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QUOTE: "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." (Lao Tzu)

We hope this next step will enrich your soul and give you the energy to introduce more wisdom and practical philosophy into your life...

ALLOW THIS SHORT WISDOM STORY TO ILLUSTRATE THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND LIFE... We have over 500 similar stories upon this site.

SOLVING PROBLEMS:

For you; what is a problem? Is a problem just another noose around your neck, or is it a blessing in disguise?

I guess the appropriate answer is how you perceive it to be. That perception is generally determined by the emotion you’re in at that moment.

A change in perception can change the whole view of a problem. Today’s story illustrates the same principle but calls it an adjustment in attitude.

As a few small problems seem to follow on from each other, is this not a sign that you’re not fully in control? You’re beginning to drift into the wrong emotion and no amount of effort will prevent further calamities.

We cannot prevent this shift of emotion, but we can see it for what it is and correct it. When was the last time you looked at something beautiful and said it was an effort? All you are doing is SEEING, you’re not involving effort! Instead of falling into despair as nothing is going right, we can use it as a trigger to remind us that our state of mind is weak.

So rather than think a noose is being tightened around your neck, you are actually getting a reminder to change. What more of a blessing could you ask for?

If you can understand this principle, then I’m sure you’ll introduce it. Instead of ducking and diving during the day to avoid all the problems, you be shouting, “Bring them on!”

So it would appear that the total reverse is true, to overcome problems you must experience them. Rather than avoid them you need to get very good at solving them; so without the proper practice you’ll never get the skill. Invite them on! In doing this the fear of problems will disappear. What will eventually happen is that you’ll be solving 50 problems every day and not realising you had any.

We need to perceive problems as healthy and not unhealthy.

CHIP DANCING

Not too long ago I had "one of those days." I was feeling pressure from a writing deadline. I had company arriving in a couple days and the toilet was clogged.

I went to the bank, and the trainee teller processing my deposit had to start re-process my money three times. A detour took me by the supermarket to pick up a few things and the lines I wanted were all sold out; I decided on something from the freezer. By the time I got home, I was frazzled and sweaty and in a hurry to get something on the table for dinner.

Deciding on Cream of Mushroom Soup, I grabbed a can opener, cranked open the can, then remembered I had forgotten to buy milk at the store to double to portion. Nix the soup idea. Setting the can aside, I went to plan B, which happened to be leftover baked beans. I grabbed a Tupperware from the fridge, popped the seal, took a look and groaned. My husband isn't a picky eater, but even he won't eat baked beans that look like caterpillars. Really frustrated, now, I decided on a menu that promised to be as foolproof as it is nutrition-free: hot dogs and potato crisps.

Retrieving a brand new bag of crisps from the cupboard, I grabbed the cellophane and gave a hearty pull. The bag didn't open. I tried again. Nothing happened. I took a breath, doubled my muscle, and gave the bag a hearty wrestle. With a loud pop, the cellophane suddenly gave way, ripping wide from top to bottom. Crisps flew sky high. I was left holding the bag, and it was empty. It was the final straw. I let out a blood curdling scream. "I can't take it anymore!!!"

My husband heard my unorthodox cry for help. Within minutes he was standing at the doorway to the kitchen, where he surveyed the damage: an opened can of soup, melting groceries, mouldy baked beans, and one quivering wife standing ankle deep in potato crisps. My husband did the most helpful thing he could think of at the moment. He took a flying leap, landing flat-footed in the pile of crisps. And then he began to stomp and dance and twirl, grinding those crisps into my linoleum in the process! I stared. I fumed. Pretty soon I was working to stifle a smile. Eventually I had to laugh.

And finally I decided to join him. I, too, took a leap onto the crisps. And then I danced. Now I'll be the first to admit that my husband's response wasn't the one I was looking for. But the truth is it was exactly what I needed. I didn't need a cleanup crew as much as I needed an attitude adjustment, and the laughter from that rather funky moment provided just that.

Now I have a question for you, and it's simply this: Has anyone ever stomped on your crisps? I know that, in my life, there have been plenty of times when I've gotten myself into frustrating situations and I've cried out for help, all the while hoping someone would show up with a celestial broom and clean up the mess I've made of things.

What often happens instead is that you get someone who dances on my crisps, answering my prayer in a completely different manner than I had expected, but in the manner that is best for me after all.

Do I trust this brave new concept? Even when answering my prayers in a way that is completely different from my expectations? Even when someone is dancing and stomping instead of sweeping and mopping? Can I embrace what they’re offering? Can I let their joy adjust my attitude? Am I going to stand on the sidelines and sulk, or am I willing to learn the steps of the dance?

I'll be honest with you: Sometimes I sulk. Sometimes I dance. I'm working on doing more of the latter than the former.

QUOTE: "The person interested in success has to learn to view failure as a healthy, inevitable part of the process of getting to the top.”

(Dr. Joyce Brothers, Psychologist)

ADAPTING TO CHANGE:

I have had a strange week this week, one of which has been several
battles over certain changes. I don’t refer specifically to major changes
in my life, but little events that happen each week and for some
strange reason haven’t been happening this week. As a consequence
of these changes I’ve had to change my routine. This has thrown out
my good sense of equilibrium.

I have practiced for some years to keep changes into check and avoid
them controlling my next action. But inevitably... too many at once and
a sense of confusion arises.

This confusion is allowed to rise as you understand the reason for it.
Adapting to change is not easy to cope with.

This next story has a strange twist. Please read it first and I’ll
elaborate later.

BELIEF!

There was a well-educated man who solemnly announced to his friends
that he would never believe anything which he could not understand.

An old farmer overheard the remark, turned to the young intellectual
and said, "As I went into town today, I passed a field where some
sheep were feeding. Do you believe that?" "Yes," said the young man.
"Not far away from the sheep some cows were also grazing. Do you
believe that?" "Yes," was the reply. "Not far from the cows were some
pigs eating grass. Do you believe that?" "Yes." "All right, now you listen
to this," said the farmer. "The grass the sheep ate turned into wool.
The grass the cows ate turned into milk. The grass the pigs ate turned
into fibre. The grass that the chicken eat turned into feathers. Do you
believe that?" "Yes," the young man said. "Do you understand it?" "No,"
admitted the young man.

"Young man," said the farmer, "if you live long, you will find that there
are a great many things which you believe without understanding.

May I suggest the will of God is one of them."

(by: Bruno Hagspiel, The Millennium Stories by Frank Mihalic)

Of course I would suggest that understanding is half the battle. It is
more of a ‘knowing’ a ‘gut feeling’ that I refer to.

In a practical sense the word understanding is used. However, as we
delve deeper into philosophy and wisdom, you’ll come across the
description that we KNOW rather than understand.

To KNOW is and instant reaction. To try an analyse something beyond
the KNOWING could confuse the issue.

Just sometimes to KNOW is enough, without any explanation needed.

The following quote is so simple it makes me smile every time I read it.
If you find that adapting to change is difficult, bring this quote to mind.
It isn’t about returning, but changing course.

QUOTE: “Life is always going forward. If you feel you’re going
backwards, just turn around.”

(Eva Gregory)

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HAPPINESS:

Happiness can be the result of forgetting.

Emotional highs and lows use up our energy and ability to remember. We forget how to be happy.

Today’s story explains how easy it is to forget, but at the same time how valuable it is to remember.

The story is about a speech, cleverly written to express a point. Be assured that the writer was happy during its composure. If some anxiety or anger would have occurred whilst writing this clever speech, we would have never felt the expressive gratitude given to the VALUE of good friends.

A CENSORSHIP-FREE GRADUATION

The following salutatorian speech was delivered by the author at the June 7, 2002 graduation ceremony of Hollidaysburg Area High School. The text was initially censored by school officials because of its religious content. The school later allowed the author to deliver her remarks un-censored after being contacted by Liberty Counsel, a public interest legal group. The uncensored speech is presented here.

I don't know about all of you, but I definitely don't feel old enough to be standing here today. I maintain that I am really an eight year-old somehow trapped in the body of an eighteen year-old.

But, in the past few weeks, I've really started to think about what I have done in my life, and I am slowly coming to the realization that a lot has transpired in my seemingly few eighteen years. Time seems to have flown past without me, though I possess a mind full of memories that indicate otherwise.

If I try as hard as I can, I am able to pull up some memories as far back as kindergarten, though this is quite a chore, as most of those memories have been crowded out by derivatives, the structure of DNA, and the format for a diction paragraph.

But once I dig through to those early years, I begin to understand how far I have come. I've gone from being unable to even write my own name to being able to understand (supposedly) college level calculus and live for a month in Germany. My repertoire has expanded greatly, and, looking back, I cannot imagine how I accomplished everything I have.

As pictures from my past cross my mind, I am glad for what I have achieved, but then I look a little closer and catch a glimpse of something even more amazing in my life.

Yes, I am blessed to have done all I have to reach this point, but when I look hard at where I have been, I see how I have arrived here. At that point, I finally understand that I owe success not to my own efforts, but to the love and friendship of some truly wonderful people.

Usually they are not on the forefront garnering attention for themselves; no, they are in the background, doing the things that matter most, the things that have gotten me where I am today.

They stayed up with me into the wee hours of the morning, discussing all the things that really matter; they pored through history books, trying to pick out the information that would surely be on that massive test tomorrow; they were there to listen to my frustrations when time seemed too short and the work too long; they gave me advice when I didn't know what to do, yet never pushed me to do what they thought was right.

More than any of that, though, they taught me how to have fun in life, regardless of the ugly situations that often present themselves at the most inopportune of times.

By now you must be wondering who these awesome people are, and to that I answer that I have been very blessed to call them my friends and family. God, in His perfect way, has managed to connect me with these people who have shaped my life, and for that I am forever grateful to Him.

Now, as I prepare to go off to college, the hardest part is not starting a new chapter, but finishing this one. Those people who have grown so dear to my heart must now be allowed to go their own ways, and in the case of some, must be left behind as I move ahead.

But just when I think I can't go through with it all, who should be there, encouraging me to follow the dreams God has given me, but those dear people, the same ones I don't want to leave.

I dread these partings that draw nearer by the day, but these people have helped me understand that there is One who will never leave me or forsake me. He will stick closer to me than a brother, even when I mess up or even try to run from Him. He, even more so than the people I love, has been there every day, never forcing me to do anything, but always encouraging me to stretch my limits and strive for the best He has to offer.

As we prepare to continue in this journey of our lives, I look back with special fondness on everything my friends and family have done for me. Through all we have been through together, I have learned the lessons that will make my life happier in years to come.

The people God has placed around me are some of life's sweetest blessings, and my prayer is that God will bless them as much as they have blessed me. I encourage all of you today to remember those people who have made you who you are; do not forget to thank them before you leave. They have aided us in reaching this point where we now stand, and for that they should never be forgotten.

(Shannon Wray)

QUOTE: “Dwell not on the past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed.”

(Eileen Caddy, Spiritual Writer)

ADAPTING TO CHANGE:

Some people think that there is a method of how to appear dominating and in charge.

Imagine for example, a politician, don’t they appear to be totally domineering? What about the President or as we have here in England, a Prime Minister, don’t they appear to be always ‘in charge’ of their behavioural patterns?

Broadcasters, high flying business people, high ranking army officials, high ranking government personnel, these and many more seem to have a charisma of strength and determination. So what is their secret?

Making sure they are fully alert, and you will notice these people never allow themselves to comment unless they have studied the facts. Knowledge is power!

If you listen and respond, you will create the same energy and communication skills as these who perfect it professionally.

QUOTE: “When you only ever half listen, you can expect nothing less than only ever being half as effective.”

Always pay full attention. Listen and respond, as a well structured response can change the world; more often than not, the structure isn’t planned it comes from keeping full attention throughout your response. In effect what your heart tells you to say.

If you could ever trust that reaction, you’ll realise its potential.

Try and remember a moment where you spoke without thinking, and the quality of that comment that was spoken; you may have even thought that it had come from someone else’s mouth.

Express this power vocally and physically and you will impress. If you knew how to harness this power you would use it regularly

Adapting to change in this way is simple. Test, try and see; you may well be impressed yourself. So don’t forget to listen and respond from the heart instantly.

You will not know unless you try! Now on to today’s story…

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Today’s example occurred in 1960.

In was an American Presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F Kennedy. The debate was broadcast both on radio and, for the first time on television. The majority of people who listened to the radio thought Nixon won the debate. But by far the majority watched it on television. Those that did thought Kennedy won.

Why? Kennedy was much better at sending “elect me” messages in a visual way that that of Nixon.

(From a book by Nate Booth).

QUOTE: “Every man carries in his eye the exact indication of his rank.”

(Ralph Waldo Emerson).

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Sadness, depressions, anxiety and fear are all covered; and today I'm using his very principles to be happier myself." (Jonathan Staniforth, Rector)

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____________________

Motivation Secrets

The author confirms success is based in the mind.

Practice and then success is guaranteed!

I was skeptical before I read this book, although I did keep an open mind. His principles of 'motivation' are astounding.

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______________

Are There Really Any Secrets Left?

Dr Wayne Dyer convinced me with his first secret alone!

He has had over 25 years of high profile exposure on both TV and Radio.

He is both Qualified and Experienced to offer such guidance.

He teaches these amazing principles with delicate wording that is both positive and powerful

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______________

Everything You Want Appears -- Seemingly Out of Thin Air

There is a science that deals with manifesting desires. Many
people regard it as mystical or esoteric, but it's actually a
science like physics or algebra.

There are certain immutable laws that govern the process of
materializing wishes seemingly out of thin air, and once these
laws are complied with, anyone can make their dreams a reality
-- with absolute certainty.

Click Here to Find Out More!

_________________

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