Love Yourself-Dr. Ripal K. Kotak

We all know what love is. We've felt it at one time or the other for
people around us, who form part of our life. I am not talking of
romantic love. I am talking of the deep sense of affection and bonding
that we feel for people we care about, whether it be parents,
children, friends, or someone else. Unconditional love does not
require any of these to be exceptional in any manner, we love them
just as they are; their joy forms our joy, their pain our shared
burden. We have faith in them; we think highly of them. Their success
or failure does not change our opinion of them. To us they are perfect
just the way they are; their strengths, their weaknesses, all form a
part of who they are and that is who we love and cherish. We accept
them with their idiosyncrasies and their peculiarities; we don't judge
them for who they are, instead we love them for it.

Now I want you to ask you if you feel the same way about yourself. Do
you love yourself? As children we didn't judge ourselves, as adults we
do. Do you accept yourself just the way you are? Do you like the way
you look? Do you think you are successful? Do you think you are
worthy?

Our opinion of ourselves has more to do with our success and failure
in life than that of others.

If the success or failure of people you care about doesn't affect the
way you feel about them, why don't you extend the same courtesy to
yourself?

It doesn't matter how rich, good looking, or successful you are. What
matters is how you perceive yourself and those around you.

Every snowflake is perfect. So are you. Unique and perfect. Love
yourself for who you are, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in
health. Love yourself with all your frailties and weaknesses. Your
pimples form as much a part of you as do your dimples. Enjoy them
both.

You may not be the best in your field, you may not be the best
looking, or the most successful… but that should not stop you from
loving yourself.

Every fiber of your being resonates with the melody of the Universe.
You are as much a marvel as the other wonders the Universe offers.
Just open your eyes and see. Every pebble, every stone, every weed is
perfect. They are all part of the whole, each making their own
contribution to the world.

With love comes faith, with faith comes belief. Learn to trust
yourself. If you face a setback believe in yourself enough that you
will see yourself through troubled times. If you fall don't chastise
yourself for falling, instead applaud yourself as you stand up again.

You are precious just the way you are. You do not need to do or
achieve anything to prove this. Know this. Love yourself the way you
are. You are here and you belong. Just as everyone else.

Look at yourself with the same loving eyes with which you see the ones
you cherish.

Go ahead. Have a love affair with yourself. No one deserves it more.

EIGHT CLUES TO HAPPINESS By- KHUSHWANT SINGH

Having lived a reasonably contented life, I was musing over what a
person should strive for to achieve happiness. I drew up a list of a
few essentials which I put forward for the readers' appraisal.

1. First and foremost is GOOD HEALTH. If you do not enjoy good health
you can never be happy. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct from
your happiness.

2. Second, A HEALTHY BANK BALANCE. It need not run into crores but
should be enough to provide for creature comforts and something to
spare for recreation, like eating out, going to the pictures,
travelling or going on holidays on the hills or by the sea. Shortage
of money can be only demoralizing. Living on credit or borrowing is
demeaning and lowers one in one's own eyes.

3. Third, A HOME OF YOUR OWN. Rented premises can never give you the
snug feeling of a nest which is yours for keeps that a home provides:
if it has a garden space, all the better. Plant your own trees and
flowers, see them grow and blossom, cultivate a sense of kinship with
them.

4. Fourth, AN UNDERSTANDING COMPANION, be it your spouse or a friend.
If there are too many misunderstandings, they will rob you of your
peace of mind. It is better to be divorced than to bicker all the
time.

5. Fifth, LACK OF ENVY towards those who have done better than you in
life; risen higher, made more money, or earned more fame. Envy can be
very corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others.

6. Sixth, DO NOT ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE to descend on you for gup-shup. By
the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by
their gossip-mongering.

7. Seventh, CULTIVATE SOME HOBBIES which can bring you a sense of
fulfilment, such as gardening, reading, writing, painting, playing or
listening to music. Going to clubs or parties to get free drinks or to
meet celebrities is criminal waste of time.

8. Eighth, every morning and evening, devote 15 minutes to
INTROSPECTION. In the morning, 10 minutes should be spent on stilling
the mind and then five in listing things you have to do that day. In
the evening, five minutes to still the mind again, and ten to go over
what you had undertaken to do.

RICHNESS is not Earning More, Spending More Or Saving More, but ...

"RICHNESS IS WHEN YOU NEED NO MORE"

Thought for the Day - How to Stay Young

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and
height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them!'
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts,
gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle.' An idle mind is the
devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only
person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while
you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets,
keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your
refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is
unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the
next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

Creating The Life You Want-by Barrie Davenport

Who is in the driver's seat of your life? Your job? Your family?

The changing wind of life's circumstances?

Ask yourself, "Is my life the way I want it to be?" If not, what is
blocking you from jumping in the driver's seat of your life?

21 Truths to Living the Life Your Want

1. Understand that sustained happiness rarely comes from outside
circumstances. Your wealth, beauty, power, or acquisitions have far
less to do with happiness than your appreciation for what you have
this very moment and your loving relationships with others.

2. You can live your life by design, but you must acknowledge your
power in that, plan for it, and take the necessary actions.

3. You can't have it all, but you can have enough to be very happy.
Prioritize and focus on the top 3 or 4 most important areas of your
life.

4. Stop focusing on what you don't have or don't like. Focus on what
you do have and do like, and create a plan for what you think you can
improve and change.

5. Abandon perfectionism. It is a useless pursuit with no end. It
creates stress and unhappiness. Learn to find the balance point
between good enough and peaceful living.

6. Put your own deepest needs first. If you are living for others
before yourself and pushing your own needs aside, eventually you will
crumble in some way — through depression, anger, anxiety or
destructive behaviors.

7. Your choices may disappoint or offend others. That is sometimes
necessary in order to grow and live authentically. Those who love you
and want the best for you will accept and support you.

8. Count your blessings. You probably already have many of the things
you want for your life. Don't take them for granted.

9. Address personal issues head-on. Don't use these as an excuse for
not having what you want in life. If you have a wound, a personality
or relationship problem, or an anxiety, go to a counselor and work on
it. Resolve it. Weak people don't go to counselors, but strong
forward-moving people do.

10. Pick one small problem or irritation and resolve it. Feel how much
personal power and energy that gives you. Imagine how it would feel to
resolve one of your bigger problems or concerns.

11. Consider disengaging from people who bring you down or drain your
energy. Build relationships with people who are positive,
action-oriented, and supportive.

12. Pick the one change that would make the biggest positive
difference in your life. Begin visualizing your life with this change
implemented. Practice this regularly throughout the day.

13. Take this one step further and begin writing some specific action
steps that might help make this change happen.

14. Strengthen your strengths. Make yourself indispensable in your
area(s) of interest and expertise.

15. Always leave time for fun. Make fun happen in your life.

16. Don't neglect your relationships. Don't take them for granted.
Find out what makes your loved ones happy, and do that for them.

17. Learn to let it go. Worry is the most fruitless expenditure of
energy on the planet. Very little is worth worrying about. If you must
do something, take action instead.

18. Don't assume that you can't do something. Prove that you can't,
and if so, try something else.

19. More often than not, your fear is the culprit for inaction. More
often than not, your fears are unfounded or at least out of
proportion. More often than not, your fear will go away once you take
action.

20. Focus on the task at hand. When you feel overwhelmed and pulled in
many directions, just pick an important thing and do it without
distraction. Then do another one.

21. Life is short. You have a limited number of days on this Earth.
There isn't time to waste your days in worry, anger or frustration.
Make the most of this moment and the next and the next and the next .
. .

If you want to have a wonderful life, spend your days in positive,
forward-moving action and thought. Dismiss your longings for what you
don't have. Enjoy the actions as much or more than the outcomes.

The real secret to having the life you want is learning to love the
life that you have.

Have you been to the bank? Unknown Author

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $
86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening
deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.
What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!!!! Each of us has
such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with
86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this
you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance.
It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each
night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's
deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no
drawing against the "tomorrow". You must live in the present on
today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health,
happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a
pre-mature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.

To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a
silver medal in the Olympics. Treasure every moment that you have! And
treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special
enough to spend your time. And remember that time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history Tomorrow is mystery Today is a gift That's why
it's called the present!!

THE LAW OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were
driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a
parking space right in front of us.

My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other
car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head
around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved
at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car
and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me
what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around
full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of
disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump
it and sometimes they'll dump it on you.

Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move
on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at
home or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks
take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with
regrets, so..... 'Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the
ones who don't.

LIFE IS TEN PERCENT WHAT YOU MAKE IT AND NINETY PERCENT HOW YOU TAKE IT.

How to Cope with Loneliness 10 Tips for Coping with Feeling Lonely by Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Loneliness is a state of mind rather than a measure of how many people
you interact with. You can be overwhelmed with a feeling of loneliness
in a bustling restaurant or a cheering football stadium, in a business
meeting or a family gathering. You can feel contented, complete, and
at peace with the world deep in a forest far from the nearest human.
So what causes feelings of loneliness and how can you overcome them?

Loneliness is really a form of neediness, the feeling of needing some
expression of companionship and support that you don't feel you are
getting. You feel lonely when the state of your world doesn't appear
to be as it should. We are most likely to feel lonely when we have
lost companionship that we previously had - a loved one died, left us,
or moved away; our family, social group, or employer has rejected us.
We feel the contrast between how things are now and how they used to
be better. The other cause of loneliness is comparison with the
apparently happy social networks of others. Seeing others appearing to
enjoy their connections with family, friends, and lovers, we long for
those same pleasures.

Comparisons are odious. - Anonymous

Here are ten tips for coping with feelings of loneliness...

1. Focus on the present. Whenever you find yourself longing for the
past, Stop. Bring your attention back to the present. You can't go
back to high school and be the cheerleader or football hero again. You
can't relive the college sorority or fraternity parties. Rather, look
to the great opportunities for your life today and tomorrow.

2. Be yourself and be proud of yourself. You aren't the celebrity
being hounded by the news media; you aren't the person down the street
with a dozen cars parked out front day and night; you aren't anyone
but yourself, and that is a wonderful thing. Be happy and proud that
you are exactly who you are.

3. Learn to enjoy spending time completely alone. Once you can be
comfortable alone, you will defeat your compulsive need for
companionship. Take long silent walks in the woods or on the seashore.
Consider going for a multi-day hike and sleeping alone under the
stars.

4. Know the purpose of your life, and keep busy with activities that
support your purpose. When you know that your life is directed toward
an important purpose, the support and encouragement of others lessens
in significance. It is much harder to feel lonely when you are
actively engaged with tasks that further your vision for your life.

5. Be of service to others. Volunteering your time to those less
fortunate has a number of benefits. You will feel good about yourself.
You will realize that you really are one of the more fortunate people
in the world. The bonus is that service organizations attract the kind
of people who have the potential of becoming great friends.

6. Find a furry four-legged friend. If you don't already have a cat or
dog, rescue one from your local animal shelter.

7. Join groups for the activities, and let the socializing be a bonus.
Try a book, bridge, or sailing club; a kayaking, walking, or hiking
group. Take lessons. Learn to dance, sing, play a musical instrument.

8. Be physically active. Walk, do Yoga and Qigong, join the gym, try
Latin Cardio Dance. The endorphins that exercise generates make you
happier, and it's hard to feel lonely when you're happy.

9. Turn on happy music. Find the kind of music that makes you feel
happy and turn up the volume. Dance to your music, sing to your music,
let your music reverberate within you.

10. Know that your higher power is always with you. You are never
alone when you accept that Spirit is always with you and within you.
Have a conversation with your higher power today.