Daily Inspiration -November 20, 2010

By Terry Minion -

"All riches have their origin in mind.
Wealth is in ideas--not money."

-- Robert Collier


"Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps,
down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision."

-- Ayn Rand

I've been writing about change in the last few pieces, and how those changes--sometimes sudden, sometimes not--affect our lives and work. Hidden inside every problem or seemingly (at first) negative circumstance, lies boundless opportunity, and if we can really come to not just acknowledge this as a possibility or a fact, but as a joyful event that always brings joy, though it may only be a matter of looking for it, there is nothing on earth to stop us.

Even though I know this, I haven't yet reached the joyous expectation phase immediately, but I am getting good at it and will have it mastered soon enough. And, the best way to get good at it, and approach mastery of it is to practice going over the positive aspects of where you are now, and where you want to be, while completely (as much as possible for now) ignoring the situation that is causing the change.

So, today, I was driving on the freeway to an early morning appointment with an existing client and another appointment with another client right afterward. As I'm driving, I'm thinking about the changes happening right now, and I feel myself looking back a bit. . . and all of a sudden, it hit me! Just three years ago, last month, the business that my partner and I have built was just an idea. It was just a thought. It barely existed in my mind as a complete thought. I wasn't sure how it would come together, when or any other material factor. I just wanted it to happen, and the funny part of that is that I wasn't even sure what it was exactly, I just knew approximately what I wanted. It was just an idea.

When I expressed this idea to someone, the ball began to roll without my even realizing it. In fact, within 50 days of sharing the idea, the opportunity presented itself in reality. It took my breath away for a second or two literally, then it began to sink in slowly as a new reality. The business was born. I didn't even have a partner at that time except a name written down in a notebook along with my choices of other key team members I wanted on my team someday. Within 90 days of beginning, my partner came on board. It was just an idea. He was just an idea. It was all just an idea.

As I looked back for just a minute and realized it was just an idea only 3 years ago, I was overcome with the joy of the journey to where it is now, while at the same exact time looking forward with even more joy to where it is going and watching it unfold. Those are the kind of thoughts that are so powerful in helping you turn changing circumstances into boundless joy.

One a side note, be careful when you really decide what you want, because it might go from a thought to a reality much faster than you would have imagined.

Constructive Criticism - How to Give and Receive It

By FerragusLapointe -

We all dream of success in life but unfortunately not everyone can succeed. This is a saying... "Only the fittest will survive". Well, this saying was not just thrown up without a reason. There is a reason behind this statement. But perhaps you are asking... who is the "fittest"?

Well, we all know that life always tosses up a few challenges for all of us every now and then. It doesn't matter what you do, you are going to face many challenges in life. Only those who have the courage to face and break through the challenges will come out as a victor. That is why there is a term like... Only the fittest will survive.

You will receive countless criticisms along the way; some good some bad. What you have to understand about criticisms is that, despite the harshness of words, they were spoken in truth and so it is up to you how to digest it.

Successful people are able to take criticisms and transform them into advantages for them. It is not going to be easy to face the wrath of criticism from others, but if you can take them in your strides, you would become a better each time when you swallow a criticism and devour its full essence.

Different people take criticisms differently. Some grow even stronger with criticisms while others just fall flat. If you want to survive, learn how to take criticisms lightly, no matter how harsh they are. If you are able to do that, you are actually going to benefit from them.

Of course, learning how to accept criticisms lightly is crucial to your success, however, on the other hand, you must also learn how to give constructive criticism.

How to Give Constructive Criticism?

Constructive criticisms should be utilized to transform you; but there are some guidelines that critics should consider before voicing out their own opinions. Follow the following guidelines when giving criticism to others:

1. Do not criticize the person as a person, focus on criticizing hir or her behaviour instead.

2. Focus your criticism on the present situation. Don't bring up the past. Let bygone be bygone and focus on making thing better for the future.

3. Before throwing out your punches or criticisms, try to understand first why you are offering such criticism. What are your bases?

4. Before speaking, take a quick role reversal in your head and deal with the criticism as if you are the one receiving it.


5. Always remember that while you give criticism, you must be prepared to receive it too. If you can't, then you should not criticize others!

6. Before you give criticism, always throw up a few positive aspects of the person first, this can really help take away some of the bitterness.

7. Use the word "I", to emphasize to the person that it is your own opinion.

8. Encourage a two-way dialogue. Don't just firing out all your criticisms at once, ask questions and encourage them to share with you their feelings and opinions. This is the secret to giving constructive criticisms.

If you follow the above guidelines when criticizing others, people will sense that you are actually giving them positive feedbacks and they will appreciate it because they know that you want them to be better.


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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/self-improvement-articles/constructive-criticism-how-to-give-and-receive-it-3697175.html

A Prayer To Heal A Broken Heart - 5 Suggestions

By Marie-Claire Smith -

Love is a bond between two people whose connection lies deep in the hearts of each one. A romantic relationship means so much on so many levels, especially when the other person feels like our soul mate.

Of course, as powerful as the love between two people can be, it is also a very fragile thing. A mistaken action (such as an affair), long-term neglect, or just two people growing in different directions can lead to a breakup.

The aftermath of a difficult breakup almost always means a broken heart for one or both of the people. Whether the relationship was a marriage or just a very serious romance, the pain of a breakup can be unbearable. The pain can come and go as time passes, feeling sharper at some times that at others.

Fortunately, prayer can heal a broken heart. Whether or not you consider yourself religious or spiritual, prayer can have a powerful effect on a person's well-being and healing. Prayer is a very personal thing, but there are some guidelines you can learn for praying to heal a broken heart.

If you are looking for a prayer to heal a broken heart, here are 5 suggestions:

1. Bring into your heart all of the underlying feelings you still have:

Bring into your mind and heart all of the feelings that you harbor inside you about the breakup. By keeping them within your awareness, you can allow the prayer to influence them more.

2. Pray on guidance for what the best next steps are:

Ask God, the Universe, or your higher self (depending upon your belief system) for guidance on what you should do next in order to get over the breakup and heal your broken heart. Then, be inwardly silent so that you can hear the response.

3. Send positive thoughts toward your ex:

Take this opportunity to send warm, positive, and well-wishing thoughts toward your ex. Remember, beneath all of the issues your relationship had, your ex is still a warm, loving person.

4. Pray for your own healing:

Next, be sure to pray for your own healing process to advance even further so that you can get on with the next phase of your life.

5. If you still believe the two of you belong together, pray to make it so:

During your prayer, you may come to the realization that you believe you should still be with your ex. If so, put together a plan to make that happen. And, of course, pray on it.

Take these 5 suggestions for a prayer to heal a broken heart.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/breakup-articles/a-prayer-to-heal-a-broken-heart-5-suggestions-3698157.html

Daily Inspiration - November 19, 2010

By Terry Minion -

"Anxiety doesn't attack."


"The components of anxiety, stress, fear, and anger do not exist
independently of you in the world. They simply do not exist
in the physical world, even though we talk about them as if they do."


"Simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy,
but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy."

-- Dr. Wayne Dyer

We can certainly feel the emotions of anxiety, stress, fear, anger and unhappiness, but many, if not most of us, were taught that there is always something outside of ourselves to blame for this. People say, "it's so stressful at work," or "I don't need this extra stress!" or, "that guy sure knows how to push my buttons," and other such statements. It would seem by those statements that stress is being issued unevenly, or that it is running around looking for a victim to stress-out.

If we really think about these, it is easy to see that they don't really exist except as a response within ourselves to. . . not something or someone else, but from our own thinking. Something is said or experienced and we react to it. Maybe the reaction is automatic since we learned it so long ago, or sometimes we react in a way that we think is appropriate, even though in reality, we may not feel that way at all. For example, maybe someone is crying and showing sadness at a funeral, but they really don't feel that way if it weren't for the people around them expecting them to feel that way. It might be easier to just follow the "rules" though they may not be your own.

The analogy of "pushing my buttons," is a good way to see the action of these emotions, except it isn't someone else pushing our buttons, it is ourselves pushing them. I've said this before, but I used to get angry in traffic and cuss at the people doing stupid things and get all uptight. It didn't help and it didn't serve me. One day, I decided to stop it and just say to myself, "that's an interesting way to do that! I wouldn't have thought of doing it that way." With a bit of practice, I never get upset in traffic anymore. But, it wasn't the other drivers pushing my buttons, it was my reaction (my own emotions from my thinking) to what they did and I became upset (I upset myself). It was a stimulus-response scenario. Maybe I can't change the stimulus, but I know for certain that I can change the response, and I do that by changing my thoughts about it.

This is the way to change anything. Feeling stressful? We can change our thinking and our response the the stimulus that we were previously reacting automatically to. Same applies to anger, anxiety, unhappiness, or any other level of emotion. It may not be the "norm," but I don't need to follow the norm off the cliff, just because they are going that way, do I?