Life is a Gift, Open and Enjoy It

There is a bottle of perfume sitting on my dresser that I was given when I was ten years old! As you can tell I have pack rat tendencies! For me that pattern started as a young child. I could never bear to throw things away. There was more to it than not wanting to throw things away. I loved the feeling I had when I would receive something new, and would not want to spoil it by using it unless it was for something special. I would want to save it for a special occasion. A new dress would sit in the closet, until a special event to wear it. Perfume would sit on mydresser, not to be used for everyday, but for a special 'something'. This was a pattern in my life for many years.


Recently though I've realized that this is not the best perspective to live life. I don't want to be like that woman on the Titanic, who when was being lowered into the lifeboat said…"If I'd known this was going to happen I would have had that Chocolate Mousse dessert." This reflects a view of life that speaks a lie. It is a false belief that if I enjoy something now, I won't be able to look forward to anything good like that in the future. This belief steals the joy from living in the present, and also lies to me about what the future might hold. Often it takes sad or traumatic situation to cause a person to stop and take stock their life's perspective and lifestyle. For example, let me tell you how it happened for Ruth.

One day, out of the blue, Ruth got one of those devastating 'phone calls' that we all dread receiving. Her sister Jane had passed away unexpectedly. Ruth went over to the home to help her brother in law with the sad task of preparation for the funeral. They were in the bedroom deciding on clothes Jane would wear as she was laid to rest. He pulled out of the drawer some beautiful lingerie wrapped in tissue. Ruth gasped as she saw the astronomical cost on the price tag. "Jane bought this in Paris 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion. I guess this is it." he said. It was exquisitely, handmade in silk, with a delicate cobweb of lace .As he slammed the drawer shut he said something that changed Ruth's life for ever. "Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion!

After the funeral, Ruth began to evaluate her life from a different perspective. She began to see life as something to be enjoyed not endured. Ruth started to make changes, although small at first, for Ruth they had great significance. She sat in the garden more and didn't worryabout the weeds. She wore expensive perfume on ordinary days, after all co workers and cashiers have noses that function just as well as party goers! She lit that candle that had been sitting as a centre piece on the dining room table collecting dust. She got that cracked window fixed, that she'd been meaning to do for years. She invited those friends round for dinner that she'd seen at the last sixteen weddings, and said we must get together.


Ruth determined that she would live each day as if it was her last. Now every morning when Ruth opens her eyes, she tells herself that this day is special. Every day, every breath, every minute of her life is truly a gift from God.
Your life perspective changes when you start living each day as if it was your last. You start to look at all the things that you want to accomplish in life and actually get started!! You stop watching everyone else doing it. Have the courage to start thinking "It's my turn now" and do what is in your heart.
Grandma Moses began a painting career at age seventy six. Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969 at age seventy one.
I recently met a lady in her eighties who, in the last two years, had been white-water rafting, and hiking in the Himalayas. She was excitedly planning her next trip!
Don't wait years, or until something traumatic happens to get your attention. Start now to reflect on your life's perspective and begin living without regrets.

I love this quote by Peter Sage, speaker and entrepreneur :

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, "Wow - What a Ride!"
 

Tai Chi

The answer to this question lies in another question, "What are you looking for?"

If you are not happy with any area of your life today, then Tai Chi can help you.
I have been studying and teaching the tai chi Health Arts for over twenty years. During this time I have learnt that the answer to all questions lies within each of us.

The above may sound like a bold statement, yet it is based on facts handed down over the centuries. Because of the vast variety of benefits available to everyone who practises tai chi ,

many articles have been written on the subject. The majority of the articles shroud the understanding of the art of Tai Chi in mystery. Today, Western Medicine is acknowledging that Tai Chi can help many ailments and recently an article appeared in the national newspapers claiming that doctors agreed that Tai Chi worked but they couldn't explain how.

I would like to share with you my own understanding of Tai Chi which is taught purely for health and is based on the principles of Chinese Medicine.

Your own body's internal energy (Chi energy), plays a vital role in the quality of your health. Chi energy is with you from the day you are born until the day you die. A person with a highly developed Chi energy through practicing Tai Chi experiences very few illnesses. That is what we are all working towards.

Most of us understand how our blood flows through our body and have a basic understanding of how our organs work.

Did you know that a person with highly volatile emotions, often has stagnation in the liver and gallbladder? The stagnation I am talking about is the stagnation of your Chi energy. This is because the flow of your body's internal energy is not moving freely around your body and nourishing your organs properly. My late master used to say 'If you lose your temper or raise your voice you are ill.'

The movements of the Tai Chi Form start to work on the development of your internal energy (Chi) from your very first lesson.

Our movements are simple to perform and once learnt and practised regularly, the health benefits will last you a lifetime.

Our Tai Chi Chuan Form provides the foundations upon which all the other aspects of our arts are based. It is the starting point of training, for all those wishing to improve the quality of their health.

To progress in any area of your life, your mind needs to be calm. If you are tense ideas will not flow freely and you will find the act of daily living a strain.

Because we teach these traditional movements in a modern way, you will find that your mind becomes calm, as you learn the mechanics, your balance and co-ordination will also improve. This is because your mind is pleasantly occupied with the constant repetition of trying to perfect the simple movements

Another vital aspect of our Arts is correct breathing, yet most of us go through our lives without even giving it a second thought. When I was at school I was taught to breathe in and pull everything in. If we analyse what is actually happening to the lungs when you use this type of breathing you will find that only the upper part of the lungs are being used.

This allows toxins to form and build up in the lower part of the lungs. If you watch a baby breathing you will notice that there stomach appears to expand as they breathe in and contract as they breathe out, this type of breathing allows the whole of the lungs to be used correctly.

When your lungs are working correctly, this helps the rest of your body to work efficiently, your blood will flow freely and your body's natural energy (Chi) will move around your body; taking care of your inner well being.

You will also find that your mind is more alert and ideas flow easily to you, providing solutions to areas of your life which may be causing you strain. People who suffer from breath related ailments such as asthma have found great benefit from practising Tai Chi .

Because the movements of Tai Chi Chuan are gentle and practised without strain they are suitable for everyone. We encourage people to progress at their own pace.

Remember if you are feeling under pressure in any area of your life today, your mind, body and spirit are not in complete harmony.

The movements we teach work, they have helped many people suffering from ailments such as arthritis, asthma, back pain, cancer...

balance, circulation, knee problems, low fertility, heart problems, hip problems, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, insomnia, neck problems, M.E. M.S. shoulder problems, thyroid, stress and many more. These ailments will be covered in greater depth in future articles.

The subject of the Tai Chi is vast and the knowledge and information I have to share with you has already helped many people. I have many written testimonials from people who have already reaped the benefits of practising Tai Chi.

10 Steps To Clear Thinking

Does your mind sometimes feel like a television station you can't quite tune in? You know there's an interesting program on - or several, but everything is mixed with static. What if you could "tune in" at will, have clear thinking whenever you want it? Try some of the following.

Ten Clear Thinking Techniques And Tips

1. Take a walk. Science will eventually prove this to be a great way to improve the quality of your thinking, but don't wait for the proof. Aren't there enough other reasons to take a walk anyhow?

2. Stay away from sugar. If you want to understand what brain fog is, eat a sugary donut on an empty stomach, then do math problems twenty minutes later. What you will experience, along with the "sugar blues," is brain fog. At least lay off sugar and simple carbohydrates when you need to think clearly.

3. Organized space means clear thinking. It's rare that a person can actually work better in clutter. Organised working space means you won't have the thought "where is that..." distracting your mind.

4. Get better sleep. Sleep requirements vary, but the minimum for most is somewhere around five hours. Some suffer if they sleep less than eight hours. The research, however, indicates that after a certain minimum quantity, the quality of sleep is more important to normal brain function.

5. Try meditating. No time? Just close your eyes, relax, and watch your breath for a while. Accept that your mind will wander, but continually return your attention to your breath. Five minutes of this, and afterwards you'll feel a boost in your brainpower.

6. Resolve your "mind irritations." Watch your busy brain. Maybe a call you need to make has been bothering you, just below consciousness. Find these stressors, and do something to let them go. For example, make that call, or put it on a list, and your mind will let go of it for now. Just seeing a problem and saying, "There's nothing I can do about this until Friday," will often stop unconscious worrying.

7. Don't drink alcohol. At least don't drink too much. While moderate amounts can be conducive to creative thinking, all the evidence says that it is bad for the long-term health of your brain.

8. Make decisions quickly. Nothing gets in the way of clear thinking like a dozen decisions hanging around unmade. If nothing else, decide when you'll make the decision.

9. Get some fresh air. Go outside and breath deeply through your nose. You'll get a good dose of oxtgen to your brain, and the change of surroundings can help clear your mind.

10. Satisfy your physical needs. Clear thinking is easier if you aren't too hungry, thirsty, or hot.

You can think more clearly starting today. There are certainly more than ten ways, but you really only need to make a few of them a habit to have a more powerful brain. Why not try one or two right now?

 

5 Simple Steps to Controlling Your Anger

How many times have you lost control of yourself when you're angry? Did you do or said something which you regretted over time?

I guess we all did. It's normal, and afterall, we are just human beings.

Everyone of us faces problems with anger. The main difference between you and me is that, do you know how to gain control of your anger, instead of letting it control you.

It's not easy to gain control of your anger, especially when you are provoked into such situations. Nevertheless, if you are facing with this situation next time, you can try out my 5 simple steps.

Step 1 : Identify what makes you upset

Start with identifying what upsets your feelings or emotions. Pull yourself aside from everything you are doing or the anger situation you are in, then take a deep breathe and clear your mind. Think, what brought you into this situation.

You need to know what is wrong in order to correct it. Right?

Step 2 : Use them as a stop signal

When you are done with Step 1, you'd probably already knew what made you angry. You might not have the complete clear idea of it, but it's OK. At least you have "some" ideas.

Use these as stop signs for your anger. You're upset because the little voices inside your head are telling yourself upsetting things. This in return causes a stir in your feelings, therefore resulting in anger.

Stop all these little voices from talking within yourself, and you'll be able to think independently and not being influenced by them and the situation.

Step 3 : Tell yourself positive things

It's important to think positive. You can counteract your upsetting thoughts with framing your mind to have a positive self-message. Tell yourself something nice that will make you feel better.

For instance, "this anger feeling is only temporary and I don't want to say or do something stupid which I will regret for my actions later."

Put the brakes on your feelings. Tell yourself to slow down and take it easy.

Step 4 : Make yourself clear

Clarify the situation for yourself. Ask yourself, "What is really going on in this situation?"

You can then feel disappointed with the situation but not enraged at the people who are creating it.

Step 5 : Think of constructive goals

Try to set more realistic goals for yourself in regard to the problem situation that you are in.

Ask yourself, "What are the alternative solutions that I use to resolve this situation?"

Be specific as possible, and concrete.

"What can you do to change this situation?"

List out the constructive options that you have in mind in which to reach your goals.

Ask yourself, "What constructive actions can I take to reach my goals?"

Finally, choose a constructive option to reach your goal and act fast on it.

The 5 simple steps that I had just pointed out to you are exactly what I do whenever I face with anger situations. You can try them out when you face with such situations.

Everyone gets angry at times, but the important thing is, "What can you do to overcome this situation?".

Gain control of your anger, rather than letting it control you.

Honesty

Those who pride themselves on their honesty should also concern themselves with this principle: The effectiveness of honesty depends on a person's willingness to face the truth, which may conflict with this person's desires and provoke denial.

In such a case, how can one promote this willingness, despite this conflict? The answer to this question could prove useful to anyone who seeks to be effectively honest with people in denial. Ultimately, it could benefit these people, whose denial is contrary to their best interest. I go on the assumption that truth, or the conformity of thought to reality, is the sine qua non of vital efficacy. Health, pleasure, successful careers, and harmonious relationships require that we know the needs and capabilities of our nature, and the workings of the world. The absence of this knowledge leads to accidents, illness, suffering, failure, and death. Therefore, the first object of our desires should be truth, or the knowledge of ourselves and the world around us. Why then are people often unwilling to face it?

I believe there are two reasons for this unwillingness. Firstly, the desire to know the truth, which originates in the desire to live happily, spontaneously degenerates into the desire to be right, to avoid the insecurity and shame associated with error and ignorance, and also to avoid the effort to learn. Thus fear, pride, and laziness are obstacles to the pursuit of truth and happiness. People are unlikely to admit they are wrong when they are, unless they possess courage and humility. Whoever takes their good to heart should help them develop these virtues.

Secondly, the truth may be known from experience about a happy way of life. The desire to know the truth then turns into the desire to see the truth last. Mental inertia becomes the law, proportional to the force of attraction exerted on the mind by this happy way of life. Any upheaval that breaks the status quo is denied: "I cannot believe it; this cannot be happening." Reality is deemed unreal because it no longer tallies with the desired truth. Denial can therefore be regarded as a deviant process that conforms facts to ideas, instead of the opposite. Reason is overthrown and emotions reign, as one strives to prove reality wrong to spare oneself the loss of a happy way of life and the pursuit of another, this loss and this pursuit being associated with grief, strain, and doubt, or even despair.

To help a person acknowledge an undesired truth about a radical change in reality, one has to couple honesty with wisdom to heighten this person's awareness of the human capacity for adaptation. This capacity is best illustrated by the example of people who have suffered a terrible misfortune and progressively discovered a new outlook and a new happiness, more enlightened and satisfying than the old ones. In addition, one has to stimulate the will of this person, who is left with a formidable challenge: to start her or his life over. Lastly, this heightened awareness and this stimulated will may weaken at times, calling for reinforcement. All in all, against the unwillingness to face the truth, the effectiveness of honesty is always difficult and uncertain.

How to stay stress-free?

Your ears might have heard countless number of times "do this… and get away from stress," or, "do that…, and you will be totally relieved of stress,"turning you even more stressed out!!

…Stop scratching your head over what to be or what not to be done. I have compiled a definite set of action plan to cope with stress in life. I have tried it in the past and it really helped. In fact, I have used them time and again.

This might help you as well, simply read on.

1. Beware of your own warning signs. For, this could just be a sudden feeling of anxiety.

2. Consider what is really causing stress to you? You may be surprised to find the fact.

3. Think over what you could do to change the things. Find out how much of stress is indeed caused by you?

4. At times, due to excessive stress we fall into vicious trap of not eating properly and go to ill practices such as smoking and drinking to further worsen the situation. Instead, you should try and eat a balanced diet.

5. Eat complex carbohydrates rather than refined ones. This will really help you cope with mood swings.

6. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and keep sugar and salt intake low.

7. Drink plenty of water, it will rehydrate your body. Try to keep caffeine consumption to the minimum.

8. Avoid nicotine or any other self prescribed drug.

9. Don't feel guilty about including a period of relaxation every day. We all need to turn off from time to time.

10. Do something that is creative and helps you relax. Say, listen music, do yoga, meditate, enjoy aromatherapy or any other stress busting exercise.

11. Learn to be more assertive and try to manage your time properly.

12. You can even consider attending a stress management training course.

13. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

These are certain steps that can truly help you cope with stress. It will work wonders for you. The choice is yours, if you wanna live with stress or acquire any of these good points to mar the stress out of your life.

How Often Each Day Should I Read or Say My Desire Statement?

The purpose of the Desire Statement is to support you in giving attention, energy and focus to your newly birthed desire. It teaches you how to language desires so they feel good. The key tothe Desire Statement is it needs to be TRUE for you. You'll notice that one of the recommended sentences is "I love how it feels knowing...." Using this sentence allows you to state your desire in a way that makes it true for you. When it is true for you, you send out a positive vibration. It's not a matter of how often you read or say your Desire Statement each day. Your goal is to give your desire positive attention, knowing that as you do that you are sending out a positive vibration.

Once you create a Desire Statement, you have completed step 1 and 2 of the three step Law of Attraction formula. Now your work is to Allow. Spend most of your time and energy there. Keep finding proof that you are manifesting something that is in alignment to your desire. When you celebrate and acknowledge something you have manifested, this proof helps remove the doubt and negative vibrations that prevent you from receiving your desire.

In short, it's not about how often you do each step of the Law of Attraction formula. The key point is to send out or offer a positive vibration with respect to your desire. Identify what you want, give positive attention, energy and focus to it, and remove the doubt and negative vibration you may be sending by celebrating proof as you find it.

Positive Thinking and Your Creative Mind - 7 Steps to Success

You have a bright idea hidden somewhere in the back of your mind that you just can't wait to test out. The question is, do you really want to bring it out into the light? What could motivate you to churn your creative, inspiring juices to their utmost flavor?

Did you know that it always helps to set a time limit to your personal goals? Set yourself up so you can accomplish the most tasks in record time. For example, mowing the lawn in an hour before the big game on TV. A correct and positive attitude in whatever you do will make things easier, and even enjoyable.

It's simple. If you begin to allow yourself a bit of positive thinking then you will begin to realize things that you never thought possible. Thinking big is indeed the American Way and that what made our country prosperous. You can follow other great Americans who tapped into their creative mind and began to thing big..

Discover some tips to make it through your first week of possibility thinking even if you're just sitting in your favorite couch. Your mind is constantly at work for you. Tap into it's great resource while doing everyday activities.

1. Act. You must take passionate action towards living your life by design. Talk is cheap. Action = deposits in the bank of a passionately authentic future. My mother (probably quoting someone else) always said, "Action speaks louder than words". Without action, passion is void.

Dreams become reality when you simply start by tinkering with your mind, then with your hands. And if the idea weakens or falters you can always go back to it later until you finish it. Thomas Edison and his Dream Team had to go back to the idea of a light bulb and recalculate it over 1,000 times before the first working light bulb begin to light the world.

2. Love. Commit to yourself. Then commit to those you love to powerfully create a life you can love. Instead of reacting, commit to creating from your heart and soul, out of love rather than fear. The American Dream will always be there, but a dream will still be a dream without motion. Be amazed as the transformation begins.

3. Live. Embrace moments and opportunities. Recognize and embrace the thought that each moment is perfect regardless of its outcome. Every time you hit on something that may appear too extreme why not give it a shot anyway. See if it will work. You may be surprised with the results. If you are not then decide to use that moment to learn from it and make the appropriate shift. Learning and growing from mistakes and failures is a part of living.

4. Be grateful. Dwell completely in a place of gratitude. Learn to utilize what you have in your hands and make use of it in the most constructive way. Necessity is the mother of invention. Have you ever been stuck without something you needed and had to make do with something else? (MacGyver,from the famous tv show, was famous for that!) How grateful were you that you had the means to solve your situation? Slipping into neediness will become less of a habit when you repeatedly shift towards gratitude and away from poverty consciousness.

5. Be Passionate. Use a Passion Formula of Recognize/Reevaluate/Restore in place of the Shoulda/Woulda/Coulda whirlwind. The former is based on increased knowledge and abundance while the latter focuses on scarcity and lack. As you face people or tasks that may seem harder than scaling the summit of the Himalayas, allow yourself to realize that the task is just as important as giving out orders to your subordinates. You would rather be richly passionate!

6. Laugh. Keep humor at the forefront of thought, laughing at and with yourself whenever possible. You may find yourself quite entertaining when you loosen up! I have yet to see a comedian ever go hungry even though his jokes are as 'old as great-grandma'. Life has too much to offer to allow yourself to mope around in self pity. Humor is very attractive, very passionate: life-giving.

7. Discover Your Purpose. Believe that you are the architect of your destiny. Realizing how you wish to be remembered when you pass from this life is a truly driving force. Your purpose for being can be a seemingly simple as being a great parent to as elaborate as discovering miraculous cures.

When you have a strong purpose no one can take your passionate future from you except for you! Truly, as long as there's still breath in your body, there is no end to how much you can accomplish in a lifetime. Discovering and following your purpose will enable you to enjoy your work. Celebrate in the discovery that acting on your creative mind's thoughts is fulfilling your purpose. Watch everything flow into place with perfect, passionate precision.

Activate your positive thinking. Stretch your imagination. Think bigger than you feel comfortable. Act on your thoughts. The number one tip here is action. You want to start practicing these steps.

Think about this: It is unfortunate that so many people still do not use a computer because it appears too complicated to begin using. Or maybe they just keep putting it off till a more convenient time. These are just a couple of limitations one can set up for themselves. Limitations and failure to act on ideas and opportunities leave many as a dim bulb in a dark corner.

Alert! You are not doomed to darkness. You are interested in living a life of purpose and love. The wonderful, creative idea in you is about to be released. You are interested in doing this because you are reading this article. Fortunately if you truly desire something, the will to attain it will open your creative mind to find a way.

Now you need only to begin to act on your desire to create. Act now! Make your path to creativity and follow your purpose. Take your first step today with a positive attitude.

You CAN Shift Your Reality to Include More of What You Want

Do you know that you are emitting signals that the universe responds to? It's like we're all emitting radio signals that go out into the universe and match us up with anything on the same wavelength, bringing to us the circumstances and events which make up our lives.

The signals you emit are made up of your thoughts, beliefs, and the emotions that these create within you. You're experiences tend to match what you've got your focus upon.

You do have the power to affect your experiences by paying attention to what you focus upon. This is where your power is. If you are focused upon the negative aspects of your experience, you will create more of the same, which you then focus on and create more of, and so on in a vicious cycle. Fortunately, this works the other way around too! If you choose to focus on the positive aspects of any experience, you will create more positive aspects you can then focus on, and continue bringing more positive experiences into your life. Even if you can only find one positive aspect to focus on in a situation that has many more negative aspects, and you keep choosing to keep your focus on the one positive part, you will soon see improvement in that situation that will give you more that's positive to focus on. It's a gradual, continual process. And it works!

Just because something is how it is, does not mean it has to stay that way! Just because you've had a lot of it in the past, does not mean you're doomed to have more of it in the future! If you don't like it, know that you do have the power to change it. And if you do like it, know that you can create more of it, if you wish to.

Gradually shifting your perception to include more of what you do like, opens the flow so more like it can come to you.

Over the last few years I have found many incredibly helpful resources to help anyone along the path to greater joy. Now I'm setting up a website to share these resources with others.

Wishing you increased satisfaction and more joy!

How Much Can You Handle?

I was talking to one of my friends just a few days ago, and she got me thinking.

She was telling me about all the problems in her life and how bad she was feeling and that it seemed that the universe just kept piling problem after problem after problem on her and she felt she was going to snap any day.

Yet she hasn't yet, and is still going strong, coping with it all. In fact, it's not starting to ease off and get better.

This made me think. I had gone through periods in my life where I thought the universe was ganging up against me and trying to wear me into the ground. Yet I got through it all. I remember in one of my worst times, a close friend of mine had a stroke and I remember visiting her in hospital and thinking, "How is she coping? I could never cope with that."

Then one night whilst watching the Discovery channel I put two and two together and got forty two.

I love Archaeology, and living in England we are literally swimming in it. In this particular show they were recreating how Iron Age man would have made a sword.

The blacksmith, when asked why he was heating and then cooling the blade said something very similar to this, "This process is called tempering. It's where you stress the metal in order to make it stronger."

As you can imagine, I perked up at this and realisation dawned upon me.

The Blacksmith deliberately stresses the blade of a sword so he can make it stronger.

Perhaps it is the same in life?

I then started to review some of the stress points that I had had in my life, and then I realised that it was true. If I hadn't have had these stresses then I would not be as strong as I am. I wouldn't be the person I am if it wasn't for these "bad" episodes in my life.

I began phoning around my friends, and asking them questions about this and realised it was true for them.

We go through all sorts of trials in our life because we are being tempered; made stronger for our purpose in life. I can now look back at many of the once negative events in my life and see how they have made me stronger and created the person I am today.

Another thing I realised whilst interviewing these people was that we are never given more than we can handle. I couldn't handle the stroke, yet my friend could. Perhaps she couldn't have handled some of the things in my life.

You will undoubtedly have stresses in your life, but instead of fighting them, embrace them as they are making you stronger. Understand too that you are never given more than you can handle, so that "insurmountable" challenge you are facing is in fact something you can handle and overcome … maybe just with a change of perspective.

Tune Your Mind to Win

There is a saying that winning and losing are two sides of a coin. All of us would like to be a winner in all our endeavors, but unfortunately very few of us succeed. But there are some people who always turn out to winners. All of us know someone who always is a winner.

Whatever they do, anything they attempt, they meet with success. Be it business, playing a game of cards, finding a date or even if they were to enter the Olympics…hey presto! They are the winners. You know for sure that they'll win against the odds and find their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Its like they just wouldn't accept anything but victory. All we do is admire them and wonder how they do it time after time.

Have you ever wondered why winners always win and losers always lose? Perhaps you would like to be let into their little secret. Winners EXPECT only winning. That's the catch! Sounds pretty simple. Well it is.

Now pause and take a minute to think…. a winner foresees his success. He knows he's the one who'll win. He has tuned his mind to win. Most of you have run a race sometime or the other in your lives. What was your mindset before the race? Did you think you'd win before you ran the race or did you contemplate winning only when you were in the race? Perhaps you hadn't even thought positively and had already seen yourself as a loser.

Whether they are dealing in real estate or buying a car or just about anything, a winner EXPECTS to get exactly what he wants. Even for the Olympics, you bet they'd bag the gold hands down. And they do. And sometimes they do it against all odds. It is this EXPECTATION that makes one a winner, scoring over the rest. There are many athletes who have won against all odds. If we just look around us we can see people who win all the time.

Do you also want to be a winner? What you have to do is…
Keep your eyes closed and imagine you have a particular aspiration in life. Relax and concentrate. Let your mind focus only on the fact you are going to achieve your aim.

Now, shut your eyes once more and EXPECT that YOU WILL achieve your target. Observe a subtle change. Do you not feel more confident? That's the difference between letting our mind ponder and waver too much about anything.

Perhaps you can win or lose. But the EXPECTATION has only one likelihood…. winning. You are almost there.

The answer now lies before you. So what do you do next? Apply your mind with full intensity, concentrate on your goal and EXPECT TO WIN. Before any venture, just take a deep breath, relax and pause…. to think and ….TO WIN. Think of the aura of success around you. Bask in that glory of success. Now that you have set your mind on winning, you are surely going to be a winner.

Everything you are going to do or say will spell triumph.
Now that you know the path to winning, the rest is easy. And the chances are you WILL win. One hundred percent. All you require is mindset to win.

Hypnosis 6 Secret Tips to Stay Young Forever

We all live in an age that belongs to the young at heart. Life that is becoming extremely fast, day to day, also asks us to remain physically young. Young at heart, young in mind and young in your body has become the principle of survival.

Yet our age increases with every day of our life. The fast pace of the world around us in fact makes us age faster. But, it is important to retain our youthful vigor, for it is only with young passion and energy that we can work towards success, enjoy a peaceful, healthy life, indulge ourselves in the pleasure of sex, and keep ourselves happy.

How to remain young forever? How to defy your age? How to retain the youthful joy? How to remain passionate and energetic.

Here I outline six steps to keep you young forever - steps, if you follow regularly will ensure you remain young at heart, young in mind, and young in your body.


Step One: Imagine yourself leading a life that is youthful and vigorous. Picture yourself in various situations that the young indulge in. It can be a wild night in the disco, a wild game of football, romancing with the person you love - it can be anything. Just concentrate yourself in youthful action.

Step Two: The picture you create for yourself should produce the specific effects that you have in your mind. That is, if you think you are becoming old and falling behind times, then enjoy a dance in the disco that keeps you up with time with youthfulness. If you are old and wrinkled and want to look young, picture yourself with smooth, supple, wrinkle-free skin.

Step Three: Picture yourself as extremely alert, athletic and youthful. Imagine yourself in movements that you performed as freely as when you were a teenager.

This is a very important visual. Practice it at least twice a week for an indefinite period. Your aim is to preserve your body by using the power of creative visualization. Thus, this is a lifetime program aimed to evoke your youthful vigor always, anytime, anywhere.

Step Four: If you are suffering from any old-age disease, incorporate the visuals from How to lead a healthy life, with the steps outlined here. You will see a marked improvement in your health.

Step Five: Bring together all your senses - Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste and Touch. Direct your mind to improve each of them. Imagine yourself pictures of yourself where you hear more, taste better, see well, smell proper and become sensual to touch.
Practice them at least once every two days. You will see your awareness is functioning better than all who are of your age.

Step Six: Visualize yourself in a sea of endless energy. The water is warm and comfortable. The sky is bright and sunny. Swim through the refreshing water. Enjoy the swim. Stretch your legs; push through the water, as the energy envelops you.
Come out of the water and dry yourself with a large, soft towel. You are refreshingly young now. You are filled to the brim with energy. You also feel that the energy in you has changed your body and bones. All aches and pain of old age has disappeared.

You are a new man now. You are young, energetic with a passionate vigor in you. You are young in mind, body and spirit. Enjoy your youth.

Happy young days!

Develop A Motivated Mindset

From time to time, each of us will find ourselves in a rut of boredom and disinterest. We seem to lose our zest for life and feel tired, irritable and unmotivated. We want to hide under the covers rather than face the day. Perhaps you're feeling overwhelmed by work, or sad about the pain and suffering in the world, or just bored with the routine of your daily life.

You are not alone. We all go through periods like this at some point. The good news is that we can do something about it. Here are some tips to help break out of the rut and feel excited about life again:

1) Take a "Time Out" - Prolonged stress can wear us down and zap any enthusiasm we once had. Before doing anything else, take a few minutes to breathe and just BE. Empty your mind of all stress and worry. This takes practice, but don't give up! As thoughts come into your mind, gently push them back out and continue to keep your mind empty and calm. Take slow, deep breaths and let all of your muscles relax. Sit quietly and recharge your batteries. Try to do this daily, or even twice daily (morning and night). We need quiet time as much as we need anything else in life. Give yourself the gift of inner peace.

2) Get Inspired - Read something motivational, inspirational or uplifting. Look at some beautiful nature photos, or read something humorous. Consciously move your thoughts to a more positive place. Focusing on nothing but work and our daily tasks in life can leave us feeling pretty uninspired. It's easy to turn it around if we want to. We just have to seek out things that will lift our spirits and our moods. Make it a point to laugh, be happy, joyful and lighthearted each day. Don't wait for inspiration to come knocking on your door, go out and find it, or create it. Conjure up some funny or touching memories. Write them in a journal so you can go back and read them when you're feeling down.

3) Get Excited - Think about the things you have planned for the day, and rekindle the enthusiasm you once felt for them. When we first begin a new project, or start a new job, we are excited about the possibilities and eager to get moving! Over time, we can lose that enthusiasm for a variety of reasons. Travel back in time for a moment, and think about what got you so excited at the beginning. What made your heart beat a little faster? Recapture that feeling and hang onto it! Even if your tasks aren't anything to be really excited about, at least think of some positive benefits to doing them. For example, list the ways they will benefit your children, your spouse, yourself, your job or your home. Identify the payoff, and focus on that. Even mundane tasks have some benefits. Sometimes it's just a matter of switching our mindset to see the positive side.

4) Baby Steps - Sometimes the hardest part is actually getting started. A project seems so monstrous that we cringe at the thought of all that time and energy we'll have to expend. Instead of overwhelming yourself, start small. Set a timer for 15 minutes and just start working on it. Allow yourself to stop after 15 minutes if you really want to. But most often, once we actually start working on something, we won't want to stop. Don't focus on the big picture, look at the smaller details and take them on one at a time. Any large task seems manageable once we break it down into smaller steps.

5) Care of the Body - Sometimes our feelings of fatigue are caused by physical deficiencies, not mental. Be sure you are getting enough rest, eating food that nourishes your body, drinking enough water, getting enough exercise, etc. Especially when we're very busy, we tend to grab the quickest, easiest meals, which aren't always the best choice for our bodies. Eating a lot of highly processed foods and sugar is like putting watered-down gasoline into our cars. In order for our cars to run smoothly, we need to maintain them properly, and so it is with our bodies also. Remember, the body is the vehicle for the mind and soul! ;-)

Finally, remember to reward yourself from time to time, and be gentle with yourself! There will always be things that "need" to be done. But some of us take on way more than we can handle, and our lives turn into a pit of drudgery because of it. Try to eliminate the things that truly don't bring you joy, or at least minimize the time you spend on them. Do what you can, and let the rest go. Or ask for help. Don't feel you have to do everything yourself.

Remember that motivation, just like happiness, is something we CHOOSE. We may need to give ourselves a little push at the beginning, but once we get into the right mindset, it's simple to stay there if we choose to.

Why Do We Hurt Those We Love Most And How To Stop This

You love each other but can't manage to communicate without arguing, fighting and ending up exhausted, each one in his corner, trying to lick his wounds and thinking of how to protect one self against a new attack. And in spite of that…you love each other? How is this possible? Why do people hurt most those they love?

How come we can't express our love? How come we are full of good intentions but when it comes to reality we find ourselves again shouting and blaming the other one. And then that monster of guilt jumps out of nowhere to our throat to strangle us once again.

How to stop this infernal behavior?

First let me explain why this happens.

We all need energy. We need energy to live and to survive. Energy comes in many forms : love, attention, interest, food, friendship, money, approval, recognition…

We all need this to feel good, to build our personality and to find our place in society.

But here it is : as long as we think this energy has to come from other human beings, we will get caught up in struggle. Because human energy is limited. We have to fight for it. Human energy doesn't last. There isn't enough of it. So we have to be the quickest, the smartest, the most beautiful one, to attract the attention from the other and to pull his energy.

If this doesn't work, we try another strategy. We try to pull attention by negative behavior. Every child learns this very quickly in his early life : when he is playing quietly on the floor with his toys, mum goes on cooking dinner or talking with daddy. But as soon as the kid hurts his little sister or is playing "sick", mums hurries to give attention to him. She shouts maybe, she's angry or worried, but no matter, all this is attention for the child! He learns very quickly which behavior gives him the greatest amount of attention and energy. When his mother or father looks at him, even angry, it still is energy coming his way! When they shout at him, they give him energy. Negative energy, alright, but it is better than no energy at all.

When we grow up, and start to date, we discover a very interesting phenomenon : when we fall in love, we receive a lot of energy (read : attention, interest, time, love etc.) for free. The other person gives us freely and abundantly a whole bunch of energy. We don't even have to ask for it, we don't need to apply any strategy to pick this energy, it's all for free! We let go of our mechanism to pull the energy of others towards us. We loosen up. We "fall" in love. We almost literally fly. We are high! Everything seems to have more colour, is more vivid, we feel lighter, life seems easy, everything goes by itself, we have the feeling we love everybody and everything, even our grunchy boss! Nothing can hurt us, we feel safe and boosted with energy. But this is his or her energy! We are flying on someone else's energy, and human energy is limited!

And that is exactly the problem! This stream of free energy begins to slow down, because the other one goes back to his business and activities he had before. Why? The body is not able to handle this amount of adrenaline for a long period of time, they say… but the real reason is we need to learn to pull our energy from somewhere else, not from a human being but from the source of energy itself.

So our lover gives us less free energy than before. We were used to this energy-flow and now we have to do it again by ourselves! Free energy is so much easier! We don't have to do any effort to get it! And now we are getting less of this free energy, we don't want to let this happen. At this moment our old childhood-system of capturing energy is triggered because of the scarcity of energy (there is an alarm inside us that says : "Danger! Lack of energy!") and the old mechanism to capture energy from others starts running in our head and in our behavior. The mechanism that worked when we were a child to get the energy of our parents, will be triggered by the lack of energy now. We do what we did as a child to get energy flowing our way.

We can do this by playing the victim ("Oh poor me, look at all that I do and nobody is grateful! Look how good I am and still life strikes me with disapproval, disease and misery! Oh oh oh!"). Or we get attention by being aggressive, shouting and trying to dominate the other one. A third mechanism is harassing the other one by asking too many questions and controlling him. A fourth system is playing silence, refusing contact, not to speak and not to react, so the other one will do whatever he can to get in contact with you again and this will give you his energy.

These systems will of course make the energy of the other one flowing your way. But what next? The other one is now low on energy and wants to get his energy back. So now his mechanism is triggered by his lack of energy. He will now use the system that assured him the energy of his parents when he was little, to get his energy back from you. He will either shout at you, either playing the poor one that didn't deserve your treatment, either torture you with a bunch ofquestions, or refuse contact.

This explains why we hurt the ones we love. First reason is we want their energy, energy they gave once for free. We hurt our loved onces most because they gave us love and energy and attention for free in the beginning and now we have to do it on our own and we are angry and want get back to them. We think we are entitled to have their energy still for free and start our mechanism to get it. Second reason we hurt them most is because of convenience : they are always around, their energy is available so when we are low on energy we try to rip their energy off, and hurt them by doing that.

Stealing energy from another human being is hurting him.

What can we do about this? We should only be in contact with other people when we are sure to be already filled up with energy, so we won't steal theirs. When we are full of energy, and conscious of what happens between people, we can give the other one energy instead of ripping him off. We should not meet each other when we are low on energy. It's the responsibility of each and every person to generate energy by himself and not to depend on other people.

How to do that? By connecting to the energy that is always available. That is the energy of the Universe. The easiest way to connect to this energy is contemplate the beauty of a flower. You also can contemplate the beauty of an object or a person. You can listen to beautiful music, take a walk in nature, meditate, pray, dance, paint, read positive texts, work on your mission on earth, love your cat or dog, anything that gives you energy.

Make a list of every activity and behavior that increases your energy level. As soon as you feel you're in a conflict with your partner, boss, child, parent or whoever, do something to get yourself together and raise your energy. Don't say anything until your energy-level is again high enough to be able to send energy to the other one. By sending energy, you are sure not to steal energy from the other one. This is an act of love. If you are not able to get your energy level any higher, go to another place, do something for you and wait until your vibrations are high enough to meet the other one again.

The important thing in a relationship is not to make the other happy or to expect the other one to make you happy, but to make yourself happy and offer this happiness as a free gift to the other!

Loving another human being is giving him energy!
See the difference? Do you want to love your loved ones or steal their energy?

On Being Human

Are we human because of unique traits and attributes not shared with either animal or machine? The definition of "human" is circular: we are human by virtue of the properties that make us human (i.e., distinct from animal and machine). It is a definition by negation: that which separates us from animal and machine is our "human-ness".

We are human because we are not animal, nor machine. But such thinking has been rendered progressively less tenable by the advent of evolutionary and neo-evolutionary theories which postulate a continuum in nature between animals and Man.

Our uniqueness is partly quantitative and partly qualitative. Many animals are capable of cognitively manipulating symbols and using tools. Few are as adept at it as we are. These are easily quantifiable differences - two of many.

Qualitative differences are a lot more difficult to substantiate. In the absence of privileged access to the animal mind, we cannot and don't know if animals feel guilt, for instance. Do animals love? Do they have a concept of sin? What about object permanence, meaning, reasoning, self-awareness, critical thinking? Individuality? Emotions? Empathy? Is artificial intelligence (AI) an oxymoron? A machine that passes the Turing Test may well be described as "human". But is it really? And if it is not - why isn't it?

Literature is full of stories of monsters - Frankenstein, the Golem - and androids or anthropoids. Their behaviour is more "humane" than the humans around them. This, perhaps, is what really sets humans apart: their behavioural unpredictability. It is yielded by the interaction between Mankind's underlying immutable genetically-determined nature - and Man's kaleidoscopically changing environments.

The Constructivists even claim that Human Nature is a mere cultural artefact. Sociobiologists, on the other hand, are determinists. They believe that human nature - being the inevitable and inexorable outcome of our bestial ancestry - cannot be the subject of moral judgment.

An improved Turing Test would look for baffling and erratic patterns of misbehaviour to identify humans. Pico della Mirandola wrote in "Oration on the Dignity of Man" that Man was born without a form and can mould and transform - actually, create - himself at will. Existence precedes essence, said the Existentialists centuries later.

The one defining human characteristic may be our awareness of our mortality. The automatically triggered, "fight or flight", battle for survival is common to all living things (and to appropriately programmed machines). Not so the catalytic effects of imminent death. These are uniquely human. The appreciation of the fleeting translates into aesthetics, the uniqueness of our ephemeral life breeds morality, and the scarcity of time gives rise to ambition and creativity.

In an infinite life, everything materializes at one time or another, so the concept of choice is spurious. The realization of our finiteness forces us to choose among alternatives. This act of selection is predicated upon the existence of "free will". Animals and machines are thought to be devoid of choice, slaves to their genetic or human programming.

Yet, all these answers to the question: "What does it mean to be human" - are lacking.

The set of attributes we designate as human is subject to profound alteration. Drugs, neuroscience, introspection, and experience all cause irreversible changes in these traits and characteristics. The accumulation of these changes can lead, in principle, to the emergence of newproperties, or to the abolition of old ones.

Animals and machines are not supposed to possess free will or exercise it. What, then, about fusions of machines and humans (bionics)? At which point does a human turn into a machine? And why should we assume that free will ceases to exist at that - rather arbitrary - point?

Introspection - the ability to construct self-referential and recursive models of the world - is supposed to be a uniquely human quality. What about introspective machines? Surely, say the critics, such machines are PROGRAMMED to introspect, as opposed to humans. To qualify as introspection, it must be WILLED, they continue. Yet, if introspection is willed - WHO wills it? Self-willed introspection leads to infinite regression and formal logical paradoxes.

Moreover, the notion - if not the formal concept - of "human" rests on many hidden assumptions and conventions.

Political correctness notwithstanding - why presume that men and women (or different races) are identically human? Aristotle thought they were not. A lot separates males from females - genetically (both genotype and phenotype) and environmentally (culturally). What is common to these two sub-species that makes them both "human"?

Can we conceive of a human without body (i.e., a Platonian Form, or soul)? Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas think not. A soul has no existence separate from the body. A machine-supported energy field with mental states similar to ours today - would it be considered human? What about someone in a state of coma - is he or she (or it) fully human?

Is a new born baby human - or, at least, fully human - and, if so, in which sense? What about a future human race - whose features would be unrecognizable to us? Machine-based intelligence - would it be thought of as human? If yes, when would it be considered human?

In all these deliberations, we may be confusing "human" with "person". The former is a private case of the latter. Locke's person is a moral agent, a being responsible for its actions. It is constituted by the continuity of its mental states accessible to introspection.

Locke's is a functional definition. It readily accommodates non-human persons (machines, energy matrices) if the functional conditions are satisfied. Thus, an android which meets the prescribed requirements is more human than a brain dead person.

Descartes' objection that one cannot specify conditions of singularity and identity over time for disembodied souls is right only if we assume that such "souls" possess no energy. A bodiless intelligent energy matrix which maintains its form and identity over time is conceivable. Certain AI and genetic software programs already do it.

Strawson is Cartesian and Kantian in his definition of a "person" as a "primitive". Both the corporeal predicates and those pertaining to mental states apply equally, simultaneously, and inseparably to all the individuals of that type of entity. Human beings are one such entity. Some, like Wiggins, limit the list of possible persons to animals - but this is far from rigorously necessary and is unduly restrictive.

The truth is probably in a synthesis:

A person is any type of fundamental and irreducible entity whose typical physical individuals (i.e., members) are capable of continuously experiencing a range of states of consciousness and permanently having a list of psychological attributes.

This definition allows for non-animal persons and recognizes the personhood of a brain damaged human ("capable of experiencing"). It also incorporates Locke's view of humans as possessing an ontological status similar to "clubs" or "nations" - their personal identity consists of a variety of interconnected psychological continuities.

Get Motivated Today With These 4 Essential Pillars of Motivation

I want to give you four wonderful pillars for motivation, four main themes to underpin a healthy sense of drive and inspiration.

- The first main pillar of motivation is to gain recognition from peers.

When soldiers in wartime give up their lives during combat, why do they do it? Is it because of patriotism, a belief in the cause they are fighting for, or a fear of court martial if they do otherwise? Perhaps all these things play a part, but extensive research has shown that what really motivates a soldier to fight well incombat is the desire for the respect of the person who is fighting right beside him. This is much more important than medals or other forms of public recognition. This is similar to what motivates salesmen on the floor of a car dealership, students in a classroom or a team of lawyers trying to win a case.

In the English Premier football league, all the players will tell you the best award that they want to receive is the acclaim of the others players and to receive the players player of the year award.

Think of ways that you can develop recognition from your peers to enhance your motivation. The apply them to your life.

- The second pillar of motivation is recognition from respected experts or authorities.

In my own life, I love the fact that the wonderful multi-selling author in the US has helped me, guided me and become my friend professionally and personally. I desperately wanted to earn his respect.

Has there been someone like that in your life? It is important to realise that a respected expert does not have to be someone who is known far and wide throughout the world. You are the one who establishes the qualifications, though very often people whom you find impressive will be equally impressive to others.

Once you've met such a person, or even if you have just seen them from a distance or perhaps read an article about them, stop hesitating and politely approach them and introduce yourself. Unless you happen to catch them at a particularly difficult moment, most successful people are eager to help others and to pass on what they've learned.

The great thing about establishing a relationship with a mentor is that you eventually come close to that person that you can sometimes hear them advising you when they are not actually around.

Think about how you can get recognition from a respected expert or authority. You can really stretch this concept to be good parents, local teachers, councillors as well as business people; interpret this in the best way for you.

- The third pillar of motivation is family.

Although the approval of peers and experts may be important to your career, in your life, nothing compares to the influence of your family.

Let me explain what I mean by this with an example of my own; when I had come off stage speaking at an event in Dublin last year, a man approached me and asked me for some advice on the best way to stop smoking, he knew that I was the author of The Secrets of Self-Hypnosis and wanted assistance. My immediate response was to ask him what his reasons were for wanting to stop smoking and he said the following to me:

"My wife is pregnant with our first child and I want to have more after that. I want to be able to enjoy playing and having fun with my children and I want to be a healthy influence on their lives too."

I spent some time talking to him about some specific techniques and strategies. I have not heard from that man, but I know that he was driven by his family and am sure of his success. Think about your wealth goals; so many of us want to be able to rpovide for our family and for them to have what they want.

So think about the ways in which you your fmaily can motivate you and get that lodged into your mind.

- The fourth pillar of motivation for today is something closely related to number three and that is sharing the wealth and wisdom for the good of your fellows.

To illustrate this pillar, I am going to mention a story I love about Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish immigrant who founded the United States Steel Company in the early nineteen hundreds. When Carnegie died, a yellow sheet of paper was found in his desk on which he had written a note to himself when he was in his twenties. This note illustrated the main purpose of his life. It read:

"I am going to spend the first half of my life accumulating money, and I am going to spend the last half of my life giving it all away."

During his lifetime, Carnegie's fortune was estimated a four hundred and fifty million dollars - the equivalent to four and a half billion dollars today. In addition to building Carnegie Hall in New York City, he founded libraries in hundreds of small towns all across America and participated in dozens of other philanthropic activities as well.

When we look at these found pillars of motivation, what do you really see? The thing that I immediately notice is that they all involve other people, whether they are peers, mentors, family members, or simply fellows of the human race. Ironic isn't it? To be successfully motivated you need this very internal, very unique thing called your motivation. To acquire that innermost quality and set it to work, you need to recognise other people as reasons to believe.

Greatness

When I was a nineteen-year-old high school student and budding poet – two years after my diving accident – many factors adversely affected my creativity. My trips in a special bus to school and back home, my courses, and my assignments, though I was spared a lot of writing and was mostly tested orally, all this was time-consuming. More often than not, my obligation to study took priority over my desire to compose poetry.

To tell the truth, I had plenty of free time. That I spent much of it uncreatively showed evidence of frivolousness, laziness, and cowardliness. I usually preferred to take my mind off things, or to daydream, rather than to express myself through poems. The satisfaction I could derive from achieving this expression seldom induced me to try. The deterring elements were the difficulty of trying and the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of my efforts.

A poem – assuming one is concerned about writing beautifully – is indeed no cinch. It requires a poet who is talented, skilled, and determined. My poetic ability was fickle; my grammar and style were faulty; my will was faint. I lacked the courage of my creative desire. This lack was not absolute. Now and then, when I felt compellingly inspired, I resisted my temptation to trifle – which amounted to taking the easy way out – and endeavored to compose a poem. I had to repeat this endeavor, over and over, to grow more capable and confident, less discouraged by the challenge at hand.

I am afraid young individuals similar to the young man I was then are not a rarity. The prospect of success turns them on; effort and the risk of failure turn them off. The contradiction is apparent, and the result predictable: Since effort and the risk of failure are essential for success, the avoidance of them precludes this success. Of course everyone knows this. The trouble is that many refuse largely to accept it. This is proof that knowledge is powerless in itself; it needs a strong will to be effective.

Young individuals, who know the rules of success, can be failures inasmuch as they fail to accept these rules. Wisdom includes this acceptance (the exclusion of which is thus foolish). It must be distinguished from knowledge. Wise people are also brave people who put their knowledge into practice and become successful for that reason. The obvious holds good in every way: Life without courage is like a bird without wings; it cannot take off.

Why is it hard to want both the end and the means? Precisely because the means are hard, not to mention the fact that they are hazardous, you might answer. If you are right, then why do some actually thrive on this hardness and hazardousness? The key to this mystery is their attitude: They regard these opposing elements not only as obstacles but also as opportunities for merit and excitement. Just as they were young once, spoon-fed and sheltered from the evils of the world, they eventually outgrew their attachment to easiness and developed a taste for challenge. In conclusion, what characterizes them is their maturity, by contrast with the infantilism of others.

Between these two extremes there is a mediocre compromise, partly mature, partly infantile. It consists in taking charge of one's life while taking the easy way out. Small principles, small realizations, far below one's potential for greatness, they are poor excuses for wisdom and success. Potential, that is the operative word. There can be greatness in apparent smallness and smallness in apparent greatness; the truth resides in the great or small actualization of one's potential, whatever it is.

How does one discover what it is? By making the effort to actualize it in the ever-renewed and multifaceted act of living. This entails that one push oneself hard, at the risk of going too far. Measure is an empty abstraction for anyone who has never exceeded it. Limits should be experienced, not invented. This experience demands a serious and courageous commitment to greatness. Steer clear of frivolousness, laziness, and cowardliness; do not fall prey to them as I did so many times. They are strong temptations that can assume the form of a cunning philosophy that is unique to losers. Beware of this snare. Life is a demanding character test; come death, you will have ample time to rest!

Nostalgic for the old days at the rehabilitation facility when I wrote anyhow about anything, I once conveniently believed in spontaneous writing as a guarantee of genuineness. Fortunately I was foolish yet not a complete fool. After some denial, which involved some nonsense in justification of my foolishness, I admitted sullenly that my sacrosanct pursuit of genuineness was in fact a vile indulgence in idiocy. There is nothing spontaneous about the intelligent conception and intelligible expression of one's true self, which is everything but simple. It is a tissue of desires, feelings, ideas, and memories, caught in a whirl of interactions between the mind and the world. Either one goes to great lengths to elucidate and formulate the truth about oneself, and one hits the bull's-eye, or one talks bullshit – please forgive my language.

Some people shine at off-the-cuff speeches, as though they were so brilliant they could avoid saying idiocies when forced to be spontaneous. Make no mistake; their brilliance is merely one side of the equation. They have spent years polishing their manner of thinking and speaking, while their knowledge waxed through learning. Their spontaneity is studied. It is a product of numerous rehearsals, like the performance of an actor. Nothing great ever comes easily to anyone, including those who are the most gifted among us. Superior luck is not human greatness, only a steppingstone toward it. The stone is given; the stepping is done by the sweat of one's brow and is made of a million steps, uphill. To work one's way up to greatness is comparable to conquering Mount Everest, the highest peak of the Himalayas. It is an outstanding achievement with a sense of pride to match.

Life is Beautiful

It is so simple and so easy to get what we want that we have a hard time to believe it. We are programmed to do things the hard and difficult way, in order to get what we want. We can not believe that we can get anything without hard labour, sweat and tears, obstacles
and misery.

This is nothing else but a tough old programmation, a conditioning from our childhood. If you are like me, you were bombarded as a child with expressions from adults about how hard life is and how we have to struggle to get something. We were submitted to a hazardous universe or a God of revenge who could pick us out without any reason to take revenge on us for something we did wrong. We needed to avoid being bad or wrong, but disease could strike us anyway. Sometimes they even said : "It's again a good one who's punished, and the bad one take off easily like usual without paying anything!". We learned that life wasn't fair. We lived in fear and thought life was a valley of tears, fear, struggle, pain, disease
and death?