The OKLU Blog

Did you ever receive a gift in an unexpected place?

I did, when I went to McDonald’s recently. My order was mistakenly placed as a Child’s Happy Meal. For some reason, I decided it was worth keeping, and in it was a gift in the form of a Sega game for kids.

After ignoring the game initially, and then haphazardly trying to play, I decided to figure it out. A couple of days passed, and it occurred to me that there were lessons about life in this little handheld game.

In a nutshell, the character of the game is to move up and down on lines, otherwise known as elevators, in its attempt to get diamonds distributed on various landings/floors. One side of the elevators is up, and the other is down. Stay on either too long, and the character gets smushed. If the character misses the elevator, or doesn’t collect the diamonds in time, or stays on the elevator too long, it loses a play. Lose 5 plays on a level, and the game is over. Be successful with the collection of 1 diamond 5 times, then move to the next level for 2, and then 3, 4, and 5. In order to win the game, the player must successfully get to level 5, and be able to successfully complete the diamond collection 5 times.

What lessons could someone take away from this little toy?

For starters, I realized my haphazard approach wasn’t getting me anywhere. I realized that I needed to know how to play, needed to be focused, and in the moment. If not, there is a good chance that I will fall into any of the pitfalls. If I get distracted, I can lose a play, and potentially the game.

-> Just how many times in your life have you been THAT focused and conscious and intentional about what you have done? Have you taken the time to really engross yourself in what you’re doing? What kind of results are you getting? Have you truly been playing “your game”?

Next, while there is some predictability to the game, the starting location varies, and the diamonds are planted in different places each time. As I have played, it has occurred to me that there are different ways to accomplish what needs to be done.

->How often do you miss opportunities because you think the situation is predictable, or (you think) there is only one way to go?

While realizing that there are different ways to get things done, I also realized a second delay in pressing a button might mean that I would lose a play because the character would miss the elevator that seemed to be there.

->How often do you think you’re standing on a firm foundation, only to have a misstep? The great thing about the game is that there is always another chance. Even if the options run out on the level I am on, I can always start over. Just how often are you willing to just pick yourself up and begin again in your “real” life?

Occasionally, while playing, I will think that the character is going to one space, but the game is just a second faster, and the character winds up in a different place than I thought it would be. I then need to reconsider what I am doing, oftentimes working with something better than expected.

->How many times do you think you know where you’re going, only to find yourself somewhere else? Are you flexible enough to adapt to the changes?

Sometimes, I need to use the up elevator to maneuver myself into a place, so that I could go down…and sometimes I need to use the down elevator to maneuver myself to a place, so I can go up.

->How often do you realize that the direction you are headed in is taking you the direction you need to go?

Once one level is completed 5 times, I am bumped into the next level. In the game, it’s the next place to go.

->Once you have mastered something, does it seem that there is always something else? Once growth has been achieved, does a new challenge present itself? At times growth can seem like a lot of work, but it would also seem that each thing that happens comes because it’s time for it to.

As I have continued to play, I realize that I have gotten better at it. What seemed challenging at first, now almost seems too easy.

->How many times have things gotten easier for you, the more you’ve allowed yourself to practice them? How often has a challenge ceased to be one with practice, awareness, and frequency?

Lastly, it’s “just” a game, right? I can’t take it seriously - can I? Well, I could, actually, but because it’s a game, I am willing to give myself space to breathe, and have kept at it.

->Do you take your life seriously sometimes? What if you treated it more like this game? What if you were willing to keep trying because you always knew you had another chance? What if you could see your failures as stepping stones to your ultimate successes?

By the way, I win the game now every time I play it with focus and intention. Sometimes I get distracted, and I need to do something else, at which time I just put it away and start over again another time. Sometimes I’m so close to finishing, too. While it may at times be disappointing to stop, I know I can always to back to it, and build myself up again to hear the sounds that tell me I’ve gotten as far as I can, and that I have succeeded in what I set out to do.

Too bad life doesn’t have the “winning sounds” that this game plays…so that we’d know without a doubt when we’ve won. However, the sounds are still there, they may just come in the form of cheers, clapping, or a friendly, supportive voice. We succeed at something all the time, but are we too busy listening to the sounds of failure to hear our successes?

What truly is success? Is it my ability to win the game? Perhaps. However, I have come to realize that the minute that I did the best I could do in that moment, I was already successful. What perspective this unexpected treasure offered me, a big gift that came in the form of something that fits in the palm of my hand - something that reminds me, too, that whatever I need is well within my grasp.

The next time you are tempted to disregard something that has come your way, consider that it may be a gift that has yet to be unwrapped.

Essa has a varied, non-judgmental, and fun approach to the work she does as a StressBusterBuddy. She works primarily with individuals on a one-on-one basis, and is the Author and Publisher of a mindful meditation CD. To learn more about Essa, her CD, or to listen to her online recordings, visit http://www.StopKickingYourself.com/ or call 212.560.7582 (where you can also hear a 3-minute Relieve Stress Recording - only local, toll, or long distance charges apply).

Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”.

Did you know that athletes use the power of their imaginations to perfect their athletic performances? Musicians and vocalists do the same thing. In their mind’s eye, they imagine the perfect performance step by step. The athlete imagines the sequence creating a perfect throw, catch, goal, jump or ride. The musician imagines playing the perfect performance note by note and bar by bar. The singer imagines hitting the high notes with perfect pitch easily and effortlessly.

Athletes, musicians and singers also spend time perfecting their skills so the imagined performance is physically possible. Each trains until the physical part of the performance is second nature and unfolds without thinking it through.

An interesting fact is that your body does not know the difference between an imagined performance and a real performance. Your body treats both experiences the same way. Perspiration or imagination - it doesn’t matter. Both work and both are needed.

You may not be an athlete, musician or singer. The key to remember here is to imagine what you do want. Take a moment now, close your eyes and left your mind drift. What comes to you? What is it you do want? Pick something to use for practice.

For some of us, it is easier to focus on what we don’t want rather than what we do want. This is okay as a place to start. Use this information to help us to figure out what we do want. It is far more powerful to imagine what you do want — and keep imagining it. When we imagine what we do want, the vibration of our energy field lifts to match the vibration of what we do want, pulling us forward.

Now that you have picked something you want, close your eyes and imagine it. What does it look like? Where are you? What are you doing? What sights do you see? What sounds do you hear? What aromas and scents do you smell? What tastes are you experiencing? What are you touching? What or who is touching you? Imagine the experience of what you do want in as much detail as possible.

The most powerful action we can take is to raise our own consciousness and — in “physics” terms — raise the actual physical frequency (vibration) of our own energy field. We do this by imagining it is so.

Have fun imagining what you do want. If you find yourself slipping into what you don’t want, notice and focus your attention on what you do want.

Karen Titanich and Bonnie Hutchinson of SPIRIT Connections work with the energy of people, places and situations. Discover the secrets of working with energy. Visit http://www.spiritconnections.com

Just 10 metres from the interest of the hotel is a stop for bus number 4 leading directly to the lakeside capital and, at approximately 300 metres, the train stations.
At the reception desk of the hotel Delfino – open 24 hrs. – information is available on major tours and reservations for guided tours. The spacious restaurant is convenient for hotel guests who wish to sample the exquisite local and international cuisine.
The conference room seats 40 and offers space and services that can meet the needs of the business clients who will find everything they need at the Hotel Delfino.

Services:
Internet
Fax
Daily news
Tourist info
Excursions
Guided tours

Furniture, draperies and bedspreads are all carefully matched. Special attention to the clientele is shown in a comfortable and relaxing environment creating all the basic necessity for a wonderful stay. This includes satellite TV, DVD reader, telephone, in-room refrigerator and air conditioning completing the comfort of these elegant rooms offered in single, double and family versions. Bathrooms are equipped with showers and hair dryers.

Comfort:
Air conditioning
Non-smoking
Satellite TV
Tv combo dvd
Telephone
Refrigerator
Safe

Quick info:
Check-in: after 15:00
Check-out: by 10
Breakfast: from 8 to 10

Just ten kilometers from Venice and one step from the Parco di San Giuliano in Mestre, Hotel Delfino has the best possible location of 3-star hotels in Mestre. Reaching Venice within moments by traveling across Ponte della Libertà is an exclusive privilege the hotel offers to its clients.

BY PLANE
From the airport Marco Polo of Tessera-Venice, you will arrive in twenty minutes at the Mestre train station. Take line 15 of the Actv bus or the Atvo shuttle ferry, then continue as described below. Taxi service is available.
BY TRAIN
Go down to the Venice Mestre station, and turning your back to the entrance of the station head right for 100m, turn left, walking about 300m, turn to via Gozzi and follow it to the traffic light; the Hotel Delfino will be visible on the left. Taxi service is available.
BY CAR
Leaving the Venice Mestre toll-booth, keep right in the direction of Interporto-Venice SS11; at the roundabout take the third exit in the direction of Mestre/Zona Industriale/Venice; continue approximately 3km and you will reach an overpass with a traffic light; turn left, and after 700m you will reach Hotel Delfino.

Looking for budget Hotel in Venice? Pls visit our catalogue of Hotels, where you can find also a wide range of Tours in Florence and compare price for double room in Venice.

“Come out of the
circle of time and
into the circle of love.”

Jelaluddin Rumi.
Mystic Poet

In Corrogue there is synchronicity - “meaningful co-incidence.”

I am reminded of this fact in an email I received this week. This was an email from others engaged in the dynamic I practice as an Anamcara. As a practitioner of “soul friendship” I am no longer surprised at the way in which we as beings of light connect with each other.

On this frosty morning at this “place of the briars” the receipt of this email warms this heart.

As an Anamcara I am getting to meet more regularly with the Divine in others. This is the beauty of heart sharing. This is beyond social convention, beyond small talk. It is a meeting of two that becomes as one in the silence between words. This silence between words was lived as Love by one of my dearest soul friends. This soul friend is the beautiful Jelaluddin Rumi.

He was born in 1207 and seven hundred years later, Rumi is the bestselling poet in America. Day by day he becomes a deeper and deeper resonance in this Anamcara`s heart. He teaches me the great lesson of balancing discipline with surrender. Rumi is a fierce friend. He wants me to work for the grace of the Beloved. Yet he knows that there is no other delight worth working for.

Rumi was a Sufi mystic. Sufis practice prayer, meditation and companionship. They practice deep soul friendship. In this 21st Century of noise and haste there is a lack of friendship. I recall the writer Thomas Moore author of “Care of the Soul” being asked what was the one thing that would make a difference in one`s life and in the life of the workplace. His reply was in a word, “friendship.”

When Thomas Moore answered thus there was a long silence. Then followed the question, “Is that all?”

For this Anamcara friendship is the beginning. Friendship is greatly needed. Friendship needs to be allowed to enter deeply into the heart. This is a friendship of one’s being. This friendship is what we are. It is not something we do. It is the natural expression of the soul beyond the defensiveness of the ego.

Rumi, this poet of love is fierce.

He calls us to pull down our own house. He calls us to do the work of love and come to the grace of the Beloved. He tells us that the treasure of soul friendship is underneath the house. This is the house of illusion. This is the house of separateness and non-connection with all that is. This is the house we have erected that says “I am me and this is mine.”

This work we do is in order to come out of the circle of time and into the circle of love is work we do alone. This is so even though we are never in truth alone. Our real longing is simple “to be.” We also long “to know who we are.”

Longing is an experience of open heartedness.

It is surrender. It is not an intellectual discussion but a deep vulnerability. It is a willingness to enter into the other room of unknowing. We are required to go emotionally naked into that other room. We are required to cross the threshold between the world of the visible and the invisible. We are asked to enter naked into the magical and mystical land of Tir Na Nog.

This is a state of timeless beauty.

In the Sufi tradition longing is surrendered through discipline. This is the discipline of prayer, meditation and soul friendship. This soul friendship is the deep communication of words and the silence between words.

This communication is “the breaking of bread together.” This is what a companion and soul friend does. They do this together. The word “companion” originates from the French word “pain” (pronounced “pan”). The New Oxford Dictionary of English translates “companion” as “one who breaks bread together.”

An Anamcara is not a teacher but one who trusts the beauty of unfolding.

They are trusting of their inner beauty and so they are trusting of your inner beauty. They know their purpose and they write their purpose. They do this in words and through love in action. The purpose of this Anamcara is simple. It is to be an instrument of peace. The best that this Anamcara can ever be graced is the peace of the Beloved. This is the peace that passeth understanding.

This peace is the miracle. As the wonderful Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us, “The miracle is not walking on water. The miracle is walking peacefully in this world.”

We think we are so small. We think we can make little difference in manifesting beauty in our world. An Anamcara tells you that you have the greatest opportunity to make a “real” difference. With your knowing of the Beloved all is possible. This is because you are already one with the Divine and can never be other than at one ment. You become the perfume of the Divine through love in action. Nothing is ever lost. Love is and never will not be. All else is transient.

We are each wounded healers in a world upon which we visit our woundedness.

Our real wound is the illusion of separateness from this oneness. In order to heal this wound we are required to follow the instruction of the beautiful Jelaluddin Rumi. This is the instruction to, “Come out of the circle of time and into the circle of love.” This circle of love is timeless. It has no beginning and no end. It is the timeless state of that place we in Ireland refer to as “Tir Na Nog.”

Tir Na Nog is a metaphor.

It is not an island somewhere off the West Coast of Ireland beyond the mist. It is a state of being beyond the mist of ego. Beyond this mist lies the true friend of the soul. The Beloved is ever waiting for you to surrender to this joy. John O`Donoghue, author of the wonderful book “Anam Cara” calls the surrender “at-one-ment.” This is the best work you can ever do because it is work beyond the limitation of time and space.

Out of this state of being and out of this surrender synchronicity happens. This is meeting with others through meaningful co-incidence. It is the miracle of connectivity. It is the Universe saying, “YES, this is a way to go.” This is the experience of the unity of consciousness that says,” This is a path to follow without regard to outcomes.”

So I am off to contemplate a reply to an email from other Anamcara`s. These are other healers, other beings of light who are willing to serve beauty via love in action. In words of appreciation I wish to send the perfume of the Beloved. This is the best that I might ever be allowed to gift.

This week I leave you with one of my favourite quotes from Osho.

A man of peace is not a pacifist; a man of peace is simply a pool of silence.

He pulsates a new kind of energy into the world. He sings a new song. He lives in a totally new way. His very way of life is that of grace, that of prayer, that of compassion. Whomsoever he touches, he creates more love energy.

The man of peace is creative. He is not against war, because to be against anything is to be at war. He is not against war; he simply understands why war exists. And out of that understanding he becomes peaceful. Only when there are many people who are pools of peace, silence, understanding, will war disappear.

– Osho

Blessings upon you and all those you love and do not love.

© Tony Cuckson 2005

Tony Cuckson is an Anam Cara. This Celtic term means “Soul Friend.” He specializes in providing insight for the spiritual journey, Blessings for YOU, words of wisdom and finding inner peace. Visitors to Irish Blessings Matter website and Tony’s Blog get the opportunity to develop a purpose driven life through articles, newsletters and other programs.

Get your free report called “7 ways to it’s a wonderful life” at http://www.irishblessingsmatter.com/, or go to Tony`s Blog at http://www.irishblessingsmatter.info/
where you will find links to information related to spiritual guidance, spiritual coaching and spirit in business.

This is a true story about a woman I worked with for several years.

I’m sure we all know at least one person who cannot find a good thing to say about anything or anyone. Your typical “miserable” person who could have $10 million handed to her and would complain that it wasn’t $10 million and $1.

This was such a person.

The sky would be blue, the temperature warm and the flowers in full bloom. She would point out one small cloud that loomed in the horizon, that it was two degrees warmer in another town and that the petals on the tulips were wilting prematurely.

She had nothing good to say about anyone we worked with, and I thought we had a great group of people.

I eventually started to avoid her because try as I would to get her to find something good in the world, she would strike down my every effort.

When we would learn of anything new in the workplace, she would immediately react with anger and start venting her opinion to anyone within earshot.

I decided to distance myself from her because I could not raise her energy and she was bringing mine down.

Science has proven that the way we think, feel and react has an impact on our health and physical well-being.

When someone is constantly sick or suffering from one ailment or another, this may often be a reflection of what is going on in his or her thoughts.

Of course, there are always exceptions; however, I have observed that many of those who live in a constant state of negativity, and who react to many situations based on their judgments, suffer more maladies and chronic illnesses than those who don’t.

I often contemplated this theory when thinking of my co-worker and I wondered if some day she would suffer a fatal heart attack or terrible illness because she was so filled with anger and negativity.

While working a Tuesday afternoon shift, she booked off duty early and went home because she had a small bruise on her leg that was causing her intense pain.

Later that same evening, she was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with flesh eating disease.

Wednesday her leg was operated on and it was learned that the disease had spread into her other leg and abdomen.

Thursday she was given her last rights.

When I heard of this series of events, I was shocked and saddened. I listened to others saying, “How could this happen? She’s young and so healthy.”

I couldn’t help but think to myself that her thoughts and negative feelings might have finally manifested themselves through her physically. Somehow I was not so surprised anymore by the terrible news.

She remained in Intensive Care for many months and even though she was not expected to live more than four days from her diagnosis, she remains with us today.

She has very little left of her legs, endured numerous operations on several organs, and spent many months in physical, mental, spiritual and emotional agony. Many months passed before she was able to see her two young children.

I often think of her when I am inclined to react to certain situations in a negative way, or when I am tempted to fall into a negative pattern of complaining or criticizing.

One of the great powers we have is the power to choose, and when I’m faced with the choice of complaining or making the best of a situation, I take the high road.

Do I do it consistently? Not always. After all, I am human and do make mistakes. But, every day I continue to strive to be better than I used to be.

What can you do today to create a more positive outlook on life?

Laurie Hayes, founder of Where the Heart Is Life Coaching, is a Life Strategy Coach and author of several articles and an e-book designed to promote excitement and inspire action in others to pursue the best life has to offer. To secure a copy of her free e-book, “10 Guidelines for Attraction,” visit http://www.wheretheheartis-lifecoaching.com

The root of discord and violence between people and nations comes from our tendency to forget our humanity. We “forget” our true nature.

Violence is a “learned” behavior. We “learn” it from our environment. When we are born, we do not possess the tendency to violence. As we grow, we become driven by “reactions.” Our reactions are influenced by what we witness in our environment. We “copy” what we see. Therefore, violence and hatred are not natural to our essence.

As we grow older, we “buy” into the deception. We come to believe that violence is “OK” when “justified”. It is “OK” to kill for our beliefs or defending our “territory.” We have learned to “possess.” We “live to possess”. We like to possess things, people, land, animals, anything tangible and intangible. The more we possess, the more powerful over others we feel. Our society or community reinforces this “tendency”. Our worth is largely “measured” by the amount of our possessions. We feel validated.

Thus, around the world we find ourselves fighting, killing each other “defending” what we “possess”: our nationalism, religion, territory, and ideologies. We become slaves of our deception and desires. In the process, we lose ourselves, our humanity. We sacrifice our soul for lies! (How much better off we would be if we were to place as much zest pursuing wisdom, our self-growth or spiritual evolution as we place chasing our illusions and enhancing our bodies!)

Thus, driven by our illusions, we forget that those we attack blindly (other human beings of all ages) in the name of “a cause, belief or ideology” are as real as we are. They bleed, they grieve, and they have potential and dreams just like us. In sum, in many ways, they are extensions of our “selves” with their own uniqueness and role to play in this world. We deceive ourselves into thinking of them as our “enemy”, faceless, without history and soul, different from us. We label them, “Jews,” “Palestinians,” “Blacks,” “Whites,” “Muslims,” “Christians,” “Infidels,” and so on.

Some of the stupidity of it all is that we condemn one another mostly for traits beyond the individual’s control. We choose to ignore that we are born into a specific religion, ethnicity, country, race, gender, social or economic status! I am white only because I was born into the white race. Or, I am black because I was born into the black race. The same goes for my gender, national origin, and even religion! (Although the latter has become “optional,” another “power-driven” concept). However, before we are any of the above, we are human beings. Take all of the above away. What do you have? Human beings! That is what each and every one of us is first and foremost. That is the truth! Everything else is an illusion, a lie! What would happen if we were to eliminate the labels and see each other for what we really are: people?

I firmly believe that peace in the Middle East or nowhere else will never come as a result of political and religious “agreements” and strategies. Peace, I believe, can only be achieved from the “awakening to our humanity” by each and every individual, ordinary people, “caught in the middle” of the political and religious games and conflicts.

Peace can only be achieved by rejecting the illusion, the lie! By opponents getting together and taking off the blinders through sharing their humanity, their pain, their hopes and dreams, by learning from one another, comforting each other, crying and laughing together, forgiving one another, working together and making the decision to stop violence. Thus, honoring the memory of those who have died in the fight by deciding to relate and interact as human beings first and foremost, not “puppets” or “labels.”

Some Israelis and Palestinians are doing just that. They are meeting each other, as human beings and sharing the pain each one has endured by the loss of loved ones in the conflict; forgiving each other. They have stopped seeing each other as enemies, as a “Palestinian” and a “Jew”. Instead, they have broken free from the deception and have achieved wisdom and enlightenment realizing that first and foremost, they are human beings. Letting their humanity and compassion prevail! Your pain is not greater than my pain. Your loss is not greater than mine is. Your life is not more significant than mine and vice versa . . .

Violence only begets more violence just like hatred only breeds more hatred. It becomes a vicious cycle. It de-humanizes us. It causes us to lose our essence, corrupting our spirit, destroying our soul and everyone and everything around us! Violence and hatred, the deceptive “labeling and blindness” make us dead among the living. Every time we kill someone (or, condone violence) whether our target is a child or an adult, we kill ourselves, our humanity more and more. We bring pain and suffering to everyone who loved and cherished the life we took. Shame and despair to those who love and cherish us.

We become “disconnected” from our essence and blind to the fact that, whether we like it or not, we are all part of the whole, of a bigger picture. Just like each cell and organ in our body makes up our physical being, each one of us is an essential component of life. Just like each drop of water is part of the ocean, so are we part of the whole. As the great poet-philosopher John Donne once said, “No man is an island.” No one is “dispensable” . . . We are all indispensable! We were not born to be killing each other but to bring forth more life and safeguard its sanctity. Everything else, all our “excuses” and so-called “justification” for killing are deception.

Until each and every human being on earth understands that by harming others we are betraying ourselves and purpose, slapping our Creator on the face, annihilating our own, destroying our “selves” and what makes us “special”, “privileged” among other life forms, we will never have peace on earth.

I challenge you to experience your humanity for one day. Relate to everyone you encounter without any labels! See each individual as a human being only. Can you do it? Come back and tell us about your experience and how it felt for you.

RESOURCE BOX:
Copyright 2004-2005 Barbara Hidalgo aka SoulfulWriter.
Barbara is an essayist, poet, editor and publisher with a background in broadcast journalism. She is dedicated to writing thought-provoking pieces and assisting new authors with their craft. Visit Soulful Writers’ Publications for more of hers and other authors’ work under “Connections.”

It makes no difference if you live in Leominster Massachusetts or in Citrus Heights California a dependable online inspection will allay you often a lot of anguish. That’s why now you really need to look into and calculate if you can have a bank loan at a honest percent rate. Check out to see if the merchant bank who is willing to give you a money loan is ok. Lots of of the moneylenders wil show you a loan rate that is looking honorable but feels poorly or so after some time. A moneylender in Lowell Massachusetts or so may have a total totally different actual rate of interest for a 5000 dollar money loan then a bank in Palmdale California and that makes a vast clear difference in your yearly pay backs. Be impertinent today to analyze if you have a nice bargain or if you don’t with the moneylender that offers you a credit loan.

Translated it means: Woon je in Maasdonk of Woensdrecht en hebt u BKR codering. Lenen met BKR is nog nooit zo gemakkelijk geweest. Koop een nieuwe woning met lenen zonder bkr toetsing, 182687 euro is geen obstakel om te financieren. Van Maastricht tot Hof van Twente, geld lenen met zonder BKR is hier geen enkel probleem.

At this present you can check up on rates of interest quickly at websites and examine if there are other sneaky conditions you should know about. 7.7 percent rate may appear so acceptable but will it stay invariant after you have to return your credit loan.

(Excerpted from the Jim Rohn Two Day Weekend event - June 22 and 23, 2001)

1) First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN.

What you don’t know WILL hurt you. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from your own experiences, negative and positive. We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people’s experiences, both positive and negative. I’ve always said it is too bad failures don’t give seminars. We don’t want to pay them so they don’t tour around giving seminars. But the information would be very valuable - how someone who had it all, messed it up. Learning from other people’s experiences and mistakes.

We learn by what we see - pay attention. By what we hear - be a good listener. Now I do suggest being a selective listener, don’t just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we read. Learn from every source. Learn from lectures, learn from songs, learn from sermons, learn from conversations with people who care. Keep learning.

2) Life is worthwhile if you TRY.

You can’t just learn; you now have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference, try to make some progress, try to learn a new skill, try to learn a new sport. Life is worthwhile if you try. It doesn’t mean you can do everything but there are a lot of things you can do, if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?

3) Life is worthwhile if you STAY.

You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project - see it through. Sometimes calamity comes and then it is worth wrapping it up. And that’s the end, but just don’t end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.

4) Life is worthwhile if you CARE.

If you care at all you will get some results, if you care enough you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win.

Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care. What difference can you make in your life today by putting these four words to work?

To Your Success,

Jim Rohn

Reproduced with permission from Jim Rohn’s Weekly E-zine.
Copyright 2005 Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved
worldwide. To subscribe to Jim Rohn’s Weekly E-zine, go to
http://Jim-Rohn.InspiresYOU.com

If you have read my articles or heard me speak, you know that I always come
down to action. We need to act if we are going to be successful!

Yet, our success starts long before our actions. In fact, our success begins
in our thoughts.

The process is that thoughts become actions and actions produce results. So
the equation starts with the thoughts. So the key to success is to start
with and control the thoughts that we have. Good thoughts become good
actions become good results.

But there is this predicament we have as humans. It is this “battle” we have
with our thoughts. Thoughts of depression, negative thoughts, thoughts of
fear etc constantly creep into our minds and cause us to act in certain ways
that are going to produce the antithesis of the kind we want that will
produce success.

So what can we do to win the battle with thoughts? Here are a few main
points. Apply these immediately and then constantly and you will be on your
way to winning the thought battle.

Guard your mind. Pretend that behind that forehead of yours is a very
precious thing - your mind - because it is precious. If you had a storehouse
of gold in your house, you would hire an armed guard to stand watch and keep
all the bad guys out. Yet, many of us let any old ting come into our minds.
We need to keep the bad thoughts, the negative thoughts O-U-T! Now when I
say this, I mean both the ones that start in our heads and the ones that
come from external sources.

Proactively place good thoughts in your head. Just like a garden, where you
weed, or pull the bad stuff out, and plant, put the good stuff in, so we do
the same thing with our thoughts. Buy tapes and music that will produce
good, happy thoughts in your head! Watch TV programs and videos that put
good thoughts in your head!

Avoid the naysayers. They are all around you. You work with them, you live
near them - some are even in your family! Whatever you do, do not let them
affect you with their negative thoughts. Spend as little time as you can
with them (unless it is your spouse or kids - then you need counseling!)

Act on the positive thoughts that you do have. When a positive thought comes
into your head, act on it! This will begin to produce a “bridge” between
what you think and how you act! This will then make that transition even
easier as time goes by!

Four key ideas to win the thought battle:
Guard your mind.
Proactively place good thoughts in your head.
Avoid the naysayers.
Act on the positive thoughts that you do have.

Go forth and Win the Battle!

About The Author:

Chris Widener is a popular speaker and writer as well as the President of
Made for Success, a company helping individuals and organizations turn
their potential into performance, succeed in every area of their lives and
achieve their dreams.

To see Chris “live” at the upcoming Jim Rohn Weekend Event as he speaks on
the subject of Secrets of Influence go to
http://Chris-Widener.InspiresYOU.com/ or call 800-929-0434.

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