Posts from — January 2006

“Your gift to the world is not what you do. Your gift is your happiness.”

– Alan Cohen

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

– John and Ono Lennon

So often it is the simple wonders that fall in the shadows of the steep expectations we hold for our self and the way we think the world should work. I am sure not to be the only one who experiences that whatever task I undertake or project I agree to, it consistently takes two to three times as long as I anticipate to accomplish my intended goal.

You think we would get smart enough to do better at time management by planning for these certain realities, accepting that it always takes longer. But no, instead we judge ourselves and compress life, not wanting to ‘drop a ball’ or say ‘no’ to anything.

Can we be happy even at these times? Expanding compassion and patience, not for the outer world or others, but for ourselves seems to be the key to happiness until we can adjust our perception of time and surrender to and trust in Divine Order.

It is important not to miss the simple wonders in our hurry to force life along. So today, amidst looming project due dates (I refuse to call them dead-lines) and having more on my plate than I have allowed time for, I choose to take the time to notice that the sun is out for the first time in days, delight that I heard my grandson giggle over the phone, and show gratitude for the simple wonders, big and small, that reconnect me to the perfection in mis-perfection today.

WHAT DO YOU PERCEIVE AS THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD?
by Author Unknown

A group of students was asked to list what they thought were
the present ‘Seven Wonders of the World.’ Though there were
some disagreements, the following received the most votes:

1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter’s Basilica
7. China’s Great Wall

While gathering the votes, the teacher noticed that one quiet student hadn’t turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, ‘Yes, a little. I couldn’t quite make up my mind because there were so many.’

The teacher said, ‘Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help.’

The girl hesitated, then read, ‘I think the ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ are:

1. to see
2. to hear
3. to touch
4. to taste
5. to feel
6. to laugh
7. and to love.’

The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wondrous!

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment to improve the world.”

– Anne Frank

“Every man (person) dies. Not every (person) truly lives.”

— Braveheart

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

— Albert Einstein

“Lack of Self-esteem is more arrogant than it is humble, suggesting the idea that God somehow created junk. Low self-esteem is delusional. We’re all one in spirit, and thus we are deeply equal in esence.”

– Marianne Williamson

http://www.newsforthesoul.com/

http://www.codehappy.net/happy.htm

http://boomerwomenspeak.com/

http://www.namiscc.org/Research/2002/Women&Stress.htm

“We have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.

And there are things to be considered:

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in the right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast
It is so great and swift that there are those who will
be afraid.
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart and they will
suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, and push
off and into the river,
Keep our eyes open, and our head above the water.
See who is in there with you and Celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing
personally.
Least of all ourselves.
For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and
journey comes to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over, Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your
vocabulary.
All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner
And in celebration.”
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for…”

The Elders, Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona

I want to direct you to a wonderful article, written by Tijn Touber, that I found in Ode Magazine. It is a MUST READ. Ode is one of the few magazines I consistently turn to for inspiration and as a way of nudging my thinking from its comfort zone a bit. Go to www.odemagazine.com and look for article 30. Muller was a master at happiness regardless of his circumstances,

Below is an except of this thought-provoking article about finding happiness in unlikely places. We can learn a lot from the self-proclaimed Happiest Man on Earth.

… Robert Muller was imprisoned by Nazis during World War II, and that was when he first applied one of the lessons of Coue’s book, Self-Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion: Happiness is not external to man, but a force within him.

“We were scared, uncertain of our fate and in the corner was a bucket with a terrible stench. It was our toilet. In that terrible situation I became aware of my thoughts. It would have been easy to panic or to feel hopeless. But I remembered Coue’s advice: Always be the happiest man on earth, wherever you are and whatever you do.

If you look at it that way, being in prison is actually a rather interesting experience. (Muller managed to get a pencil and began writing a romantic love story on the inside of the prison door. During those anxious days, through will and imagination I was able to keep in good mental shape and even to attain happiness.  (Many times at the UN, faced with tragic news or divisive diplomats, Muller says he would go within and switch on  optimism and confidence.

Immediately, says Muller, I returned to a positive, creative mood. This mysterious quantum change between a negative and a positive current is a mystery to me. I do not understand it. But it has done miracles for me.

To be unhappy, to be ungrateful, not to feel wonder and appreciation for the incredible gift of life is a most foolish and short-sighted attitude. The toughest prison of all is that which man imposes upon himself.”


Muller also lectures all around the world and is the author of 15 books, including Most of All, They Taught Me Happiness (Doubleday, 1985 and Amare Media, 2005) and The Birth of a Global Civilization (World Happiness & Cooperation, 1982).

More information: www.robertmuller.org, www.goodmorningworld.org, www.upeace.org