What do you want to be different
in your life? What final
result are you trying to achieve?
In the mid-1950s, a flamboyant but unknown American pianist
had dreams of performing in the Hollywood
Bowl. He gathered some
money, rented the Hollywood Bowl
on an off night, showed up wearing a
tuxedo and played a full concert
on a grand piano to absolutely no
audience at all. Except for the empty
hall, he lived his dream. Then
he kept building on that dream until,
four years later to the very
night, Liberace performed at the
Hollywood Bowl before a capacity,
standing room crowd.
Several years earlier it was Harry Emerson Fosdick who voiced
a new thought about self-transformation.
He said, "Hold a picture of
yourself long and steadily enough
in your mind's eye and you will be
drawn toward it. Picture yourself
vividly as defeated and that alone
will make victory impossible. Picture
yourself vividly as winning and
that alone will contribute immeasurably
to success. Great living
starts with a picture, held in your
imagination of what you would like
to do or be."
Liberace had one major goal at first -- the Hollywood Bowl. He
held that picture in his mind then
acted as if he had already achieved
it, and it came to pass. These are
two necessary steps to achieving
any result, regardless how big or
small: hold a picture of the dream
in your mind and act as if it were
already so.
It is especially true in the area of self-transformation.
Whether you want to overcome shyness,
kick a habit, find a fulfilling
relationship or achieve a long-held
dream, the process is the same.
Picture it in your mind then act
as if you were already
self-confident, or as if you were
already free from the habit, or as
if you were perfectly capable of
growing that fulfilling relationship.
Don't be surprised if the results
are remarkable!
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A story, first told on President
Bush, speaks to our sense of
identity. The story has it that George
Bush was visiting the residents
of a nursing home. He struck up a
conversation with an elderly woman.
"Hi! How are you?" the president asked.
"Hello," she replied. "How are you?"
"Do you know who I am?" asked the president.
"No," she said, pointing to the nurse's station. "But if you
go over to that desk and ask that
woman she can tell you who you are."
Who you are probably depends on whom you ask. You are a child
to your parents and a brother or
sister to a sibling. Or perhaps you
are a parent or a grandparent. But
you are more than these
relationships.
Or if you ask those you spend the most time with, they may
tell you that you are a teacher or
a student or a homemaker or an
engineer. But you are also more than
what you do each day.
Who you are is not just about what you buy, what you do or
who you are related to. You and I
are more than that. There is a
spiritual side to us which is far
greater than all these things.
Some people believe they are human beings having a spiritual
experience. Others believe they are
spiritual beings having a human
experience. I like the latter, for
it puts everything in perspective.
It reminds me that my troubles as
well as my triumphs, all my roles
and all my relationships, my past
and my future are all temporary, for
I am more than this human life. Though
they will not last, I will.
That, to me, is a great comfort.
It helps to know who you are.
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Hugging is a miracle medicine that
can relieve many physical
and emotional problems. It helps
you to live longer, protects you from
illness, cures depression and stress,
strengthens family relationships
and can even help you get to sleep.
Hugging breathes fresh life into a tired body. It can make you
feel young and alive. Researchers
tell us that when we are touched,
the amount of hemoglobin in our blood
increases dramatically,
providing life-giving oxygen from
head to toe. We are healthier
over-all and we feel better.
You can hug "hello," and you can hug "good-bye." You can hug
when you dance and while you sleep.
There is no time limit on giving a
hug. Hugs never go out of style.
So... hug a spouse, a child, a parent, a friend or even a pet!
Don't wait until to tomorrow -- someone
needs a hug today! Maybe you!
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Did you ever have a day like this?
A man, cleaning one of those big cement trucks, got caught in
the mixer. He climbed into the mixer
with a hose to flush out the
remaining cement when his hose caught
on a lever and pulled it to the
"on" position. Suddenly, he found
himself going round and round in the
mixer with no way to escape! Slipping,
sliding and banging around
inside, all he could do was shout
for help.
Fortunately, another worker came over and shut it off. In
moments, a bruised and battered man,
covered with wet concrete,
emerged from the mixer. It reminds
me of some days I've had...
Of course, no one ever said life is easy! But, I believe it
was Harriet Beecher Stowe, that incredible
humanitarian novelist and
author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, who
said, "When you get in a tight place
and everything goes against you,
until it seems as if you could not
hold on a minute longer, never give
up then, for that is just the
place and time when the tide will
turn."
If it feels as if you are in the cement mixer, do you need to
hold on a little longer?
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"The job was very stressful, but
the drive home was beautiful
countryside and always helped me
to relax. There were many winter
wheat fields planted along the way,
and I especially loved them
because they were an oasis of green
amongst the barrenness of winter.
One day as I passed a particularly lovely spot, I was not
quite ready to give up the beauty,
and looked into the rearview
mirror. I noticed much to my surprise
that the field appeared even
greener! Farther down the road I
tested again with other fields and
sure enough they always appeared
a deeper and more beautiful green. I
reflected on how we often feel that
things were better in the past and
it occurred to me that, just as that
wheat stood exactly the same, my
PERCEPTION of it had changed in the
reflection. So it is with our
past. When it appears that there
was more good to experience then than
now, I remind myself of that day.
To fracture an old adage and coin a new one: THE GRASS IS
ALWAYS GREENER IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR!"
Memory has a way of making the past seem rosier than it was.
If you find yourself wishing that
things were the way they used to be,
it may just be that the grass looks
greener in the rearview mirror.
And if you spend too much time admiring
the view in the mirror, you're
likely to miss something great just
ahead!
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