Work & Passion

The Four Ps can help you at office meetings and further your career:
The first P is for Purpose - always know the reason why a meeting is being
held, so you can plan for it.
The second is for Participants. If you know who will be at the meeting, you'll
be better able to define your role at the beginning.
Third is Prepare - know what is expected of you at the meeting.
And the fourth is Participate: "You don't necessarily have to come up with
the most brilliant solution to the problem being discussed; but if you don't
take part, your bosses and co-workers will think you have no ideas." -
Alberto Paz

Here are 3 suggestions for connecting to your passion:

Pay attention to your gut feelings.

Pay attention when you're enthusiastic.
Pay attention to synchronicities.

Keeping passion alive is about courage, the courage to be who you are,
regardless of some of the consequences. Living with passion is about living on
the edge- it's about pushing yourself to grow outside your comfort zone.

Remember the message of the movie Good Will Hunting. All professions are
honourable, but there is no honour in laying bricks if you have the heart of
an artist. There is no honour in a desk job if your heart yearns to roam the
land.

The point is to strive to know your authentic self and then be it! The
outcome: a more passionate and meaningful life.

© Grace Cirocco

____________________________________________________________
"Be the change you want to see in the world." Gandhi

"He who seeks help for a friend, while needy himself,

will be answered first." Talmud
"A person's true wealth is the good he or she does in the
world." Mohammed (PBUH)

"All things are possible to those who believe." Jesus

"The less you have, the less you have to worry about."
Buddha
"Life is a bridge; enjoy while crossing, but don't build a
castle upon it." Upanishads

UNDERSTANDING THE PARTS OF OUR PERSONALITY

Neither the id nor superego is realistic. The id demands

constant gratification; the superego is impossibly idealistic.
The ego or "adult" has to deal with reality--and reality
includes (1) the id's emotional impulses, (2) the superego's
moralistic demands and censure, and (3) complex external
reality, including understanding how things really work in
the outside world and how to get along with others. As
Freud said, "Life (for the ego) is not easy!" It has an
enormous task and, as we saw in chapter 5, when our ego
becomes overwhelmed, we feel anxious. The anxiety may
come from the id (the urges are about to break loose), the
superego (the criticism is devastating), or reality (things are
falling apart in the external world).
 Trusting Your Instincts
Intuition Can Benefit Your Business & Personal Lives

Intuition, also called "sixth sense," "gut reaction," "inner voice-

spirit" and other names for thousands of years, is with us all of
the time.

Space and Quiet.

Meditation, where we clear the mind of all but focusing on the
intuitive feeling, will often bring us the answer.

It is said by many scholars, therapists, philosophers, mentors and

theologians, "All the answers you need are inside of you."

The experiences of thousands of scholars and everyday people

who have, over time developed their intuitive feelings, and who
have learned how to listen to them and make decisions based on
them, leads me to the conclusion that while it is difficult (more
so for the person who is used to "left brained" (problem solving)
and takes consistent practice and desire, developing and learning
to trust and use our strong intuitions and our "inklings" can add
quality, excitement and great opportunities to our lives.
 Top 10 Tools to Reach Your Goals Quickly

1. CLARITY OF PURPOSE.

2. COMMITMENT.

3. TALK ABOUT IT.

4. WRITE IT DOWN.

5. WRITE IT EVERY DAY!

6. HAVE A PLAN.

7. TAKE ACTION EVERY DAY!

8. USE CONSTANT AFFIRMATIONS.

9. REVIEW, AND RE-COMMIT, OFTEN.

10. CELEBRATE EACH MILESTONE!

TOP 10 TIME TIPS

1. WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS.

2. CREATE A MISSION STATEMENT for your life.

3. Every day, DIVIDE YOUR TASKS INTO A, B AND

C PRIORITIES.

4. BLOCK OFF TIME for activities that are important.

5. HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY NO.

6. Always START MEETINGS ON TIME.

7. Ask people who interrupt you if you can MEET THEM

LATER.
8. Avoid procrastination, COMPLETE UNPLEASANT
TASKS FIRST.

9. When leaving phone messages, TELL OTHERS

EXACTLY WHY YOU'RE CALLING.
10. CREATE TIME FOR BALANCE IN YOUR LIFE.
Set aside time for family, fitness, social, educational and
spiritual needs.
 Top 10 Characteristics of Extraordinary
People

Keep my words positive: Words become my behaviours.

Keep my behaviours positive: Behaviours become my habits.
Keep my habits positive: Habits become my values.
Keep my values positive: Values become my destiny.
There is no dress rehearsal: This is one day in YOUR life.
- Mahatma Gandhi

THEY:
1. Have a PASSION for what they do.
2. Live ON PURPOSE.
3. Are ENTHUSIASTIC and OPTIMISTIC.
4. Look at change in a POSITIVE way.
5. DEAL with the "stuff" that gets in the way
of enjoying their jobs and life.
6. Say No to Normal and YES to EXTRAORDINARY.
7. WANT TO rather than Have To.
8. Pay attention to the BIG PICTURE.
9. Take 100% RESPONSIBILITY for results in life.
10. Live with a SEIZE THE DAY attitude.

Laws Of Success
Do you want something? - Will you pay the price?

The great sin - Gossip.

The great crippler - Fear.
The greatest mistake - Giving up.
The most satisfying experience - Doing your duty first.
The best action - Keep the mind clear and judgement
good.
The greatest blessing - Good health.
The biggest fool - The man who lies to himself.
The great gamble - Substituting hope for facts.
The most certain thing in life - Change.
The greatest joy - Being needed.
The cleverest man - The one who does what he thinks is
right.
The most potent force - Positive thinking.
The greatest opportunity - The next one.
The greatest thought - God.
The greatest victory - Victory over self.
The best play - Successful work.
The greatest handicap - Egotism.
The most expensive indulgence - Hate.
The most dangerous man - The liar.
The most ridiculous trait - False pride.
The greatest loss - Loss of self confidence.
The greatest need - Common sense.

© Jack Yianitsas

Timeless Lessons In Character Power

Without self-mastery he has no understanding of inner

power; without inner power, he has no peace; and without
peace, where is joy?
- The Bhagavad Gita

Your character is who you are in the dark. It is your

personal guidance system, your inner core of wisdom that is
the governor which determines the heights to which you will
rise on your upward path to self-mastery. The difference
between peak performers and weak performers often comes
down to character power. Cultivating a strong, disciplined,
integrated character is the surest way to high-performance
and a life rich with energy, achievement and satisfaction.

Enlightened, fully-functioning individuals are led by their

consciences rather than by the puppet strings of societal
pressure.
 They place a premium on acting according to their own
values and their deepest sense of what is right. They have
kindled the courage to run their own races and never get
swept up into the whirlpool of other peoples' expectations of
them. "No man is free who is not a master of himself," said
Epictetus.

Effective performers realize that life is too short to get

caught up in the current of popular opinion. Instead, they
lead their days in a very simple, clear and powerful way.
They have taken the time to discover their life's purpose and
focus their attention on this high-impact pursuit. This focus
fills their lives with excitement, meaning and contentment.
Robert Frost's famous poem "The Road Not Taken" says it
all:

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood and I-
I took the one less travelled by
And that has made all the difference

Start running your own race. Do the things that are most
meaningful to you. Align what you do in your day with
where you want to be at the end of your life. Be guided by
the milestones and goals which will advance you along the
path of your burning desire and your destiny. This is the
way to happiness and personal and spiritual satisfaction. As
I wrote in MegaLiving!, "a character rich with integrity,
courage and discipline is the bedrock of lifelong success."
There are 4 primary pillars or virtues that will liberate your
character power and allow you to live by the blazing
lighthouse of your conscience.

1. INTEGRITY: Life is one indivisible whole."

2. IMAGINATION: It is not what you are that is holding
you back-it is what you think you are not.

you set unseen forces into play which steadily manifest your
vision into reality.

3. COMPASSION & CONTRIBUTION:

as you give so shall you receive.

4. DISCIPLINED EFFORT: Media visionary Ted Turner

was asked the secret of his extraordinary success. He
replied: "Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and
advertise."
Once you take the time to find your life's aim, things will
never be the same!
© Robin S. Sharma
___________________________________________________
______________
 10 Ways To Develop Admirable Qualities that Build
Character

I have found one of the most powerful of the 28 Attraction

Principles formulated by Thomas Leonard is
Become Irresistibly Attractive To Yourself, or as Leonard
says, "do stuff that makes you proud of yourself." One of the
ways to do this is to pick a quality that you don't currently
have much facility with and to develop it in yourself.
 Well, here are ten places to start.

1. create a top ten list of ways to develop that particular

quality. example: acceptance.

2. Notice what is automatically present in your life that tends

to block out the quality you desire. For example, one of the
things I see that gets in the way of acceptance is being
judgemental, so each time I catch myself being judgemental
I have the opportunity to set my judgements aside and try
being accepting in those moments.

3. take a moment to identify the background assumption

that gives rise to the undesired quality that you want to
replace.

4. Pretend you are a person who is already masterful with

the desired quality, For example, pretend you are a master
as acceptance.
5. Closely related to #4, identify someone in your life who
already possesses this quality to a large degree, then
interview this person about the quality.
6. Acknowledge every little place where you already see that
quality in yourself.
 7. Let other people around you know what you are up to.
Now, on this one be selective. Pick those people who are "in
your corner" and positively supportive; people who will
encourage you and give your positive enforcement.

8. Use your coach.

9. Consciously stop at least one undesired quality to make

room for the new quality.

10.Make a list of the top five benefits you and those around
you will receive from having developed the new quality.

The Secret to Being Lucky

Why do some people seem to have all the luck? They're always
in the right place at the right time. Their businesses prosper.
They get one fantastic promotion after another. In short: they
enjoy phenomenal success. What explains it? Are they doing
something special, or is good fortune selecting them by chance?

People who create their own luck have certain traits in common.
Here, then, are the secrets for deliberately bringing luck into
your life....
1.BE PROACTIVE.

2. HAVE A DYNAMIC, POSITIVE ATTITUDE. It has been

proven that we attract what we think about most.
3. POSSESS A BURNING DESIRE.
4. BE PREPARED.
5. DISPLAY INCREDIBLE PERSISTENCE AND A LONG-
TERM PERSPECTIVE.
6. PAY YOUR DUES.
7. CREATE CRYSTAL CLEAR OBJECTIVES.
8. DEMONSTRATE FLEXIBILITY. Let's face it,

9. BE A RISK-TAKER.

The Nine Insights

The First Insight

Feeling restless? You're not alone: Everybody's starting to

look for more meaning in life. Start paying closer
attention to those seemingly "Chance Coincidences" -
strange occurrences that feel like they were meant to
happen. They are actually synchronistic events, and
following them will start you on your path to spiritual
truth.
 The Second Insight

Observe our culture within its proper historical context.

The first half of the past millennium was spent under the
thumb of the church; in the second half we became
preoccupied with material comfort. Now, at the end of the
twentieth century, we have exhausted that preoccupation.
We are ready to discover life's ultimate purpose.

The Third Insight

Start to get acquainted with the subtle energy that infuses

all things. With practice, you can learn to see the aura
around any living being and to project your own energy
around it to give it strength.

The Fourth Insight

An unconscious competition for energy underlies all

conflicts. By dominating or manipulating others, we get
the extra energy we think we need. Sure, it feels good -
but both parties are damaged in the conflict.
 The Fifth Insight

The key to overcoming conflict in the world is the

mystical experience, which is available to everyone. To
nurture the mystical and build your energy, allow yourself
to be filled with a sense of love.

The Sixth Insight

Childhood traumas block our ability to fully experience

the mystical. All humans, because of their upbringing,
tend toward one of four "Control Dramas":
Intimidators steal energy from others by threat.
Interrogators steal it by judging and questioning.
Aloof people attract attention (and energy) to themselves
by playing coy.
And Poor Me's make us feel guilty and responsible for
them.

Become aware of the family dynamics that created your

control drama and you can focus on your essential
question, which is how to make of your life a higher-level
synthesis of your parents' lives.
 The Seventh Insight

Once cleared of traumas, you can build energy through

contemplation and meditation, focus on your basic life
question, and start riding a steady stream of intuitions,
dreams and synchronistic coincidences, all guiding you in
the direction of your own evolution and transformation.

The Eighth Insight

That evolution can't be done alone, so begin to practice

the new "Interpersonal Ethic" by uplifting those who
cross your path. Talk to people who make spontaneous
eye contact with you. Avoid co-dependent relationships.
Be there for people. Call attention to other people's
control dramas. In groups, speak when the spirit (instead
of the ego) moves you.

The Ninth Insight

Our purpose here is to evolve beyond this plane. We can

connect to God's energy in such a way that we will
eventually become beings of light, and walk straight into
heaven.
 The Experience of Self-Awareness

The experience of self-awareness is not something you can get from

the physical world. You will still chop wood and carry water, as the
ancient Zen proverb tells us. You will not suddenly develop totally
new talents or interests. But your interactions with the material
world will be altered dramatically when you become self-aware. You
can expect the following qualities of heightened awareness to
become part of your daily life as you walk the inner path.

1. You will experience and enhance the meaningfulness of

coincidences. You become aware that there are no accidents in this
intelligent system. You realize that everything that shows up in your
life has something to teach you. You start to know that you are a
partner with fate rather than its victim. Ultimately you come to
manage your coincidences and become fate's collaborator.

2. You will become aware of a universal source of energy. You begin

to exercise your ability to make contact with this source and make it
part of your daily life. You develop a strong knowing about the God
force and your ability to access this energy.

3. You will feel loved. You will call for and accept divine guidance.
All seems as it should be, even though you may not understand it.
You will feel peaceful about what you see and feel.

4. You will develop a sense of appreciation and awe. You begin

seeing beauty, and feeling awestruck at the magnificence of the
universe. By focusing your inner energy on the beauty that
surrounds you, you will receive that energy from your surroundings.

5. You will feel connected to everyone. You will sense that anything
that is destructive to one human is destructive to all. This higher
awareness will lead to the conclusion that Mahatma Gandhi came
to: "God has no religion." This awareness will give you a loving
energy that will help bring all of us together.

6. You will make a new agreement with reality. The limits of your
perception will expand to include another world that coexists with
ours. You will know that all of the "powers" that have been ascribed
to spiritual masters are within your capacity to manifest.

7. You will experience surrender and acceptance. You will finally

stop fighting and simply let go, even when you fail to understand
why so many things transpire that are inconsistent with how you
would orchestrate the universe.

8. You will become a waking dreamer. The power of your mind to

manifest what previously could only occur in sleeping dreams will
begin to be your awakened reality.

9. You will know the power and the ecstasy of silence. Prayer and
meditation will be integral to your life. The answers you seek, the
guidance you need, the assistance you require, will appear as you
practice honoring your true self with moments of silence.

10. You will know that there is a spiritual solution to every problem.
When you are peaceful, experience silence, meditate and listen,
really listen to God, you will be directed away from the worldly and
toward the divinity that is within you. You will know what you need
to do.

11. You will shift from acquiring to sharing. Rather than being
focused on what is in it for you, you will be guided by the inner
desire to help meet the needs of others. You will desire less and yet
feel more fulfilled. You will shift your attention away from yourself
and take pleasure in serving others. You will need less, want less and
find yourself less attracted to acquiring and possessing.

12. You will live authentically. You will no longer have any difficulty
just being yourself. You will be able to say with conviction, "I am
what I am." You will find it easier and easier to listen, without being
defensive because your inner knowing is strong and satisfying. You
will live your life authentically-fulfilling your reason for being here,
knowing that "life gives exams" and learning from those that you
fail to pass.

13. You will experience bliss as a natural state. It is a state of grace,

and a state of self-sufficiency. It is a connectedness to God, a
connectedness to the universal truth. Your bliss provides you with
the sense that you are "on purpose."

14. You will be less judgemental and more forgiving. You will begin
seeing that judging others does not define them-it defines you. You
will accept that others are on their own paths. The things you
previously found irritating about them will become a reflection of a
part of yourself. As Carl Jung put it, "Everything that irritates us
about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."

You will also begin to forgive yourself. You will see mistakes as
lessons for you to transcend. This will free you from the tyranny of
self-recrimination. You have made the decision to be free.

Freedom is the ability to leave the single room of awareness you

were born in. In that room you learned the limits of your life.
Outside of that room you learn your life has unlimited possibilities.
You needn't be one of the people Arthur Schopenhauer described
when he wrote: "Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the
limits of the world."

© Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Ten Keys To Happiness

Many of us have benefitted from the lessons toward

full and healthy living Deepak Chopra, M.D. offers in
his books Creating Health, Quantum Healing, Perfect
Health, and Unconditional Life. Challenging us to
release assumptions of limitation and deterioration, he
has lighted the path of optimal wellness and healthy
passion for life.

Holding the light, he invites us to follow, to release the

debilitating practices of judgement, attachment, and
lack of care, and to enter a greater awareness of the
wholeness of life. Synthesizing these teachings into a
list of ten keys, Dr. Chopra offers us a simple map of
principles in Ageless Body, Timeless Mind.

1. Listen to your body's wisdom, which expresses itself

through signals of comfort and discomfort. When
choosing a certain behavior, ask your body, "How do you
feel about this?" If your body sends a signal of physical
or emotional distress, watch out. If your body sends a
signal of comfort and eagerness, proceed.

2. Live in the present, for it is the only moment you have.

Keep your attention on what is here and now; look, for the
fullness in every moment. Accept what comes to you
totally and completely so that you can appreciate it, learn
from it, and then let it go. The present is as it should be. It
reflects infinite laws of Nature that have brought you this
exact thought, this exact physical response. This moment
is as it is because the universe is as it is. Don't struggle
against the infinite scheme of things; instead, be at one
with it.

3. Take time to be silent, to meditate, to quiet the internal

dialogue. In moments of silence, realize that you are
recontacting your source of pure awareness. Pay attention
to your inner life so that you can be guided by intuition
rather than externally imposed interpretations of what is
or isn't good for you.

4. Relinquish your need for external approval. You alone

are the judge of your worth; and your goal is to discover
infinite worth in yourself, no matter what anyone else
thinks. There is great freedom in this realization.

5. When you find yourself reacting with anger or

opposition to any person or circumstance, realize that you
are only struggling with yourself. Putting up resistance is
the response of defenses created by old hurts. When you
relinquish this anger, you will be healing yourself and
cooperating with the flow of the universe.

6. Know that the world "out there" reflects your reality "in
here." The people you react to most strongly, whether
with love or hate, are projections of your inner world.
What you most hate is what you most deny in yourself.
What you most love is what you most wish for in
yourself. Use the mirror of relationships to guide your
evolution. The goal is total self-knowledge. When you
achieve that, what you most want will automatically be
there, and what you most dislike will disappear.

7. Shed the burden of judgment--you will feel much

lighter. Judgement imposes right and wrong on situations
that just are. Everything can be understood and forgiven,
but when you judge, you cut off understanding and shut
down the process of learning to love. In judging others,
you reflect your lack of self-acceptance. Remember that
every person you forgive adds to your self-love.

8. Don't contaminate your body with toxins, either food,

drink, or toxic emotions. Your body is more than a life-
support system. It is the vehicle that will carry you on the
journey of your evolution. The health of every cell
directly contributes to your state of well-being, because
every cell is a point of awareness within the field of
awareness that is you.

9. Replace fear-motivated behavior with love-motivated

behavior. Fear is the product of memory, which dwells in
the past. Remembering what hurt us before, we direct our
energies toward making certain that an old hurt will not
repeat itself. But trying to impose the past on the present
will never wipe out the threat of being hurt. That happens
only when you find the security of your own being, which
is love. Motivated by the truth inside you, you can face
any threat because your inner strength is invulnerable to
fear.

10. Understand that the physical world is just a mirror of a

deeper intelligence. Intelligence is the invisible organizer
of all matter and energy, and since a portion of this
intelligence resides in you, you share in the organizing
power of the cosmos. Because you are inseparably linked
to everything, you cannot afford to foul the planet's air
and water. But at a deeper level, you cannot afford to live
with a toxic mind, because every thought makes an
impression on the whole field of intelligence. Living in
balance and purity is the highest good for you and the
Earth.
© Deepak Chopra, M.D.
 How to Conquer Worry and Manage Stress
If you want to develop courage, do the thing you fear and
keep on doing it until you have a record of
successful experiences behind you. That is the quickest and
surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.
"You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up
your mind to do so.
For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the
mind."
- Dale Carnegie

Try to compartmentalize worry so that it

doesn't carry over from one day to the next.

Ask yourself what is the worst that could happen.

Prepare to accept the worst.

Try to improve on the worst.

Remind yourself of the toll worry can take on your health.

Remember that 90% of what you worry about never

happens.
 Strengthening Relationships: A Time-Tested Strategy
It's been reported that one of the greatest personal strengths
of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was her
ability to make the person she was speaking with feel like the
most important person in the world.

Don't criticize, condemn, or complain.

Give honest, sincere appreciation.

Become genuinely interested in other people.

Smile.

Remember that a person's name is to that person

the sweetest and the most important sound in any language.

Be a good listener.

Encourage others to talk about themselves.

Talk in terms of the other person's interests.

Make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely.

© Dale Carnegie
___________________________________________________
_________

Live Simply
Dale Carnegie said "One of the most tragic things that I know
about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are
all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon
instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our
window today."

It has been said that success is a journey not a destination.

The wise sages and pundits who spent their lives in deep
contemplation, searching for life's ultimate purpose have said
time and time again that every minute of life is a blessing.

In the East, the philosophers told us to "live in the now, enjoy

the process and slow down so that you can savour the simple
pleasures which will open your heart."

And yet in our frantic race to become a high-tech, information

rich world, all too often we miss the little pleasures that every
day sends us, those little gifts that could renew our spirits and
anchor us to the wonders of all creation.

Good things happen to us every day. The sunrise or the sunset or

a moonlit sky or your child's laugh are all meaningful events
which have the power to improve the quality of your life if you
start to pay attention to them.
 As I suggested in my book MegaLiving!, the happiest people of
this world and the unhappiest people of this world often
experience similar things in their day: challenges at the office,
traffic filled highways, the seemingly endless stream of negative
news and constant levels of change. What separates the happy
from the unhappy is that the joyful ones give their mental focus
to different things, to those more meaningful and inspiring
events that nurture a more enlightened reality. They have
developed the inner wisdom to know that life management
begins with mind management and you truly can't afford the
luxury of even one negative thought.

The moment you start feeling gratified by the simple act of

doing something for someone else or following your mission
because your heart tells you that this is the right thing to do, you
take a giant step along the path of enlightenment.

Because true harmony is to be found within you, not outside of

you. Happiness is an inside job. If you base your happiness on
external objects, the moment one of those objects is taken away
from you, you lose your happiness. Real happiness comes
through knowing who you are and connecting to your highest
self. It comes through knowing that you are not in this world -
the world is in you and you can create anything you need within
yourself.

Everyone of us is part of the same universal source. We are all

connected in some way or another. The sages have known this
truth for thousands of years. When you do something for
someone else, you do something for yourself. Lifelong success
comes from enjoying the process of living and doing things,
 whether it is growing a rose garden or building a business, for
the sheer pleasure of doing these things. The inner joy that
comes from doing something that is truly worthy can never be
taken away from you, unlike the external rewards like a big
house and a fast car or a corporate title, which are always
fleeting.

It's like the story of the young boy who sought enlightenment
from a wise monk who practised pottery making. After many
years of deep contemplation and introspection, the boy was
close to enlightenment. One sunny afternoon, the boy was
holding one of the monk's prized pots, and admiring its beauty
when it slipped from his hand and broke into many tiny pieces.
The boy felt a tremendous sense of loss at the broken pot and
apologized profusely to his teacher. But the monk remained
calm. With a gentle smile the teacher said "You need not be sad
- it is still within me."

The wise monk realized that the true pleasure of the pot came
through the process of creating and shaping it, not in owning the
end product or in the external rewards that it brought him. The
joy was not in the creation, it was in the journey. The joy was
not in the destination but in the path. And this is precisely the
same in your life. To live with deep richness and contentment,
start taking the time to see the simple pleasures that are around
you. Start enjoying the path and stop focusing so much on the
destination. Start living in the moment and noticing that the
beauty of that moonlit sky or the wonder of a rose petal or the
fun that dancing barefoot in the rain offers you. Practice
gratitude and be thankful for life's little wonders. Remember, it
is the simple pleasures allow you to start caring for your spirit.
 Those simple pleasures allow you to start taking the time to
nourish the brilliance that lies within you.

Simplifying your life is not hard to do. You just need to have the
courage to carve out some time to do it. You can start to connect
with your highest self through a daily period of silence or a daily
period of peace as I call it in my work. This is nothing more than
fifteen or twenty minutes a day where you stop rushing and
simply start being, connecting to the natural wellspring of
calmness which rests inside of you. Turn off the radio and the
TV and don't answer the phone. And realize that silence
nourishes the soul.

Another way to reconnect with your highest self is through time

with nature. Something as simple as a walk along the ocean or a
picnic in a park on a summer's day renews your spiritual side
and connects you to the splendid pleasures which surround us.
By spending time with nature, you start seeing the intelligence
and gifts that exist within every living thing. And start to see
yourself for who you really are: a traveller, an explorer on the
path of life, confidently advancing along the path of
enlightenment towards your destiny.

As a litigation lawyer, I used to work 70, 80, sometimes 90

hours a week, preparing briefs and getting ready to step into the
court room. Although my efforts brought professional success, I
realized that there was more to life. Eventually, I grew tired of
the endless rushing, the endless faxes and the endless phone
calls. I wanted to spend more time doing the things that I loved
to do. I wanted to spend more time with my family, being a
great father, husband and friend. I wanted to live a simpler,
slower, more meaningful life. So I started to make changes. And
one of my first priorities became the regular period of renewal
that I am now suggesting you integrate into your own life. This
simple discipline has worked wonders for me and it will do the
same for you.

Remember, no matter what your background is and what your

current circumstances are, you have the capacity to take action.
This is one of the golden threads of humanity - we all have the
power to act in a way that will improve our lives. Henry David
Thoreau, a man who deeply understood that simplicity and an
uncluttered life is the essence of lifelong success said the
following words in a similar way:

"Simplify your life. Don't waste the years struggling for things
that are unimportant. Don't burden yourself with possessions.
Keep your needs and wants simple and enjoy what you have.
Don't destroy your peace of mind by looking back, worrying
about the past. Live in the present. Simplify!"
© Robin Sharma
 It Is Later Than You Think

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to

begin - real life.
But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to
be gotten through first,
some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be
paid.
Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these
obstacles were my life.
This perspective has helped me to see there is no way to
happiness.
Happiness is the way."
- Alfred D'Souza.

Enjoy Yourself
It Is Later Than You Think

"Relish the moment" is a good motto

It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets
over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are
twin thieves who rob us of today.
So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb
more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often,
swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less.
Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon
enough.

Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the

result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your
life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and
the choices you make today.