Quote of the day....

When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.


~ Confucius

CHANGE YOUR DARKNESS INTO LIGHT

By Miles Patrick Yohnke © 2010

Last week I saw Allan. A person I went to high school with. Allan has severe Cerebral Palsy. He is disabled. In a wheelchair. Thankfully his mind is sharp. He had so much trouble getting around from class to class. Our school was very old. It had many floors and so many stairs.

 

It had been about thirty years since I saw him last. Nothing had changed. He was still the same. Still as clear as then. That same big vibrant smile on his face. And it seemed somewhat fitting as he was being lifted into a vehicle when I saw him.

 

When I'm on the highway cycling or other sports I perform, I think of people like Allan. And how lucky we are to have our health. We have to use our bodies. They will fail when we don't use them. When we eat improperly. Exercise improves your mood. Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed than you were before you worked out. You'll also look better and feel better when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem. Regular physical activity can even help prevent depression. Exercise combats chronic diseases. Regular physical activity can help you prevent or manage high blood pressure and lower the buildup of plaque in your arteries.

 

And there's more. Regular physical activity can help you prevent type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer. It is stated that when one exercises there is a sixty percent decrease in getting breast cancer. Why wouldn't one exercise? I just hate seeing people cheat themselves of it.

 

God creates this beautiful body full of muscle and detail and one doesn't use it. What a sin! It goes hand in hand. People aren't happy in their lives, yet they really do nothing to correct this. They dwell in their own dysfunction. They think they should, that they should do something more with their life. Well, when does this happen? When does this occur? We make that decision. We get just this one life. If waiting for it to happen, then one is in for a long, dark wait.

 

Unlike Allan we can exercise in many ways in which he may be limited. We should never take that for granted. Today is that day. That flash of light.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Globally recognized and award-nominated engineer, producer, writer, poet and founder and C.E.O. of 5 Star Productions, Miles Patrick Yohnke brings many years of experience to the music industry; including many awards in sales and marketing. You can reach him at miles at 5-starproductions.com

 

 

 

THE HABIT OF GOING THE EXTRA MILE

By Napoleon Hill

 

An important principle of success in all walks of life and in all occupations is a willingness to GO THE EXTRA MILE; which means the rendering of more and better service than that for which one is paid, and giving it in a positive mental attitude.

 

Search wherever you will for a single sound argument against this principle, and you will not find it; nor will you find a single instance of enduring success, which was not attained in part by its application.

 

The principle is not the creation of man. It is a part of Nature's handiwork, for it is obvious that every living creature below the intelligence of man is forced to apply the principle in order to survive.

 

We may disregard the principle if we choose, but we cannot do so and at the same time enjoy the fruits of enduring success.

 

Observe how Nature applies this principle in the production of food that grows from the soil, where the farmer is forced to GO THE EXTRA MILE by clearing the land, plowing it, and planting the seed at the right time of the year, for none of which he receives any pay in advance.

 

But, observe that if he does his work in harmony with Nature's laws, and performs the necessary amount of labor, Nature takes over the job where the farmer's labor ends, germinates the seed he plants and develops it into a crop of food.

 

And, observe thoughtfully this significant fact: For every grain of wheat or corn he plants in the soil Nature yields him perhaps a hundred grains, thus enabling him to benefit by the law of increasing returns.

 

Nature GOES THE EXTRA MILE by producing enough of everything for her needs, together with a surplus for emergencies and waste; for example, the fruit on the trees, the bloom from which the fruit is grown, frogs in the pond and fish in the seas.

 

Nature GOES THE EXTRA MILE by producing enough of every living thing to insure the perpetuation of the species, allowing for emergencies of every kind. If this were not true the species of all living things would soon vanish.

 

Some believe that the beasts of the jungle and the birds of the air live without labor, but thoughtful people know that this is not true. It is true that Nature provides the sources of supply of food for every living thing, but every creature must labor before it may partake of that food.

 

Thus we see that Nature discourages the habit which some have acquired of trying to get something for nothing.

 

The advantages of the habit of GOING THE EXTRA MILE are definite and understandable. Let us examine some of them and be convinced:

 

The habit brings the individual to the favorable attention of those who can and will provide opportunities for self-advancement. It tends to make one indispensable, in many different human relationships, and it therefore enables one to command more than average compensation for personal services.

 

It leads to mental growth and to physical skill and perfection in many forms of endeavor, thereby adding to one's earning capacity.

 

From Master Key To Riches

SIMPLE IS BEAUTIFUL

By Tamara Phiri

 

I talked to a friend last night and shared on how there's something I've been trying really hard to master lately, a reasonably straightforward task.   No matter how hard I try I just don't seem to get it done as well as I want to. I've been baffled again and again. How can something so easy be so hard for me to get? I want it with everything in me, and they say if you want it bad enough, it will come to you and it's been months now. Why is it still so far when it's so near, when it's so within reach?

 

My friend told me something I found to be very revolutionary: I have been giving it too much attention, I have focused on it too hard and too long, I have fantasized and imagined of how hard it must be and I myself have blown it so out of proportion. I have given it a life of it's own and have pampered it and idolized it until it has overpowered me.

 

Somewhere deep down I have maintained a secret belief that it is too hard, too big to master and true to my own beliefs. It continues to elude me. Myfriend told me that going at the pace I am at the moment, putting in as much effort as I am right now, I probably can still attain in it in the end but I will get there having worn myself out completely.

 

How right that is, because even now weary does not begin to describe how I feel about this 'challenge' right now. I have never worked so hard on anything in my life as I have on this. Never disciplined and focused myself as much as I have on this. Never read as many motivational books as I have on this. Never quoted as much scripture and prayed as much as I have on this, have even kept myself reading the same bit of scripture over and over again telling myself to keep doing that and 'applying it to the situation' until when I get to the end of the challenge and master it.

 

It is so liberating to know I don't have to go that way anymore; it's not that I should stop having goals, but I should not allow it to stop the whole of my life, to rule me, to de fine me. I can think of many days when failing the challenge spoilt my entire days, days when a feeling of being inadequate and not being good enough lingered on no matter how good I was in the other areas of my life. For the first time, I have understood that what you focus on grows, literally. I'm glad to know I can now focus on other things and get on with the rest of my life not because this thing is now useless. I am a lot bigger than the challenge and I will not allow the challenge to overpower me anymore.

 

There are days it literally overtook me, days where I fumbled repeatedly on it for no apparent reason, always thought only the universe knew the reason because I just couldn't get it. I'm glad it frees me to be myself. I know myself better than anyone else. And in my whole life I have gotten over things but this is not the way I have done it.

 

It brought back memories of how good I was in primary school, back then I always knew I would always come out top of the class, always. There was no hassle about it. It was the only way I knew and it was the only way things went. It was always a relaxed process, I do not recall a single moment where I strained or panicked or caught myself weary of trying too hard. It was always there for me. It never controlled my life.

 

The rest of my happy life went on and this was just, well, a small part of ordinary life. I think that should be the keynote of everything in my life - relax, relax, relax, be yourself. You know who you are and you know how best you work and you know what's good for you. For me a 'panting feverishness' is not how I get things done. It just kills me and that's what I have been doing to myself for weeks now. I'm glad it brought me back to myself, to simplicity.

 

We all have our own definition of what simplicity is for us. For me, just being myself is the highest definition of simplicity. It's the point where I have surrendered the need to control and in doing that I liberate myself to be the person I truly am. It brings me back to the truth that simple truly is beautiful. Simple is not laziness or complacency or half-baked work. Simple is handling everything with grace, it's poise, and it’s class that no one can take from you. Simple oozes confidence all the time.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tamara Phiri is a freelance writer and medical doctor. She lives with her family in the small and beautiful town of Zomba, Malawi. You can follow Tamara and read more of her articles on www.livingitlight.wordpress.com

Quote of the day...

"Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Thoughts are things!
And powerful things at that, when mixed with definiteness of purpose, and burning desire,
can be translated into riches."

- Napoleon Hill

YOUR PUNCTURES ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Why the quick-fix approach to problem solving will leave your life in tatters. A teaching from Hang Sen - By Grant Storey

"Why do things keep going wrong?" I asked the old man in exasperation. "Why is it that as soon as I think I have the problem fixed it pops up again, it recurs and every time it is more disheartening than the last? What am I missing here?"

I had become desperate - my physical, mental and emotional health had been a disaster for the last three years and I was forever going through cycles of recuperation, healing and feeling ok, back into a ruthless recurrence of symptoms which had left an army of doctors and specialists utterly baffled as to what the dilemma was.

I had come here, to the house of my teacher and advisor, Hang Sen, once again in search of answers. And this was his reply. "So many people" he began, "are always looking only in the now for the quick-fix and for the instant solution or remedy to their suffering. Problems exist on the road of life so that we may ride over them and experience all the opportunity for growth that they afford. But people do not like to do this. They have forgotten the meaning that lies in the problems they encounter on their individual and collective paths.”

“They have forgotten to see the problems littered on the road to success for what they really are" he paused, gazing at me with those black eyes sparkling with intensity, his voice dripping with wisdom. "Jewels of opportunity that contain within them the seeds of greatness. Instead you, and millions of others just like you, have bought into the delusion that the jewel is a mere shard of glass that is causing you an unnecessary and perhaps even painful delay on the road to your success."

"So" he continued, "people are much like a bicycle tire that is forever going around and around on the road of life, hitting a thorn or loose shard of glass now and again and going through the experience of getting a puncture. What happens then is at times amusing and at others it is tragic. In most cases, the person immediately sets about fixing the puncture as quickly as possible, pumping up the tire and moving on again until of course the tire rides over another problem, and another puncture results, to which the same remedy is applied, and the puncture is fixed and then off they go again, until they hit another problem and get another puncture and so on it goes."

He was smiling broadly now, clearly amused with this particular analogy. “The funny thing is” he said, letting out a little chuckle, “is that more often than not it is the same piece of glass in the road that the person is actually riding over. All this moving off and getting punctures and patching up and then moving off again at a frantic pace is in fact an act of delusion in that the tire is unaware that it is going nowhere, but rather riding in place like a hamster wheel, continuously moving over the same puncture again and again.”

“It is the programmed nature of people to want to move off and onward all the time. People do not like to be stopped in their tracks. People do not like to stop full stop. And so this process continues and the punctures keep on occurring. More and more patches are placed on the tire until the tire becomes so tattered and patched up that its total integrity is completely compromised paving the way for a huge disaster to occur.”

"Again, this comes down to the perception of the puncture", Hang Sen smiled, "because whenever ones perceives a puncture as merely an irritating and perhaps even debilitating shard of glass, and seeks only to patch themselves up as superficially as possible in order to get moving again, they are rendering themselves ignorant to the true meaning of their predicament. They are in fact blinding themselves to the opportunity that the problem is affording them - which is of course to grow.”

“They are mistaking a precious jewel for a shard of broken glass and in so doing they are failing to grow past the so called 'problem' and when that happens", Hang Sen said drumming his finger into the palm of his hand, "they are merely setting themselves up to ride over the same 'shard of glass' time and again until they learn to see it for what it truly is.”

“Until you learn to see your problems as jewels of opportunity which are there to enable you to grow beyond your limited self of yesterday, you will never step into the understanding of your true potential which lies waiting for you today!"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Grant Storey is the Creative Director of Win-Within and Hangsensays.com - both businesses are vehicles dedicated to creating personal and professional growth by harnessing, living and practicing the principle of winning within to winning without. Hang Sen is a modern day sage who has been termed the “Confucius” of the 21st century. His teachings provide a practical yet profound roadmap to living a fully enlightened and successfully rewarding life. You can reach Grant at grant@win-within.com or visit his website www.hangsensays.com

Quote of the day...

"There is no royal, flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it.
For if I have accomplished anything in life, it is because I have been willing to work hard." 

- C.J. Walker

Quote of the day....

"The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done,
or what they can't do."

- Dennis Waitley

Quote of the Day....

"The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure
is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it."


- Debbi Fields