my heart was beating faster, and I was wearing a scowl on my face. My mind had enjoyed the hour but my body had been suffering the whole time.
The disguised suffering

What was the point of this story? Emotional suffering is often disguised by your mind. Sometimes it feels logical and justified. Other times your mind even takes great pleasure in it.
My previous series on negative emotions and negative thoughts were about the obvious negativity. Everyone can recognise those and the suffering they cause – and obviously you would want to escape those. But what are the ways suffering can come disguised?
My little fantasy is one such example. It was all tremendously satisfying to my ego. It made me feel powerful and in control, even though I was safely tucked away in bed. Does that sound insane? Now, perhaps, but not then. What about the harm it causes? Besides wasting time, feeling too agitated to sleep and strengthening my ego and negativity, my body was also in pain. These are the same emotions that cause cancer and other such conditions over time.
Hence this post - some readers might think this is common sense, but others might fall into the same trap I did. Hopefully this can help you recognise some of your disguised suffering.
Note that it doesn’t have to be a memory – it is even better if you can catch yourself in the situation as it rises.
Step One: Recognising your suffering

Here is a list of some broad negative states. As you scan it, try to see how the subtle versions can creep into your life, or if you can add any to the list. For example, anger can show up as irritation. Fear can show up as nervousness. Even pity doesn’t feel good.
Anger and Hate
Fear
Shame and Guilt
Pity
Envy and Greed

Step Two: Seeing how the ego indulges in it

Next, can you see how the ego would work its way into these emotions? My ego enjoyed the fantasy, so it didn’t want to stop. Maybe it wanted to help me develop more assertiveness. More likely, it had tinged my little fantasy with cleverly disguised hatred and guilt.
Let’s take another emotion from the list at random. What about pity or jealousy? Let’s say you earn an average income and you just saw someone driving past in a million-dollar Bentley. You feel a surge of self-pity. If you’re lucky, it slides past in minutes. If you’re not, you latch on to it. And then you go home and whine and complain internally for hours or days or even weeks.
Your ego might justify this as “encouraging” you to work hard and earn more money. But at what cost? Wasted time, lots of whinging, lots of unhappiness, and worst of all, a suffering body. Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t go out and get rich, if that’s what you want – but your body doesn’t have to suffer in the process. Can’t you get rich in peace?
Why do we cling to our unhappiness might also be valuable.

Step Three: The body never lies

How do you recognise yourself in this state, then? When the mind and the body are in conflict, listen to the body. The mind can lie, but the body doesn’t.
First, develop a habit of feeling for any physical sensations. Over time you’ll catch yourself with any bad sensations, even the milder ones.
Secondly, it is a matter of recognition. Recognise the ego is at work – doing its justifying, enjoying, and blaming – and simply smile at it. There’s no need to fight it. No need to make yourself wrong for it. All that just makes it stronger. For more information on how the ego or mind works, please read What your ego is.
Then, we treat the emotions that it has caused the same way as any other negative emotion.
It is also helpful to do something with the gap in thought, or you might feel the urge to indulge again. You can either expand the gap, by watching your breath, or to fill in that gap with something else. For more information, see the section in the last post of the Stopping Negative Thoughts series.
The last option is the compassion and love meditation – either for you and for the other person, sometimes both. Are you not earning as much as you would like, and beating yourself up for it? Meditate on self-compassion, and for the person who drove past in the Bentley. I cannot understate how powerful this meditation is.
More destructive emotions and urges

In doing research for this article, I went looking for as many destructive emotions as I could. I found a few that were surprising – I never thought of them as destructive emotions. They also needed special treatment, so here they are:
Lust. Excessive lust is also painful – both on the practical and emotional level. I’m not taking a stand on the morality of sex here – that is up to you to decide. But you can probably think of situations lust can be troublesome - wanting a married man or woman, perhaps, or your best friend’s new crush. How about the famous “blue balls” that men get? Painful.
A technique that Buddhists recommend is to reflect on what lies beneath the skin – the bones, the muscle, the blood vessels, the organs, the urine and the faeces. Try it now – dig up a picture of someone you lust over. Next, try to see them as they are underneath their skin. You’ve all seen those medical pictures, or war pictures of dead and dying people. I remember a biology class in my teens where we had to dissect a lamb’s eyeball. Gross. Guys, this is a good time to take out that porno you have hidden under your bed.
Desire This works for lust as well – and most of the other desires. Maybe you want to lose weight and yet have cravings for a piece of fried chicken. Maybe you want to quit smoking. I don’t know if it works for stronger addictions though, I’ve never had those. Simply feel your urge fully. You know and recognise the urge, and you feel it in your body as a physical sensation, not through the mind. Feel it completely and without fighting it, but don’t indulge in it physically. It is the same principle used in dealing with negative emotions. If your urges come more as thoughts, try the series on negative thoughts.
Pride. I don’t see how this causes emotional suffering, but it is clear how it affects us in the practical world. The Dalai Lama suggests thinking about knowledge and how little you know. Do you know anything about how your body works, how electricity is conducted, nuclear physics, or brain surgery? Even in your chosen field or job, you wouldn’t know every thing there is to know. You’ll notice we are not comparing ourselves to others, as that practice might cause troubles of its own.
Laziness. Again, I don’t know why this is listed as a negative emotion. It might not cause emotional suffering, but there definitely is a practical side to it. I have no idea how I overcame laziness - it just happened once I found a passion. So my suggestion would be to contemplate what your lack of action is costing you. Next, contemplate what solid action can bring you. Don’t just think it through for a few seconds. Really spend time on it – hours if you have to. See if that begins to propel you into action.
For pride and laziness, the compassion and love meditation could also help, as they could sometimes be the symptom, not the root. What do I mean? A lack of self-esteem, for example, might contribute to laziness. Contempt for others might be a source of excessive pride. The meditation could go some ways towards offsetting those.
Are all physical sensations wrong?

Does this mean that all “bad” physical sensations are wrong? No. You have to distinguish between gut feelings and emotions. Gut feelings are often instinctual, and play a part in our survival. For instance, if we see a snake, we feel a sense of dread, and that helps us avoid getting bit.
Now, it gets more difficult in normal life – if we meet someone and feel bad, is it our intuition telling us he’s dangerous? Or is it plain old hatred? This takes experience and time to judge, although my article on intuition might help.
Also, not all sensations come from emotions. You might notice more of these as you get more sensitive. Some are obvious – you might feel queasy after some rotten tomatoes. Other times, a lack of sleep, too much sugar, or a myriad of other causes might be the cause. Again, don’t stress out if you can’t find an emotional root – I did, initially, and that just made things worse. With time, you can tell the difference.

 

LIFE is a destination or a journey

[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Should we agree with this ? [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]I thought a thousand times and couldn't stop [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]thinking about it. There was some kind of secret in [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]it and also may not be anything.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]But the thing is that after a while I realise it has a [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]lot to say - so this is what this post is all about.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Sometimes I feel we often live and keep making[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]plans in order to guarantee a successful future,[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]thinking that one day we won't have to fight it out [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]anymore.[/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]We'll perhaps will win and that's it.[/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]But the truth is that battles never finishes.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]When we are a child our battle is to finish [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]the school. Then we get older we have to finish [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]high school.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]After that, our struggles is at the university what [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]course we will take at the university ?[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Ufff!!![/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]We've done all that... we must find a job... [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]where? how?[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Are we going to be good at it? are we going to be [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]well paid ?[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]When we find a job how much, we think "things [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]will get better now" but when things don't go well [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]then we start thinking - perhaps things will be[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]better when we find a better job". [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]We perhaps get it! [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]After a while, it isn't enough... [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Now we get married, have a family, there are a lot[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]of expenses. We think about working for long [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]hours to get some extra money, so thatwe can buy a[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]car, plus we should need to save money to be able [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]to buy a house in the future... The future comes...[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Perhaps we have all this or may be we dont. [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Whie doing this much and thinking hav'nt we [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]spoiled our present.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]We thought we would be able to relax and enjoy.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]BUT NO [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Now we'll have to keep all our goods and help our[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]kids., for their studies their marriage and then their[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]children.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]In our lives I feel we create expectations for some [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]sort of a future and this happens because we expect [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]it to be the end of our frustation, stress, struggles,[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]challenges and also perhaps the consolidation of [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]our success, happiness, freedom and tranquility.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]When I think of it as a destination I perhaps get[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]more frustrated . Why live the present planning a [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]great future ? because when it will come we realize[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]it is endless, also it is a success which is daily[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]conquered by our attitudes, by the path we choose.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]No one can get in the south by running to the [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]north. So I should not give the responsability of [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]my happiness for the sake to the future the future[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]which is unknown. [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Perhaps I should put my hands to work and make [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]the difference now, because this is what will give [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]more chances of being successful. I should keep[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]doing this, make this as a journey and not a[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]destination.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]I fee while travelling, I should enjoy planning as [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]much as doing the trip itself. It will atleast [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]guarantee more time of excitement. [/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]While working, I should celebrate each step I [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]make, and my path will be more enjoyable.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]And allow My Life to be like a journey and not a [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]destination alone.[/FONT]

 

Advice

[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]HEAR WHAT THE FAMOUS SAID [/FONT]




[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Never trust the advice [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]of a man in difficulties.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC)[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]It is very difficult to live [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]among people you love [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]and hold back from [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]offering them advice.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Anne Tyler (1941 - ), [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Celestial Navigation, [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]1974[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]People who ask our advice [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]almost never take it. Yet we [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]should never refuse to give [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]it, upon request, for it often [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]helps us to see our own way [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]more clearly.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Brendan Francis[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Ask advice only of your [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]equals. [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Danish Proverb[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Please give me some good [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]advice in your next letter. [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]I promise not to follow it.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Edna St. Vincent Millay [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino](1892 - 1950), Letters[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Write down the advice of [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]him who loves you, though [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]you like it not at present.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]English Proverb[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Advice is what we ask for [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]when we already know the [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]answer but wish we didn't.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Erica Jong[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Good advice is something a [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]man gives when he is too old [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]to set a bad example.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Francois de La [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]I owe my success to having [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]listened respectfully to the [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]very best advice, and then [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]going away and doing the [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]exact opposite.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]G. K. Chesterton [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino](1874 - 1936)[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Never give advice unless asked.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]German Proverb[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Some people like my advice so [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]much that they frame it upon the [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]wall instead of using it.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Gordon R. Dickson[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]There is no human problem which[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]could not be solved if people would [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]simply do as I advise.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Gore Vidal (1925 - )[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]The true secret of giving advice is, [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]after you have honestly given it, to [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]be perfectly indifferent whether it [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]is taken or not, and never persist in [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]trying to set people right.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Hannah Whitall Smith, 1902[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]I have found the best way to give [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]advice to your children is to find out [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]what they want and then advise ][/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]them to do it.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Harry S Truman (1884 - 1972)[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]The only thing to do with good [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]advice is pass it on. It is never [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]any use to oneself.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)[/FONT]



[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Don't try to solve serious matters [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]in the middle of the night.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Philip K. Dick (1928 - 1982), [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]What The Dead Men Say, 1964[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]The advice of friends must be [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]received with a judicious reserve; [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]we must not give ourselves up to [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]it and follow it blindly, whether [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]right or wrong.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Pierre Charron[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Many receive advice, [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]few profit by it.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Publilius Syrus (~100 BC), [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Maxims[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Never take the advice of someone [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]who has not had your kind of trouble.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Sidney J. Harris[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]In giving advice, seek to help, [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]not please, your friend.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Solon (638 BC - 559 BC)[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Never advise anyone to go to war [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]or to marry.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Spanish Proverb[/FONT]

 

The Brain

[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]What a splendid head, yet no brain.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC)[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Brain: an apparatus with which we [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]think [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]The Devil's Dictionary[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]The human brain starts working [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]the moment you are born and never [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]stops until you stand up to speak [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]in public.[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]George Jessel[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Estimated amount of glucose used [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]by an adult human brain each day, [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]expressed in M&Ms: 250 [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Harper's Index, October 1989[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]The brain is a wonderful organ. [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]It starts working the moment you [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]get up in the morning and does [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]not stop until you get into the office. [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]The human brain is a most unusual [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]instrument of elegant and as yet [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]unknown capacity. [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Stuart Seaton[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]If little else, the brain is an [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]educational toy. [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Tom Robbins (1936 - )[/FONT]


[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Aristotle was famous for knowing [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]everything. He taught that the brain [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]exists merely to cool the blood and [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]is not involved in the process of [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]thinking. This is true only of certain [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]persons. [/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Will Cuppy[/FONT]

 

Make dreams Reality

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I remember as a kid, would wonder how one would [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]be famous and grow into a perfect person,[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]My Dreams,ambitions,insights....how???????????.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Finally as i grew, a few hardships thought me to fly.A few insights i am writing,if i am not wrong. [/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Sometimes you get what you want but not what you need. But when you possess that thing you need, you deserve... it feels like you can fly, you don't need wings anymore. That feeling of accomplishment, the glorious achievements are all worth the effort you put in.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. ~ Brian Littrell[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Targeting the moon is remarkable in itself. And nailing it, nothing like it. It beckons an encore, but that is not always the case. Not to forget, the audacity always counts. No attempt is a failure, its always worth a try. Adherence to your goals can take you places. Lack of benchmarks may prove disgraceful, 'coz then you wouldn't have anything to show your fidelity towards.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The most important thing is to know what you are looking for. Once that search is complete, the remaining part is simple. The correct path to be tred in the direction of your aspirations will come naturally. Dreams will no longer be difficult to chase, if you realize what they are. Easier said than done, indeed![/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Standing firm by your desires can make it all happen. Nothing is impossible! So, face your fears and live your dreams. Dreams do turn into reality...:hatsoff[/FONT]

 

They all have something to say about life!

<table style="width: 507px; height: 2908px;" class="postContainer" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="postText">[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]A lot of times in our lives, we tend to look at life as just a journey where we are constantly on the move. This in theory holds true because of the fact that we should always be moving forward in life. I for one tend to look at life as if it consisted of rooms, doors, windows and all sorts of openings that let in good fortunes and emits the bad. I like to look at life that way because it helps me make sense of where I am going, where I am at the present and how far I have come. To achieve this process, I have what I call my back, my front and side doors or windows. When I need to assess how far I have come in life, I tend to open up my back door or windows and gaze in to the my past misfortunes and successes, my trials and tribulations as well as my great fortunes and happy times.

These things always work hand in hand they say, the positive and the negative, for they both exist to ensure a good balance in life. When living in the moment becomes overwhelming and I feel the need to pause for a second to catch my breath, I open my side doors to remind my self of my current location. My side door is made up family and good friends who are always there to nudge me along and remind me that I’m truly loved and cherished. This side doors also brings me a sense of fulfillment and great joy by reminding me of how fortunate I am to be where I am. It has become sort of like a ‘stop and re-fuel’ process for me on this journey through life. My front door needless to say, keeps me focused on the journey ahead, reminding me that moments of greater happiness lies ahead, as well as the future obstacles to overcome. The constituents of my front door is impossible for me to list, but being the optimist that I am, I always like think of it as a beautiful angel cradling my happiness in the palm of his hands. I am yet to be proven right.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Lately, I seem to be concentrating more on my back door, because for some odd reason I may have left it open longer than I should. They say the best method of preventing yourself from achieving your true potential is to become stuck in the past and this has been the case for me. I opened up my back door a year ago because I thought there was something there I needed to retrieve or rather something I needed to confront in order to move on into the future. But my belief that there was this thing somewhere back there that needed me to resuscitate it back to life engulfed me so much that I failed to realize that when something is dead, it needs to be left alone.

So for a year, I tugged on to this lifeless thing in my past with the hopes that somehow, miraculously it would be brought back to life. I held on for months, saying my prayers each night, hanging on to the hopes that it would come back to life the next day and we or rather I would continue on this journey. Just like most people who actually believe that life is an onwards journey, mine had become a backward journey, and a rather painful one too. I had became so absorbed in my mission to give life to this thing I was holding on to that I actually forgot to open up my front windows to let in the rays of a brighter tomorrow. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Opening up my back door, I glossed over the most painful moments of my life, rehashing it over and over till it became overbearing. I tried to make sense of why it happened and how I could have handled it better, while in reality, those events of were inevitable and out of my realms of control. Revisiting my back door did not only comprise of pain, like I pointed out earlier, it also consisted of the negative and positive forces of life that helped propel me forward and the positive forces of healing was what I found. I received the healing of reconciliation along with the negative effects of betrayal, but most importantly, the beautiful power of forgiveness and goodbye. I learned that in as much as I hated my self or the other individual for the events that occurred in the past, there was no way I could have prevented it or handled it appropriately then but I certainly gained positive insights on handling it better for the future, should it ever come up. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Today, after being stagnant for nearly a year, I decided to do the unthinkable. I decided to shut my back door and open up my front doors and windows. It was time to let go of this lifeless thing I had been lugging on my back and let it remain dead, the way it should be. I had come across an article on the internet from Dr T.D Jakes entitled, “Let it Go.” and it was the push I needed to seal my back doors. As I read through the lines of the article, I felt liberated and relieved. A huge sense of relief and amazing burst of energy came over me in terrifying gushes. At that moment, I realized that I could not go through life looking through my back doors, and that indeed life would not be the same if we spent it moving backwards. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] The past is called the history because it truly is in all essence, events that form a subject matter of the past, one that is finished and done with. In this road of life, it makes more sense to always move forward than backwards, and even if we have to move backwards, it should only be to learn more on why we made a stop and we proceed. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] I have learned a great lesson about my life through the opened back door. I re-connected with the part of me that needed healing and understood better, my place in this cycle called life. I relished in the healing power of forgiveness, while basking in the amazing force of goodbye, in great hopes of attaining my happiness. I sealed my back door closed; I no longer needed it for its purpose has been served. I opened my side doors and re-fueled. Life is a journey and we should all make that conscious decision to keep moving forward and let our back doors remain closed.

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[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] So I held on [/FONT] ​

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I held on to the thoughts of you and me together before,
Caressing and comforting each other.
I held on to the “we” that would overcome all things for that
Was the promise we made to each other.
I held on to the couple whom in everyone’s eyes looked so
Cute together but deep down inside we were dying.
I held on so tight that I was afraid my fingers were going numb.
Maybe I needed it to go numb along with my heart which is now so
Cold that any change in you will not be felt
Change; Did I say change? I held on to the hope that you will change
Eventually and we will go back to who we used to be. Not the
cute couple dying inside, but the cute couple loving each other to no bounds
But we did we have bounds. We had boundaries sacred to us; you
crossed that boundary and my heart went cold. So cold that I forgot
What it felt like to be benevolent or admired or loved.
Loved; Did I say loved? Yes loved. I deserve to be loved and I do
realize it now. I have a life time of love ahead of me so why hold on to the past.
I will not hold on to what is not mine,
Because what’s mine will not let my heart go cold. [/FONT] ​

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Love the opportunity

:bowdown Somebody said you have to love what you do, but that's not necessarily true. What is true is that you have to love the opportunity. The opportunity to build life, future, health, success and fortune. Knocking on someone's door may not be something you love to do, but you love the opportunity of what might be behind that door. ​

For example, a guy says, "I'm digging ditches. Should I love digging ditches?" The answer is, "No, you don't have to love digging ditches, but if it is your first entry onto the ladder of success, you say, 'I'm glad somebody gave me the opportunity to dig ditches and I'm going to do it so well, I won't be here long.'" ​

You can be inspired by having found something; even though you are making mistakes in the beginning and even though it is a little distasteful taking on a new discipline that you haven't learned before. You don't have to love it, you just have to learn to appreciate America, appreciate opportunity and appreciate the person who brought you the good news; that found you. ​

Appreciate the person who believed in you before you believed in yourself, appreciate the person who said, "Hey, if I can do it, you can do it." ​

If you will embrace the disciplines associated with the new opportunity you will soon find that your self-confidence starts to grow, that you go from being a skeptic to being a believer. And soon when you go out person to person, talking to people, you will find it to be the most thrilling opportunity in the world. Every person you meet - what could it be? Unlimited! Maybe a friend for life. The next person could be an open door to retiring. The next person could be a colleague for years to come. It's big time stuff. And sometimes in the beginning when we are just getting started we don't always see how big it is. ​

So, before you are tempted to give up or get discouraged, remember all success is based on long term commitment, faith, discipline, attitude and a few stepping stones along the way. You might not like the stone you are on right now, but it's sure to be one of the stones that lead to great opportunities in the future.​