Anger Management 101

There once was a boy with a very bad character. His father gave him a box of spikes and told him to hammer one into the garden fence every time he lost his patience and got into an argument with someone.

The first day the boy hammered 37 spikes into the fence. Over the next few weeks he began learning to control himself, and the number of spikes he had to hammer diminished day by day. He had discovered that exercising self control was a lot easier than hammering spikes.

Finally the day arrived when the boy didn't hammer any spikes into the fence.

He went to see his father and told him that he hadn't had to nail any spikes that day at all. His father told him to pull a spike out of the fence every day he didn't lose temper.

Days passed, and finally the boy was able to inform his father that all the spikes had been removed. The father walked with his son over to the fence and said:

"My son, you have done well, but look at all the holes in the fence. It will never be the same as it was before.

"When you fight with someone and say terrible things, you create wounds just like these holes. You can stick a knife into someone and then pull it out, but the scar will always be there. No matter how many times you say you're sorry, the scar will remain."

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"You don't live on what you eat, but only on what you digest. This is true for your mind as well as for your body."
- Benjamin Franklin

From www.positive-club.com

The Mystery of Creativity and Imagination

It’s been a while now since I dropped something on this blog. Many apologies to my readers. Actually, I’ve been doing a lot of daydreaming lately. I believe everybody must have daydreamt about certain things at one point in their life, or the other. While some may be realistic visions, others may just be pure unrealistic fantasies.

But really, there is no stupidity in daydreaming. One must always learn to daydream once in a while. Allow your imagination to roam, then give it a chance to breathe. It’s never too late for you to start thinking productively. Infact, it is lack of imagination that always keeps a man from his potential.

One must always have a constant flow of new, exciting and powerful ideas on which to act on immediately or afterwards. You must learn to constantly frustrate tradition with your creativity and imagination. The opportunities of every man are only limited by his imagination. Dreams are previews to greatness. All men who have achieved great things were once dreamers. In other words, every achiever today was a dreamer yesterday.

And come to think of it, it is indeed those that dream the most that do most. A shallow thinker seldom makes a deep impression. We act or fail to act, not because of will, as it is commonly believed, but simply because of vision. It only only takes seeing the invisible to do the impossible.

Ideas are like rabbits. Once you get a couple and learn how to handle them, very soon, you have a dozen. You will get more out of your life if you stay incurably curious. Nothing really happens until there is firstly a dream. Denis Waitley once said, “It doesn’t cost a dime to dream, you’ll never shortchange yourself when you stretch your imagination.”

More so, we must always look at things not as they are, but as they can be. It is vision that adds value to everything. A single idea or flash of any thought may be worth a million dollars. Infact, I believe God made us an unfinished world so that we also may share in the joy and satisfaction of creation. Ted Engstrom said, “Creativity has been built into every one of us. Each of us lives less of the life God intends for us when we choose not to leash out the creative powers we possess.” Indeed, he is right!

Conclusively, learn to be a dreamer, and “Don’t let anybody steal your dream.” (Dexter Yager).

The Power of Purpose

The world only makes room for a man of purpose. His words and actions will always show he knows where he is going. In reality, we are built to conquer circumstances, solve problems and attain goals.

There is no real satisfaction and happiness in life without obstacles to conquer, goals to achieve and a purpose to accomplish. Most people usually say they want riches, but all they actually need is the fulfillment of a purpose. Happiness only comes when we loose ourselves for a purpose.

In your heart lies a sleeping lion that needs to be awakened. Always be on a mission. You must have a definite sense of direction and purpose for your life. Successful lives are only motivated by a dynamic purpose. God can only bless your plan and direct you in accomplishing it if only you have one. Strong convictions always precede great actions.

As soon as you resign yourself to fate, your resignation is promptly accepted. But realize today that you don't have a fate, but you only have a purpose. George Elliot said, “It is never too late to be what you might have been”. Billy Sunday also said “More men fail through lack of purpose than lack of talent”.

So many people are just on their way, but really do not know where they are going in life. Robert Marger said that “If you're not sure where you are going, you'll probably end up somewhere else”. Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. Always move forward with a purpose. Lord Chesterfield said, “Firmness of purpose is one of the most necessary sinews of characters and one of the best instruments of success”. Without purpose, a man will only waste his effort in a maze of inconsistencies. You will definitely find another cross if you flee from the one you are initially meant to carry. The man who has no direction is the slave of his own circumstances. Also note that the poorest man in the world is not the man without gold, but the man without a goal.

In the absence of vision, there is no clear and constant focus. No wonder Dr. David Burns said, “If you don't have a vision for your life, then you have not focused on anything.” Once your purpose is clear, decisions will jump at you. And that’s why Clement Stone said, “When you discover your mission, you feel its demand and it also fills you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to work with it”.

Discover your purpose in life today and begin to work towards its accomplishment. Life is too short to squander away just like that. Be remembered for something positive!

The Best Time is Now! (2)

"And what if the tomorrow that I take for granted never comes? Or what if tomorrow is my last day on earth?"

Martha, an old woman of 85, was obsessed with thoughts like these. She lived alone in her big apartment, surrounded by objects from her past.

She would worry all night long, getting up to walk around, then returning to her empty bed, turning the thoughts over and over in her mind like a dog gnawing an old bone. She did it so much that finally her fear turned into wisdom.

The next morning she made herself a promise. "I am going to live each and every day as if it were my last! That's the only way to really enjoy life."

Now Martha reads a lot and spends less time dusting old furniture. She admires the flowers in her garden without worrying too much about the weeds that crop up here and there.

She invites people she likes to her home, but doesn't sit there waiting for them to arrive. And when they do arrive, she uses her best china to serve tea and cake, without worrying about a precious cup or plate getting dirty or being broken.

She's started wearing the beautiful red cashmere jacket her grandchildren gave her for Christmas. She even wears it to go out walking, and puts a dab of her best perfume behind her ears.

But most importantly, Martha has stopped saying, "I'll do that one day, when I have the time."

Now she says, "If it's worth doing, I'm going to do it now!"

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Like Martha, you too should think about what you'd do if someone said, "This is your last day on earth!"

You would realize that priorities fall into place naturally, that many things resolve themselves and that whatever is superfluous in your life disappears. Don't wait for the day when tragedy strikes to force you to consider what it is you really want to do in life.

"At each and every moment, the future is pressuring the present to become the past." - Aragon

From www.positive-club.com

The Best Time is Now!

The fore-most strategy of the enemy to make you fail is procrastination. You must always realize that is the time to be creative and productive. If you want to make an easy job look difficult; then just keep putting it off. In fact, a duty dodged is like a dept unpaid, it is only deferred but we must still come back and settle the account at last.

Work is the best weapon ever invented for killing time. Most individuals really usually attach a condition to their stepping out. They keep waiting until things change, until there is more time, until they are less tired, until they get a promotion, until they settle down, until this, until that. It always looks like there are some major events that must occur in their live before they step out. ‘One of these days’ is really ‘None of these days’. The by and by never comes.

Those who desire, but don’t act will always breed stagnation. Always do today what you want to postpone until tomorrow. Do not allow idleness to deceive you; for while you give him today, he steals tomorrow from you.

Indeed, nothing is as fatiguing as the eternal hanging of an uncompleted task. When an individual gets into the habit of wasting time, then they are sure of wasting a great deal that does not belong to them.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “One day today is worth two tomorrows. What may be done at anytime will definitely be done at no time.”

Life is indeed like a taxi. The meter keeps ticking whether you’re moving or standing still.

The successful person does the thing that others never get around to. Whatever the fool does at the end, the wise man does at the beginning.

Prolonged idleness paralyzes initiatives. Tomorrow is the busiest day of the week. In it, there is a hill to climb. Never think that waiting will make it any smaller.

A sluggard will always take a hundred steps simply because he would not take a concrete bold step in due time. If possible, make the decision now, even if it is in the future, there is indeed danger in delay simply because it is always better to reap two days too soon than one day too late. A man who waits until the last always ends up being pitied. Whlie the foolish enjoys the little he has, the wise would hunt for more. The way to hunt for more is to simply untilize your odd moments. A wise man called Arthur Brisbane also once said that the man who is always killing time is really killing his own chances in life.

Therefore, act now, because Procrastination is indeed the mother of Frustration!

The Power of Concentration

There are usually various opportunities all around us, but what matters is where you put your focus. Always ask yourself this question everyday: "Where should my focus be?". Wherever you focus your attention, you will definitely create strength and momentum.

Always be single-minded. Be stable in the pursuit of your goal. Be limitlessly passionate about it. Be intensely concentrated, have a boundless vision and a definite commitment to excellence.

It is focus (concentration) that opens the door to accomplishments. Infact, the first law of success is concentration, that is, the ability to bend all the energies and efforts to one point and then going to that particular point.

The most successful people today are those of focus, who have struck their blows in one place until they have accomplished their purpose. They usually have one specific idea, one steady aim, a single and concentrated purpose.

There is usually a great disparity between some people’s dreams and the results they achieve. This is simply due to the difference in their commitment to bring all their abilities and focus them towards a specific point.

There are two basic ways to fail - to take nobody’s advice and also taking everybody’s advice. Always learn to say No to the good so you can say Yes to the best. We accomplish things simply by directing our desires to one point, not by ignoring them. Imagine the immense powers you will possess when you process specific aims or goals. Infact, your words and your actions will be improved only when you begin to live for a reason.

Don’t be a person who is uncertain about the future and even hazy about the present. Make something your specialty. You can never find until you define. Life is like a race; to finish the race, you must remain on one track. Always learn to define yourself. Try to content yourself with some specific goals and definite works. Dare to be who you really are.