|
Instructions
for Life in the new Millenium from the Dalai Lama
1.
Take into account that great love and great achievements
involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs:
Respect for self
Respect
for others and
Responsibility
for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is
sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate
steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your
values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back,
you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13.
In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation.
Don't bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your Love for
each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
Back
to top
~~o00o~~
Desiderata
(found
in Old St Paul's Church, Baltimore, dated 1692)
| Go
placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace
there may be in silence. As far as possible, without
surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your
truth quietly and clearly; listen to others, even to the dull and
ignorant; they too have their stories. Avoid loud and
aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you
compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter for
always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep
interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real
possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise
caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of
trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue is; many
persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of
heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign
affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of
all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly to the council of the years, gracefully surrendering
the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield
you in sudden misfortune. But do not stress yourself with
dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and
loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with
yourself. You are a child of the Universe no less than the
trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And
whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the Universe is
unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labours
and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in
your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it
is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be
happy. |
|
Back
to top
~~o00o~~ |
Attitude
Is Everything
(Anonymous)
Michael
is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and
always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him
how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I'd be
twins!" He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having
a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the
positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me
curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don't
get it. You can't be positive all the time. How do you do it?"
Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Mike
you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you
can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood.
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or choose
to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining I can choose to accept
their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life.
I choose the positive side of life."
"Yeah, right. It isn't that easy," I protested. "Yes it
is," Michael said.
"Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk,
every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations.
You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good
mood or bad mood. The bottom line is: It's your choice how you live
life." I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, I
left the tower industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I
often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of
reacting to it. Several years later, I heard Michael was involved in a
serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was
released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael
about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he
replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my
scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone
through his mind as the accident took place. "The first thing that
went through my mind was the well being of my soon to be born
daughter," Michael replied "Then, as I lay on the ground, I
remembered I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could
choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
Michael continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling
me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I
saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really
scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take
action."
"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly
nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked me
if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I said. The doctors and nurses
stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and
yelled, 'Gravity.' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am
choosing to live. Operate
on me as if I am alive, not dead'."
Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of
his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have a choice
to live fully. Attitude is everything.
Back
to top
|
