Information is Wealth.

During the last decade we have all been exposed to an avalanche of insight and wisdom into how to do life with a greater degree of success and happiness. Books, seminars, workshops, DVDs, CDs etc. have flooded the personal growth and spiritual awareness arenas with everything from basic mental principles on how to think your way to happiness, to the deepest spiritual wisdom on how to create a fulfilling and purposeful life. There is, however, one habit that keeps getting in the way of our intention to apply any new and potentially life enhancing strategy, sometimes referred to as the stress habit. Living a stress free life is not an easy achievement. It can only start when we have realised and re-established within our consciousness three fundamental truths about stress. Truth 1 - Stress is a form of pain or discomfort that comes to tell you there is something you need to change. All pain, suffering and discomfort are messengers saying there is something we need to learn or more often,...

We are in seventh heaven during a honeymoon. It is a time of excitement, passion, when everything is new and intoxicating. It usually refers to a new marriage, but these days can equally apply to the start of a new relationship, a relocation to another city or country, or an exciting new job or business venture. Even politicians and presidents have their honeymoon periods during which they can go from saviours to subjects of ridicule in a few short years! So what happens when that initial joy, excitement and enthusiasm peters out? When the soda losses its fizz and the pop goes flat? How do we deal with our disappointment, or more importantly could we work to make sure that the honeymoon never ends? Honeymoon refers to the month of honey, traditionally thought to be the sweetest time in a marriage. After that the feelings of elation can begin to wane. It has been estimated that the honeymoon period of a marriage is two years. Of course this is natures trick to make us commit to a partne...

Napoleon Hill said, "Whatever the mind can conceive and believe can be achieved." While this statement sounds rather grandiose, there is certainly a measure of truth in it. As the old saying goes, you can't steer a ship or a bicycle to go anywhere until they're moving. Zig Ziglar in his book, See You at the Top, put it this way: "The largest locomotive in the world can be held in its tracks while standing still simply by placing a single one-inch block of wood in front of each of the eight drive wheels. The same locomotive moving at 100 miles per hour can crash through a wall of steel reinforced concrete five feet thick." The important thing is that we get moving! Some people are sitting around waiting for some kind of special call or revelation from God before they get involved in his work. It's not likely to happen because God has already given us lots of instructions in his Word regarding what to do. All we need to do is read these instructio...

Rule One - You will receive a body. Whether you love it or hate it, it's yours for life, so accept it. What counts is what's inside. Rule Two - You will be presented with lessons. Life is a constant learning experience, which every day provides opportunities for you to learn more. These lessons specific to you, and learning them 'is the key to discovering and fulfilling the meaning and relevance of your own life'. Rule Three - There are no mistakes, only lessons. Your development towards wisdom is a process of experimentation, trial and error, so it's inevitable things will not always go to plan or turn out how you'd want. Compassion is the remedy for harsh judgement - of ourselves and others. Forgiveness is not only divine - it's also 'the act of erasing an emotional debt'. Behaving ethically, with integrity, and with humour - especially the ability to laugh at yourself and your own mishaps - are central to the perspective that 'mi...

Robert was meditating in a group meditation. This particular type of meditation is about stillness of the body. To avoid making any movement and to become aware of our own breathing. After meditation was over, Robert shared with his teacher that he felt bliss. "It was a sensation of fulfillment;" Robert mentioned. Then, Robert explained that he felt physical pain after a while during the meditation, but in this occasion, it was the first time that he fully accepted it, and the pain stopped being that bothersome. His teacher said that it is good to feel those things, but equanimity is the teaching. Don't take pleasure neither pain. Remain in equanimity. The students agreed with the teacher. Isn't that a good teaching? It depends. Some will teach: "Do what is pleasurable. Avoid what is painful. It is good as long as it feels good." Another teaching will say: "Sacrifice your pleasure now. Renounce pleasure now for it is just tempting you. You will indulge ...

Alfredo Moser's invention is lighting up the world. In 2002, the Brazilian mechanic had a light-bulb moment and came up with a way of illuminating his house during the day without electricity - using nothing more than plastic bottles filled with water and a tiny bit of bleach. In the last two years his innovation has spread throughout the world. It is expected to be in one million homes by early next year. So how does it work? Simple refraction of sunlight, explains Moser, as he fills an empty two-litre plastic bottle. "Add two capfuls of bleach to protect the water so it doesn't turn green [with algae]. The cleaner the bottle, the better," he adds. Wrapping his face in a cloth he makes a hole in a roof tile with a drill. Then, from the bottom upwards, he pushes the bottle into the newly-made hole. "You fix the bottle in with polyester resin. Even when it rains, the roof never leaks - not one drop." "An engineer came and measured the light," he say...

When we speak, we emit a distinctive noise when our emotional state is altered. For most individuals, this is "normal." Typically in a meeting or a gathering, when we do not hear the meaning of the words, but just the noise itself, we could "hear" someone's emotional state with ease. The same "job" of listening to others, we could do it with ourselves. If we have difficulties in observing how an emotion could overcome us, just listening to the noises being made through our own mouths, could easily let us know about our state of mind. The above is a significant practice. It is about observing ourselves. It is only when we catch ourselves in a state other than at "ease and peace," that we could have the possibility to go back to it. That is the work of observation. Typically, the vibrations, atmosphere or environment will have a great effect on our mind. If we are seating in front of confrontational individuals, and eating lunch with them; do n...

You've no doubt read that if flies are placed in a jar with air holes in the lid, they will fly around frantically, banging into the lid, desperately trying to escape from their prison. However, if left there long enough, eventually they will stop banging into the lid. Later, if the lid is removed, they won't even try to escape. Somehow they have been conditioned "to believe" that there is no escape. They just keep circling in the cramped jar. Some of us are like that. Somewhere in our past, through a bad experience, perhaps in a bad marriage, or as a teenager or child we were hurt and have been "conditioned" to believe that there is no escape, so we are afraid to try again for fear of failure or of getting hurt again. To overcome, one needs to acknowledge where and how in the past he or she had been hurt, express the hurt, anger and/or grief creatively if these feelings exist, and then let go of them so he/ she can go forward into the future unencumbered by...

Remembering the past is a "past time" for most individuals. When we observe our minds going into the past to re-live those moments, we could observe that our emotions will change, with that our mood will change and our outlook towards life, the experience of living the moment, will change as well. Nothing wrong with remembering the past; what is important to recognize is how our emotions will change our experience of "now." Those emotions, whether elation or sadness are just ghosts. They no longer exist, nevertheless, our emotions are timeless. A factual past becomes a hurtful psychological past. That psychological past has a charge of emotions, which will affect our present. For example, some will remember a loved one who left, several times a day for many months. When this condition is beyond our control, this becomes a mental disease. It is a chronic depression. The solution does not reside on "not thinking" about things, or to have the "self contr...

  Fuel at night or early morning: It is better to buy or fill up your car or bike during early morning, when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks underground. . The colder the ground, the more dense the fuel. When it gets warmer, petrol expands. So, buying in the afternoon or in the evening, your liter is not exactly a liter.   In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature play an important role. 1 degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps. Fill fuel when half tank empty: Another most important tip is to fill up when your tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank the less is the air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Nozzle trigger should not be in the fast mode:  While filling petrol, the nozzle trigger should not be in the...

"In 1923, Eight of the wealthiest people in the world met. Their combined wealth, estimated, exceeded the wealth of the government of the United States. These men knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth. 25 years later. 1. President of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, died bankrupt. 2. President of the largest gas company, Howard Hubson, went insane. 3. One of the greatest commodity traders, Arthur Cutton, died insolvent. 4. President of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was sent to jail. 5. A member of the President's Cabinet, Albert Fall, was pardoned from jail. 6. The greatest "bear" on Wall Street, Jessie Livermore, committed suicide. 7. President of the world's greatest monopoly, Ivar Krueger, committed suicide. 8. President, Bank of International Settlement, Leon Fraser, committed suicide. They forgot to make a life ! Just made Money ! Money provides food for the hungry, medicine for the sick, clo...

An interesting article from The Hindu. Life can begin at 60, it is all in your hands! Many people feel unhappy, health-wise and security-wise, after 60 years of age, owing to the diminishing importance given to them and their opinions. But, it need not be so, if only we understand the basic principles of life and follow them scrupulously. Here are ten mantras to age gracefully and make life after retirement pleasant. 1. Never say I am aged' : There are three ages, chronological, biological, and psychological. The first is calculated based on our date of birth; the second is determined by the health conditions; the third is how old we feel we are. While we don't have control over the first, we can take care of our health with good diet, exercise and a cheerful attitude. A positive attitude and optimistic thinking can reverse the third age. 2. Health is wealth: If you really love your kit and kin, taking care of your health should be your priority. Thus, you will not be a burden ...

Aggression and domination Last night as I was walking without a particular course in mind, I ended up near a law office. Their name was "The aggressive law group." Perhaps the meaning of aggressive as belligerent, hostile, ready to attack wasn't what the lawyers had in mind. Perhaps it was more about boldness, being assertive and energetic, to imply domination over someone. Nevertheless if the "law" was about justice; it wouldn't be a need to display a violent performance to "win." Our society values domination as a way to demonstrate superiority, worth and status. As we are part of society, those traits are already learned. A competitive society instill those values over anything else. We may teach Johnny to be "good," to love his neighbour; but those words will not make a difference, when to "win" is everything in life. To win what? Anything. The idea is to dominate. Our value is determined by our ability to dominate someo...

At some point while you're dating a new man, he is bound to do something that makes you feel weird, uncomfortable, or just plain angry. But you'll probably feel like you don't want to rock the boat with him. So you'll stuff down your feelings and pretend everything's okay. You act like nothing's wrong, because you believe you need to "go with the flow" or he'll think you're high maintenance and lose interest. But not letting him know how you feel actually prevents you from connecting with him at a deeper level. Conflict is actually an opportunity to get closer to him and build a relationship. When you express your feelings, he gets to see who you really are. It shows that you trust him to reveal something difficult, and it gives him the chance to make things better. In turn, he'll start to feel safe with you and let you in on what he's feeling, too. This is where understanding and acceptance start to happen, and these are the seeds for...

Anyone who's experienced heartbreak knows that there's no magic formula for making someone fall in love with you. (Or in some cases, back in love with you). However, you can up your chances of making that special lady swoon by following a few of these simple tips. 1) Be All Ears Women like to work out their problems. Offer a bended ear and fight the urge to provide a solution or rush her to the point. She just wants you to listen while she vents, explains or just muses. 2) Compliment Her A lot of women put a lot of effort into looking nice for their date. Offer a flattering remark on her time well spent and she will be delighted that you noticed. 3) Throw a Pep Rally Act as her cheerleader on life's sidelines. Support her choices, feelings, successes and failures and she will appreciate (and lean on) her biggest fan. 4) Remember that Chivalry Is Not Dead Man the door, pull the chair and wait for her to be seated. Treating her like a lady never goes out of style. 5) Focus Al...

Anyone who enters the dating world is bound to encounter rejection. Whether your online messages to dating prospects go unanswered, you have a great first date but never hear from the person again, or you get dumped after things were just starting to heat up, all rejections have one thing in common — they really hurt. What makes rejection even more painful is that any effort to understand what went wrong can easily lead to bouts of self-criticism and self- blaming. Did they reject you because you're not tall enough, smart enough, attractive enough, rich enough, educated enough, or hip enough? What was the reason? Then you start to second guess everything you did and said. You berate yourself for disclosing your fascination with sea urchins, for ordering noodle soup and making slurping noises, or for joking about how you got the scar on your middle finger. All this self-punishment makes you feel utterly miserable and you wonder when you became so weak, needy, or desperate. You must ...

"baggage." It comes with being human — and with having relationships. By age 18, most of us have discovered that relationships can be a source of great joy, satisfaction and meaning when our needs for love, affection and companionship are met. Or a source of heartache and sorrow when they're not. Few things in life are as uplifting as being in a loving relationship. Or as painful as losing someone we love. Whether we lose them as the result of death or a "living loss" like separation, divorce, infidelity, alcohol, drug addiction, illness, injury or something else, moving on can present some daunting challenges. Facing these challenges, taking the necessary time to get our footing and opening the doors to finding love again is best achieved when we balance patience with courage. Having coached countless hundreds of clients seeking to find love after a loss, there are some proven steps for regaining your strength, trust, faith,confidence and moving forward: 1. Ta...

You've been on many dates. You laugh at each other's jokes. You find their quirks endearing. And you're excited to see where the relationship might lead. Before you take that leap into a serious committed relationship, here are some questions to ask yourself. Question to ask yourself before committing: Do we share the same views on monogamy, marriage and children? The big-ticket items, like family, marriage, and views on monogamy are conversation-topic musts before leaping into serious commitment. Differing values on these areas are often non- negotiables. It's better to know he doesn't want kids or that she's not interested in ever getting married now than get further invested in a relationship that, ultimately, can't have a future. Question to ask yourself before committing: Are we spiritually compatible? Maybe you've already talked about your faith backgrounds some, but articulating what your spiritual life looks like on a day-to-day basis — and what ...

"Let's take it slow" is easier said than done when you meet someone you're immediately infatuated with, but taking the time to really get to know someone is crucial for building the foundation of a [hopefully] long-term relationship. Here are tips for how to pace yourself while dating: 1. Speak up. If you want to go slow, say so — and say it early. If you establish boundaries and a pace you're comfortable with early on, you won't be alarming your date with an awkward "We need to slow down" conversation later. Reassure your partner that the reason you want to take your time is because you're really into him/her and don't want to mess up the relationship by jumping in too fast. 2. Don't confuse honesty with verbal diarrhea. You don't have to air all of that proverbial "dirty laundry" on the first date just because he asks you a question about your personal life. Be honest and open, but refrain from unloading every little detai...

Here's what I know for sure: finding true love is possible for anyone at any age if you're willing to prepare your self, on all levels, to become a magnet for love. This wonderful Universe of ours is set up to deliver the people and things we draw to us that our consistent with our personal belief system. If you don't believe you will ever find the one for you, then, guess what? You get to be right… you probably won't. If, however, you learn to believe that the one is not only out there but is also looking for you, then true love can be yours. The basic law of attraction states that you will attract to you those things that match your state of belief. Believing that your soul mate is out there is critical to the preparation of manifestation. I believe that the Universe is always mirroring back to us our beliefs about our selves and the world. If we believe the world is a loving and friendly place, then most of the time that will be our experience. But, if we believe the...

Be honest — when was the last time you dated with an open mind and heart? Think back to all the dates you went on last year. Was your mind open to each potential candidate's good qualities, or did you run for the hills at the first sign of trouble (scuffed shoes, a nervous smile, spinach in their teeth, etc.)? If you're like most singles, you have a specific dating check list with very little wiggle room. But here's the thing — if you haven't been in a relationship longer than a month in the last few years, maybe it's not them. Maybe it's, gulp, you! Don't despair if that statement rings true. If you're serious about seeking your soul mate (or at least enjoying better dating results) in 2009, the following five dating tips will help you open your mind so that you may just open your heart in the coming year. Dating Tip #1: Speak your Truth If you want to increase your possibility of finding a rock solid partner, you must first become rock solid yourself. ...

You've scored some quality time with your significant other Saturday night, and it's just the two of you. So, how do you seduce him? Believe it or not, the goal of seduction is not sex and has very little to do with physical intimacy, but everything to do with turning on your love's heart and mind. The following are five surefire tips for successfully seducing your guy. Be Attractive The art of seduction is largely visual. So your first order of business, when trying to seduce your sweetie, is to look the part. And no, that doesn't mean shakily stepping into four inch stilettos, donning a tight sweater, and/or dousing yourself in a gallon of eau de toilette. Instead, you should accentuate whenever it is about Y-O-U that makes you feel fabulous – from your engaging eyes to your winning smile to your sexy calves. Before beginning your seduction, spend an extra few minutes on your hair, makeup, and/or wardrobe. By looking and feeling your best, you'll feel more confide...

Dear Dr. Warren, My question is regarding long distance relationships initiated on the Internet. How much time should you spend with someone "in person" before deciding to relocate? You can get to know someone over the phone and Internet, but I feel there are too many gaps that can only be filled by face to face interaction and that over an extended period. We are very attracted to each other and feel we are compatible, but how do you relocate across the country for a "maybe"? –Brent, AK Brent, This is indeed an important question. For many years I have emphasised that long distance couples take some determined and comprehensive steps before making a commitment of any kind. My first suggestion is that you create as many opportunities as possible for face to face interaction before either of you move. You are correct, the phone and Internet work well to keep in touch, but eventually it's vital that you spend hours and hours of time together just being in the same...