Even God has a Sense of Humor

God was in the process of creating the universe. And he was explaining to his subordinates.
"Look everything should be in balance. For example, after every 10 deer there should be a lion.

Look here my fellow angels, here is the country of the United States. I have blessed them with prosperity and money. But at the same time I have given them insecurity and tension....

And here is Africa. I have given them beautiful nature. But at the same time, I have given them climatic extremes.
And here is South America.. I have given them lots of forests. But at the same time, I have given them lesser land so that they would have to cut off the forests....

So you see fellows, everything should be in balance."

One of the angels asked... "God, what is this extremely beautiful country here?"

God said....... "Ahah...that is the crown piece of all. "INDIA, My most precious creation. It has understanding and friendly People. Sparkling streams and serene mountains. A culture which speaks of the great tradition that they live. Technologically brilliant and with a heart of gold....."

The angel was quite surprised:
"But God you said everything should be in balance."

God replied --
"Look at the politicians and the neighbours I gave them."

How to Live Like a True Christian

How to Live Like a True Christian
I want to be a happy christian
wear a smile on my face
don't want to be a dooms day teacher
spreading gloom all over the place.

Let's keep praying and trusting
that the Lord will make a way
for us to be happy christians
and keep praising Him everyday.

Some people moan and groan
underneath the load they bare
I don't want to add to their burdens
I want to teach them God cares.

It's true this old world contains
enough evil to drive us mad
I believe there's still some good
not everyone has turned bad.

If we love our neighbor
and share the things we get
we will find this old world
has a little hope left yet.

We need to keep on trying
to reach our fellowman
we need to spread the Gospel
of God's Good News all we can.

Mothers day celebrated on 10th May

Give Value To Relationships
A man stopped at a flower shop for ordering some flowers to be sent as a gift to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing. He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars." The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I'll buy you a rose." He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers. As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother." She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave. The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the gifting order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother's house.At times we take many such relationships with our family and friends for granted.

Learn to value them.Best Wishes for Mothers Day!.Don't Forget - Mothers Day is on 10th May.

Beat the Recession- Attitude counts

Money has no memory Experience has shown that: You will never know what the total cost of your education was, but for a lifetime you will recall and relive the memories of schools and colleges. Few years from now, you will forget the amount you paid to settle the hospitalization bill, but will ever cherish having saved your mother’s life or the life you get to live with the just born. You won’t remember the cost of your honeymoon, but to the last breath remember the experiences of the bliss of togetherness. Money has no memory. Experience has. Good times and bad times, times of prosperity and times of poverty, times when the future looked so secure and times when you didn’t know from where the tomorrow will come… life has been in one way or the other a roller-coaster ride for everyone. Beyond all that abundance and beyond all that deprivation, what remains is the memory of experiences. Sometimes the wallet was full…sometimes even the pocket was empty. There was enough and you still had reasons to frown. There wasn’t enough and you still had reasons to smile. Today, you can look back with tears of gratitude for all the times you had laughed together, and also look back with a smile at all the times you cried alone. All in all, life filled you with experiences to create a history of your own self, and you alone can remember them all. The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support….. The first time she said ‘yes’ and it was two years since you proposed….. The first cry…the first steps…the first word…the first kiss…all of your child… The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift your daughter / son gave you…. The first award…the first public appreciation….the first stage performance…. And the list is endless… Experiences, with timeless memory…. No denying that anything that’s material cost money, but the fact remains the cost of the experience will be forgotten, but the experience never. So, what if it’s economic recession? Let it be, but let there not be a recession to the quality of your life. You can still take your parents, if not on pilgrimage, at least to the local temple. You can still play with your children, if not on an international holiday, at least in the local park. It doesn’t cost money to lie down or to take a loved one onto your lap.

Time will pass…economy will revive… currency will soon be in current…and in all this, I don’t want you to look back and realize you did nothing but stayed in gloom.

Recession can make you lose out on money. Let it not make you lose out on experiences… If you are not happy with what you have, no matter how much more you have, you will still not be happy.

Remember a bird sitting on a tree doesn’t get afraid of a branch shaking or breaking coz d bird does not trust branch….it trust its WINGS……….so trust yourself

A ship is safe when it is on anchor……..but ship is not built for the same……….

Aim for the Heart

Tom Mathews has built an amazing team of over 20,000 people. After getting to know him, I realized...He's a leader who "gets it." He truly understands the power of recognition, kindness, and setting personal goals. Also, in all of our conversations it was never "me," but always "we" when discussing any success he had enjoyed in his business.Today I'd like to share a great story from Tom's book: Aim for the Heart...Leading to Build Great Teams. Enjoy!Who Packed Your Parachute?

An excerpt from Aim for the Heart
By Tom Mathews
As a leader, do you honor and appreciate the power of WE? Do you stop to thank and recognize the members of your team? Do you consistently show an attitude of gratitude?

I recently read a great story about Captain Charles Plumb, a graduate from the Naval Academy, whose plane, after 74 successful combat missions over North Vietnam, was shot down. He parachuted to safety, but was captured, tortured and spent 2,103 days in a small box-like cell.
After surviving the ordeal, Captain Plumb received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit and two Purple Hearts, and returned to America and spoke to many groups about his experience and how it compared to the challenges of every day life.

Shortly after coming home, Charlie and his wife were sitting in a restaurant. A man rose from a nearby table, walked over and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

Surprised that he was recognized, Charlie responded, "How in the world did you know that?" The man replied, "I packed your parachute." Charlie looked up with surprise. The man pumped his hand, gave a thumbs-up, and said, "I guess it worked!"

Charlie stood to shake the man's hand, and assured him, "It most certainly did work. If it had not worked, I would not be here today."

Charlie could not sleep that night, thinking about the man. He wondered if he might have seen him and not even said, "Good morning, how are you?" He thought of the many hours the sailor had spent bending over a long wooden table in the bottom of the ship, carefully folding the silks and weaving the shrouds of each chute, each time holding in his hands the fate of someone he didn't know.

Plumb then began to realize that along with the physical parachute, he needed mental, emotional and spiritual parachutes. He had called on all these supports during his long and painful ordeal.
As a leader, how many times a day, a week, a month, do we pass up the opportunity to thank those people in our organization who are "packing our parachutes?"

Who is poor, poor v/s wealthy

Our kids don't learn social discrimination until we teach it to them...

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing him how poor live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked. "Oh yeah," said the son. "So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them." The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all feel grateful for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

SO,Brothers & Sisters... Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your family and your friends...!

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;

They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils

Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,

Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough

Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what

the vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'

And get their answer when a little

Voice says, ' Because I love you best..'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth

is not measured by height or years or grade...

It is marked by the progression of Mummy to Mum to Mother...

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mummy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mum knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mum's opinion.

45 YEAR S OF AGE - Wonder what Mum would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mum.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,

the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,

Because that is the doorway to her heart,

The place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,

but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives,

the passion that she shows,

and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

The following pics are of the same place but taken at different seasons!!

Lessons on Life You cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up. If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, and fulfillment of your fall.

Moral

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season.

"To get what you've never had, you must do what you've never done."

"To get what you've never had, you must do what you've never done."

Understanding this short quote can be the difference between winning or losing; between greatness or mediocrity. It captures the essence of discipline.Best-selling author, Brian Tracy, has written a book that can change your life. Today I'd like to share an excerpt from our new gift book titled The Power of Discipline...7 Ways It Can Change Your Life.Enjoy!

An excerpt fromThe Power of DisciplineBy Brian TracyWhy are some people more successful than others? Why do some people make more money, live happier lives and accomplish much more in the same number of years than the great majority?I started out in life with few advantages. I did not graduate from high school. I worked at menial jobs. I had limited education, limited skills and a limited future.And then I began asking, "Why are some people more successful than others?" This question changed my life.Over the years, I have read thousands of books and articles on the subjects of success and achievement. It seems that the reasons for these accomplishments have been discussed and written about for more than two thousand years, in every conceivable way. One quality that most philosophers, teachers and experts agree on is the importance of self-discipline. As Al Tomsik summarized it years ago, "Success is tons of discipline."Some years ago, I attended a conference in Washington. It was the lunch break and I was eating at a nearby food fair. The area was crowded and I sat down at the last open table by myself, even though it was a table for four.

A few minutes later, an older gentleman and a younger woman who was his assistant came along carrying trays of food, obviously looking for a place to sit.With plenty of room at my table, I immediately arose and invited the older gentleman to join me. He was hesitant, but I insisted. Finally, thanking me as he sat down, we began to chat over lunch.It turned out that his name was Kop Kopmeyer. As it happened, I immediately knew who he was. He was a legend in the field of success and achievement. Kop Kopmeyer had written four large books, each of which contained 250 success principles that he had derived from more than fifty years of research and study. I had read all four books from cover to cover, more than once.After we had chatted for awhile, I asked him the question that many people in this situation would ask, "Of all the one thousand success principles that you have discovered, which do you think is the most important?"He smiled at me with a twinkle in his eye, as if he had been asked this question many times, and replied, without hesitating, "The most important success principle of all was stated by Thomas Huxley many years ago. He said, 'Do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.'"He went on to say, "There are 999 other success principles that I have found in my reading and experience, but without self-discipline, none of them work."Self-discipline is the key to personal greatness. It is the magic quality that opens all doors for you, and makes everything else possible. With self-discipline, the average person can rise as far and as fast as his talents and intelligence can take him. But without self-discipline, a person with every blessing of background, education and opportunity will seldom rise above mediocrity.In the pages ahead I will describe seven areas of your life where the practice of self-discipline will be key to your success.

These areas include goals, character, time management, personal health, money, courage and responsibility. It is my hope that you'll find a few "nuggets" that will help make your dreams come true.

F A M I L Y

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,

'Oh excuse me please' was my reply.
He said, 'Please excuse me too; I wasn't watching for you.'
We were very polite, this stranger and I.

We went on our way and we said goodbye.
But at home a different story is told,

How we treat our loved ones, young and old..

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,

My daughter stood beside me very still.
When I turned, I nearly knocked her down.

'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown.
She walked away, her little heart broken.

I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,

God's still small voice came to me and said,
'While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,

but the family you love, you seem to abuse.
Go and look on the kitchen floor,

You'll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers she brought for you.

She picked them herself: pink, yellow and blue.
She stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,

you never saw the tears that filled her little eyes.'
By this time, I felt very small,

And now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by her bed; 'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said.
'Are these the flowers you picked for me?' She smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree.
I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.

I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.'
I said, 'Daughter, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;

I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.'

She said, 'Oh, Dad, that's okay. I love you anyway.'
I said, 'Daughter, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.'

FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.

But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family,

an unwise investment indeed,

don't you think?

So what is behind the story?
Do you know what the word FAMILY means?

FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

Take Time

Reality of Change

Five things are happening in your house at the same time.

In which sequence would you solve them?

1. The telephone is ringing!
2. The baby is crying!
3. Someone is knocking or calling you from the front door!
4. You hung the clothes out to dry and it is beginning to rain!
5. You left the tap on in the kitchen and the water is already overflowing!

In which sequence would you solve these problems?

Write the sequence and check below how your decisions were made.

BUT BE HONEST, THE FINDINGS ARE EXCITING.

First write YOUR sequence from 1 to 5 then scroll below and read after!

_

_

_

_
_
_

_
_
_

_
_
_

_
_
_

_
_
_

Answer:

Every individual point represents something in your life.

On the list you can see which meaning every point has:

1. Telephone represents Work.
2. Baby represents Family
3. Door represents Friends
4. Clothes represent Money
5. Tap represents Love Life

Your chosen sequence determines your priorities in your life.

• I guess YOU might have understood YOUR priorities. It will differ person to person.
• There is NO PERFECT SEQUENCE of the priorities & even there should not be.
• It’s to recognize hidden things in YOUR sub-conscious mind which may surprise YOU after knowing the truth.
• Just food for thought.

Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers...

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.' The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.. 'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.

The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.LIFE ISN'T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS.......IT'S LEARNING HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN!

Lunch with God

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies & a six-pack of root beer, and he started his journey.

When he had gone a few blocks from home, he met an old man. He was sitting in the park near the water just staring at some birds. The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer, when he noticed that the old man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.

The old man gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. His smile was so incredible that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer. Once again, he smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was, and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps; he turned around, and ran back to the old man, and gave him a hug. The old man gave him his biggest smile ever, When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked her son: 'What did you do today that made you so happy?'

The child replied: 'I had lunch with God.' But before his mother could respond, he added: 'You know what? He's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!

Meanwhile, the old man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and asked: 'Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?' He replied: 'I ate Twinkies in the park with God.' But before his son responded, he added: 'You know, He's much younger than I expected.

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring. All of which have the potential to make someone's day a very special one, or even turn someone's life around. OR even makes another feel he / she met God.

Money has no memory. Experience has.

Good times and bad times, times of prosperity and times of poverty, times when the future looked so secure and times when you didn't know from where the tomorrow will come… life has been in one way or the other a roller-coaster ride for everyone. Beyond all that abundance and beyond all that deprivation, what remains is the memory of experiences. Sometimes the wallet was full… sometimes even the pocket was empty. There was enough and you still had reasons to frown. There wasn't enough and you still had reasons to smile. Today, you can look back with tears of gratitude for all the times you had laughed together, and also look back with a smile at all the times you cried alone. All in all, life filled you with experiences to create a history of your own self, and you alone can remember them all.

The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support… The first time she said 'yes' and it was two years since you proposed… The first cry… the first steps… the first word… the first kiss… all of your child… The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift your daughter gave you… The first award… the first public appreciation… the first stage performance… And the list is endless… Experiences, with timeless memory…

No denying that anything that's material cost money, but the fact remains the cost of the experience will be forgotten, but the experience never. So, what if it's economic recession? Let it be, but let there not be a recession to the quality of your life. You can still take your parents, if not to the Holy Land, at least to the local Shrine. You can still play with your children, if not on an international holiday, at least in the local park. It doesn't cost money to lie down or to take a loved one onto your lap. Nice time to train the employees, create leadership availability and be ready for the wonderful times when they arrive. Hey! Aspects like your health, knowledge development and spiritual growth are not economy dependent.

Time will pass… economy will revive… currency will soon be in current… and in all this, I don't want you to look back and realize you did nothing but stayed in gloom. Recession can make you lose out on money. Let it not make you lose out on experiences… If you are not happy with what you have, no matter how much more you have, you will still not be happy.

Make a statement with the way you live your life: How I feel has nothing to do with how much I have.

Be Creative

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet.

He held up a sign which said: 'I am blind, please help.' There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, 'Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?' The man said, 'I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.' What he had written was: 'Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.'

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing? Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling...And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!

Falling down is not defeat... Defeat is when you refuse to get up...

Why do we shout in anger?

A saint asked his disciples, 'Why do we shout in anger?Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?'

Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout for that.'

'But, why to shout when the other person is just next to you?' asked the saint. 'Isn't it possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice? Why do you shout at a person when you're angry?'

Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint.

Finally he explained,

'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each Other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other through that great distance.'

Then the saint asked, 'What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, why? Because their hearts are very Close. The distance between them is very small...'

The saint continued,

'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in Their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.'

MORAL:

When you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words that distance each other.

BIG LOVE

This is the true measure of love, when we believe that we alone can love, that no one could ever have loved so before us, and that no one will ever love in the same way after us. -Goethe

This quote is on a plaque that has been sitting where I can see it on my bookcase for nearly three decades. I love this quote because when it comes to love and our closest relationships, it is important to believe that we have somehow mattered in this life time.

Big love comes in the day to day living as well as through enjoying the wonderful traditions we've created as reminders to celebrate life, transitions and the Love we offer ... to believe that we mattered in some small way in the grand scheme of things.

4 Steps to BIG LOVE in Your Most Important Relationships!

1- MEDITATE UPON LOVE! Any problem in your life would simply disappear if only you would love more. Loving more is not about a clingy, needy or controlling love. Big Love is more about loving for the sake of loving. It's free. It's a "I don't need anything from you" loving. I've created a Free Flash Online Movie to for you to watch as often as you need, to remember who you are and who you came here to be ... and that's Love. Grab a cup of something warm and "take 3" minutes to reconnect with yourself at: www.YouAreLoveMovie.com

2 - YOU ARE LOVE. And as such, you are here to be the Love that you are. To attract love, you must simply "be" love. One way to do this, is to reach out and do something for someone else. If you are too self-absorbed with feeling that you aren't appreciated or loved enough by the people in your life, then it's because your focus is on "lack": I'm not enough, I'm a victim, nobody loves me, etc. Certainly it is most important to love yourself, and please do so, for when you love yourself you are coming from your innate wholeness. There is nothing lacking in you that making a decision to just be an expression of love won't give you a "love rich" life.

3 - YOU CAN'T HAVE AN ATTITUDE & KEEP IT A SECRET! Behavioral Modification's #1 Rule is simple: Before you can change anyone else, you must first change yourself. What's getting in "love's way" in any unharmonious relationship, is: fear, judgment and labeling. To experience the Love that you want to radiate, what you must change is your attitude. What you must change to get a different result are the limitations you've put on others. What you must change is you!

4 - MASTERMINDING regularly with other like-minded people is how you get to have your specific heart desires heard and believed for you when you can't quite believe it and feel it for yourself. Having formulated your MasterMind Requests and received your "see back" from your partner, you can rest, content. Spirit is doing the work in all of your significant relationships to align you when you ask for, in the presence of another who will believe for you, when you can not believe for yourself.

Ask for alignment.

If you are not attracting the good that you desire in your life, learn to express love;
become a radiating center of love; and you will find that love,
the divine magnet within you will change your whole world ...
When your heart is filled with love you will not be critical or irritable, but you will be divinely irresistible.
Dare to Believe!

Appoline's Art of Living Strategies

One Word That Can Change Your Life!

"Life's not about waiting for the storms to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain."~Vivian Greene

This beautiful quote by Vivian Greene was one of my inspirations. The quote was sent to me by a friend about six months ago and I thought...that's it! We all face adversity in our life. However, it's not the adversity but how we react to it that will determine the joy and happiness in our life. During tough times do we spend too much time feeling sorry for ourselves, or can we, with gratitude...learn how to dance in the rain? It almost sounds too simple to feel important, but one word...gratitude, can change your attitude, and thus, your life forever. Sarah Breathnack said it best..."When we choose not to focus on what's missing from our lives, but are grateful for the abundance that's present...we experience heaven on earth."

It "struck a cord" unlike anything I've done in a long time. It is a message that truly connected with the hearts and souls.

"Any day I'm vertical is a good day"...that's what I always say.If you ask me,"How are you?"I'll answer, "GREAT!" because in saying so, I make it so.When Life gives me dark clouds and rain, I appreciate the moisture that brings a soft curl to my hair. When Life gives me sunshine, I gratefully turn my face up to feel its warmth on my cheeks.When Life brings fog, I hug my sweater around me and give thanks for the cool shroud of mystery that makes the familiar seem different and intriguing.When Life brings snow, I dash outside to catch the first flakes on my tongue, relishing the icy miracle that is a snowflake. Life's events and experiences are like the weather - they come and go, no matter what my preference.

So, what the heck?!I might as well decide to enjoy them. For indeed, there IS a time for every purpose under Heaven. And each season brings its own unique blessings.

The Most Powerful Message I've Ever Heard...!

George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."

Well, it's pretty apparent, isn't it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.

Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry - his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing... he becomes nothing.

How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.

Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision.

We're comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant.

Now, let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.

As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."

"Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants - one corn, one poison.

The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant it must return to us.

You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.

Procrastination is Attitude's Natural Assassin...!

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step."~Chinese Proverb

True...but that pesky first step can be a killer, can't it! I love Will Rogers' quote, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." So many times we have great intentions. We're going to read a good book, write out our five year life plan, start a new business, lose weight. But for some reason, we can't quite get around to taking that first step.

We're all guilty of procrastinating. But here's the thing. Procrastinating when something is important, when it's something you know you should do, can drain your energy and you won't even know it.

"Procrastination is attitude's natural assassin. There's nothing so fatiguing as an uncompleted task."

This quote by William James is worth its weight in gold. There are times when I have difficulty setting aside blocks of time to write. I know I should be doing it. In fact, I even love doing it (once I get started), but...here we go...back to that pesky first step.

When I need a "nudge," I visualize just how good I'm going to feel about myself when I finish.

I know I'll feel energized. I also know I'll feel proud that I did something I didn't want to do.

So make a point to find something that works for you when you need a nudge to get started.

Our Emotions are Powerful Motivators...!

Our emotions are powerful motivators, and more than almost anything else in our lives they will drive our behavior. Sometimes our greatest challenge is to get inside our own heads to understand what makes us tick. Why do we feel and behave the way we do?

I know two family members who were best of friends, but several years ago, one reminded the other of something that had happened thirty years earlier. One thing led to another and, you know what, they haven't spoken since.

William Ward identified the cure when he said, "Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the handcuffs of hate."

Those are powerful words, and I know from personal experience...forgiveness works. A few times in my life I've been greatly wronged and taken advantage of. My first reaction, of course, was anger and resentment. I held it for awhile and felt my stomach tie up in knots, my appetite wane, and the joy slip out of my life.

The quote from Ward provided the wake-up call I needed to forgive the person who had wronged me. It was like I had been playing the first half of a soccer game with three-pound steel shoes, and in the locker room the coach said, "Mac, try these new Nikes in the second half." Multiply that by ten and you'll understand how great it feels to unload your "emotional baggage" through the power of forgiveness.

Life is too short to stay angry...even for a day. Just remember that, "this special Dash may only last a little while."

"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future."-Paul Boese