Category Archives: INSPIRATIONS

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, OUR UNIQUE PURPOSE, PATHS TO HAPPINESS

THE PASSIONATE LIFE

We must reflect upon our most compelling reasons to live with great passion! The more passionate we feel about our life, the more compelled we will be to act in accordance with our Purpose. Thus, our Purpose becomes synonymous with our passion. In fact, what other Purpose should we have than one that totally absorbs, involves and enthralls us? If we have any inkling of what truly motivates us, then that very motivation must, by definition, be inspiring and stimulating. There is really no other way to live. If our Purpose, our Vision, our Values and our Mission are not extremely motivating to us, then of what value are they?

Life is not meant to be mundane, ordinary nor boring. In order for it to be significant and meaningful, it must be relished and deeply savored. We cannot live on the sidelines unsure of our strongest convictions and desires. We have to believe so strongly in our Purpose that we literally live it in everything we do, from our life at home, to our work and to our community. When our Purpose is activated with passion, we will discover infinite opportunities to enjoy an intensely exciting life. Let’s think back to those moments when our Purpose seemed as if it was on-fire, when we had that burning desire to do something and nothing could get in our way. Did we not feel profoundly immersed in our own happiness? Were we not sensing the greatest joy ever in being alive?

The human brain has infinite capacity for this self-induced passion. It is a pinkish-gray, almond shaped organ weighing approximately 3-4 pounds. It consists of 100 billion neurons each capable of firing at a rate of about 80 times per second. There will never be any computer capable of producing the range of feelings, emotions and thought processes that we already possess – resting quietly between our ears. Within our brain’s structure are myriad receptors for opiates such as heroin, morphine and even marijuana. The incredible thing is that we already produce these chemicals (known as endorphins) naturally within our own bodies. We already know about the runner’s high or feats of strength from mothers lifting automobiles off of their children. These intense emotions are actually produced through our own will.

Imagine what life would be like if we could call forth these naturally passionate feelings whenever we wanted to? The fact is that self-induced euphoria is within our capacity to achieve whenever we desire these feelings. Ordinary people accomplish this every day of their lives by tuning into their own passionate attitudes toward life. They know how to achieve the fire-in-the-belly feelings by becoming fully engaged in their Purpose, their Values and their Mission in life. They literally become lost in their pursuit of what is most important to them. Nothing stands in their way as their passion fuels their brain with euphoric chemicals and intense nerve impulses. Their energy level soars, their actions are powerfully self-directed, and their passion for achievement is unstoppable!

Our passion is most always evident in our life’s work. As the late George Burns reminded us, I would rather be a failure doing something I love than be a success doing something I hate.  At some point, we have all felt this passion to succeed and accomplish something with our life. When we passionately pursue a career or a task that is vital to us, we are certain that our Purpose is at the root of our feelings and our actions. For in knowing our Purpose, we know exactly what it is that we will do with our lives. It is not difficult to observe those people who are passionately pursuing what they love. These people seem to possess a certain vitality and an ability to accomplish extraordinary achievements.

Imagine for a moment we are so excited about going to work that we actually arise from bed at 5:00 AM while a blinding snowstorm rages outside; we are humming the tune from Rocky while making a pot of coffee; then pound our chest and let go at the top of our lungs, I love my life! Not something we do every morning? Sound a little strange? While rare, there are people who actually think and act like this. They believe that anything is possible with the right attitude and the right effort.

And these people are not just motivational speakers. They are everyday people who are in touch with themselves and their Purpose. They make life happen because they have chosen to be self-directors of their own destiny. They have realized their highest sense of Self by developing a positive self-image and are continually in pursuit of happiness in everything they do. They are at the peak of the hierarchy of their human needs, continuously striving to reach Abraham Maslow’s concept of self-actualization.

As we challenge ourselves to discover and then act upon our highest needs, the more likely we are to also realize our own true Self. With Purpose we can loudly proclaim, I love my life! as we begin each day. Let’s suppose for a moment that we really do love our job, our family, our financial situation, our health, and our future. Suppose also that we love breathing, smelling, seeing, hearing, feeling and learning. Let’s assume that we think we are important, worthwhile and valuable to ourselves and to the world in which we live. We are self-confident and proud of our accomplishments. We believe that we are unstoppable in our quest. We know ourselves, what we want and expect to get what we want . . .and we believe that tomorrow will be an even better day.

Does this sound like a script for a Walt Disney, happy-ending movie? Perhaps, but this scenario is not as unrealistic as it may first appear. We actually can create that script for ourselves. It is purely a matter of holding self-beliefs and creating a powerful self-image based on a strong sense of Purpose. If, as we have repeatedly stated, Purpose is the meaning that we give to our life, then whatever meaning we choose will be the meaning that we live by.

If we choose our life to have little meaning, then that is exactly what we will receive. If we command a greater meaning for our lives, that belief will also make it so. William Shakespeare said, There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so. Virtually every aspect of our lives can be controlled through our thought processes. Our attitude is paramount. We can become the person we wish through adopting a passionate attitude of great expectations.

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, MASTERING THE DIFFICULT, PATHS TO HAPPINESS, RATIONAL THINKING, RENEWAL AND TRANSFORMATION

STUCK IN A RUT?

Feeling uninspired . . . stuck in a rut . . . that your life seems to be going nowhere?

If that resonates with you, chances are  a.) You don’t really know what you want, or b.) It’s not important enough for you to do anything about it.

Let’s tackle the first point: You must know what you really want.  If you don’t have a clue, then you are saying you don’t value anything. However, few of us would admit to that.  If you value your life at all then there must be a few things that are very important to you. Values are your highest needs for self-fulfillment – your hopes, aspirations and expectations. Take some time to think about them and make a list. If you become emotional about them, then you are on the right track.

On the second point: Decide if it’s important enough to take action.  What you most value or aspire to will never happen unless you take the initiative to make it happen. This is such common sense it’s amazing how many of us don’t recognize this. Life owes us nothing. We have to take ownership of it or it will turn out no better than what we put into it.  it’s really your choice: either live it to the fullest or waste it away.

So why is it so easy to get sidetracked to doing what is most important? Why do we so often find ourselves stuck in the ditch with no way to get back out of it?  There are many reasons but here are some key ones to reflect upon and consider changing in your life:

  1. YOU DON’T HAVE A PLAN:  Once you decide what is most important and where you want to go, you need a roadmap to follow. Living in the present is good, but only after deciding what you want your “future-presents” to look and feel like. Create a path to follow and stay on it.
  2. YOU’RE STILL WAITING FOR TOMORROW:  Again, there is no time like the present. This is when things happen. Procrastination kills the spirit and derails motivation. If you say you will do something when the timing is right then you will never do it. There are always excuses but the bottom line is they will never get resolved to your satisfaction. If you wait for the perfect timing, then you will always be waiting – never doing.
  3. YOU LIKE BEING IN THE COMFORT ZONE: Taking action means change. And if you don’t like change then you will never move forward. You might feel that what you are giving up is a loss, but that is where you have growth and positive self-renewal. It may seem difficult at first to give up your comfort zone but once you move forward you will not miss what you left behind.
  4. YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN YOURSELF:  This is self-sabotage at the extreme. If you don’t believe that you have the right or the worthiness to design and live your own life, then someone else will do it for you. In fact, if you don’t believe in yourself no one else will either. Negative self-talk is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Having no confidence leads to failure, but a positive self-belief will lead to success. Whatever you say to yourself creates that reality. You are free to choose either so choose wisely.
  5. YOU HAVE THE WRONG INFLUENCES: Look around and see who is impacting or affecting your life.  Are you hanging out with the wrong people? Are they pulling you down or draining your life energy?  If your circle of friends has low expectations, you will subconsciously adopt their attitudes and beliefs. You must find better role models or consider a mentor that you respect. Most successful persons will state that modeling themselves after someone they really admired made all the difference in their own life achievements.
  6. YOU MISTAKE “BUSYNESS” FOR PRODUCTIVITY:  The proverbial treadmill requires effort but goes nowhere. In today’s fast-paced world, we deceive ourselves by working longer and harder but often find it leads to more stress and little else. When we only respond to our daily urgencies, we seldom find we did what was most important. Ask yourself if you’re just going in circles or are you spending quality time supporting what you most value. This is also the key to life balance – move away from meaningless activities and move toward those that are more rewarding.
  7. YOU’RE NOT RESPECTING YOURSELF:  Are you spending countless hours in front of a TV or at a computer monitor surfing the web or playing video games?  Are you ignoring sleep, exercise and healthy eating habits? Are you mindlessly going through the same daily routines without any regard to improving yourself? If so, you are disrespecting your talents, your mind and your potential. At some point, you will look in the mirror and not even recognize who you are. Decide now if you want to reach old age and regret the missed opportunities you could have made for yourself.
  8. YOU HAVE NO PASSION:  At some point, you must ask yourself what you are passionate about.  And once you discover your passion, you will know your purpose. Dig deep to discover what stirs your soul. Life is not meant to be lived on the sidelines so acknowledge what really lights your fire and begin to live it.  While you may have buried your passions deep inside you, they are still there. You are free to bring them forth again.   

Make today a new beginning. You don’t need to remain in the rut or feel resentful about how your life is going.  It’s all about the attitude you adopt and your willingness to make changes. Your only obstacle is your own mind. Think differently and you will begin to change your life.

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, MASTERING THE DIFFICULT, PATHS TO HAPPINESS, RATIONAL THINKING, RENEWAL AND TRANSFORMATION, THE GREAT BALANCING ACT, THE SIMPLER LIFE, UNIFYING PRINCIPLES

THE HIGHER LIFE – 25 PRINCIPLES

Live Higher 11x14 jpgLife mastery is not difficult once we believe in its possibility and also desire to achieve it. Following are my top 25 principles for living a higher life and I hope you find them to be a helpful guide:

  1. Worry Less – Laugh More

  2. Sit Less – Move More

  3. Analyze Less – Feel More

  4. Text Less – Talk More

  5. Work Less – Volunteer More

  6. Complicate Less – Simplify More

  7. Rest Less – Sleep More

  8. Conceal Less – Discover More

  9. Discriminate Less – Understand More

  10. Complain Less – Appreciate More

  11. Consume Less – Give More

  12. Waste Less – Save More

  13. Think Less – Act More

  14. Abuse Less – Support More

  15. Eat Less – Taste More

  16. Critique Less – Love More

  17. Follow Less – Lead More

  18. Amuse Less – Learn More

  19. Blame Less – Value More

  20. Control Less – Flow More

  21. Doubt Less -Trust More

  22. Hesitate Less – Risk More

  23. Watch Less – Read More

  24. Resist Less – Accept More

  25. Plead Less – Pray More

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, PATHS TO HAPPINESS, RATIONAL THINKING

DISCOVERING YOUR PASSION

Expressions-7 copyWhat are you passionate about?  Have you found it?  If not, quit thinking about it.  In fact, don’t even try to understand it.  Discovering your passion will not be revealed by logical analysis; it is only found through your heart – that moment when you feel totally lost in your own joy. Your passion becomes evident when you are most in tune with yourself,  when your heart pings with excitement and your inner voice is telling you it is okay to feel this way.

If you haven’t experienced this lately, you’re probably not listening to who you really are.  You are blocking your emotions by responding to outside influences or voices telling you how you should feel.  If you are forsaking your own opportunity for joy, you are conforming to these external expectations and not those that you created for yourself. Over time, you can literally forget what really makes you happy and what you are most passionate about.

So if you can’t remember when you last connected with your passion, it’s time to do some serious soul searching.  Life is meant to be lived passionately, not with a boring sameness day after day.  You should seek every opportunity to make your heart sing with the excitement of life itself. You only need to reflect upon and then recreate those moments when you were euphoric about something you did, felt, experienced or were engaged in.

You may need to return to your childhood to recall those moments. Or you can possibly remember a more recent situation where you felt totally absorbed in your own joy –  a hobby, book, movie, song or even a stimulating conversation.  It may have been something difficult where you felt the challenge of achievement. Perhaps it was assisting someone else that needed your help. It could be something that required your physical energy, creative spirit or even your quiet reflection observing a sunset.

If you listen to your heart, you will know what has stirred your passions in the past. And it’s your right to bring them back into your life again . . . whenever you choose and as often as you desire.  This is what a real life is all about.  Allow yourself  the freedom to enjoy it to the fullest.

 

 

 

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, LIFE'S SECOND ACT, PATHS TO HAPPINESS, RATIONAL THINKING

WHAT FUTURE IS CALLING YOU?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERATake a moment and survey your horizon. What is it telling you?  Is your future full of hope and promise or is it foreboding and worrisome?  Are you feeling optimistic about the rest of your life or does it look like a minefield of obstacles still facing you?

The fact is that your perception of the future will  most likely determine the outcome.  Having hope will project happiness . But if you approach it hopelessly you will find  happiness difficult to come by.  Dr. Richard P. Johnson refers to this as “the self-fulfilling prophecy principal.” If you have high expectations you will begin organizing and preparing yourself to make good things happen.  Conversely, if you dread what lies ahead you will not take any actions to change your future,  thus assuring the negative outcomes to follow.

Either set of self-beliefs will likely govern the results.  What you expect to happen probably will.  So spend some time thinking about the future and decide if it is calling you to be optimistic or pessimistic.  You have the freedom to choose between the two viewpoints.  You should choose wisely.

 

 

 

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, LIFE'S SECOND ACT, OUR QUEST FOR TIME, PATHS TO HAPPINESS, RATIONAL THINKING, RENEWAL AND TRANSFORMATION

HAVING NO REGRETS

I think most of us can recall FDR’s famous quote “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” But his less well known quote is “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”

This resonates with me because coaching new retirees always involves hearing about their “doubts of today.” And sadly, these fears and uncertainties will often lead to their “regrets of tomorrow.” If, however,  they could overcome their present doubts they would likely find their future lives to be much more fulfilled.

Most of us would agree that at the end of our life we’d like to go back and re-do a few things that could have been changed – maybe spend less time at the office to make more time for ourselves and our families, taken our studies more seriously, made better career choices, etc.

And while these are important considerations, these are not the main reflections of those at the end of their lives. According to palliative expert Bonnie Ware, the top five regrets of the dying are:

1. I wish I’d lived a life true to myself,  not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I’d stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish I had let myself be happier.

And I’d like to add that Nadine Stair on her 84th birthday said, “I wish I had waded in more mud puddles”.

Living with no regrets places the responsibility upon us, not just to decide what we want out of life but to then go and live it. Since we have a finite timetable for life, why not decide today what risks we are willing to take and then begin the process of taking them. Why not reframe our current fears and self-doubts into a more positive and optimistic outlook for the future.

So will we answer this question for ourselves, or will we let others answer it for us? Will we act out of fear or out of courage? If we decide to go for it, what will It be? What do we want the rest of our life to look and feel like?

Now would be a good time to answer these questions.  The choice is ours . . . to be able to look back one day at our life without any regrets at all!

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, OUR QUEST FOR TIME, PATHS TO HAPPINESS, RATIONAL THINKING, THE GREAT BALANCING ACT, THE SIMPLER LIFE

KEEP IT SIMPLE

No Cares jpgFor some baffling reason, we have gotten caught up in an insatiable need for more stuff – from clothes, cars, houses, electronic gadgets, toys, furniture and fixtures to new hairdos, pedicures and tummy tucks. We want to possess everything imaginable and never seem to be content anymore with the basics. According to comedian George Carlin, we even need to own stuff to put our stuff into. We like to take our stuff with us wherever we go, and when we get there we have to buy more stuff so we can take it home to be with other stuff!

Our fascination with stuff, however, is not the problem. It is the lifestyle that we must pursue to acquire, maintain and manage our stuff.  All of this stuff is the antithesis to a sane, balanced and purposeful life. While we tend to believe that our happiness emanates from our possessions it is, in fact, these same possessions that become the bane and curse to a joyful and meaningful life. According to Elaine St. James, Wise men and women in every major culture throughout history have found that the secret to happiness is not in getting more but in wanting less. Only when we make it our purpose to not make stuff the measure of our contentment, will we truly understand how simply beautiful (and beautifully simple) life can be lived.

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, RENEWAL AND TRANSFORMATION

A HIGHER PERSPECTIVE

Orange Sunset jpg

We often don’t appreciate the quality and value of our lives because our vision is too limited or even blocked.  To see our real possibilities we must see it from a new viewpoint, much like Robin Williams offered his students in the movie, The Dead Poets Society. When he asked all of the students to get up and stand on their desks, they came to realize that their previous views had changed, that everything looked different from their higher perspective. In order for us to transform to lives of greater significance, we must change our point of view, to see our lives from a different and higher perspective.

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, OUR UNIQUE PURPOSE, RATIONAL THINKING, UNIFYING PRINCIPLES

AN ALARMING PREDICTION

Our world society is heading down a very dangerous path at an alarming speed. As a collective people, we are rapidly losing the essence of collective Purpose. If each of us live without Purpose, we all live without Purpose, suffering the consequences together.  Perhaps we are approaching the end of human history. If we are indeed a post-industrial, cyber-techno society where crass commercialism and personal gratification exceed our desire to love, share and live with greater Purpose, then we will receive what we have asked for: the finalization of our right to exist as a human race. This is a harsh indictment of ourselves and an unpleasant proposition to consider but the evidence of this possibility surrounds us.

We are now living in a world dominated by greed, instant gratification, and weak cultural values. We are losing our ability to live with moral consciousness and belief in our Purpose and our Higher Self. We work ourselves to exhaustion, then have little more to show for our efforts than mounting debts and consumer products that are obsolete the next year. We educate our children; then lament their inability to reason, much less read. We have removed the front porches on our homes where we used to converse, moving inside to play with our electronic toys.

We are destroying our environment for profit and then complain that our fish have died, our beaches are gone and our parks are overcrowded. We embrace technology like a religion, then lose our jobs to the same machines that we created. We advance our scientific knowledge of ourselves while watching our inner cities decay. We sit mindlessly in front of true confession reality shows rather than read books or create art. We use video games to babysit our children, then complain that they won’t communicate with us. We spend more money on prisons than universities; then wonder why our crime rates escalate.

We have become a people of paradoxes, a people without Purpose. It is indisputable that our problems have not been solved through advances in technology, science, medicine or government. We still pursue inner peace and happiness, pursuits that still evade us despite our progress in human engineering. Nothing has really changed with all the changes made to our Selves and the world in which we live.

The reason is simple: We have forgotten how to love, give, share, or live for higher causes than ourselves. We simply do not have a Purpose that extends beyond our own needs for comfort and personal satisfaction. We are not willing to give up ourselves for something that is infinitely more important than our gratification for the moment. Our children are becoming our greatest victims, and the world they inherit may not be the world we intended or wished for them. We are wasting our Purpose and our cultural values for our expedient desires of today. We are running out of time.  But we have still time to change this.

INNER STRENGTH, INSPIRATIONS, RATIONAL THINKING

THE WINNING ATTITUDE

Discovering our true Self comes not only from answering the hard questions about who we think we are, but rather by molding the self-image of who we want to be. Self-imagining is a powerful tool for determining our feelings about success and what we want our lives to actually look and feel like. It is well documented that if we hold ourselves in low esteem, this self-concept will generally lead to a series of life-long failures, whereas an attitude of supreme self-confidence and self-worth will generally lead to greater life success and happiness. Whether we choose to feel inferior or superior is a matter of personal choice.

This is not to imply that we can just flip a few switches and then radiate supreme confidence, but we can with practiced effort over time develop a mental picture of ourselves as achieving, purposeful individuals. As we carry a higher sense of self-confidence around with us and act as if we are unstoppable, we will find that our string of small victories will build upon themselves, creating even more momentum for success. When Dwight Eisenhower was asked how he would feel if his invasion forces had been turned back in Normandy, he said, I don’t know. I never let that thought enter my mind. We, as well, can develop mental pictures of ourselves as always winning, gaining, enjoying, succeeding, and those powerful suggestions will more often than not produce those exact results.

Conversely, we can take a self-defeated attitude. That self-suggestion will lead to failure, in itself, as that is exactly what we will have imagined for ourselves. Again, the choice is ours: We can either feel that we have a strong Purpose and a passionate life force within us, or we can feel that we are merely victims and our lives serve little meaning or Purpose. Either set of feelings will determine the results we are seeking.

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, OUR UNIQUE PURPOSE, UNIFYING PRINCIPLES

SEEING YOUR PURPOSE

Purpose Image 3

  • If we see hunger, our Purpose must be to find one family to feed.

  • If we see hatred, our Purpose must be to offer kindness. 

  • If we see greed, our Purpose must be to counsel. 

  • If we see ignorance, our Purpose must be to teach. 

  • If we see pain, our Purpose must be to comfort. 

  • If we see pollution, our Purpose must be to cleanse.

  • If we see sadness, our Purpose must be to cheer.

  • If we see loss of hope, our Purpose must be to encourage.

  • If we see helplessness, our Purpose must be to support.

  • If we see chaos, our Purpose must be to calm.

  • If we see deceit, our Purpose must be to inform.

  • If we see war, our Purpose must be to make peace.

     

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, OUR UNIQUE PURPOSE, UNIFYING PRINCIPLES

SHARE YOUR PURPOSE

Sharing Your Purpose JPGIt is important to understand that our Purpose, while uniquely ours, is not fully manifested until we find cause to share it with others. We cannot find true meaning in life without connecting ourselves with something larger and more pervasive than we are.  Existing in isolation of the larger world will only turn us inward, while our Purpose needs outward expression to find its fulfillment. It is said that no man is an island because no one of us can find lasting peace and happiness through any other channel than participation in the greater world in which we live.

Our Purpose can find expression along two major pathways: First, giving of ourselves to others; and second, having a cause to live for. Our greatest opportunity to feel totally alive and significant is to share ourselves to the larger community, to have something meaningful to believe in and stand for. We celebrate our Purpose by discovering the many ways in which our life can significantly impact and improve the lives of others.  We will not have to look far for these opportunities. Likewise, if we possess a deep commitment to a cause, a crusade or a conviction that we hold fundamental to our Purpose, we will possess the most exciting, rewarding reasons to exist while ensuring great meaning for our life going forward.

We do not have to live in a world characterized by empty values, unabated greed, hatred and unintelligent gratification at the expense of our collective well being. Not unless that is our Purpose, and we must believe that should not be our Purpose. Our Purpose should center upon our caring for the world that our children will inherit. We can find great Purpose in giving of ourselves with selfless love. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, Love is everything. It is the key to life, and its influences are those that move the world. If we cannot accept the world as it is becoming, we can make it our Purpose to change it.

Through giving of ourselves to others and to a cause that we deeply believe in, we will find our Purpose. There are infinite opportunities to make our lives more Purposeful as we extend ourselves out to the world community. All anyone needs to do is just look around . . .

A VALUED LIFE, INSPIRATIONS, OUR UNIQUE PURPOSE, UNIFYING PRINCIPLES

WHY HAVE A PURPOSE

Purpose provides us hope and inspiration.

Purpose gives us an intended, clear direction.

Purpose offers us promise for the future.

Purpose teaches us our values and goals.

Purpose provides us a daily roadmap to follow.

Purpose puts passion into our life.

Purpose gives us control of our destiny.

Purpose is the total source of our spirituality.

Purpose sustains our commitment to achieve.

Purpose creates our self-confidence and self-esteem.

Purpose provides meaning and significance to our life.

Purpose is the basis for our happiness and joy.

Purpose focuses our efforts and gives us perseverance.

Purpose creates productivity by managing time for us.

Purpose provides us balance and harmony.

Purpose is the source of our strength and inner peace.

INSPIRATIONS, OUR UNIQUE PURPOSE, UNIFYING PRINCIPLES

IT IS OUR LIFE

 

We have been given that marvelous gift to do with as we choose. It is life itself that we should embrace. It is ours to live. Too often, we lose sight of this miracle called life. We take it for granted. We abuse it. We waste it. We criticize it for its difficulty. We believe we didn’t get our fair share. We fault our opportunities and condemn our lack of good fortune. We feel that the best of what life has to offer rarely comes to us. But with all this blame and criticism of our life, we rarely believe it is our fault. We expect happiness to come our way, and if it doesn’t, then the rest of the world is whom we indict for its unfairness. Yet, we alone create the good fortune that we will receive. We cannot wait for our ship to come in. We must swim out to it. We should not waste another moment agonizing over how unfair life can be; rather we should rejoice that it even exists.

A VALUED LIFE, INNER STRENGTH, INSPIRATIONS, UNIFYING PRINCIPLES

DESIDERATA

Expressions-12

The following quote from Max Ehrmann is probably the best self-help piece ever written. If we all lived our lives with the following words in mind, we would have no need for any other advice:

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Nor be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann