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Deep Zen Meditation

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Andy Bolton

Wisdom

“Actually, all paths lead away from the truth..how’s that? All paths. There’s no such thing as a path to the truth. The truth’s already here”

Adyashanti - The Enlightened Shoe
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Alain de Botton

Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success
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Timeless Quotes from The Buddha

Timeless Quotes from The Buddha
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If you have a problem, what do you do and where do you go?

photo courtesy: cosmosmagazine .com

Firstly we must be aware that being choked by a problem will only make you want to kick and scream. The resultant decision would be a forced one under duress.

Ideally you would want to take time, care and attention over every decision. To do this with a good degree of success we must be within a calm state of mind. If we are confronted with a problem and a state of anguish and frustration arose we must first spot the condition and then resist it from affecting any decision we make.

More often than not we forget to be grateful for the other things in life that we have.

Today’s story illustrates how an illness can suddenly make you see life clearly; and sadly for the lady who wrote this, too clear too late.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER
(written after discovery of terminal cancer)

I would have talked less and listened more. I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the “GOOD” living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment realizing that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, would never have said, “Later, now go get washed up for dinner.” There would have been more “I love you’s” … more “I’m sorry’s” … but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute … look at it and really see it … live it .. and never give it back.

(Erma Bombeck)

QUOTE: “You have to make a conscious choice every day to shed the old – whatever ‘the old’ means for you.

(Sarah Ban Breathnach)

Do we ever do enough to maintain our capacity to be happy?

Once we’ve ascertained some understanding on what feeds the roots of happiness, we actively need to replenish the fodder.

I was once reading an article from a well known musician and singer from the 1960’s. He maintained that one of the biggest attributes he possessed was his ability to talk and be polite. He said that there was one particular sentence that open more doors than you could imagine.

Now before I tell you the sentence, a wise person would have used this on numerous occasions during every day. But what made this sentence particular impressive was this musician used it to advance his career, from a mere jobbing musician and singer to international artiste.

helpful - courtesy: blog.mindjet .com

The sentence was, “Can you help me please.”

The musician claimed that people have an incredible desire to help. So upon hearing this question people just naturally want to be HELPFUL.

As with a ripple in a lake, if we ask for help ‘more often’ then that would start the ripple; however before that ripple reaches the edge of the lake we need to start another. This is how often we need to feed and maintain our level of happiness.

One way is to encourage people, including you, is to never be too proud to ask for help. Today’s story is a slight twist to this scenario, but nonetheless the main theme is being HELPFUL.

AN AUSSIE STORY

Years ago a hardworking man took his family from New York State to Australia to take advantage of a work opportunity there. Part of this man’s family was a handsome young son who had aspirations of joining the circus as a trapeze artist or an actor. This young fellow, biding his time until a circus job or even one as a stagehand came along, worked at the local shipyards which bordered on the worse section of town.

Walking home from work one evening this young man was attacked by five thugs who wanted to rob him. Instead of just giving up his money the young fellow resisted. However they bested him easily and proceeded to beat him to a pulp. They mashed his face with their boots, and kicked and beat his body brutally with clubs, leaving him for dead. When the police happened to find him lying in the road they assumed he was dead and called for the Morgue Wagon.

On the way to the morgue a policeman heard him gasp for air, and they immediately took him to the emergency unit at the hospital. When he was placed on a gurney a nurse remarked to her horror, that this young man no longer had a face. Each eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face, all is teeth were gone, and his jaw was almost completely torn from his skull.

Although his life was spared, he spent over a year in the hospital. When he finally left, his body may have healed but his face was disgusting to look at. He was no longer the handsome youth that everyone admired.

When the young man started to look for work again he was turned down by everyone just on account of the way he looked. One potential employer suggested to him that he join the freak show at the circus as The Man Who Had No Face. And he did this for a while. He was still rejected by everyone and no one wanted to be seen in his company. He had thoughts of suicide.

This went on for five years. One day he passed a church and sought some solace there. Entering the church he encountered a priest who saw him sobbing while kneeling in a pew. The priest took pity on him and took him to the rectory where they talked at length. The priest was impressed with him to such a degree that he said that he would do everything possible for him that could be done to restore his dignity and life, if the young man would promise to be the best Catholic he could be, and trust in God’s mercy to free him from his torturous life. The young man went to Mass and communion every day, and after thanking God for saving his life, asked God to only give him peace of mind and the grace to be the best man he could ever be in His eyes.

The priest, through his personal contacts was able to secure the services of the best plastic surgeon in Australia. There would be no cost to the young man, as the doctor was the priest’s best friend. The doctor too was so impressed by the young man. Whose outlook now on life, even though he had experienced the worst, was filled with good humor and love. The surgery was a miraculous success. All the best dental work was also done for him.

The young man became everything he promised God he would be. He was also blessed with a wonderful, beautiful wife, many children, and success in an industry which would have been the furthest thing from his mind as a career, if not for the goodness of God and the love of the people who cared for him.

This he acknowledges publicly.

The young man’s name is… Mel Gibson.

(Attributed to Paul Harvey)

QUOTE: “Go often to the house of thy friend; for weeds soon choke up an unused path.”

(Scandinavian Proverb)

TOM EDWARDS’ POEM

“WHY I DON’T DRINK ANYMORE”

I changed because I have the sickness of alcoholism, alcoholism doesn’t come in bottles it comes in people.

You should have seen me.

I drank for happiness and became unhappy.
I drank for joy and became miserable.
I drank to become outgoing and became self-centred.
I drank for sociability and became argumentative and lonely.
I drank for sophistication and became crude and obnoxious.
I drank for friendship and made enemies.
I drank to soften sorrow and wallowed in self-pity.
I drank for strength and felt weak.
I drank for masculinity and it sapped my potency.
I drank medicinally and became sick.
I drank because I thought my job called for it and lost my job.
I drank to stimulate and blacked out.
I drank to make conversation and got to where I couldn’t talk at all.
I drank to forget and became haunted.
I drank for freedom and became a slave.
I drank for power and became powerless.
I drank to erase problems and saw them multiply.
I drank to cope with life, and invited death.

© Tom Edwards

ADAPTING TO CHANGE:

Adapting to change as I mention most weeks is about the fear of a ‘What If’ moment. As we know a WHAT IF is an ILLUSION, so what you are fearing is only an illusion. Most fear is about WHAT IF’s. If we could only see how peculiar that fear actually is, we may have a route to overcome it.

Another strong factor in amplifying fear is the tone in which we describe it. If you immediately respond to a situation and call it a problem, then sub-consciously you are dealing with a difficult situation. If you change that habit from calling something a problem to calling it a challenge, then life is sweeter as you can fire yourself up easier to deal with a challenge.

Today’s material is more of an excerpt from a book or a speech. The author is unknown, so it is difficult to attribute it to a particular occasion, but the words are strong enough to get the message across.

END YOUR DIFFICULTIES

Will today be a difficult day for you?

That depends on whether or not you decide to make it one. Just about anything can be difficult when you make the active decision to consider it so.

We often assume that things such as focused effort, discipline, commitment, and persistence are difficult, and as such are to be avoided if at all possible. Yet that is just an opinion. When you think about it, “difficult” and “easy” are very arbitrary terms. Thinking of something as difficult, just makes it that much more difficult.

So what’s the purpose of it?

Imagine what would happen if instead of thinking, “This is hard work and I can just barely tolerate it,” you thought “This is necessary work and I’m thankful that I’m able to do it.”

Making judgments about whether something is difficult or easy doesn’t contribute anything to the level of accomplishment. Stop categorizing tasks as difficult and you’ll no longer have to do anything difficult.

Just do what needs to be done and truly enjoy the fulfilling road to achievement.

(Unknown Author)

QUOTE: “Nothing is a waste of time if your experience wisely.” (Rodin)

Andy Bolton

Adapting to Change

The long awaited Digital version of the King James Bible

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As we know by now, the very reason we don’t like adapting to change is fear. It could be the fear of losing our comfort zone, it could be the fear of losing respect; trust me the fears are endless.

The fear?!

Why do we fear? One of the main answers to that question is that we don’t value ourselves highly enough. We think we couldn’t possibly do that, we couldn’t do anything new, no, no, no! Not us…

Use this next little story as an analogy. Plus I invite you to test the story out on a colleague or friend who happens to be a little sad or depressed today. It will do them a power of good, to improve their self-esteem.

photo courtesy: hypno-nlp.com

THE BIG BANK NOTE

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a huge bank note.  Not huge in size, but huge in value.

In this room were 200 people, he asked, “Who would like to accept this bank note of immense value?”

Hands started going up.  He said, “I am going to give this bank note to one of you but first, let me do this. “He proceeded to crumple the bank note up. He then asked, “Who still wants it?”  Still the hands were up in the air.

“Well,” he replied,  “what if I do this?”   And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.  He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty.

“Now who still wants it?” Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson.  No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth the immense amount as printed on each face of the note.

Many times in our lives, WE are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless.

But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or creased, you are still priceless to this life. You are special - Don’t ever forget it!

(Unknown Author)

QUOTE: “Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world – making the most of one’s best.” (Harry Emerson Fosdick)

Andy Bolton

Positive Mental Attitude