Is Your Mind Churning Like the Waves? [Paula G Company eZine

When stress or problems start to knock on your door, u can try this.

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"In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you. " - Deepak Chopra
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Is Your Mind Churning Like the Waves?

At a recent meditation gathering I was reminded of a beautiful image I first heard when I started practicing with the meditation tapes recommended in Jon Kabat-Zinn's book "Full Catastrophe Living".. Imagine a body of water. At the surface can be waves and ripples and churning water. In the case of the ocean there is continuous motion of wind and waves, tides coming in and going out. Yet, beneath the surface deep within the water is a place of complete stillness. No matter how wicked the surface may appear, even during a storm, deep within the water there is stillness and calm.

Now, imagine your mind is a body of water. Is your mind like the surface going every which way full of churning and waves and disturbance? Most likely if you're living in the real world with demands, obligations, and multi-tasking, your mind is churning away. At least I know mine is often skimming the surface of a million to-dos, thoughts, judgments, and other chattering. Yet, it is in that place of stillness that real clarity, peace, and happiness lives. We chase this elusive beast, yet it is always with us just beneath the surface where the stillness lies. We can tap into it if only we take a moment to do so.

This simple distinction as illustrated by the water is the reason why some sort of meditative practice can be so beneficial and worthwhile. There's nothing "woo-woo" about meditating. There are thousands of ways to meditate and whatever is the right fit for you is the "right" way. It's not just for new age gurus either. Take any truly successful athlete and I would bet they have a form of meditation and visualization they do to ensure their peak performance. Ask a really successful person who is living life by her own design and I'd bet she has some form of meditative practice in her daily habits even if she doesn't call it that. The simple truth is that quieting the chatter of our minds and getting still is the single most powerful way to get more comfortable in your own skin and have more of what you want to do, be, or have in your life.

Why is that? Well, if you think of the water analogy, there isn't a lot of life in the churning waves. In fact most of what you'll find there are life forms that are getting tossed around, possibly ending up beached in the sand, left to die. Yet, if you go beneath the surface, that is where the myriad of plant and animal life lives and thrives. The same can be said for your creativity, well-being, and deepest wishes. They can't survive in the storm, they need the space that stillness and quiet provides to push through the surface and bloom. Why not tend to them on a daily basis like you would a young child or freshly seeded garden.

Let Go of The Churn and Discover the Stillness

As I said, there are thousands of ways and philosophies when it comes to meditation. At their core is a stillness of the mind and body. If you're not a huge self-starter, consider beginning with a guided meditation like the "Guided Mindfulness Meditation" from Jon Kabat-Zinn. It is very accessible even to the biggest skeptics (trust me, I was a BIG skeptic at the time I first stumbled upon his work).

If you just want to get started on your own I suggest the following:

Find a quiet space where you won't be interrupted

Set aside ideally 10-20 minutes minimum, but if you only have 5 minutes it is far more important to get in the habit than it is to worry about some artificial idea of time

Sit in a way that is comfortable and aligned for your body. Pick a position (floor, chair, meditation cushion, etc.) that works for your body and allows you to stay relaxed yet fully alert.

You can close your eyes or keep them open in soft focus.

Focus on your breath. Let it go in and out (don't force it) and simply notice it Every time you notice a thought (and they will come by, sometimes in droves), simply notice it, say "thank you" to it and return your focus to your breath

When you are complete, gently stretch and slowly return to your day's activities.

This is the perfect time to journal or read something uplifting or spiritual if you have the time.

Pick a time every day that you can cultivate this practice. Even a few minutes every day where you can go beneath the surface to that place of stillness will yield generous dividends in your life.

- Paula Gregorowicz

Insight of the Day by Bob Proctor - Friday Story - WOW!!!

Wow...how u react to event when it happen ?

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WOW!

Last spring I was walking in a park. A short distance ahead of me was a mom and her three-year-old daughter. The little girl was holding on to a string that was attached to a helium balloon.

All of a sudden, a sharp gust of wind took the balloon from the little girl. I braced myself for some screaming and crying.

But, no! As the little girl turned to watch her balloon go skyward, she gleefully shouted out, "Wow!
I didn't realize it at that moment, but that little girl taught me something.

Later that day, I received a phone call from a person with news of an unexpected problem. I felt like responding with "Oh no, what should we do?" But remembering that little girl, I found myself saying, "Wow, that's interesting! How can I help you?"

One thing's for sure - life's always going to keep us off balance with its unexpected problems. That's a given. What's not preordained is our response. We can choose to be frustrated or fascinated.

No matter what the situation, a fascinated "Wow!" will always beat a frustrated "Oh, no."

So the next time you experience one of life's unexpected gusts, remember that little girl and make it a "Wow!" experience. The "Wow!" response always works.

- Rob Gilbert Editor of "Bits & Pieces"


Luv *
Justin

Season Greetings

Thank you for your support in this blog.
I wish ya a Happy Lunar New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai, Wan Shi Ru Yi.

Luv Justin

New Year Inspiration

Dear All

New year is on the way. Wish everyone have a Happy Lunar New Year. Below is someone who inspire me and i hope he does the same to you. Cheers.

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Here is a story I want to share with you. It is something I have been studying since 1961. It is a story of how Napoleon Hill was commissioned by Andrew Carnegie who was the wealthiest man in the world at the time, to write the Laws of Achievement. Out of which came the book Think and Grow Rich that I have studied almost all my adult life. Napoleon Hill was in his early 20's, a young journalist, when he was given a 3 hour interview with Carnegie. The following was written by Napoleon Hill. This is all in the archives of the Napoleon Hill Foundation, an organization I have tremendous respect for and enjoy working with. This is an interesting story, take the time to read it.
- Bob Proctor

Fortunately, I was assigned to Andrew Carnegie, the wealthiest man in the world at that time and known throughout the world as being the best picker of men. That's how he became successful. He knew how to surround himself with Master Mind allies that could do the things that he needed to have done. Nobody ever rises above mediocrity, who does not learn to use the brains of other people and sometimes the money of other people too. We call it OPM and OPB - other people's brains and other people's money. And it takes a combination of the two - believe you me.

Well, Andrew Carnegie gave me three hours. And when the three hours were up, he said, "This interview is just starting. Come on over to the house and we'll take it up after dinner." I was so glad that he said come on over to the house. If he had said come on over to the hotel and come back tomorrow morning, I'd have been broke, because I had just about enough money in my pocket to pay my way back to Washington.

After dinner, we went on into the library and he gave me one of the hardest sales talks that I have ever had or ever heard of in my whole life, about the necessity for a new philosophy that would conserve and pass on to the oncoming generations, the sum total of what men like he had learned by a lifetime of trial and error. He said it was one of the sins of the ages that this knowledge, gained at such a tremendous price, by so many men, was buried with their bones when they died. Nobody had ever organized it into a philosophy and made it available to the man of the street.

Well, I wondered why Mr. Carnegie was wasting his time on a cub reporter like me, giving me a sales talk like that. It was way beyond my capacity at that time. I was curious and I kept my ears open and my mouth shut. Meanwhile, he told me what this philosophy would do for the man who organized it; what it would do for oncoming generations; how it would benefit people not yet born. And then he said, "Now, I've been talking to you for three days about this new philosophy; I've told you all that I know - about its possibilities and its potential. I wish to ask you a question, which you will please answer with a simple "yes" or "no." But don't answer until you make up your mind. If I commission you to become the author of this philosophy, and give you letters of introduction to people whose help you will need, are you willing to devote 20 years to research - because that's about how long it will take - earning your own way as you go along, without any subsidy from me. Yes or no?

What would you have done if you had been sitting there in front of the richest man in the world, with about enough money in your pocket to pay your way back home; who had propositioned you to go to work for 20 years without compensation or without a subsidy? What would you have said?

What you have in mind right now is what I had in mind too. I knew very well that I couldn't do it. Isn't it strange, that when you put an unusual opportunity before a person; a new opportunity, the chances are a thousand to one that his mind will jump to the "no can do" part of it immediately - to the negative side. You think of all the reasons in the world why he can't do it. I can think of about three right of the bat. First of all, I didn't have enough money to carry me for 20 years. In the second place, I didn't have enough education to deal with these successful men that I'd have to deal with all over the United States and in other countries. And in the third place, and this was the most serious of all, I was not absolutely too sure about the meaning of the word "philosophy" that Mr. Carnegie had been kicking around for three days and nights.

So you can imagine what a fantastic thing that it was. A young man, with very little education, sitting in front of this great man who had offered him an opportunity such as never has come to any other author at any time in the civilization of man - no other - as far as I'd been able to tell, has ever had the cooperation and collaboration of over 500 outstanding men to help create a literary work of any sort. That was the kind of opportunity that was facing me.

Here is an important thing I want to call to your attention. I didn't know this at the time, but I learned about it later. After briefing me for three days and nights on the potential of this philosophy - on how it could be organized, on what it would do - Mr. Carnegie made up his mind that when he put the question to me, he would allow me only 60 seconds in which to say yes or no - 60 seconds, that's all! I didn't see it, but he's sitting there with a stop watch behind his desk, timing me. And it took me exactly 29 seconds to make up my mind that I would accept. I had 31 seconds between me and an opportunity such as never comes to another author.

I was ready to go back to Washington and Mr. Carnegie then did another thing. He said, "If you don't get anything out of your trip except what I am now about to tell you, it might well change your entire destiny and, through you, the destiny of many other people."

Mr. Carnegie said, "Well, Napoleon, 20 years is a long time and I have given you a pretty tough assignment, and you have accepted it. I want to warn you now that you're going to have many temptations along the way, long before you complete your 20 years of research to quit, because that's the easiest thing that a weakling can do, is quit. I don't think you're a weakling. If I had thought so, I would not have given you the opportunity. But I do know that you need something to bridge over your temptations to quit, if and when they do come. I'm now going to give you a formula that will enable you to condition your mind so thoroughly that nothing in the world can stop you from going ahead and completing the task to which I have assigned you."

I was taking all this down in shorthand. He said, "I want you to write very slowly and I want you to underscore every word that I speak now. And here's the message that I want you to repeat to yourself, at least twice a day - once just before you go to bed at night and once just after you get up. Looking at yourself in a mirror...you're talking to Napoleon Hill now, mind you. And here's what you say to him: 'Andrew Carnegie, I'm not only going to equal your achievements in life, but I'm going to challenge you at the post and pass you at the grandstand.' And I threw my pencil down and I said, "Now, Mr. Carnegie, let's be realistic. You know very well I'm not going to be able to do that!" At that time, Mr. Carnegie was rated as a billionaire - probably the first and maybe the only billionaire this country has ever created as far as I know. He said, "Why, of course, I know you're not going to be able to do that, unless and until you believe it! But if you believe it, you will." He said, "Let me ask you to do this. Try it out for 30 days. Will you do that?" I said, "Yes, that's a reasonable request, I certainly will."

But I had the fingers on both hands crossed. I knew dog-gone well it wouldn't work. The idea of a youngster, in his early 20's, promising to equal and outdo the achievements of a man who had reached the stage of a billionaire. Why, it was so ridiculous, it wasn't even funny. It even scared me. I thought Mr. Carnegie had lost his mind. I came very near to walking out on him. It was just something that was too good to be true. But I promised, and when I got back to Washington - my brother and I had an apartment - and I went to look over this formula, I didn't want my brother to know what a big fool I had made of myself, because I had some news to break to him that was not going to be good anyway. I had agreed to pay the expenses of the two of us through school and I was going to have to tell him that I was dropping out and that he would have to earn his own way.

I went into the bathroom and I closed the door real tight, and I got real close up to the glass and almost whispered this formula. As I turned around - in my mind's eye - I saw the real Napoleon Hill standing there, and I said, "You darn liar, you know very well you're not going to be able to do that." Only 'darn' was not the word I used. It was a much more definite and stronger word. I felt like a fool, like a thief, going through a thing like that - a farce. And that's just what it seemed like. But I said, "Well, after all, you promised Mr. Carnegie, go ahead and try it."

For the first week - just about the first week - I had the attitude or feeling like I was doing something foolish. Then all of a sudden, about the beginning of the second week, something inside of me said, "Why don't you change your mental attitude about this? Do you realize that Andrew Carnegie is the richest man in the world; that he is known all over the world as the best picker of men in the world; and if he chose you, to do a job like this, he must have found something in you that you didn't know was there. Why don't you change your mental attitude?"
I started to change my mental attitude. If I hadn't have done so, I wouldn't be talking to you today, and I wouldn't be talking to millions of people in this and other countries of the free world through my books, if I hadn't changed my mental attitude and become positive instead of negative.

I started to repeat this in earnest, and by the end of the month, I not only believed I'd catch up with Mr. Carnegie, but I KNEW that I would excel that man. And believe you me, when I tell you that I have long since achieved that objective. I'll tell you why I've achieved it. Mr. Carnegie made not over 20 or 25 millionaires at the most. The millionaires that I have had the privilege of making, they're legion - they're all over the world.

That's not the main claim for my having outranked Mr. Carnegie. I have brought men and women together in the spirit of understanding that didn't exist. I've helped men and women to find themselves in all walks of life. I have saved men and women from suicide by helping them to find themselves. I have done for the world, things that Mr. Carnegie never did do. And not only that, but what I have done has been recorded, it's been tested, it's been taken to a free world and it's going to benefit millions of people who are not yet born.
- Napoleon Hill

The Daffodil Principle

A small step will become a thousand leap.

Luv

Justin

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daffodils
1. Any of various bulbous plants of the genus Narcissus, especially N. pseudonarcissus, having showy, usually yellow flowers with a trumpet-shaped central corona.
2. The flower of this plant

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Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."Carolyn," I said sternly, "Please turn around."It's all right, Mother, I promise. "You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped.Before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers."Who did this?" I asked Carolyn.

"Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop.

Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time.

When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world ..."It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said. She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"Use the Daffodil Principle (modified). Stop waiting... GO FOR IT! -- Carpe Diem!!

Don't wait...

Until you finish school

Until you get married

Until you clean the house

Until your car or home is paid off

Until you get the second car or home

Until you have the Porsche 911

Until you go back to graduate school

Until you achieved your career objective

Until you get a divorceUntil you lose weight

Until you have kids

Until the kids completed University (maybe overseas?)

Until your kids leave the house

Until you lose a son or daughter

Until you retire or retrenched

Until you have cancer

Until you die...

From A Tear To A Smile by Bob Proctor

Contributed by Jelin Chu
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After reading the story, i recalled the time when i had with my grandmother. My only regret was she passed away too soon before i can do something for her.

Cherish your love one.


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From A Tear To A Smile

Looking down at the cemetery plot, I could only feel tears streaming down my face. My grandmother had just passed away at the age of 96, almost 97. People were constantly saying to me, "...but she lived a full and long life;" however, at that moment none of those statements really mattered. I only felt a sense of loss - a huge one at that.

Still, with my eyes on the grave, with tears welling up, I began remembering my grandmother. I could even begin seeing what I thought might be shadows of her in the cemetery grave. I thought I was also experiencing the wonderful scents of her kitchen - the aroma of her wonderful chicken soup that filled her pots every Friday afternoon and the fragrance of the sizzling potato pancakes which always had been my favorites.

Just then I remembered a story about my grandmother when she was in the hospital one time, already in her late 80's. She was in a special hospital room for an x-ray to be taken. The technician left the room ready to turn the x-ray machine on; however, my grandmother started screaming, "WAIT, WAIT!"
The technician stormed back into the room frantically asking, "Mrs. Segal, Mrs. Segal, are you okay? What's the matter?"
To this my almost 90-year-old grandmother calmly replied, "You failed to ask me whether I might be pregnant."

That, and many more positive stories about my grandmother, told me who she really was. As I stood at the cemetery, I noticed that my tears had changed to smiles.
The key, I believe, to overcoming grief is in "memories." As long as I remember my grandmother in my heart, she will always be "with me."

As the funeral ended, I whispered to my grandmother that I loved her very much and would visit her soon - if not at the cemetery, then in my memories.

- Michael Jordan Segal, (c) 2001 ^-^
Michael Segal is a social worker at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas. An author and an inspirational speaker. He has been on national television as well as having national magazines feature stories about his "comeback" following his being shot in the head and left for dead as an innocent bystander to a robbery. Mike's story, "My Miraculous Family," was first published in "Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul."


Luv*
Justin

Hi all

Its been about a week since i wrote. But this one week seems like a year to me as many things had happened.

One of which was i was given a chance to be MCee for my gf cousin's wedding. Well, i had been given public speaking to people before, but never a wedding event. To make the matter interesting, i was notify with 60 hrs remaining.

The wedding commence on Sat. I did my homework, get script and memorize them. Of course im not perfect, i forgotten some words here and there but i managed to pull through. It was full house. I cant remember how i went through it but the only thought in my mind is to make this wedding as perfect as possible. If anyone has such tasks again, im willing to try again and i know i can do better.

The very next day, i try to recall the previous night wedding. As i do that, i remember what Dr George told me a few days ago.

We met at his golf course somewhere at East Coast. He has been very patient and give me a lot of help to pull me up. I was having a low morale for the past 1 year plus and he is the first person to be able to break my obstacle.

George told me 1 example on that day which impact me a lot. He says he has not been golfing for a long long time. Although the touch might not be the same, but the skill is there. And he has fear of hitting the ball as he has not hit it for quite sometimes.

This struck me. I had not play soccer for quite sometimes but if im given a ball, i can still do the basic juggling. Its the same with public speaking. Although i had not speak in public for quite some time, i realise my foundation was there.

This is what i have learn.
1) Believe in yourself. You had done it before so you can do it again.
2) I had fear. But does the fear kills me? The best way to fight fear is to face it.
3) The foundation is very important. That is why we attended nursery, primary school..etc. You can still remember 1+1 =2 dont you?
4) Hatred is our enemy. I had lost a lot of people who had loved me before and i regretted that i came to know hatred. Im deeply sorry for that.
5) The most important and most powerful thing in life is LOVE. Love the people, the things, and even love those that you think dont deserve your love because they lack of love as well.

I love you.

Luv*
Justin