Love Life

Life is pretty much how you think it is. If you think life is great and live it each day with enthusiasm and positivity, most of your days will be great. If you choose to always look at the negative side of things, well, life won’t seem very pleasant at all. Know ahead of time that you get to choose how you react to life. Love life and life will love you back.

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Forgiveness: A Gift for the Soul

Forgiveness is always a complicated subject. There are personalities involved, emotions, the actual act that occurred, and all the circumstances surrounding the event. But generally, what we need to do is realize that we are all imperfect. We all make mistakes. If we want to be forgiven for our mistakes, we must forgive others for their mistakes also. Forgiveness is good for the soul. It shows compassion and a love for the imperfect human condition. It shows maturity by letting go of the ego.

The following is a story about forgiveness:

The Sands of Forgiveness
A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.
They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.
After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”
The other friend replied “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it. – Author Unknown

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Bring Out Your Best

Sometimes we need a little extra push to bring out the best in ourselves. Often the best way to do this is to have a little competition, whether it’s formal or within your own mind. Some people will go out of their way to avoid competition while others live for it. This is a reflection of one’s personality but it is wise to keep in mind that competition does spur one to do better in most cases. For example, in your career, if you know there is someone eager and willing to take your job should you become complacent in your work, then you are more likely to give it your all to keep your job status. Competition pushes you to do better, obviously that’s what sports are all about, but some people become overly competitive for a situation. For example, constantly comparing yourself to others as far as material possessions is a no win situation that leads to much unhappiness. So have a healthy attitude toward competition and use it to bring out the best in yourself and don’t despair if you don’t “win” sometimes. Just learn from it and do even better next time.

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Laughter is Good for the Soul

Is there anything better than having a great belly laugh with tears flowing down your face? The times when you’re laughing so hard you can barely catch your breath? Research has proven these moments are good for your soul as well as your overall health. So why not have more of them? Make that effort to have more laughter in your life – laugh with friends, watch funny YouTube videos, watch funny movies and TV shows, go to comedy clubs, just act silly.

We hope the following story makes you laugh:

Pub Steakout (from www.thejokeyard.com)

The policeman had the bar under surveillance a few minutes before closing time, so he could see who comes out drunk.

The first one out the door at 2:00 o’clock weaved down the sidewalk, then fell on the curb. Sluggishly got up, then tried his keys in five cars before finding his own car.

Once inside his car, he fumbled with his keys for 2 or 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, all the club patrons had gotten into their cars and driven away, leaving this one fellow quite alone in the parking lot.

Finally, he got his car started and began to very slowly drive away.

Immediately, the police car was behind him with lights flashing.

The policeman asked the man to take a breathalyser test, to which he readily agreed.

When the reading was 0.0%, the policeman said, “How can this be?”

To which the man replied, “Because tonight, I’m the designated decoy.”

photo: flickr/Hani Eriani

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Your Life’s Impact on Others

In many high schools, an assignment is often given to the students to write their own obituary for when they die of old age. It gets the students thinking about what they want to accomplish in life. It is often telling about the student’s character and dreams. Some dream of becoming rich and famous, others want to make a difference in the world, others dream of escaping the modern world and living off the land in some remote location. But when it really comes down to it, on our death bed, what will matter? What will matter is your love for others and the impact you have had on others. Of those who have passed on, we remember fondly those who gave freely of themselves. We remember how those people made us feel. That is what is important. Everyday we can make a positive impact on the lives of others. The challenge is to be consistently mindful of this. Remember when someone made you feel special and pass on that feeling to someone else. This is lasting impact.

photo: flickr/spettacolopuro

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Unexpected Happiness

Happiness often comes to us when we least expect it. We meet our soul mate at the grocery store, we find a new hobby that we become passionate about, a new neighbor has turned into a close friend – it is these life events that are difficult to predict will occur, yet they do. Always leave the door open for new experiences, life will become richer. The following story is both wise and light-hearted. Please enjoy.

A bright young premed student from Harvard University journeyed to the mountains of Tibet during the summer following his sophomore year. There he met a monk who said to him, “Don’t you see how you are poisoning your soul with your success-oriented way of life? Your idea of happiness is to stay up all night studying for an exam so you can get a better grade than your friend. Your idea of a happy marriage is not finding a woman who will make you whole, but winning the girl that everyone else wants. That’s not how people are supposed to live. Life is not a competition. Give it up. Come join us in an atmosphere where we share, live in harmony, and love one another. Here you can find true happiness.”

The young man had completed four years at a competitive high school to get into Harvard and had worked hard to become one of the top premed students in his class at the university. He was ripe for the appeal of the Tibetan monk. He called his parents and told them that he would not be coming home. He was dropping out of school to live in a Buddhist monastery.

Six months later, he wrote his parents: “Dear Mom and Dad, I know you weren’t happy with the decision I made last summer, but I want to tell you that I am doing great. For the first time in my life, I am at peace. Here there is no competing. no hustling, no trying to get ahead of anyone else. Here we are all equal, and we all share. This way of life is so much in harmony with the inner essence of my soul that in only six months I’ve become the number two disciple in the entire monastery, and I think I can become number one by June!”

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It’s All in the Attitude

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. – Winston Churchill

Whether you have a good day or a bad day today will depend a great deal on your attitude. If you wake up in the morning with the attitude that you don’t want to do the things you have to do, then you’ll probably have a bad day. Wake up with the attitude that life is great, you get to start anew each day, and that you’re going to make a positive impact on the world today – you’ll most likely have a great day. We all deal with struggles everyday, some big, some small – but deal with them head on with a positive attitude and they won’t seem as bad as you originally thought. What may be helpful is to start the day with a few minutes of quiet reflection. Find the gratitude for all the small things in life that make life grand.

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Make a Difference

You may have heard the story below before but I think it makes a very important point. We can all make a difference everyday. Whether it’s making a positive impact on a child, helping a turtle make it to the other side of the road, raising money for a worthy cause, any act of kindness makes a difference. And not only does it positively affect others, it will positively affect you too.

There was a man taking a morning walk at or the beach. He saw that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide receded, they were left behind and with the morning sun rays, they would die. The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive. The man took a few steps, picked one and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly. Right behind him there was another person who couldn’t understand what this man was doing. He caught up with him and asked, “What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?” This man did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, “It makes a difference to this one.”

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The Storm of Life

Some people meet life head on and others tend to hang back and just try to get through it. What type of person are you? The answer may depend partly on your innate personality but much of it depends on how willing we are to take risks and live our life to the fullest. If you always dreamed of opening your own business, what is holding you back? The person who merely exists will come up with all kinds of excuses and some of them will sound legitimate. But the person who really wants to see their dreams come true will find a way to make it happen. Determination is a powerful characteristic that can make a life truly remarkable. Some people just do not accept no for an answer and will leave no stone unturned in accomplishing their goals. Do not compare your accomplishments with theirs, instead, emulate that drive to live the life you dream of.

photo: Karsun Designs

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Self-Love

Charlie Chaplin wrote this beautiful poem on his 70th birthday. He was a very wise man, indeed.

As I Began to Love Myself – Self Love Poem by Charlie Chaplin

As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering
are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth.
Today, I know, this is “AUTHENTICITY”.

As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody
As I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time
was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this
person was me. Today I call it “RESPECT”.

As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life,
and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow.
Today I call it “MATURITY”.

As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance,
I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens
at the exactly right moment. So I could be calm.
Today I call it “SELF-CONFIDENCE”.

As I began to love myself I quit steeling my own time,
and I stopped designing huge projects for the future.
Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do
and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in
my own rhythm. Today I call it “SIMPLICITY”.

As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for
my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew
me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude
a healthy egoism. Today I know it is “LOVE OF ONESELF”.

As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since
I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is “MODESTY”.

As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worry
about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where EVERYTHING
is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it “FULFILLMENT”.

As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me
and it can make me sick. But As I connected it to my heart, my
mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this
connection “WISDOM OF THE HEART”.

We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems
with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing
new worlds are born.Today I know THAT IS “LIFE”!

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