Life’s Truths: #9

by admin on May 14, 2012

There Is No “Happily Ever After” In The Real World.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t have a wonderfully happy life. It just means that if you want a “happily ever after” you have to create it yourself.

Friends and mates may change or leave, luck comes and goes, and there are no guarantees. The only certainty is that someday your life will be over, and only you can decide how it will be lived.

Think about it. When would “Happily Ever After” start?

After you win the lottery? — Most lottery winners are broke within three years.

When the wedding bells ring? — Over half of all marriages fail.

When you retire? — 95% of those over 65 years old live from check to check.

Stories have to have happy endings, because the story ends before their characters do.

Real life is different. Your story will go on until you die, so you need to have a plan for every day of it. Choose your goals, write them down, and track them daily.

Your life will happen by accident unless you have a plan for it. Either way things will happen to you. On every day of your life, after every climax, after every tragedy and every triumph, the sun will rise again.

You get a new day every morning of your life. And as long as you’re alive you’ll have to prepare for that next day and the one after that, until there are no more.

Most people ignore this obvious fact. They don’t plan for a future, so it catches them by surprise, unprepared for either old age or emergencies. Remember that there is no stable certainty and plan for eventualities. Then make a “plan B” in case “plan A” doesn’t work out.

Respect reality.

Think as if you have a future, because that’s where you’re going to spend the rest of your life. Do you want it to be determined by blind luck? Or will you take charge as far as you can?

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Life’s Truths: #8

by admin on May 7, 2012

Nobody Wakes Up In The Morning Wanting To Be The “Bad Guy”.

Everyone alive thinks that they’re the “good guy.” He or she is always the hero in their version of the story – just like you and me. They have a reason for what they do — even if it’s impractical or unworkable or has evil consequences.

People who complicate life for themselves and others are like scorpions caught in the sun, waving their stinger around carelessly. You can get hurt if you get too close.

Treat them like you’d treat a drunk driver. Just stay away from them. If you have such a toxic person in your life, let them go or minimize your involvement with them. It’s the only sane thing to do.

You can’t “save” them, and you can’t change them. No one ever changes anybody. People change themselves, in their own time. Or they don’t.

People who are toxic aren’t worth changing even if you could. And you can’t. Don’t waste time complaining about them. Or going over the “injustice” of it.

If someone hurts you, it’s not about you and you shouldn’t feel like it was. People do what they do because of their own inner reality. Learn what you can do differently the next time, then forgive them and move on.

Really. Forgive them completely. And then, figure out how to manage, tolerate or avoid them in the future. Focus on cutting your losses and continuing your growth toward your goals.

You know, forgiving doesn’t mean that you think whatever they did is okay. It’s NOT okay. But here’s the thing — if you don’t forgive someone you can’t ever let it go. Then you have to go around with a burden of anger and sourness.

Wasn’t the original hurt enough for you? Why would you want to preserve it and rehearse it and remember it? Or them? Don’t you have more pleasant things to think about?

Carrying grudges ties up brain cells that you could use to make life sweeter for yourself and those you love. So, after you forgive them, forgive yourself for getting hurt, learn your lesson — and then LET IT GO!

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Life’s Truths: #7

April 30, 2012

Expect Less From Others And More From Yourself. Most people expect way too much from others while actually accomplishing very little themselves. Inertia and distraction are insidious and almost universal — You should expect it in most others, but guard against it in your own behavior. Most of your fellow humans are so distracted and [...]

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Life’s Truths: #6

April 23, 2012

“Obligations” Are A Fraud. Okay, hang in there and take a deep breath here. And try to think about this with an open mind. This idea gets a lot of people, because most of us have been brainwashed all of our lives to believe a huge lie. We’ve all been taught that we “owe” other [...]

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Life’s Truths: #5

April 16, 2012

Guilt Creates Fear. Responsibility Lets You Conquer Fear. Here’s a secret about “Original sin”. It’s guilt, and you got it from your parents. Are you self-conscious? Most people are. They’re worried that they’re “unzipped”. They’re walking around thinking that people will notice their missing button, their bad hairdo, their poor credit ratings and personal flaws. [...]

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Life’s Truths: #4

April 9, 2012

Choose Your Habits And Choose Your Future. You’ve probably heard the saying, “As you sow, so shall you reap”. It means that our lives are created by what we actually do, not by what we intend to do. It means that we can harvest only what we plant. And every day you’re planting something, so [...]

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Life’s Truths: #3

April 2, 2012

  You Get What You Think About Most You may have heard that there is a Law of Attraction in nature. Maybe it’s psychological. I don’t know. It’s more useful to know about how a principle works than why it works. Here it is in a nutshell. The thoughts in your mind are reflected “out [...]

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Life’s Truths: #2

March 26, 2012

  The Keys To Success and Happiness Are Self-Management And People Skills Your skill level in self-management and people skills determines the quality of your whole life. Every champion and high achiever knows this. These simple skills are the clear difference between those who have a good life, and those who don’t. Self-Management If you [...]

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Life’s Truths: #1

March 19, 2012

You Are At The Center Of Your Universe. Stay There!   As a young sailor I learned the hard way that when I was in a foreign port, I needed to take my corners wide and keep my hands out of my pockets. In other words, I had to stay balanced, alert and ready to [...]

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Self Improvement

March 12, 2012

  “Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for” Socrates Socrates was an incredible man, his teachings of philosophy are still studied today. His teachings of course were passed on to Plato, who’s teachings were passed on to Aristotle. One fact [...]

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