Little Deep Thoughts

If you become a passive self-observant and observe yourself and your actions intently for a day or two, you will realise that the most dominant feelings of your daily existence is fear. Fear limits and shapes our actions in myriad ways. The way we dress, the way we communicate with the world in general consciously or unconsciously, the way we establish relationships with people and things, the way we take different decisions, accumulate things or form opinions or stand points, are influenced substantially, if not completely, by our self preservation instinct, which in simple term means our concern for survival. All our efforts in this world are guided by this singular most concern, which has many other guises, our concern for approval, our concern for acceptance, our concern for having the best of everything. It is this concern, which drives us to have more and more of what we already have, in the anxiety that what we have may not be sufficient enough to protect us from scarcity whe...

Every successful concern is the result of a One-Man Power. Cooperation, technically, is an iridescent dream—things cooperate because the man makes them. He cements them by his will. But find this Man, and get his confidence, and his weary eyes will look into yours and the cry of his heart shall echo in your ears. "O, for some one to help me bear this burden!" Then he will tell you of his endless search for Ability, and of his continual disappointments and thwarting in trying to get some one to help himself by helping him. Ability is the one crying need of the hour. The banks are bulging with money, and everywhere are men looking for work. The harvest is ripe. But the Ability to captain the unemployed and utilise the capital, is lacking—sadly lacking. In every city there are many five- and ten-thousand-dollar-a-year positions to be filled, but the only applicants are men who want jobs at fifteen dollars a week. Your man of Ability has a place already. Yes, Ability is a ...

Practice being awake in the present moment. Make the most of your awareness of this hour. Don’t live in the past (unless you want guilt) or worry about the future (unless you want fear), but stay focused on today (in case you want happiness). "Until you can put your attention where you want it," said Emmet Fox, "you have not become master of yourself. You will never be happy until you can determine what you are going to think about for the next hour." There is a time for dreaming, planning, and creative goal-setting. But once you are complete with that, learn to live in the here and now. See your whole life as being contained in this very hour. Let the microcosm become the macrocosm. It's amazing what can be done by people who learn to relax, pay attention, and focus, appreciating the present hour and all the opportunity it contains. It is said that in America we try to cultivate an appreciation of art, while the Japanese cultivate the art of appreciation...

So, why do I claim we have no willpower? Is it a misguided desire to protect myself? Is there a secret payoff in saying I have no willpower? Maybe if I absolutely deny the existence of willpower, I am no longer responsible for developing it. It’s out of my life! What a relief! But, here’s the final tragedy: The development and use of willpower is the most direct access to happiness and motivation that I’ll ever have. In short, by denying its existence, I’m shutting my spirit down. Many people think of willpower and self-discipline as something akin to self-punishment. By giving it that negative connotation, they never get enthused about developing it. But author William Bennett gives us a different way to think of it. Self-discipline, he notes in The Book Of Virtues , comes from the word disciple. When you are self-disciplined, you have simply decided-in matters of the will-to become your own disciple. Once you make that decision, your life’s adventure gets more interesting. ...

Most people do not see themselves as being creative, but we all are. Most people say, “My sister’s creative, she paints,” or “My father’s creative, he sings and writes music.” We miss the point that we are all creative. One of the reasons we don’t see ourselves that way is that we normally associate being creative with being original . But in reality, creativity has nothing to do with originality- it has everything to do with being unexpected . You don’t have to be original to be creative. In fact, it sometimes helps to realize that no one is original. If you believe you were created in the image of your Creator, then you must therefore, be creative. Then, if you’re willing to see yourself as creative, you can begin to cultivate it in everything you do. You can start coming up with all kinds of unexpected solutions to the challenges that life throws at you. 

When I am happy, I see the happiness in others. When I am compassionate, I see the compassion in other people. When I am full of energy and hope, I see opportunities all around me. But when I am angry, I see other people as unnecessarily testy. When I am depressed, I notice that people’s eyes look sad. When I am weary, I see the world as boring and unattractive. Who I am is what I see! If I drive into Phoenix and complain, “What a crowded, smog-ridden mess this place is!” I am really expressing what a crowded, smog-ridden mess I am at that moment. If I had been feeling motivated that day, and full of hope and happiness, I could just as easily have said, while driving into Phoenix, “Wow, what a thriving, energetic metropolis this is!” Again, I would have been describing my inner landscape, not Phoenix’s. Our self-motivation suffers most from how we choose to see the circumstances in our lives. That’s because we don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are. In every...

Spirituality helps to clarify goals and objectives. It helps to motivate individuals, which is the step prior to setting goals. One must be motivated to do something in order to set a goal to accomplish it. When a goal is set, one's internal cognition is constantly thinking about accomplishing the goal and purpose for setting it, which leads one to thinking about one's larger purpose in life. It is possible to have aspects of positive thinking without necessarily being a positive thinker. It is possible to be spiritual, or religious, without having the three vital relationships for complete positive thinking. When a person has one aspect of positive thinking, they feel some of the very powerful outcomes of positive thinking, which motivates and opens up the opportunity for that person to attain the other aspects of positive thinking.

Adversity is often a product of confused thinking, lack of proper goals and aims in life. If an individual is doing what he does not like to do or doing what he is not supposed to do or do not know what he should do, chances are he is inviting trouble into his life. It is also true that if a person is already going through difficulties and has not learned his lesson, chances are he may have to cope with more difficulties for a longer time. Resolve today to know what you think your aims are. Try to know to what extent you lack clarity on this issue, which is causing confusion and restlessness in your life. If you have clearly defined goals and if you are determined mentally to achieve them, solutions will come eventually. You will perceive hidden opportunities and present themselves to your conscious mind which will lead you towards your goals. Whatever be the gravity of the situation, keep the goals clearly in your mind and focus on them. Make them an integral part of your cons...