The Art Of A Bad Mood

Psychologists call it “emotional contagion.” But you can think of it as Scroogeology or Grinchonomics.

Better yet, think of it as the woeful friend, the crabby boss, the depressed party guest whose moods are so melancholy that, despite your good cheer, they suck the joy from the season.

The effect is far from imaginary. In the last five years, a growing body of psychological research — much of it focused on the emotionally negative or positive boss — is bearing out the power one individual’s mood can have on others.

“It is one of the most robust phenomena I have ever seen,” said University of New Hampshire researcher Richard Saavedra. “And it’s all unconscious.”

Fortunately, he said, just as Bob Cratchit and Cindy Lou Who refused to let Scrooge or the Grinch dampen their spirits, modern and age-old strategies can combat the draw of your own Debbie Downer.

As University of Michigan psychologist Christopher Peterson said, “That’s why we have eggnog.”

Recent evidence is consistent.

In the March issue of The Journal of Applied Psychology, Saavedra and colleague Thomas Sy at California State University at Long Beach examined the effects of a leader’s mood on a group.

They took 189 volunteer undergraduates, divided them into 63 groups of three and told them they were going to take part in a team-building exercise: putting up a tent.

Before the exercise, a “leader” chosen from each team was shown one of two video clips — “Saturday Night Live” skits or a vignette on torture — designed to induce a positive or negative mood. All team members’ moods were measured before and after the task.

Result: The leaders’ moods ruled, and negative moods ruled most. If a leader was up, some team members’ moods also rose. But if he or she was down, everyone was down.

In May, Purdue University psychologists presented similar results in Chicago at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association.

Janice Kelly and Jennifer Spoor took 43 pairs of undergraduates and asked them to complete a task. One was designated the leader, the other the subordinate. The leaders, again, were shown movie clips, this time of the “choice” scene in “Sophie’s Choice” or a scene from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

Bad moods ruled again, with negative proving much more contagious than positive.

Other studies show that the effect goes beyond leader-subordinate relationships. Separate studies of college roommates, dating couples and spouses all show that when one gets depressed, the other also becomes more depressed. Studies in Britain of groups of nurses and accountants showed that, within the same work group, individuals tended to share the same up and down moods.

“The idea is, you go to a holiday party and you’re happy until you enter into an encounter with someone who’s down or depressed,” said Sy of Cal State. “The next thing you know, your positive mood no longer exists. It has been hijacked by this other person’s bad mood. You go off wondering, ‘What happened?’ ”

Explanations abound. One is evolutionary, harking back to our animal selves.

People possess a vast range of troubles. But despite even grave concerns, humans in cultures worldwide generally report themselves as feeling fairly upbeat and positive, said Hope College psychologist David G. Myers, a scholar on happiness and author of The Pursuit of Happiness: Who Is Happy and Why?

Positive moods, therefore, are the norm, making negative moods stand out like an emaciated Santa. They’re cause for alarm. Something’s wrong. In the animal world, those that don’t instinctively notice and react to such warning signs do so at their own risk.

“The original form is the contagion of fear and alarm,” said Frans de Waal, a psychologist and primate expert at Atlanta’s Emory University. “You’re in a flock of birds. One bird suddenly takes off. You have no time to wait and see what’s going on. You take off, too. Otherwise, you’re lunch.”

In other words, getting caught up in another’s negativity is hard-wired, unconscious and powerful.

“I have often noticed how primate groups in their entirety enter a similar mood,” de Waal said. “All of a sudden, all of them are playful, hopping around. Or all of them are grumpy. Or all of them are sleepy and settle down. In such cases, the mood contagion serves the function of synchronizing activities. The individual who doesn’t stay in tune with what everyone is doing will lose out, like the traveler who didn’t go the restroom when the bus stopped.”

Now toss in empathy.

Although each of us may think of ourselves as individuals with our own emotions, we’re not, said University of Virginia psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of The Happiness Hypothesis, published this month.

“We are fundamentally hive creatures, like bees and ants that have evolved as ultrasocial creatures,” he said. “We are exceptionally influenced by what is going on around us.”

When we encounter a Grinch or Scrooge or wearisome gloom monger, a) it captures our attention, and b) if we don’t feel attacked, we’re apt to empathize. People don’t say, “Hey, you’re down; I’m up! So who cares about you?!” Myers said.

“We take on the other person’s pain to some extent,” he said.

We sit. We commune. Research has long shown that we respond in like ways. They frown; you frown. They smile; you smile. They furrow their brows in conspiratorial disgust; you listen and furrow yours.

Natural and unconscious, the phenomenon is called “facial mimicry.” Coughs, yawns and laughter are contagious for the same reason.

“Acting as another acts helps us feel what another feels,” Myers said.

And feel it in very real ways.

Research shows that being exposed to someone cheery makes you cheery, but not as much as being exposed to a spiritless grump makes you depressed. As British researchers showed in work published last year, the phrase “I feel your pain” is more than a saying.

At London’s University College, psychologist Tonia Singer and colleagues used brain scans to explore empathy in 19 romantic couples. The experiment was simple. Both individuals were hooked to brain scans. One was given a slight electric shock while the other watched. Scans showed identical brain reactions. One partner was shocked, but the other partner’s pain center lighted up as if he or she had also been jolted.

So it goes with the holiday killjoy.

“Everyone wants to be civil, but unfortunately he draws your attention. You can’t help it, because that somberness stands in contrast to your generally pleasant life,” Saavedra said. “But before you know it, you’re drawn in and the only thought is, ‘I wish I could get out of here!’ ”

Strategies exist.

“In general, the key is awareness,” said Sy of Cal State. “The most insidious aspect of a negative mood is that, often, it infects you unconsciously. If you realize, ‘This person is depressed. I’m catching his mood. That is why I’m depressed,’ you can manipulate it. You can control it.”

The controls vary by person and situation. All of them come under the heading mood lifters.

Whereas, for some people, that might mean jogging or music or surrounding themselves with positive friends, for others it might mean an hour at the gym slugging a punching bag or kvetching with colleagues or a raucous night out.

Shopping. Movies. Family. Eggnog.

“There are lots of tricks we use. We do it every day, pump ourselves up,” Sy said “Why do we eat chocolate when we know it’s going to make us fat? Because it makes us feel better.”

Then there is this hopeful note.

Spirit-sapping Negative Nellies are powerful, yes. But research out of Stanford University and elsewhere also suggests that the moods of people who feel their emotions intensely — whatever they may be — are also highly contagious.

In other words, in the presence of merry spirits like Ol’ Fezziwig, the Scrooges of this world don’t stand a chance.

By ERIC ADLER
Kansas City Star

10 Ways to Say No, Guilt-Free

Thinking you are a bad person for saying no is a symptom of “the disease to please.” “Saying yes when you need to say no causes burnout. You do yourself and the person making the request a disservice by saying yes all of the time,” says author Duke Robinson. Here’s how to do the right thing — for yourself and others — in 10 common scenarios where you know that opting out is your best option. Don’t feel guilty. Just take these tips from experts on etiquette and communication — and a cue from your favorite two-year-old — and say no.

Saying No for the Sake of Your Wallet

Request: A friend in need asks for a Trump-worthy loan.
What you should say: “I wish I could, but as a rule, I don’t lend money to friends.”
Why it works: It’s clear that you are not singling out this person as untrustworthy.
Why you shouldn’t feel guilty: Lending any amount of money can cause problems, says communications trainer Don Gabor. “It can change the nature of your relationship if the person doesn’t pay you back.”
How to avoid the situation in the future: Never lend money to friends and you won’t get a reputation as a walking, breathing ATM.

Request: A coworker wants you to chip in $25 for a gift for a colleague you wouldn’t recognize at the watercooler.
What you should say: “Oh, I’ve never really had a conversation with Sam. I think I’ll just wish him a happy birthday in person.”
Why it works: Chances are, the person taking donations has no idea how close you are (or are not) with the intended recipient. By clarifying the nature of your relationship — and emphasizing your intention to get to know the person better — you come across as thoughtful rather than cheap.
Why you shouldn’t feel guilty: “A gift isn’t a gift if it’s an obligation,” say etiquette writers Kim Izzo and Ceri Marsh.
How to avoid the situation in the future: If workplace gift giving is getting out of hand, take the lead in restoring sanity by circulating a card before someone can break out the gift-donation plate. Make sure others know you don’t expect anything on your birthday.

Request: Your third cousin asks to bring her boyfriend-of-the-month to your $150-a-plate wedding reception.
What you should say: “We’ve already had to make so many tough decisions to get the guest list down to size. We really can’t squeeze in/afford another guest. But I would love to have you two over for drinks sometime so I can meet him.”
Why it works: If you illuminate some of your behind-the-scenes planning, your cousin may get a clue about the inappropriateness of the request.
Why you shouldn’t feel guilty: It’s your party and your pocketbook, says author Patti Breitman.
How to avoid the situation in the future: Make a few calls before you put together the guest list to see if there are new additions you should consider as you plan.

Saying No for the Sake of Your Time

Request: You are offered a promotion that you don’t want. Even though it means more money, it demands more hours and more of what your boss calls responsibility and you call tedium.
What you should say: “I’m flattered that you want me, but for personal reasons I’m not in a situation where I can take this on. Perhaps in a year from now things will be different. Can we talk again if my circumstances change?”
Why it works: If you’re caught in this enviable dilemma, your boss will understand you have personal priorities that take precedence.
Why you shouldn’t feel guilty: By saying no to more time at the office, you’re saying yes to other things you cherish, be they long walks alone at sunset or evening time with your children.
How to avoid the situation in the future: “If a position opens up at your workplace, you could let it be known that you are not in the running,” Breitman suggests. Being forthright saves your manager the trouble of pursuing a candidate who isn’t interested.

Request: You are asked to coordinate the bake sale — again — at your child’s school.
What you should say: “I know I’m going to disappoint you, but I’ve decided not to volunteer this year, because I fear I’ll end up feeling resentful. Is there any way to get some of the other parents to step up?”
Why it works: Often people feel manipulated into doing something (”The ice cream social just won’t happen without your help!”). If you can address the problematic pattern of one person’s doing all the work, you sidestep the manipulation. And if you say no, it might force others (who never get asked) to say yes.
Why you shouldn’t feel guilty: “You’ve done your fair share, and now others can do this job,” says Robinson.
How to avoid the situation in the future: “Encourage school leaders to present the problem to all the parents,” says Robinson. “If people know an important program may fail, they’ll usually remedy the situation.”

Request: You’re invited to a distant relative’s annual Lobster Luau — for the 14th year in a row.
What you should say: “I’ve really had fun in the past, but I can’t make it this year. That week is already packed for me.”
Why it works: “You’ve explained it in a way that doesn’t sound like a personal rejection,” says Robinson. “And you’ve asked for understanding, based on your need to take stress out of your schedule. Everyone can identify with that.”
Why you shouldn’t feel guilty: You have only so much free time — and so much tolerance for flying lobster goo. “Don’t R.S.V.P. yes, then back out at the last minute or, worse, not show up at all,” say Izzo and Marsh. “That is the least decorous way of handling the invite.”
How to avoid the situation in the future: In a note, thank the relative for thinking of you and explain that because you tend to be busy at this time of year, he should feel free to take you off his invite list.

Request: Your boss asks you to supervise this season’s intern — last seen with her feet up on a desk, iPod on, Gameboy in hand.
What you should say: “Wow, that’s an interesting project. I’m really busy with the ABC assignment right now, so let me know if you want me to re-prioritize.”
Why it works: “Asking your boss to prioritize tasks for you means you don’t have to actually say the no word,” Breitman says. If she tells you to just squeeze the new task in, then do it. But keep a list of all the extra work you’ve done — for your next review.
Why you shouldn’t feel guilty: You really do have enough work to do as it is.
How to avoid the situation in the future: If extra tasks keep getting dumped on your desk, ask your boss for a meeting. Explain that the added assignments are making it hard to do your primary job properly. Ask if she wants to review your job description (and renegotiate your salary while she’s at it).

Saying No for the Sake of Your Sanity

Request: A friend asks to borrow your car (because hers is in the shop to repair the dent she got while driving, talking on her cell phone, and unwrapping her kid’s juice-box straw).
What you should say: “I don’t lend anything worth more than $1,000.” Try to avoid the old “I don’t have insurance for a non-family member” excuse — most insurance policies cover the car, not specific drivers. (If your friend got into an accident, it could make your premium go up, though.) If you have time, offer her a ride instead.
Why it works: “It puts the blame on you,” explains author Patti Breitman. “Just don’t indicate you don’t trust the friend.”
Why you shouldn’t feel guilty: “Your car is probably the first or second most valuable thing you own,” says Breitman. “You’re protecting a big financial asset.” Plus, if your friend were to get into an accident, your relationship might be totaled, too.
How to avoid the situation in the future: Let your friends know that while you’re typically a generous lender (”Of course you can borrow my snorkeling gear!”), your car is off-limits.

Request: A guest offers to bring her seven-layer dip to your party. It doesn’t really go with the Greek theme you have planned.
What you should say: “What a kind offer — thank you. I have already planned the menu, but do you have any dietary restrictions I should know about?” If she’s just asking to be nice and insists on bringing something, suggest a bottle of wine or a loaf of bread.
Why it works: By acknowledging the generosity of the offer, you let that person know she did all she could. Of course, if the person has dietary restrictions that make cooking difficult for you, relent and let her bring a dish she can eat.
Why you shouldn’t feel guilty: The person is most likely offering just to be courteous. By saying no, you give her license to relax and enjoy your hospitality.
How to avoid the situation in the future: When you invite people, ask if there is anything they don’t eat, because you want to make sure your menu works for everyone. Emphasize the word menu, so people know that you have a plan or a theme for the meal (and so they won’t try to upset it).

Request: Your future sister-in-law wants to throw you a shower, but you don’t want the fuss.
What you should say: “I really don’t want a party, but thank you so much for offering. Why don’t we splurge on a visit to a day spa instead?”
Why it works: “Not everyone likes a party in her honor or wants to be the center of attention with a paper plate of bows on her head,” say etiquette writers Kim Izzo and Ceri Marsh. Unless she has her own agenda, she should understand.
Why you shouldn’t feel guilty: “If you decline, you are taking away some pleasure from the people who care about you, but it is your occasion to shout about or be quiet about,” say Izzo and Marsh.
How to avoid the situation in the future: Announce what you would prefer to do instead of a shower before anyone offers to throw one.

By Amanda Hinnant

The Biggest Reason For Failure… And The Solution

All we do is create experiences. That is all we do, as human beings. There is nothing else we do here on earth.

Think about your whole day today - wasn’t it a collection of one experience after another? As creators of experiences, we make good ones happen and almost every day, surprisingly, we put a monkey wrench in our own lives and mess things up.

Every day, and for no reason at all, unconsciously, we destroy our own efforts and then fail or suffer unnecessarily. When it comes to success, we are our own worst enemy and we don’t even know it. We take one step forward and two steps back, or more. Today we can all stop this unnecessary step backwards.

Do you know how much more your life, business, relationships and health would improve if you changed one little thing? Let us see how.

The one and only cause of all failure in any area of your life…

In this article, we are going to focus on work, the experience we most often find ourselves in. But you can apply the principles to anything else, including health and relationships. Work in itself is an experience, and we work so that our ‘future’ experiences can be better - or so we hope.

Instinctively, we know that we create our own experiences, otherwise we would not bother put any effort into work. And we desire ‘good’ experiences, that is why we work so hard, believing that the reward will be a ‘better’ life.

You have no doubt in your mind that you create your experiences - the only doubt you may have is the extent to which you are in control of the creation of your own experiences. Furthermore, most of humanity recognizes that they make the ‘good’ times, but they are in denial of the fact that they make the ‘bad’ times as well, the ‘failures’. They mostly blame other people and conditions for the bad ones. Well, here is the biggest reason why we have bad experiences and failures in our work, business and marketing:

Worry and fear.

That is it. That is what causes all the failures in our work, marketing, business, relationships, health and everything else. And do you know why? Because we become what we think about most.

Our thoughts create our next experience, our next moment. We have a mountain of scientific, spiritual and psychological evidence of this fact, yet we hear it and forget it.

Quantum physicists have proven beyond a doubt that the material world is fully dependent on its observers. They have proven that all matter is made of energy, and this energy ‘arranges’ itself into the matter we see based on the expectations of the observer.

In other words, it is our intentions, attention and observations that ‘collapse’ this energy into matter. This is not scientific speculation any more. Nobel Prize winning scientists have proven this without a shred of doubt. And what do our religions tell us? All our religions, all of them, tell us that what we believe we become.

The Bible, for example, tells us that whatever we ask, we receive, whatever we seek, we find, whatever we believe, we are, and as a man thinketh in his heart so is he. Whenever you are thinking, you are asking. Your asking does not start when you start praying and end when you say ‘amen’.

All your thoughts are constant communication with the universe, communication that is acted upon exactly. Every thought of fear and worry that you have produces an outcome in your world. It is this outcome that you call ‘failure that was beyond your control’. It was never beyond your control - you just were not conscious of what you were doing and the power that you had. You have now heard evidence from science and religion that this is so. Let us now see what psychologists and philosophers say:

“The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate. That is to say, when an individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner contradictions, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposite halves.” - Carl Jung

“Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen.” - Kahlil Gibran

“The attempt to escape a problem is the problem. See the logic of this. When a man tries to escape, when he moves away from the problem, he divides himself into one man with a problem and another man who will escape the problem. In reality, there is no such division, so the escape must always fail, as the man sadly experiences. But when seeing that he is the problem itself, that he and his problem are one, he stops trying to escape because he sees there is no other course. In this state of intelligent acknowledgement of reality, he will not have the problem.” - Vernon Howard

“The aphorism, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,” not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life.” - James Allen

“Whether you believe you can or you can’t - either way you are right” - Henry Ford

How most people create their lives… and how they get it wrong

Let us now look at how most people go about creating their lives and their business: They have a goal, a desire. In terms of work, this goal may be to advance in their career, to launch a new marketing strategy, to have their web site achieve success and high traffic, or whatever else.

They decide to go for this goal. They then have countless thoughts about this goal or desire. A great percentage of those thoughts are worries and doubts as to whether they will achieve this goal. A great percentage of these thoughts are analysis of how they will achieve it and how they may fail. They then analyze the analysis and analyze that analysis until what is left is a mass of confusion and fear and doubt. They reach a point where they don’t even know how they wish the goal to turn out - one confident side of them says outcome A will happen, then a fear comes up and it says B, then a newspaper article makes them think C, and so on.

How does anyone expect anything but havoc in the outcome of such haphazard thought full of fear and doubt? You must be like a child. A child, a small child before they are influences by adults into fear and doubt, is of one mind, certain of outcome, ever happy. You can guess how much more successful you would be with such clear thought.

Worry and fear is the single most destructive force in this world and in our personal lives and businesses. Yet we do it every day!

Why? Because we believe it works. It is that simple.

I was watching an Oprah episode with Dr. Phillip C. McGraw, author of Self Matters, as the guest that day. He said, as most others have said before, that humans do not do anything unless we believe there is a pay off.

The only reason we worry is that we believe it works! That is the payoff. As insane as this idea is, we somehow buy into it. Why? Mainly because we do not know the future. So we have a goal, then because we cannot see the future, we have this thought that it may not come true, so we worry, thinking it will help us. But because we become what we think about, the very worry itself comes true.

That which we fear and worry about materializes. We are worries about things because we are worried about things. It is a vicious cycle. We believe what we see yet what we see is created by what we believe. But that cycle starts in our belief. We change our belief and reality changes.

So what is the solution?

Stop worrying and drop your fears. Time for more evidence. Again, every religion and spiritual path, not to mention psychologists and psychiatrists, tell us not to worry. For example, the Bible tells us “Be anxious over nothing”, “Be still”, and so on. But most importantly, we are guided over and over again into detachment of outcome.

Zen, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and all other faiths, over and over, in various ways, teach detachment, non-resistance. Letting go. The very idea of struggle is made necessary because of our resistance.

Look at nature. Things work out without resistance in the most miraculous of ways. Change must happen in this physical realm. Nothing stays the same. Yet everything blooms.

Deepak Chopra, in his best-selling book the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, outlines detachment as one of those laws. In any case, what you resist persists. So if you find yourself resisting an outcome you do not wish to occur, you are simply energizing it into occurring.

So why is so much emphasis given by sages, masters, teachers and guides to be detached, to let go? Because you do not know every possible outcome, combination and miracle needed to get to the best outcome possible at the best time. And because you do not know, when you feel the need to control what you don’t know, you worry and cause suffering to yourself. You forget that you are not alone.

The universe is not just made of physical stuff. There is a Source of the physical, that which all thought and matter springs from and goes back into. Spirit is the source that everything, from yourself to your car to the stars, comes from. It is First Cause, and eternal. It knows what you do not.

And if you have ever observed your life, you will notice that often things have come to you in ways you would never have planned to give an outcome much better than you would have hoped for. How did that happen?

See, when you decide to do everything yourself, including what you know not, you limit yourself to your fears and finite possibilities. Stick to what you know and leave the rest to That Which Knows.

If you have a desire to succeed in a certain thing, express that intension, will it, know that it shall be acted upon without fail by the universe, just like all of nature is, and let go, with faith and certainty. Detach yourself totally fro the ‘problem’, outcome or steps needed for the outcome to happen.

A goal set with certainty is already accomplished, and because it is, all the miracles necessary for its manifestation are already set and will happen in good time as long as you do not get in the way. If you start analyzing and worrying, setting deadlines and conditions, steps and metrics that only serve to scare you in case you miss them, you are getting in your own way.

Simply intend, believe, be grateful because you know it is being taken care of, and leave it, move on to the next thing. This not only saves you from failure, but it frees you so much time to intend so many more things instead of spending hours worrying over that one thing. Here is a quote that should get you thinking:

“The lesson is forcibly taught by these observations that our life might be much easier and simpler than we make it; that the world might be a happier place than it is; that there is no need of struggles, convulsions, and despairs, of the wringing of the hands and the gnashing of the teeth; that we mis-create our own evils. We interfere with the optimism of nature; for whenever we get this vantage-ground of the past, or of a wiser mind in the present, we are able to discern that we are begirt with laws which execute themselves. The face of external nature teaches the same lesson. Nature will not have us fret and fume.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Detachment has been proven to work over and over. Worry and fear has been proven to destroy over and over. I saw the following fantastic bit of information in Joe Vitale’s new book, Spiritual Marketing: “According to research done at Spindrift Foundation on the power of prayer, a “Thy will be done” prayer gets more than twice as many results as a specific “give me this” prayer.”

You do not have to be a religious person. You don’t even need to have a religion. The laws of the universe work uniformly for all, no matter whom or what they are. And intention with detachment will work for you regardless.

So there you have it. Focus only on that which you can do. And the only thing you can effectively do is intend and enjoy Now.

J. Krishnamurti once said that we should live “as though one were living for that single day, for that single hour.” Did you know that all problems exist in the mind in the past and future? Look at your thoughts of problems. They are all memories or worries about something in future that has not even happened yet and can very well be avoided if only you stopped worrying.

Stop your mental noise, focus on Now, and you will start having inspiration instead of worries. Learn how to apply these new ways in your life. In any field, be it marketing, business, child care, relationships, health, finances, or whatever, you can live in this new more effective way.

Let go. Focus only on what you know and can, and leave the rest to the Source, Providence, Spirit, the Universe, or whatever other term you find comfortable. If you don’t, you only get in your own way. Let go and enjoy!

Written by David Cameron, author of Raising Humans and A Happy Pocket Full of Money. His latest book is How to Live With Yourself and Automatically and Simply Love Yourself To Pure Freedom, Health, Wealth and Relationship Success

Great Lessons From Great Men

By J.D. Roth

Because I write a personal finance blog, I read a lot of books about money. I’ll be honest: they’re usually pretty boring. Sure, they can tell you how to invest in bonds or how to find the latest loophole in the tax code. But most of them lack a certain something: the human element.

Recently I’ve begun to read a different kind of money book in my spare time. I’ve discovered the joy of classic biographies and success manuals, especially those written by (or about) wealthy and/or thrifty men. When I read about Benjamin Franklin or Warren Buffett or J.C. Penney, I learn a lot — not just about money, but about how to be a better man.

Here are twelve of most important lessons that these books, written by and about great men of years gone by, have taught me:

Be Tenacious
“Anybody can be a halfway man, but the one who rises above this class is the one who keeps everlastingly pushing.” — J. Ogden Armour, Touchstones of Success (1920)
More than any other, one lesson stands out from the books I’ve read: Never give up. If you have a goal or a dream, pursue it. If there’s a cause that you truly believe in, then fight for it. That’s not to say that you should doggedly chase greed or gluttony, but that you should do your best to achieve those things that are important to you. Great men struggle through daunting obstacles to reach their destinations. In everything that you do, do your best. And remember: The road to wealth is paved with goals.

Exercise Self-Control
“‘Tis easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it.” — Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth (1758)
Benjamin Franklin famously attempted to codify his quest for self-control. As Brett wrote last year, Franklin committed himself to thirteen virtues, and he developed a system for tracking how disciplined he was in his daily pursuit of these ideals. There’s nothing wrong with an occasional indulgence. But when the indulgence becomes a habit — or worse, a vice — this can affect your life. Even destroy it. If you have habits that prevent you from fulfilling your potential, find a way to boost your self-control. (You might, for example, use Joe’s Goals to track your progress, much like Benjamin Franklin did.)

Do the Right Thing
“To be truly rich, regardless of his fortune or lack of it, a man must live by his own values. If those values are not personally meaningful, then no amount of money gained can hide the emptiness of life without them.” — John Paul Getty, How to Be Rich (1961)
Have a code of honor, and live by it. Your code of honor might come from your faith, or from your education, or from your family. Whatever the source, live by these values. Life is filled with temptations. The more you accomplish, the more people will tempt you with offers for quick gains or passing pleasures. Many men succumb to these, but those who do rarely achieve what they might have if they’d stuck to their principles. The books I’ve read are filled with stories of men who have resisted the urge to compromise, and who believe that this has been a key to their success. Don’t cheat. Be honest. Work hard. And embrace the golden rule.

Embrace The Golden Rule
“Good will is one of the few really important assets of life. A determined man can win almost anything that he goes after, but unless, in his getting, he gains good will he has not profited much.” — Henry Ford, My Life and Work (1922)
James Cash Penney — the man behind the J.C. Penney chain of department stores — believed that success could be measured by how a man treated others. In his book, Fifty Years with the Golden Rule, Penney describes his life-long adherence to this maxim: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Other great men believed the same. They believed that their fortunes came not from pursuing money itself, but by producing something of value to others. But this principle also holds true outside of business. In your dealings with your friends, your family, and with strangers, treat others as you would like to be treated. Doing so builds social capital, strengthening the fiber of the community.

Pay Yourself First
“Many a man is poor today, although he has worked like a slave, simply because he could not save.” — Orison Swett Marden, The Young Man Entering Business (1903)
Another common thread in most of these books — and in personal-finance classics like The Richest Man in Babylon — is the importance of saving. “Pay yourself first,” the old adage goes, and it’s great advice. If you will set aside ten or twenty per cent of all that you earn, your fortune will grow far beyond that of your peers. Some of this money should be invested in a manner that makes you comfortable. (You should learn about the concepts of asset allocation and diversification, if you haven’t already.) But some of your money should also be set aside in a high-interest savings account to act as an emergency fund. When you save — when you pay yourself first — you are using the strength of your youth to insure your uncertain tomorrow.

Avoid Debt
“Be assured that it gives much more pain to the mind to be in debt, than to do without any article whatever which we may seem to want.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to his daughter Martha (14 June 1787)
Debt is slavery. When you owe money to another man, you are obligated to work for his benefit, not yours. Many young men struggle with debt — I did so myself. But those who are not able to overcome their spending habits are likely to find themselves always poor. When you pay interest to someone else, you cannot earn interest for yourself. When you’re in debt, your options are limited. You cannot choose, for example, to take a month off to travel across the country with a friend. You cannot quit a job you hate. If you did, how would your bills get paid? To be sure, a certain amount of debt is useful in business, but make it a policy in your personal life to never borrow for something that will decrease in value. (And if you’re already behind, make it a priority to get out of debt as soon as possible.)

Keep Well
“The foundation of success in life is good health: that is the substratum of fortune; it is the basis of happiness. A person cannot accumulate a fortune very well when he is sick.” — P.T. Barnum, The Art of Money Getting (1880)
Your health is your greatest asset. If you lack health, you cannot work, and cannot produce an income. Health allows you to engage in productive activities, at work and at play. It allows you to enjoy the company of your friends and family. And it allows you to live with vigor. Guard your health. Do not neglect your body. Eat well. Exercise regularly. If you drink or smoke, do so in moderation. You will not live forever, but with some care and foresight, you may get a little closer!

Do Not Covet
“By wishing to be what he calls ‘up-to-date’ as his friends or boon companions, many a young man mortgages his future.” — Orison Swett Marden, The Young Man Entering Business (1903)
It never pays to compare yourself to others. For one, you can find yourself longing to own the same things they do. Your best friend buys a new Ford Mustang, and suddenly you want one too. The guys from work go out for drinks on Friday evening, but you’re broke — the temptation to join in, to have what others have, can be unbearable. Focus only on yourself and how the things you own and do relate to your goals. Don’t be jealous of others. (This is one message in the famous essay, “Acres of Diamonds”: Instead of looking elsewhere for wealth, look at your own life.)

Live Modestly
“This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth…To set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or arrogance.” — Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth (1889)
This is the flip side to “Do Not Covet”. Just as you should not allow the behavior of your friends to influence your spending decisions, so too be conscious of your influence on them. If you have money, don’t flaunt it. And if you don’t have money, don’t pretend that you do. It’s fine (even good) to buy quality products, but don’t be flashy. Live simply and well.

Practice Patience
“No matter how great the talent or the effort, some things just take time: you can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” — Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report (1985)
Too many men want to “get rich quick.” They’re on the lookout for fast money. They also want to lose weight now, to be a great golfer now, to be in management now. This obsession with “now” is a problem. In his new book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes that the difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is 10,000 hours. That is, those who achieve mastery have patiently practiced their craft for at least 10,000 hours — the equivalent of five years of full-time work. When people ask me why my personal finance blog is so successful, one of my responses is that I’ve worked at it 60+ hours a week for the past three years. Practice may not “make perfect,” but it certainly breeds success.

Give Generously
“Thrift does not end with itself, but extends its benefits to others. It founds hospitals, endows charities, establishes colleges, and extends educational influences.” — Samuel Smiles, Thrift (1875)
I was not raised in a culture of giving. It’s only something I’m beginning to learn in middle age. But as I read about the choices of men who have come before me, it’s clear that they have derived satisfaction (and done a lot of good) by giving generously — not just of money, but also of time and knowledge. Do not hoard the things you have. Share them so that others might profit, too.

Learning from the Average Joe
Over the past few months, I’ve enjoyed reading the real-life stories of how great men became great. But I’ve also found it enlightening to read about the experiences of the average day guy — the fellows like you and me.

One book I strongly recommend (especially considering the state of the economy) is Hard Times by Studs Terkel. Hard Times is an oral history of the Great Depression. Terkel interviewed scores of men and women about their experiences during the 1930s. Their stories are amazing, and they offer great insight about how we can live better lives today.

Go forth, my friends, and do great things.

At Get Rich Slowly, J.D. generally writes about things like how to choose a credit card and how to find the best savings account. From time-to-time, he also shares motivational articles on topics like how to build confidence and how to beat procrastination.

6 Ways To Avoid Negativity

One of our great challenges in life is to avoid negativity - a negative attitude to ourselves and others. It is easy to become suspicious, critical, depressed, fearful, but, despite the prevailing attitudes of the world there is no inevitability that we have to become a grumpy old man. It is quite possible to see the beautiful in the ordinary and bring to the fore the better side of human nature. If we avoid negativity we will see definitely see the positive in life and enjoy life much more.

Criticize Not

Criticizing others is a very pervasive bad habit we all have. Sometimes we can actually go out of our way to look for the failings and faults of others. It is as if we are blind to their good qualities but their mistakes stand out in our mind. Even worse we can often imagine faults that others might have. This is the height of stupidity, but the nature of the mind can easily turn to negativity and we have to be on guard.

It is a great exercise to try and think about the good aspects of people whom you frequently criticise. The important thing is that criticising others has an unmistakeable impact on ourselves. If we are permanently finding fault with the world it affects our self.

The world will not collapse if we halt our self styled criticism. If we look to encourage and praise the good aspects of others, we will bring these qualities to the fore in ourself.

Choosing Consciously

All the time we are faced with choices. Do I see the negative or the positive? Somebody at work might pass a thoughtless and disparaging comment. Our instinctive reaction may be to nurse a sense of grievance and think of many equally unpleasant things to say about the person in return. However, another way to look at this situation would be to think. They are unfortunately wrong, perhaps they are feeling insecure and so try to unfairly put others down. In the past there may have been times when I may have done something like that. I will make an effort to be kind to that person as this will be the best way to show they were mistaken and also to help them overcome their depressed state of mind.

The first response invites a tit for tat response which will encourage negativity. The second response is dignified and requires nobility of character. But, we lose nothing by avoiding negativity - we gain a tremendous amount. The point is we always have a choice about how we respond to situations; avoiding the negative and unpleasant just takes a conscious decision.

Self-Belief

It is vital to cultivate a sense of self-worth and self-respect. If we do not have faith in ourselves how can we have faith in anyone else? Self-belief should not be equated with arrogance or pride. We are seeking to cultivate a sense of self respect so we are at peace with ourselves. We are often our worst critic, sometimes we ignore genuine faults but worry excessively over minor issues that aren’t really faults. We need to learn from our mistakes and be honest with our weaknesses but it should not be at a cost of putting ourselves down. If we make a mistake learn to let go, don’t keep the negative memory at the forefront of your mind. If we can have a good feeling about ourselves it will be very easy to have a good feeling about others and the rest of the world.

Service

Idleness is the worst cultivator of negativity. If we sit mopping aimlessly around we will inevitable become bored and negative. Life will seem no fun. The easiest way to change our mindset is to become meaningfully busy. As we mentioned in this story about ‘helping an alcoholic’ it was only when the alcoholic helped other people that he was able to overcome his personal weaknesses. If we really want to serve others there will always be some way that we can find. If we are really busy we will not have time to criticise the world. If we don’t have work to do, we can also just take physical exercise. This is also an excellent way of shaking off the cobwebs of our mind.

Osmosis

The nature of the human mind is that it consciously or unconsciously absorbs the vibrations from around us. If we spend time with negative people, watching 24 hour news, then we will be more prone to negativity ourselves. We have to choose our work, leisure time carefully. Don’t spend too much time with the grumpy old men or gossipy old ladies. When we do spend time with negative people we need to be on our guard that we don’t share their world view.

Be young At Heart

I have already made two references to ‘grumpy old men’ this is not an ageist remark. You can be a grumpy old man when you are 20. You can be 80 years old but remain young at heart. Age is very much something of a mental attitude. We want to cultivate a childlike attitude which takes joy from small, simple, beautiful things. We want to avoid a great sophistication and mental disection of everything. If we over analyse life we are living in the mind and unable to live in the heart.

Source: Tejvan Pettinger

Your Vision - Your Reality

By Peter Shepherd

A goal is a desire made specific and with a deadline. Setting and achieving
goals that fulfill your needs is essential to health and happiness. Striving
toward your goals is a statement that you are taking charge of your life, rather
than life taking charge of you.

Visualizing a goal is more important than knowing every detail or even any
details of how you will achieve it. The first step for a painter is to visualize the
end result, at least in concept; the means of achieving that result are
extremely variable - different materials and styles, for example - and some of
the steps may require learning new skills or may depend on ideas and
inspiration that the artist knows will arrive at the appropriate time - he doesn’t
worry about them not being there at the beginning. However it turns out, it will
express his feelings and spirit, and that is more than good enough.

Seeking visualized goals is a powerful, natural tendency - like the tendency of
plants to seek the light - an insistent drive that can crack the hardest granite.
If you don’t have a clear image of where you want to go, this creative urge will
be frustrated and you may experience your life as meaningless or directionless.
Then you may visualize negative goals for yourself - you may see yourself as
incompetent, ill, in pain, a failure, and your creative power will tend to make
these a reality.

The first step in goal setting is to get in touch with what you really want in life.
Something that is truly inspiring for you, so you know it is “right.” It should be
what you really, really want, regardless of “what it takes.” Not what other
people want or what they expect of you, and not something to please others -
to inspire you it must be true to your self, something that will really motivate
you.

It may be a lifetime goal or one for a year, month or week ahead. Keep it clear
and simple but don’t set out your goal in terms of generalities like “some” or
“more” - be specific! Include tangible details of time, place, facts, figures,
persons. Clarify exactly what the goal means in terms of specific changes in
your life and a specific deadline for its achievement.

The goal should be achievable - maybe out of reach, for the moment, but not
out of sight! It should also be something you believe in, that you feel is right,
that is consistent with your values.

Then envision that situation in your mind as actually happening now. Express it
as a statement of fact in the present tense, see yourself with the goal already
accomplished. What are you doing? What are your surroundings? What are
people saying to you? How are you feeling now that you have accomplished it?
Get the feeling of that achievement in your heart and celebrate! That feeling
will then stay with you and energize all your actions toward manifesting the
goal.

Here are some examples of well expressed accomplishments: “I am going on a
singles club outing once a week and meeting new people I get on really well
with [the goal to make 5 new genuine friends].” “I am swimming a mile three
times a week and I feel stronger and more alive [the goal to get fit by
swimming a mile three times a week].” “I am living comfortably within my
budget for food, clothing and entertainment; now I feel financially secure and
in control of my spending [the goal to live within my budget by three months
time].” “Bob and I are understanding each other and really loving and trusting
one another and we are having beautiful sex [the goal to improve the
communication in our relationship so that our sex life is great again].”

Don’t use negatives such as “I am not over-eating.” Think positive! Also
negative goals, or not being able to see yourself actually achieving the goal,
strongly indicate the likelihood of internal conflict taking place, in which case
you need to handle this, to identify the limiting beliefs and revise them.

For example, you might learn that you are afraid of how others will respond if
you achieve your goal, or that you are unable or unwilling at this time to
perform the necessary steps to proceed, or that the goal is really meant to
please another or match somebody else. In these cases, you first need to
thoroughly grasp and accept the conflicting viewpoints and feelings involved
and compare them to the current reality, your actual needs, and to realize any
distorted thinking taking place. Then either the goal will be clarified and the
problems drop away, or you will see that the goal is not genuine and choose
another goal.

You then also need to work out an action plan, covering the steps you need to
take in sequence to manifest your goal. What do you need to do, change,
learn, or implement, to move your life from where it is now to where you want
it to be?

To plot out your path, it is best to work backward from your vision of an
accomplished goal - that way you ensure you stay on track, that what you plan
leads to the goal and not some place else. What has to be done to enable you
to finally achieve the goal? What has to be in place? Then you just proceed
backward: what needed to be done one step earlier? Work back to the first
steps you need to take. The first steps need to be things that you know you
can do, so you can get going. Put this in writing and share your goal with those
who will support you.

As you begin to act, identify your fears, accept and release them. Identify
other things you are doing, perhaps habitually, that in fact make it difficult or
even impossible to eventually achieve your goal, and stop doing those things.

Identify and revise your limiting beliefs (including beliefs that you have been
suppressing), and shift that energy into the love you have for your vision.
As you put your first steps into reality you will find yourself acting in ways
compatible with creating your vision; ideas and resources will fall into place.
Setbacks are inevitable but you can learn from them, then re-establish your
vision and move on with greater confidence than before. Use all that you have
learned to establish and boost your self esteem - be your own greatest
supporter. With self-confidence you’ll want to stretch yourself and try new
things. And remember the reasons why you are doing what you are doing - this
will help you do whatever it takes to reach your goal, to be patient when
necessary, and to be persistent with your efforts.

It is equally important to focus also as ruthlessly and honestly as possible on
the current reality. And this is key: measure your progress from where you
started, not against how far you have to go. Each action in which you
demonstrate your competence boosts your self-esteem; each development that
you make happen boosts your morale.

By comparing your progress with the point at which you started out, you will
be encouraged to continue. Goals are achieved step by step and each step
needs to be validated - otherwise the goal may seem far away and it may feel
you are making little progress, when really you are.

Then compare your current reality and state of progress with the final vision -
the next steps will be clarified and you will be motivated to continue. This is an
improvisatory process and cannot be entirely predicted at the outset. Since
creating is improvisatory, the steps you planned to take and even the goal
itself may be revised. Now you know yourself better you may discover that you
actually want something very different from what you originally set out to get.

THE FUTURE EXISTS
FIRST IN IMAGINATION
THEN IN WILL
THEN IN REALITY

Have a great time (setting and achieving goals is the game of life).

SOURCE: Tools For Transformation

Learn To Think Like A Millionaire

Rich people have a way of thinking that is different from poor and middle class people. They think differently about money, wealth, themselves, other people, and life. Let’s examine six crucial differences between how rich people think and how poor or middle class people think.

By doing so, you will have some alternative beliefs in the files of your mind from which to choose. In this way, you can catch yourself thinking as poor people do and quickly switch over to how rich people think.

Remember, beliefs are not right, wrong, true or false, they’re just past opinions which can be changed on your command. The fact is, you can CHOOSE to think in ways that will support you instead of ways that don’t.

1. Rich People Believe “I Create My Life”

Poor people believe “Life happens to me.”

If you want to create wealth, it is imperative that you believe that you are at the steering wheel of your life; that you create every moment of your life, especially your financial life. If you don’t believe this, then you must believe you have little control over your life and that financial success has nothing to do with you. That is not a very rich attitude.

Instead of taking responsibility for what’s going on in their lives, poor people choose to play the role of victim. Of course, any “victim’s” predominant thought process is “poor me.” And presto, through the law of intention that’s literally what they get; “poor,” as in money, me.

Here’s some homework I promise will change your life. For the next seven days, I challenge you not to complain at all. Not just out loud, but in your head too. I’ve given this little challenge to thousands of people and several hundred have personally told me that this exercise completely transformed their lives. I invite you to email me with the results of this experiment. I guarantee you’ll be astonished as to how amazing your life will become when you stop focusing on the “crap.”

It’s time to decide. You can be a victim OR you can be rich, but you can’t be both. It’s time to take back your power and acknowledge the fact that you create every moment of your life. That you create everything that is in your life and everything that is not in it. That you create your wealth and you create your non-wealth and everything in between.

2. Rich People Play the Money Game to Win

Poor people play the money game not to lose.

Poor people play the money game on defense rather than offense. Let me ask you, if you were to play any sport or any game strictly on defense, what are the chances of you winning that game? Most people agree; slim and none.

Yet, that’s exactly how most people play the money game. Their primary concern is survival and security, not wealth and abundance. So, what is your goal? What is your real objective? What is your true intention?

Rich people’s big goal is to have massive wealth and abundance. Poor people’s big goal is to have “enough to pay the bills…” on time would be a miracle! Again, let me remind you of the power of intention. When your objective is to have enough to pay the bills, that’s exactly how much you’ll get; just enough to pay the bills and usually not a cent more. You get what you truly intend to get. If you want to get rich, your goal has to be “rich.” Not just enough to pay the bills and not just enough to be comfortable. Rich, darn it, rich!

3. Rich People Are Committed to Being Rich

Poor people are uncommitted to being rich.

Most of us have good reasons as to why it would be wonderful to be rich, but what about the other side of the coin? Are there reasons why it might not be so great to be rich or go through the process of trying to get rich?

Each of us has a file on wealth in our mind. This file contains our personal beliefs that include why being wealthy would be great. But for many people, their file also includes information as to why being rich might not be so great. These people have mixed internal messages around money and especially wealth.

One part of them says, “Having more money will make life a lot more fun.” But then another part screams, “Yeah, but “I’m going to have to work like a dog! What kind of fun is that?” One part says, “I’ll be able to travel the world.” then the other part responds, “Yeah, and everyone in the world will want something from me.” These mixed messages are one of the biggest reasons that most people never become rich.

In fact, the #1 reason most people don’t get what they want is they don’t know what they want. Rich people are totally clear they want wealth. They are unwavering in their desire. They are fully committed to creating wealth. They will do “whatever it takes” to have wealth as long as it’s moral, legal and ethical. Rich people do not send mixed messages to the universe. Poor people do.

I hate to break the news to you, but getting rich is not a “stroll in the park.” It’s takes focus, expertise, 100% effort, and “never say die” perseverance. You have to really commit to it, both consciously and subconsciously. You have to believe in your heart you can do it and you deserve it. If you are not fully committed to creating wealth, chances are you won’t.

4. Rich People Think Big

Poor people think small.

We once had a trainer teaching at one of our seminars who went from a net worth of $250 thousand to over $600 million in only 3 years. When asked his secret he said, “Everything changed the day I began to think big.” In my book, SpeedWealth, I discuss the “Law of Income” which states that “you will be paid in direct proportion to the value you deliver according to the market place.”
Another way of understanding this is to answer the following question: How many people do you actually serve or affect?

For instance in my business, some trainers enjoy speaking to groups of 20, others are comfortable with 100, others like an audience of 500, still others want 5000 people or more in attendance. Is there is a difference in income between these trainers? You bet there is.

Who are you? How do you want to live your life? How do you want to play the game?

Do you want to play in the big leagues or in little league, in the majors or the minors?

Will you play big or play small? It’s your choice.

But hear this. It’s not about you. It’s about living your mission. It’s about living true to your purpose. It’s about adding your piece of the puzzle to the world. It’s about serving others.

Most of us are so stuck in our egos that everything revolves around “me, me and more me.” But again, it’s not about you, it’s about adding value to other people’s lives. It’s your choice. One road leads to being broke and miserable, the other leads to money, meaning, and fulfillment.

It’s time to stop hiding out and start stepping out. It’s time to stop needing and start leading. It’s time to start being the star that you are. It’s time to share your gifts and value in a BIG way. There could be thousands or even millions of people counting on you. Are you up to the challenge for our society and our children’s sake? Let’s hope so.

5. Rich People Are Bigger Than Their Problems

Poor people are smaller than their problems.

Getting rich is not a stroll in the park. It’s a journey that is full of obstacles, twists, and detours. The simple fact is, success is messy. The road is fraught with pitfalls and that’s why most people don’t take it. They don’t want the hassles, the headaches and the responsibilities. In short, they don’t want the problems.

Therein lies one of the biggest differences between rich people and poor people. Rich and successful people are bigger than their problems while poor and unsuccessful people are smaller than their problems.

Poor people will do almost anything to avoid anything that looks like it could be a problem. They back away from challenges. The irony is that in their quest to make sure they don’t have problems, they have the biggest problem of all… they’re broke and miserable.

The secret to success is not to try to avoid or shrink your problems; it’s to grow yourself so you’re bigger than any problem.

Imagine a “level 2″ character person looking at a “level 5″ problem. Would this problem appear to be big or small? The answer is that from a “level 2″ perspective, a “level 5″ problem would seem BIG.

Now imagine a “level 8″ person looking at the same “level 5″ problem. From this person’s perspective, is this problem big or small? Magically the identical problem is now a SMALL problem.

And for a “level 10″ person, it’s NO problem at all. It’s just an everyday occurrence, like getting dressed or brushing your teeth. Whether you are rich or poor, playing big or playing small, problems do not go away. If you’re breathing, you will always have so-called “problems.”

What’s important to realize is that the size of the problem is never the real issue. What matters is the size of you!
Remember, your wealth can only grow to the extent that you do! The idea is to grow yourself to a place where you can overcome any problems that get in your way of creating wealth and keeping it once you have it.

Rich people do not back away from problems, do not avoid problems and do not complain about problems. Rich people are financial warriors and when a warrior is confronted with a challenge they shout: BRING IT ON!

6. Rich People Focus on Opportunities

Poor people focus on problems.

Rich people see potential growth. Poor people see potential loss.

Rich people focus on the rewards. Poor people focus on the risks.

It’s the age-old question, is the glass half empty or half full? We’re not merely talking about “positive thinking” here, we’re talking about a habitual way of seeing the world. Poor people come from fear. Their minds are constantly scanning for what’s wrong or what could go wrong in any situation. Their primary mindset is “What if it doesn’t work?” or, more bluntly, “It won’t work.” Rich people, as we discussed earlier, take responsibility for creating their life and come from the mindset, “It will work because I’ll make it work.”

In the financial world, as in most other arenas, risk is directly proportionate to reward; generally, the higher the reward, the higher the risk. People with rich mentalities are willing to take that risk.

Rich people expect to succeed. They have confidence in their abilities, they have confidence in their creativity and they believe that should the “doo-doo hit the fan”, they can always make their money back or succeed in another way.

On the other hand, poor people expect to fail. They lack confidence in themselves and in their abilities, and should things not work out, they believe it would be catastrophic.

You have to do something, buy something, or start something in order to succeed financially. You have to see opportunities for profit all around you instead of focusing on ways of losing money.

T. Harv Eker will be a featured trainer with The Masters Gathering, which will bring some of the world’s greatest teachers together for on amazing event. Join the masters here…

This Article Doesn’t Exist

What are you worried about right now?

Well, it’s an almost guarantee that you are worried about nothing, for the very reason that you don’t exist!

You have no worries because you have no mind or body or life to worry with — it’s all an illusion. No worries, but more significantly, no worrier.

If you think this sounds like utter nonsense, some of the most brilliant scientists, philosophers and theological thinkers of our century would disagree with you.

Science and math suggest that we humans don’t exist, (even though there is really no math or science — more illusions!)

The advent of quantum mechanics and modern physics increasingly imply that our existence as human beings is a kind of persistent illusion. We are under the false assumption that we’re people, we only imagine we have bodies and brains, and minds functioning inside those brains. Illusions, all of it.

Listen to what one of the greatest physicists of the century, Authur Eddington said of quantum theories:

“In the world of physics…the shadow of my elbow rests on the shadow table as the shadow ink flows over the shadow paper…the frank realization that physical science is concerned with a world of shadow is one of the most significant of recent advances.”

By “shadow” Eddington meant illusion. More than any other science, it is particle physics that is confronting the fundamentals of reality, and more and more, the evidence point to the fact there is no reality!

For the past 300-some years, the world has been under the impression that everything is made up of atoms, “the building blocks of the universe.” It was the great Isaac Newton who solidified our impression that atoms were like billiard balls. Pile enough of them on top of each other, set them in motion and you get rocks, trees, animals and people.

But in 1900 Albert Einstein’s hero, the brilliant Max Planck, revealed some incredibly disturbing discoveries he made while trying to solve problems concerning the radiation of energy.

To make a long story short, Planck was forced to conclude that matter at its most fundamental level is not continuous, not solid. There are no tiny billiard balls. When you break down an atom, you get an electron, a proton and maybe a neutron. But it turns out these are not the smallest units either. You can break things down further to bosons, quarks, W particles, tachyons and a lot of other shadowy “things” that just sort of wink in and out of existence.

Where do things go when they “wink out?” Nowhere! They cease to exist! Then they come back again.

So what? you might ask. Well, as you know, the human body is made up from the fundamental elements of nature. We are mostly water, but we also have iron in our blood, calcium in our bones, and such. But each of those substances are made up of individual atoms, which in turn are made up of ghostly bits of nothing that just sort of come and go, in and out of reality.

Scientists call this blinking process “quantum fluctuation.”

So when the elements of your body fluctuate, so does your body, and so do you! So does you brain and the chemicals in your brain! In fact, you may be in a state of nothingness more often than you are in a state of somethingness (even though there really is no somethingness!)

As the currently popular medical guru Depack Chopra points out, all of us our dead (nonexistent) for much of the time, yet we are all constantly afraid of dying, not realizing we are dead much of the time! (Oh by the way, there’s no such thing as time either. Einstein proved it was an illusion, but we won’t get into that right now).

Even at its most solid state, the atom turns out to be not very solid at all. Atoms are 99.999999 empty space. If the nucleus of an atom were the size of a ping-pong ball, and if you were to place it in the center of a large football stadium, the electrons that orbit around the nucleus would be at the outer walls of the stadium.

What is between the nucleus and the electron? Nothing! And what are the nucleus and electron made from? Smaller and smaller bits of energy which are not solid, but actually whirling fragments of light.

Even a block of solid lead is nothing and light, acting as “something.” So is your car. So are the chemicals in your brain. So are you.

Once during a long, boring drive from Grand Forks to southern Missouri with one of my graduate school professors, we became embroiled in a lengthy debate about the deep issues of the universe. I argued that all was illusion, and he argued for solid reality. When I mentioned the unreal nature of fundamental particles, he said:

“That makes no difference! All this means is that these flucuating bits of energy are what we are made out of — but we are still us, still the same, still real solid people. Are your saying is that we are more fundamental than atoms.”

He also said: “If I whacked you with a baseball bat, I bet your pain wouldn’t feel like an illusion!”

At the time, I was stumped to answer because that was before I understood the nature — or more accurately — the mechanics of illusion. I didn’t realize that even our argument was an illusion!

The fact is, my professor and I could have argued for years on end and neither of us would have convinced the other because BOTH of our aurguments were false! Why? Because neither of our arguments exist!

The fact is, language is one of the primary ways in which we become deceived into believing in solid reality. Once a creature reaches the stage where it can manipulate symbolic language, you can bet that creature is deeply buried under many layers of illusion.

I also should have quoted the Uncertainty Principle and the Incompleteness Theorm to my professor.

You see, the idea that language is all illusion is not a simple belief, but a fact which has been proved mathematically. Back in the 1920s, a German math genius by the name of Kurt Godel produced a rigorous mathematical demonstration which showed that all logic was ultimately self contradictory.

Godel’s proof is known as Godel’s Theorm, but also as the Incompleteness Theorm. It states this:

“It is impossible to to establish the logical consistency of any complex deductive system except by assuming principles of reasoning whose own internal consistency is an open question as that of the system itself.”

Whew! That’s just a fancy way of saying that, no matter what your viewpoint — it’s wrong! You will never be able to convince someone of what you believe because all rhetoric is, by nature, fundamentally inconsistent.

That’s why arguing politics and religion is so frustrating — no one is ever right, literally! All arguments are rigged from the start!
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But there’s even more bad news for reality. It’s called the Heisenbreg Uncertainty principle, suggested and later proved by one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, the great Werner Heisenberg. His principle states:

“The position and the velocity of an object cannot both be measured exactly, at the same time, not even in theory. The very concepts of exact position and exact velocity together, in fact, have no meaning in nature.”

What this means is that physical objects cannot be pinned down to absolutely exist in any one place at any given time. Like Godel’s Theorm, this principle comes with a rigorous mathemetical proof.

So not only are all verbal arugments fundamentally inconsistent, and therefore false, but physical matter ultimately cannot be measured.

As one physicist put it:

“Our conception of substance is only vivid so long as we do not face it. It begins to fade when we analyze it … the solid substance of things is another illusion … we have chased the solid substance from the continuous liquid to the atom, from the atom to the electron, and there we have lost it.”

It’s amazing how complimentary Godel’s Theorm and the Uncertainty Principle are — they both devastate the idea of a solid physcial world filled with ultimate “truths.” There are no objects, no people and no truth. We’ve only been tricked into thinking so, as weird as this sounds.

Who have we been tricked by? Ourselves! And we don’t exist! Odd!

You might ask: How does knowing that you don’t exist help you with your daily troubles? Well, in fact, it helps a lot. Indeed, this knowledge can lead you to an extreme state of happiness, even bliss. How?

By getting to work at realizing that you are buried under many layers of very tricky, persistent illusions, which because of their mathematical inconsistency, are driving you nuts! It seems like you can never find ultimate truth, true peace and the purest of love becaue you are trying to get these things under the false assumption that they exist in some real way. They don’t. And neither does pain, suffering and worry.

The greater degree to which you become aware that you and your world is all sticky illusion, the greater your feeling of being happy, loving and truthful will become. Why this is so becomes plain when we give a more conventional example of how illusions cause pain.

We all know someone who has mistaken money for what money represents, or mistaken money for happiness. Money itself is just paper, a symbol which rerpresents material goods. Some people fall under the illusion that money is an end it itself, so they mindlessly persue more and more of the green stuff until they have a heart attack and die.

All would agree it’s good to be free of the illusion of money and materialism.

Well, as it turns out, the more illusions we get rid of, the better off we are. Getting rid of illusions like money, drugs and sex addictions is easy compared to getting rid of major illusions like death, time, language, and physical existence, but it’s far from impossible.

I should warn you also, that the more you try to achieve happiness, the worse off you’re likely to get because happiness is an illusory concept which does not exist. You’ll get very frustrated, although frustration does not exist either. Sorry.

So it’s better to work on getting rid of illusions themselves and let the rest take care of itself.

The brilliant psychologist-philospher-author Ken Wilber describes seven layers of illusion in his groundbreaking book, The Spectrum of Consciousness. In this book, Wilber takes you step by step through the kind of illusions human are trapped within, from Nothing to the deepest layer of illusion, which he calls “dualisms.”

The more you understand the nature of illusions, the various kinds of illusions, (especially language, time, the separation of objects in space) the more likely you are to find your way out.

This is what Zen and other forms of meditation are about — to get you to stop thinking so that the ultimate silence of the greater reality of Nothing can be realized.

But as any Zen master would warn you, the minute you start thinking that Zen meditation is going to help you, or that the Zen philosophy is going to help you, or any philosophy or any religion — in that assumption you get lost again!

What’s truly weird about illusion is that you have to use illusions to get rid of them, and it’s hard describe how this gets done. Remember Godel’s Theorm: all arugments based in language are fundamentally inconsistent, and therefore, just more traps.

Even what you are reading here right now is a trap, though this article strives to point out the fact that you are trapped by illusions! But I think it’s at least better to know you’re in jail, than being in jail and thinking this prison we call “life” is our true home.

Some might say: “Okay, but it’s better to exist as an illusion that suffers than to be nothing at all!”

So let me throw you this bone: The big Nothing scientists and philosophers speak of is not so much the complete lack of anything, as it is a singularity of pure Virtual Potential. It does not exist, but has the potential to exist if it wants to. It’s Nothing, but a kind of dynamic Nothing. Whatever. Words and labels are tricky.

But the reason you have the illusion of being, along with its joy and suffering — you want it. At the same time, you can have the bliss of realizing Infinite Potential without the suffering of the illusion of objective existence. In fact, this is your condition right now. You just don’t know it. It’s weird.

A lot of people who read this article are going to say: “Jeez! What a load of utter nonsense!”

And guess what? They’re right!

Article Source: Ken Korczak http://ironghost.wordpress.com

Does Materialism Erode Self Esteem?

Researchers have found that low self-esteem and materialism are not just a correlation, but also a causal relationship where low self esteem increases materialism, and materialism can also create low self-esteem. The also found that as self esteem increases, materialism decreases. The study primarily focused on how this relationship affects children and adolescents. Lan Nguyen Chaplin (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and Deborah Roedder John (University of Minnesota) found that even a simple gesture to raise self-esteem dramatically decreased materialism, which provides a way to cope with insecurity.

“By the time children reach early adolescence, and experience a decline in self-esteem, the stage is set for the use of material possessions as a coping strategy for feelings of low self-worth,” they write in the study, which will appear in the Journal of Consumer Research.

The paradox that findings such as these bring up, is that consumerism is good for the economy but bad for the individual. In the short run, it’s good for the economy when young people believe they need to buy an entirely new wardrobe every year, for example. But the hidden cost is much higher than the dollar amount. There are costs in happiness when people believe that their value is extrinsic. There are also environmental costs associated with widespread materialism.

In the book “Happiness: Lessons From a New Science”, Richard Layard exposes a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most of us want more income so we can consume more. Yet as societies become richer, they do not become happier. In fact, the First World has more depression, more alcoholism and more crime than fifty years ago. This paradox is true of Britain, the United States, continental Europe and Japan.

Statistically people have more things than they did 50 years ago, but they are actually less happy in several key areas. There is also the considerable cost of what materialism does to the environment. We don’t yet know what final toll that could take in terms of quality of life and overall happiness. What many people don’t understand is that if we want to save the environment then at some level we have to buy and consume less. We don’t need to buy so much bottled water, for example. Studies have shown it’s usually not any purer than city tap water, which doesn’t leave mountains of plastic bottles strewn across the nations landfills. It also wastes energy and resources to make those plastic bottles and the many other unnecessary things that both youth and adults alike believe they need to have in order to enjoy life and feel good about themselves.

Mad Magazine summed it up with the statement, “The only reason a great many American families don’t own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments.”

That funny statement, is only funny because it’s somewhat true. The reason people want whatever is currently “hot” is because they believe it will contribute towards their satisfaction and happiness in life. The word “believe” is the key here. People believe that buying more and more things will make them happy, when in fact research has shown time and time again that this simply isn’t the case. What we do know for sure is that buying more and more unnecessary things is damaging our planet and contributing to global warming.

Sure, one person being less materialistic isn’t going to make a noticeable impact on the environment, but it will make a positive impact in that one life. Once entire nations start to understand the myths about what really makes individuals happy, the world will stand a fighting chance.

“Be The Difference You Want. To See In The World.”
~Mahatma Gandi.

Posted by Rebecca Sato.

It Takes Backbone To Live The Life You Want

Great commentary over at Big Hollywood and the new movie “Revolutionary Road” which examines the struggle to pursue our dreams versus living a life that society deems appropriate.

An excerpt:

“It’s about the common 20-something realization that “being special” isn’t bestowed upon one at birth, it’s something only we can make for ourselves. It’s about the excuses we find to believe that the trappings of success are not only an acceptable substitute but also a responsible and wise alternative for life choices that most of the world labels “immature” and “careless.” It’s about acting as if we regret not “taking chances” when in fact we are utterly relieved. It’s about being honest with oneself that there are tremendous opportunities in life, and how few of those called to do something out of the ordinary actually answer that voice. And it’s about the pain some feel when they understand just what they’ve passed up.”

Check it out here: Big Hollywood

So You Have A Pounding Headache…

For those who tied it on last night… the anatomy of a headache…. from Men’s Health

Oh, the pain, the pain. You went and let that party get the better of you. Now your muscles ache, your stomach is doing back flips, and it feels as if the marching band has decided to use your cerebellum as a big bass drum.

If you choose to drink, then you know a hangover can be the price you pay. You just keep forgetting how bad it makes you feel. So what is it about alcohol, anyway, that causes you so much misery? And is there anything you can do about it? Here’s a quick picture of what happens to your body every time you let a beer keg get the better of you.

First off, alcohol affects you by a simple formula: The more you drink, the more your system has to work overtime to flush it all out. Your brain says “party,” but it’s hard for your body to keep up.

For one thing, drinking to excess is like barging in on your central nervous system without knocking. Special sensitivity receptors embedded in your nerve-cell membranes were happily binding with important neurotransmitters until the booze showed up. Alcohol spoils the moment by throwing those receptors out of whack and upsetting those nerve cells. And it’s not enough that the booze ruined your brain’s evening: As your body purges alcohol the next morning, your central nervous system stays unbalanced and stressed out enough to cause vomiting, tremors, and agitation.

For another, as you consume alcohol, it metabolizes into acetaldehyde, which in high concentrations can cause rapid pulse, sweating, and nausea. Mix in that some booze contains flavor, taste, and color enhancers known as congeners that also add to hangover symptoms.

Besides forcing your system to deal with an army of its toxic byproducts, alcohol zeroes in on specific body functions and throws them off balance.

Drinking dries you out

Though it may seem as if you’re flooding your system every time you fill your party cup, you’re actually losing fluids as you drink. That morning-after thirst, dizziness, headache, and dry throat spell one thing—dehydration.

You’re all dried out because alcohol functions as a diuretic, encouraging your kidneys to create more urine by suppressing your body’s levels of the anti-diuretic hormone vasopressin. And the more trips to the bathroom you make, the more you deplete your body’s reservoir of fluids. Add an episode of vomiting or a case of the “sweats,” and you throw off your electrolyte balance even more.

Drinking disrupts your stomach

A few drinks might relax your mood, but they put your stomach on full alert. Alcohol inflames your stomach lining and increases production of gastric acid, as well as pancreatic and intestinal digestive fluids. Throw your stomach into overdrive with drinks, and you increase your risk of throwing up.

Drinking alters your blood sugar

As alcohol makes its way through your system, it disrupts your body’s production of natural sugars, or glucose. It also causes your liver to accumulate fat compounds known as triglycerides and adds lactic acid to your body fluids, both of which can trigger low glucose, or mild hypoglycemia. Since glucose is your brain’s chief fuel, low glucose levels can make you feel tired, weak, and irritable-all standard-issue hangover symptoms.

Drinking screws up your sleep

Funny how your hangover feels like the time you pulled an all-nighter during finals. That’s because alcohol disrupts your normal sleep patterns, decreasing the time you spend in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and increasing your deep, or slow-wave, sleep. You’re effectively turning your body clock on its head and giving yourself “jet lag.”

The best defense

How to stay ahead of the game and possibly outwit hangovers ahead of time? First of all, you could choose not to drink. But if you do, having just one or two, spreading your consumption out over the course of an evening, and drinking water between drinks will help your system step up to the job. Avoid mixing alcohol with nicotine or other drugs, and consider grabbing some chow before heading out for the evening. A stomach even slightly full will slow down alcohol’s trip into your bloodstream.

Once you’re home and ready to crash (or if it’s already morning and you’re squinting at this while nursing a pounding head), try to chug down some water or juice to restore your electrolytes and keep you hydrated. Be careful about grabbing a tablet of anything: Aspirin can upset your already-grouchy stomach, and acetaminophen, such as Tylenol, can damage your liver when it meets the alcohol still in your system. And forget about “the hair of the dog that bit you.” More booze will only restore alcohol to your already-addled system and prolong the pain.

The best cures? Get some more sleep, give it time. And consider laying off the alcoholic drinks in favor of water, juice, or soda next time.

By Tony Farrell, Men’s Health

Why Change Can Be A Challenge?

Great article over at Scientific American… Millions of us dream of transforming our lives, but few of us are able to make major changes after our 20s. Here’s why….

“The shortest path to oneself leads around the world.” So wrote German philosopher Count Hermann Keyserling, who believed that travel was the best way to discover who you are.

That was how 22-year-old Christopher McCandless was thinking in the summer of 1990, when he decided to leave everything behind—including his family, friends and career plans. He gave his bank balance of $24,000 to the charity Oxfam International and hitchhiked around the country, ending up in Alaska. There he survived for about four months in the wilderness before dying of starvation in August 1992. His life became the subject of writer Jon Krakauer’s 1996 book Into the Wild, which inspired the 2007 film of the same name.

Read more…

I Am Thankful For…

For the teenager who is not doing dishes but is watching TV, because that means he is at home and not on the streets.

For the taxes I pay, because it means that I am employed.

For the mess to clean after a party, because it means that I have been surrounded by friends.

For the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means I have enough to eat.

For my shadow that watches me work, because it means I am out in the sunshine.

For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing, because it means I have a home.

For all the complaining I hear about the government, because it means that we have freedom of speech.

For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means I am capable of walking, and that I have been blessed with transportation.

For my huge heating bill, because it means I am warm.

For the lady behind me in my place of worship when she sings off key, because it means that I can hear.

For the pile of laundry and ironing, because it means I have clothes to wear.

For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day, because it means I have been capable of working hard.

For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means that I am alive.

and finally….

For too much e-mail, because it means I have friends who are thinking of me.

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Advice From The Dalai Lama

November 7, 2008 by Editor  
Filed under Abundance, Beliefs, Better Living, Happiness, Optimism, Power, Purpose, Relationships, Self Improvement

It’s been making the rounds, so I figured, why not here for those who haven’t seen this list before. Instructions for Life in the new millennium from the Dalai Lama:

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three Rules: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

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The Overview Effect

October 30, 2008 by Editor  
Filed under Happiness, Learning, Optimism, Power

In February, 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell experienced the little understood phenomenon sometimes called the “Overview Effect”.

He describes being completely engulfed by a profound sense of universal connectedness. Without warning, he says, a feeling of bliss, timelessness, and connectedness began to overwhelm him.

He describes becoming instantly and profoundly aware that each of his constituent atoms were connected to the fragile planet he saw in the window and to every other atom in the Universe. He described experiencing an intense awareness that Earth, with its humans, other animal species, and systems were all one synergistic whole.

He says the feeling that rushed over him was a sense of interconnected euphoria. He was not the first—nor the last—to experience this strange “cosmic connection”.

Rusty Schweikart experienced it on March 6th 1969 during a spacewalk outside his Apollo 9 vehicle: “When you go around the Earth in an hour and a half, you begin to recognize that your identity is with that whole thing. That makes a change…it comes through to you so powerfully that you’re the sensing element for Man.” Schweikart, similar to what Mitchell experienced, describes intuitively sensing that everything is profoundly connected.

Their experiences, along with dozens of other similar experiences described by other astronauts, intrigue scientists who study the brain. This “Overview Effect”, or acute awareness of all matter as synergistically connected, sounds somewhat similar to certain religious experiences described by Buddhist monks, for example.

Where does it come from and why?

Andy Newberg, a neuroscientist/physician with a background in space medicine, is learning how to identify the markers of someone who has had the experience. “You can often tell when you’re with someone who has flown in space,” he says, “It’s palpable.” Andy scans brains for a living: praying nuns, transcendental mediators, and others in the act of focused states.

Newberg can pinpoint regions in subjects’ gray matter that correlate to these circumstances. Newberg is seriously looking at how to fly equipment that could study—in action—the brain functions of space travelers. If this Overview Effect is a real, physiological phenomenon—he wants to watch it happen.

Newberg’s first test subject will not be a paid astronaut, but rather a paying space tourist: Reda Andersen slated to fly with Rocketplane Kistler says, “It would be criminal NOT to study the first of us (space adventure travelers).”

After decades of study and contemplation about his experience, Ed Mitchell believes that the feeling of “oneness” with the Universe that he and others have experienced is a consequence of little understood quantum physics.

In a recent interview with writer Diana deRegnier of American Chronicle, Mitchell explains how the event changed his life and his entire perspective on the world and how each of us fits into the grand scale of the cosmos.

“Four hundred years ago. the philosopher Rene Descartes came to the conclusion that physicality, spirituality, mind and body belonged to different realms of reality that didn’t interact. Now, that served the purpose to get the Inquisition off the backs of the intellectuals so they could disagree on material things with the church and without the fear of being burned at the stake. So that ended that, but it did cause, for four hundred years, science to consider consciousness and mind a subject for philosophy and religion and not a subject for science.

Now, one of the things that happened, in the 1940s, was the mathematician, physicist, Norbert Wiener (MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for the first time really defined information as the negative of entropy, and entropy as the idea of the universe is running down and wastes energy. But, Wiener defined information as the negative of entropy, and that’s wonderful but it didn’t go far enough.”

Mitchell says that in an attempt to fill in some of the missing gap, the 2008 revised edition of his book The Way of the Explorer explores the largely ignored science of human consciousness. Using what he calls the “dyadic model” he outlines the “two faces” of energy. “Instead of being two separate things, it’s the energy as the basis of our existence in matter. And, it’s the basis of our knowing and information,” Mitchell explains.

“We had not had, in science, a definition of consciousness. The only definition of consciousness from the dictionary is that at its basic level it is awareness. Consciousness means to be aware, and then we have different levels of consciousness depending upon how complex the substance is. It has been demonstrated many times over in laboratories that basic awareness is demonstrable at the level of plants, at simple bacteria, at simple life forms.

This is done with Faraday cages. It’s shown that this information at this deep level, at the quantum level, can transcend electromagnetic theory. And, now we’re getting into quantum physics and we don´t want to go there at this point. But it’s a very fundamental notion that awareness is at the very basis of things.”

Mitchell believes that perhaps both the theologians and scientists have missed the mark.

“All I can suggest to the mystic and the theologian is that our gods have been too small; they fill the universe. And to the scientist all I can say is that the gods do exist; they are the eternal, connected, and aware Self experienced by all intelligent beings.’

In response to DeRegnier questioning whether or not Mitchell believes in the idea of God, he responds that while he does not believe in the traditional “grandfather figure” version of God, “we do have great mystery about what is the origin of the universe, how it came to be. There’s a great deal of question as to whether the big bang is the correct answer to the way the universe arose, and under what auspices and conditions. I don’t think we have the full answers to that yet. Hopefully in due course we’ll be able to find a much better way to describe all this.”

But while Mitchell does not claim to know how to perfectly interpret his experience, he is certain that it was a glimpse into a largely ignored reality: People, places and things are all more closely connected than they sometimes appear. He also mentions the need for better stewardship of our precious planet.

“The great thinker Buckminster Fuller, philosopher, now deceased but for a goodly portion of the twentieth century, pointed out at the beginning of our space exploration that we are the crew of ‘space ship earth’. But we ‘re a crew of mutiny and how can you run a space ship with a mutinous crew?”

By Rebecca Sato
Source: Daily Galaxy

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