Priorities

"Things don't have to change the world to be important." said Steve Jobs. A very interesting study was done, asking children under seven and elderly over 70 what are the 3 most important things in life. Most of the answers pointed towards family, pets, kindness, passions and health. Interesting stuff, right? What are the most important 3 things in your life?

Truth, performance and the shaman's ship

I am reading something today that totally blows my mind. It is about a concept called Radical Honesty. Remember that old Jim Carey movie called Liar,liar! That is all about. Never lie. In any given situation, do not lie. Always say the truth. It is somehow similar with the yoga principle of Satya. Which is probably better, because added one more rule: always say the truth, but never for the purpose to hurt another being. You have the full link here. Enjoy your reading!

Tim Ferris just finished a book that i want to buy, as i was following his podcasts for some time. It is called Tools Of Titans, and he is doing here what he knows best, deconstructing performance in any given area. I am thinking Christmas gift for myself. I can see it on my shelf near Tony Robbins' book "Money-master the game". You have a sneak peak here, for the first chapter. Enjoy this too!

"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." said John Lennon. Even more than that, our brain is usually filling the holes in our reality, showing us a picture different from reality, but according with our own beliefs. Think about that! If something is not in our definitions, we will not see it. We will see instead something else that is familiar to us. They say that the first time when Columbus went to America, the local people couldn't see the big ships, because they could not admit that something similar exists. They could only see the small boats. But the shaman, more observant than average Joe, could see the ripples in the ocean waves, and somehow they understood that something big is there. Next moment, the Spanish galleons appeared in front of them. They explained all that to their tribes, and everyone could see the ships after that. It is something good here, because that means that we can understand the unfamiliarity of the unknown, as soon as someone else will explain it to us. The bad part is that we need to find that person already possessing this knowledge. This paragraph is partially inspired by the movie "What the bleep do we know?".

About kindness

That moment when you realize how the old mystics already understood the ripple effect of a random act of kindness, without the 12 years of research using 3 groups of more than 60 people. The winning quote is:

"Your acts of kindness are iridescent wings of divine love, which linger and continue to uplift others long after your sharing. " (- Rumi -)

Yin and Yang

When we are full (of ideas, of thoughts, of ourselves), life become complicated. When we are empty, when it is only the void, and no trace of us, miracles start to happen. I was always thinking about this. How come and how often i saw it. It is some magic behind this, if not a bit of righteous psychology. And even more, this can be a kind of life attitude, being open to any kind of challenge and events. In the end, we are richer and more experienced than when we started. You should try it some time!

Playfulness and the art of changing yourself

Motto: "Play is the work of the child." Maria Montessori

But somebody else also said: In the moment we forget how to play as a child, we die inside. A bit dramatic, but the latest researches showed this to be true to some extent. If we are focusing only on the adult side of life, on solving problems, getting bigger wages and fame or reputation, we are wrong. Doing the same thing over and over will have a deep impact on our feelings, even if it is something that we like (hedonic adaptation is a bxxxh, i know). What we need is to do something new every day (neuroplasticity reasons, anthropological reasons, magical reasons, you name it), to find new ways of play, new hobbies ( Did you know that learning how to juggle can change your life, your attitude and rewire your brain? Learning a second language will do something similar too.).

So, your task for today is to find a new way to play, as a child, in a non-competitive manner.

If you want the master level task - find a new hobby for you and become better at it in the next six months.

Good luck,
G.

Three thoughts for Sunday

"The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience." Emily Dickinson said. We are too often thinking about the negative side of life, and we will not remember when was the last time when we were in awe, when our mind stopped and we couldn't even breath in front of some majestic beauty.

"Childhood is the world of miracle and wonder...as if creation rose, bathed in the light, out of the darkness, utterly new and fresh and astonishing."  said Eugene Ionesco to us, and it is not a coincidence that one of the way to achieve huge self-esteem, will power and independence is to achieve our childhood dreams. Of course, many are completely irrelevant to us today, but in fulfilling them, in one way or another, we will reach the hidden fountain of eternal youth. It is something almost magical, an alchemy process which will invigorate and regenerate our body, mind and spirit. Try this today, all you need is pen and paper, make a list of your childhood dreams and try to achieve some of them Observe how you feel after it.

"Words are but the vague shadows of the volumes we mean. Little audible links, they are, chaining together great inaudible feelings and purposes." is a quote by Theodore Dreiser. And it is true, words can hurt or heal. One of the most interesting actions worldwide that I was watching is You Matter Marathon. Take a look and see one elegant way to change the world around you and bring joy to others.

That's all for today. Wish you an awesome week!
G.

About separation and embracing the humanity as a whole

"You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop." Rumi said centuries ago. Despite this many of us will still feel different and set apart from the humanity, trying to individualize themselves instead of embracing the big human family. In doing this, we separate, we start to feel lonely, instead of enjoying the solitude. We ignore the pain of others, even if we remember what Albert Schweitzer said: "No one must shut his eyes and regard as nonexistent the suffering of which he spared himself the sight.". The failure to provide alternatives for all the children, women and men of Aleppo, for all the refugees trying to escape from Syria, it is not our government failure, but it is our personal failure in an equal measure. An action, even the smallest one, can create a ripple effect and reach unexpected results. Or as Paulo Coelho said: "What you give, you will receive, although it might sometimes come from the place you least expect.". We need to forget the word stranger, and to walk over the danger, as more than often the separation exists only in our mind. We should try to help someone, even if we don't know that person. We will be rewarded in a way that cannot be predicted. I will finish with Carl Jung advice: "The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances, if there is any reaction, both are transformed.".

Languages and rewiring the brain

Motto: If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. (Nelson Mandela)

Why should we learn at least one foreign language? Not because is rewiring our brain, making us smarter, faster and brilliant, but because talking to someone in his/her native language will always bring admiration and respect from the other person. We will catch a glimpse into another culture, another kind of psychology, and we will touch even someone else soul. Having access to a world class poet or writer in his native language is a must for every one of us to achieve, a bucket list thing. There are endless possibilities, and everything starts with a bit of effort. Try this, learn another language, even if it is just to know what to order in your favorite restaurant.

Motivational quotes list

This is a short list with some of the quotes I liked in the past month:

Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.
- Rumi -

What we fear most is that we will be denied the opportunity to fulfill our true potential.
- Dan Pallotta -

Satisfactions are fulfillment of the heart. Dissatisfactions are the rumblings of the mind.
- Duane Elgin -

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.
- C.S. Lewis -

If we could surrender to Earth's intelligence, we would rise up rooted, like trees.
- Rainer Maria Rilke -

Humility in response to an experience of failure, then, is at its core a form of therapy, the beginning of a healing process.
- Costica Bradatan -

You cannot transform yourself, and you certainly cannot transform your partner or anybody else. All you can do is create a space for transformation to happen, for grace and love to enter.
- Eckart Tolle -

If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive.
- Mother Theresa -

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion.
- Maya Angelou -

Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart.
- Abraham Joshua Heschel -

Choosing Must is the greatest thing we can do with our lives
- Elle Luna -

Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have.
- Margaret Mead -

To control aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace.
- Morihei Ueshiba -

If we apply our minds directly and competently to the needs of the earth, then we will have begun to make fundamental and necessary changes in our minds.
- Wendell Berry -

Listen to the trees as they sway in the wind. Their leaves are telling secrets.
- Vera Nazarian -

The human heart is the first home of democracy.
- Terry Tempest Williams -

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
- Virginia Woolfe -

Whether we live in poverty or prosperity, we can still live generously.
- Dillon Burroughs -

So busy

I am so busy, i don't know what i need to do, to stop everything until my schedule is free? This is a valid question. But i have no time to answer.

Quote of the day

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge."
- Albert Einstein -

To teach something and to do it properly, you need to learn how to create emotions and feeling in the heart of the ones you are teaching. To create a magical environment first, and then everything will be easy, and will remain in their minds forever. Because, at the end of the day, it is not difficult to do something, it is difficult to put ourselves in the right state of mind.

Quote of the day

"Trouble makes us one with every human being in the world - and unless we touch others, we're out of touch with life."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes -

Bad is good, or as somebody used to say, every bad thing in my life made me to go forward through designing my best existence ever dreamed or imagined. Or maybe did you hear that steel is forged with thousands of hammer blows. Of course, we can learn from our mistakes, if we are clever enough, because instantly adapting to change equal high intelligence, or we can go even further than that, reaching wisdom, and learning from other's mistakes. The choice is yours! Good luck!

Quote of the day

"Children are not things to be molded, but people to be unfolded."
- Jess Lair -

There are here with our help, but are not meant to serve as instruments for our unfulfilled desires. They have their own destiny. We fold the cocoon of our love around them, but they need to become that butterfly, and spread their wings. Do not limit yourself, and do not limit them in any way. Praise them for the potentialities which need to be unfolded. Do not praise them as individuals, but remain in awe observing their abilities, skills and qualities. You can say to someone that she is beautiful, or you can say to that person that she was born to spread beauty around her. It is the same concept, but can you see the difference?

Suggestion

Yesterday, The Dark One whispered in my ear:
"You are not strong enough to withstand the storm!"
Today I just smiled and I answered back:
"I am the storm!"

Quote of the day

"A wise man adapts himself to circumstances, as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it."
- Chinese Proverb -

In Japan it is also a similar expression - mizu no kokoro, (translation: a spirit like water). You need to bend in front on the hardships of life, like a willow, instead of staying strong against the difficulties, and get rooted out. Continuous adaptation is the best survival skill, you can correct your aim with every attempt, coming closer and closer to your goal. Next time when you fail to adapt fast enough, think about this. And act accordingly.

You have been weighted!

Motto: "He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything. "
- Thomas Carlyle -

He was sitting on the bridge, looking at the fast river underneath. "If I want to jump, i can do it so easily, and nobody will be fast enough to stop me", he was thinking. Not at his best, as another one of his start-ups failed, after one apparently short success. First two months were good enough, with a 1800% return per investment, but after that everything was running dry. He was almost ready to change his lifestyle, he could see himself financially independent, with a nice house, with a decent passive income, ready to never work again. And sudden, like a house of cards, everything crumbled. He did a decent profit, but, at first, he had seen this as a failure. And in that same moment, when a lightning lightened the entire sky, this whole new concept hit him. He got profit, even if  only for two months. This was an success, and this time, like in the last three times, he gain some money, and made it work for 60 days. The one before that took 8 months just to start, and then barely made it on equal terms. He is getting closer. With every new try, he is getting closer and closer. One of this days, he gonna do it. He turned around, went back home, sat at the table, notebook and pen nearby, and start to write another 10 ideas for today. And another 10 ideas for tomorrow. He will never stop.

Micro-tries

It was observed, when you are training a horse, if you reward the try instead of the result, that horse will learn to support you and to grow up quicker. The subtle the try, the bigger the reward, and the result will be a magical one, such as the animal is almost reading your mind. Or maybe he can really do it, but this is a story for another time. Expanding this knowledge into the human psychology, especially into parenting, will lead to amazing results. You can even do it or yourself, find a dream that you forgotten and left behind, and for one week do several micro-tries towards the final goal. Reward yourself generously and see what happen. Your mind is the horse, and you are the jockey. But which "you", that is for you to discover.

Quote of the day

"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare."
- Mark Twain -

Did you ever think about it?Why we fall in temptation, why our will will falter in front of a big challenge? Some researchers think that this is a trainable skill, some blame the genetics. Probably the truth is somewhere in between. So next time, when you are morally challenged, gather your courage and step forward. The best is yet to come.