Cheeseburger in Paradise

Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffett
Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 large onion (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon of seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
a dash or worcester sauce
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (I used 3/4 cheddar and 1/4 mozzarella)
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of Original Bisquick mix
2 eggs
Directions:

Heat oven to 400°F.
Spray a 9 inch pie plate with non-stick cooking spray
Cook beef and chopped onion in a skillet over medium about 10 minutes or until beef is brown. Drain excess fat.
Stir in salt, garlic powder and worcester sauce and then spread in pie plate
Next, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the beef
In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and Bisquick. Make sure you try to get as many lumps out as you can. Pour over meat mixture.
Bake in oven for 25 minutes or until a knife comes out cleanBake in oven for 25 minutescheeseburger pie
Serves 4-5 people

7 Pieces of Offbeat Advice I Wish I Knew Sooner

POST WRITTEN BY: MARC CHERNOFF

7 Pieces of Offbeat Advice I Wish I Knew Sooner

This morning I was writing a blog entry at a local coffee shop here in Austin when a young man approached me.  “You’re Marc, right?” he asked.

I looked up at him.  He had bright blue eyes and a big smile, but nothing that rang a bell.  “I’m sorry.  Have we met?” I inquired politely.

“No,” he replied.  “But I feel like I know you.”  He held up his iPad and on the screen was Marc and Angel Hack Life.  “You look just like your photo,” he said in a cheerful tone.

I smiled, we shook hands, and then accepting my invitation, he sat down at my table.  Due to the modest success of our blog, most young twenty-something’s who randomly approach Angel and me want to know more about our blog, or about our sources of inspiration, but this young man immediately jumped to a different topic.

“So, I’m working on a college speech project entitled ‘Offbeat Advice,’” he said.  “And I thought it would be cool to cover offbeat advice successful people wish they knew sooner in life.”

I smiled again and then we chatted for about a half-hour.  I answered his questions as best as I could, and tried to give decent advice in the short time we spent together.  But on the walk home I realized our conversation really intrigued me and had me thinking, “What other pieces of offbeat advice do I wish I knew sooner?”

So I sat back down when I got home, I powered on my laptop and opened the word processor I use for blogging.  After gazing at the blank white screen for several minutes, I placed my fingers on the keyboard and titled the page, “7 Pieces of Offbeat Advice I Wish I Knew Sooner.”

1.  Wisdom is not about knowing all the answers.

It’s not the answers you get from others, or even the ones you formulate, that will help you in the long run.  It’s the simple questions you ask yourself on a regular basis that will determine the type of person you become.  Wisdom is about asking the right questions.

Regardless of your age or stature, life is always filled with unanswered questions.  It is the courage to ask these questions and adventurously seek the answers that continues to give life meaning.  Have patience with everything that remains unresolved in your heart.  Try to love the unanswered questions themselves.  Do not demand all the answers; they cannot be given to you because you have to live through them.  It is a matter of experiencing everything.  Only when you do will you gradually, perhaps without even noticing it, find yourself arriving at the answers you seek.  (I discuss this process in more detail in the Goals and Success chapter of 1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.)

2.  You have to do lots of things you aren’t good at to grow.

If you do what you have always done, you will get the same results you have been getting.  If you want to stunt your growth and feel stuck in the same place forever, keep making excuses.  If, on the other hand, you want to stop feeling trapped, you have to start doing things that make you uncomfortable, things you aren’t very good at.  You have to streeeetch yourself.

There is no excuse for remaining stuck.  There is no excuse for doing the same things over and over again.  Life is too short.  Ask yourself if what you’re doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow.

The day is rapidly approaching when the risk to remain perched in your nest is far more detrimental than the risk it takes to fly.  Fly!  Spread your wings.  Start now.  What a disgrace it would be for you to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of your full potential.

3.  Everything you own has an emotional cost of ownership.

No matter what you own there is a maintenance cost.  We can speak in dollars – insurance, taxes and interest.  Or even in time – cleaning, updating and protecting.  But the hardest maintenance cost for most people is simply sentimental value.

We transfer our feelings and memories onto an object and decide we can’t let go because we’ll risk losing the feeling or memory.  Before long, we become surrounded by these visual reminders of our memories and no longer have room to make new ones.  It’s hard to move forward in your life when your past is crowding your present.

The answer, of course, is to get rid of some of this stuff.  But that’s way easier said than done.  We often need to be compelled to do this with a move or a lifestyle change.  Imagine how much richer life would be if you moved the junk out and made room for new opportunities instead of grudgingly making room only when it was forced upon you.  (Read The Joy of Less.)

4.  Flaws are beautiful and likeable.

Nothing is perfect; the world itself is not perfect.  But we’re all here living for our dreams and each other, trying the very best we can.  And that’s what makes us so darn beautiful.  The little things about you that you think are your flaws are often the reasons others fall in love with you.

Accept your flaws.  Admit your mistakes.  Don’t hide and don’t lie.  Deal with the truth, learn the lessons, endure the consequences of reality, and move on.  Your truth won’t penalize you.  The mistakes won’t hurt you.  The denial and cover-up will.  Flawed and vulnerable people are beautiful and likable.  Liars and phonies are not.  Every beautiful human being is made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions and finished with unique edges.

5.  The things you do for fun can pay the bills if you do them right.

Work, if it is interesting, is a stimulant.  It’s worry and a lack of interest in what you’re doing that drains and discourages you.  Every one of us should have our hobbies and side interests – as many as we can handle efficiently and happily.  Our interests should never be allowed to lag or get cold so that all enthusiasm and passion is wasted.  Each day can be a success if you feed your interests as graciously as they feed you.

Happiness is found where interests and capabilities intersect.  If you do what you love and then master it so you can do it much better than anyone else you know, it is entirely possible to make a living from it.  Even better, you will not get tired out from working when your work interests you.  The key is to find the point at which what you love, what you’re good at, and what people will pay for, intersect.

6.  Some of the most unpleasant people just need a little love.

Provide support when it makes sense, even when people are cold and unfriendly.  Some people are rude and complain as a way of crying for help.  They may not be conscious of it though, so their comments come across as attacks rather than requests.

Show a little love and concern.  Do something nice for them.  Just a simple “Are you okay?” or “Is there anything I can do to help you?” can do wonders in certain situations.  Resist the urge to judge or assume.  It’s hard to offer compassion when you assume you have them figured out.  Let them know they are not alone.  People overcome the forces of negative emotions, like anger and hatred, when the counter-forces of love and support are in full effect.  (Read The Mastery of Love.)

7.  Sometimes the best thing you can do is nothing at all.

Sometimes you need to be alone… not to be lonely, but to enjoy some free time just breathing and being YOU.

In order to be one with your relationships and life’s work, you have to turn away from the busyness of the world for a while.  You need to find solitude to refuel.  You must become so alone that you withdraw into your innermost self.  You must do nothing at all, except to be still with the moment.

You need to ponder your successes and failures in seclusion; you need the sunshine and the moonlight to warm you without companions to distract you, without the ongoing banter, face to face with your inner core, with only the sound of your heartbeat for company.

11 Habits You Need to Give-Up to Be Happy

POST WRITTEN BY: ANGEL CHERNOFF

11 Habits You Need to Give-Up to Be Happy

by Lisa H.

Are your habits and routines sucking up your happiness?

Oftentimes we unknowingly hold on to little, obsessive habits that cause us a great deal of stress and unhappiness.  Even when we feel that something is wrong, we fail to seek the changes we need to make and instead cling to what’s not working, simply because it’s what we’re accustomed to.

It’s time to make a change.  It’s time to give up the habits that no longer serve your well-being and embrace the positive changes you need to be happy.

Today is the perfect day to give up…

Final Reminder:  We recently released the Audio Book for 1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.  And we also have a limited time bundle of our eBook, audio book and bonus material on sale for a big discount.  Click here to check it out!

1.  Worrying about… everything.

Worry is the biggest happiness slayer ever.  Worry steals all of your attention and gives the illusion that you are working through a problem when you are not.  As Van Wilder said, “Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.”

People worry for all sorts of reasons: to escape reality, fear of the unknown, resistance to change, lack of confidence, etc.

Stopping worry, like everything else takes practice; the more you do it, the better you will become at discerning when you are no longer controlling your thoughts and they are controlling you.

Tip:  To jolt yourself out of worry, ask yourself what you can do “right now” to make your life more pleasant and then do that!

2.  Constant, deliberate, people-pleasing.

Contrary to what you may think, saying “yes” to every request that is made of you is not nice.  First, it is not nice to you because it can leave you emotionally, mentally and physically drained.  And second, it is not nice to the other person, because it deceives them into thinking that you have the time, energy and otherresources available to make what they want happen, when you do not.

Generally people who carry out the duties of others at the expense of themselves have low self-esteem and high levels of unhappiness.  They need the approval of others to make themselves feel worthy.

Tip:  To combat people-pleasing behavior, learn to say “no.”  Oftentimes when you say “no” to someone else, you are really saying “yes” to YOU.

3.  Procrastinating.

Procrastination is stagnation.  There is no other way to say it.  When you procrastinate, nothing good in your life is happening.

We procrastinate for all sorts of reasons.  When we are afraid of the outcome, we are unsure how to complete the task and when we just don’t feel like taking action.

And the thing is, we spend more time aggravating ourselves with worry about how long or how difficult the task is going to be rather than just doing it.  More often than not, if you just start your task, you will be pleasantly surprised at how easily you are able to accomplish it.

Tip:  When you feel yourself getting ready to procrastinate, silently say “stop” to yourself, refocus and begin again by taking calculated action that will lead to the results you desire.  (Read Getting Things Done.)

4.  Living in the past.

The past is gone for good and yet we spend so much time thinking about what happened yesterday, at the complete expense of today.  Keeping your thoughts stuck in the past is especially detrimental to your contentment.  You are a product of your environment.  Your environment has helped to shape how you think and feel about yourself.  Everyone has been presented with life challenges along their journey – you aren’t alone.  It is whether you are stuck in the patterns of the past or have moved past them.

Tip:  If you are harboring resentment, anger, frustration or other negative feelings from your past, don’t ignore these feelings.  Do something constructive about it so that you can move into the present.

5.  Always looking past the present moment in anticipation of the next.

We spend so much time in this moment, wanting to be in the next one, that we are missing our lives.

For example, while taking a shower, you might be thinking about that cup of coffee you want to make, and while you are drinking your coffee, you might be thinking about your commute to work.  You are never consciously present right where you are and therefore cannot enjoy the moment you are in – the moment we call “life.”

Tip:  Now is the only time you have.  Now is life.  Make sure you are fully experiencing it.

6.  Judging others.

When you judge someone else, you suffer.  It is an outward display of inward inferiority and anger.  No one person is better than another.  The individual who cleans the bathroom at a fast food restaurant is no less of a person than the CEO that uses it.

Tip:  Understand that we are all part of the collective human race.  We are one.  Your joy is my joy and your suffering is my suffering.  (Read Buddha’s Brain.)

7.  Comparing your story to everyone else’s.

It is good to notice what others are doing from time to time.  After all, that is what helps us outline what we want and don’t want in our own lives.  But comparing yourself to everyone else every step of the way takes it too far.  You know when this happens – when you stop living your dreams or start living theirs.

Tip:  You are unique.  No matter how hard you try to be like someone else, you will never be them, and you shouldn’t want to be.

8.  Shame.

Shame is a deep, debilitating emotion, with complex roots.  Its cousins are guilt, humiliation, demoralization, degradation and remorse.  After experiencing a traumatic event, whether recent or in the distant past, shame can haunt victims in a powerful and often unrecognized manner.

Shame impairs the healing and recovery process causing victims of trauma to stay frozen, unable to forgive themselves for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Shame leaves victims with feelings of sadness and pain at the core of their being.  They are unable to feel the fullness of joy in their lives.

If you feel any shame at all, acknowledge it upfront.  Decide to experiment on forgiving yourself and letting go of the shame.  How long can you go without reminding yourself about the shameful thoughts and feelings?  How would life be different or better if you were able to forgive yourself?  Who can you talk to about this?

Tip:  The more you forgive yourself, the more time you have to focus your mind on happier times.

9.  Disorganization and laziness.

We complain that there are not enough hours in a day to accomplish all that we want, yet our laziness often leads us to many wasteful hours of disorganization.  The discipline it takes to sort through a messy desk, counter, closet or mind take time.  Becoming organized is a habit.  Start with something small, like your office desk or even making your bed after you get up.

Tip:  Studies have shown that people who make their beds are statistically more productive, profitable and peaceful in their lives and careers.  Interesting, isn’t it?  But not surprising.

10.  Fear of… everything.

Fear is one of the biggest reasons why we don’t move ahead in our lives.  Fear of failing and fear of succeeding.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of fear.  As long as we are alive, we are prone to some level of fear.  Ironically, to feel alive we must overcome that fear with action.  As Bill Cosby once said, “Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.”

Tip:  Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that your happiness and growth is more important than it.  Do something every day that stretches your comfort zone and helps you face what your fear.  (Read Daring Greatly.)

11.  The need to be busy.

Busyness is often confused with productivity.  They are two different things.  Busy is running in place on a treadmill; productivity is actually getting somewhere worthwhile.  These days technology gives us this constant feeling that there is so much to do and not enough time to do it.  We are always connected to something that wants our attention, or something that could be done.  This feeling creates stress.  The more behind you think you are, the more stressed out you are going to feel.

Stress is not good for you.  It makes it difficult to think, connect with others and it is associated with a plethora of physical ailments that lead to unhappiness.

Tip:  Stop trying to be busy.  Put first things first and give up the rest.  Organization, meditation, improved time management and efficiency and a change in perception are all ways to manage stress.  You must learn to let go.  Release the excess.  You were never able to do it all anyway.

Chocolate Lasagna

Chocolate Lasagna

INGREDIENTS

1 package regular Oreo cookies (Not Double Stuff) – about 36 cookies
6 Tablespoon butter, melted
1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cold milk
1- 12 ounce tub Cool Whip, divided
2 – 3.9 ounce packages Chocolate Instant Pudding.
3 1/4 cups cold milk
1 and 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Begin by crushing 36 Oreo cookies into fine crumbs, you are done.
2. Transfer the Oreo crumbs to a large bowl. Stir in 6 tablespoons melted butter and use a fork to incorporate the butter into the cookie crumbs. When the butter is distributed, transfer the mixture to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator while you work on the additional layers.
3. Mix the cream cheese with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add in 2 Tablespoons of milk, and sugar, and mix well. Stir in 1 and 1/4 cups Cool Whip. Spread this mixture over the crust.
4. In a bowl, combine chocolate instant pudding with 3 and 1/4 cups cold milk. Whisk for several minutes until the pudding starts to thicken. Use a spatula to spread the mixture over the previous cream cheese layer. Allow the dessert to rest for about 5 minutes so that the pudding can firm up further.
5. Spread the remaining Cool Whip over the top. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips evenly over the top. Place in the freezer for 1 hour, or the refrigerator for 4 hours before serving.

Infused waters.

Infused Waters.

Here are their benefits to help with detoxification energy and hydration. put as much fruit in water as you like and let the water sit for at least 30 minutes before drinking 

(1) Green tea, mint, lime-fat burning, digestion, headaches, congestion and breath freshener. 
(2) Strawberry,kiwi-cardiovascular health, immune system protection, blood sugar regulation, digestion 
(3) Cucumber, lime, lemon- water weight management, bloating, appetite control, hydration, digestion 
(4) Lemon, lime, orange- digestion vitamin C, immune defense, heartburn, (drink this one at room temperature)

Do not keep longer than 48 hours you can put more water using the same fruit, but discard after 48 hours.

This Miracle Drink

MIRACLE DRINK ...IT KILLS CANCER CELLS TOO.....MUST READ...

This MIRACLE DRINK has been circulating for a long time long
ago.It is worth your while to take note. There is a celebrity Mr. Seto who swears by it. He wants to make it public to draw the
attention of people who have cancers. This is a drink that can protect bad cells forming in your body or it will restrain its growth! Mr. Seto had lung cancer.

He was recommended to take this drink by a famous Herbalist from China. He has taken this drink diligently for 3 months and now his health is restored,and he is ready to take a pleasure trip. Thanks to this drink! It does not hurt for you to try.

It is like a Miracle Drink! It is simple.

You need one beet root, one carrot and one apple that
combine together to make the JUICE! Wash the above, cut with the skin on into pieces and put them into the juicer and
immediately you drink the juice.

You can add some lime or lemon for more refreshing taste.
This Miracle Drink will be effective for the following ailments:

1. Prevent cancer cells to develop.It will restrain cancer cells to grow.
2. Prevent liver, kidney,pancreas disease and it can cure ulcer
as well.
3. Strengthen the lung, prevent heart attack and high blood
pressure.
4. Strengthen the immune system
5. Good for the eyesight, eliminate red and tired eyes or dry eyes
6. Help to eliminate pain from physical training, muscle ache
7. Detoxify, assist bowel movement, eliminate constipation.Therefore it will make skin healthy & LOOK more radiant.It is God sent for acne problem.
8. Improve bad breath due to indigestion, throat infection,
9.pain
10. Assist Hay Fever Sufferer from Hay Fever attack.

There is absolutely no side effect. Highly nutritious and easily
absorbed.Very effective if you need to loose weight.You will notice your immune system will be improved after 2 week routine.

Please make sure to drink immediately from the juicer for
best effect.

9 Power Quotes for Times of Struggle

POST WRITTEN BY: MARC

9 Power Quotes for Times of Struggle

There’s scarcely any happiness, passion or success without struggle.  Life is a constant climb, but the journey is rewarding and the view is great.  It’s just a matter of pushing forward when the going gets tough.

Here are nine power quotes and some additional tips to help inspire you when you need it most.

1.  Growth and Change

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”  ―Anaïs Nin

Discontent is the principal necessity of positive growth, but only if you do something constructive with it.  Without deviation from what you’ve been doing, progress is not possible.  Don’t be someone who goes through greater lengths to avoid change than you do to obtain what you desire.  You must define and embrace the necessary changes that move you forward.

Your life will begin to improve when you define precisely what ‘improve’ means to you.  The agonies and frustrations will start to ease only when you have something real and positive to replace them with.  Be specific.  Happiness is not a goal, it’s the result of a life well lived.  The question is:  How do you want to live going forward?

To effectively move away from an unfavorable situation, you must decide exactly where you wish to go.  Create a formidable intention for yourself, and feed that intention with the passion and energy that’s in your desire for change.  Go beyond your discontent for what is, and instead focus on imagining and creating the best of what’s possible.  Clearly know where you wish to go, and then take the first real step that gets you there.  Read 1,000 Little Things.

2.  Problems and Opportunities

“What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity?  Our attitude toward it.  Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity.”  ―J. Sidlow Baxter

Truth be told, you have to create more opportunities than you are handed in this world, and you have to design them with your own blood, sweat and tears.  The effort, however, is well worth it.

There’s no shortage of problems waiting to be addressed.  When you see problems piled on top of problems, and when there seems to be no end to thework that must be done in order to resolve them, what are you really seeing?  You’re looking at a mountain of opportunity.  You’re looking at a situation in which you can truly make a difference.  You’re looking at an environment where you can reach great heights by raising the stakes and pulling the reality of what’s possible along with you.

When you look at a problem, but see opportunity instead, you become a powerful source that transforms grief into greatness.

3.  Hard Work and Achievement

“It shouldn’t be easy to be amazing.  Then everything would be.  It’s the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth.  When something’s difficult to come by, you’ll do that much more to make sure it’s even harder – or impossible – to lose.”  ―Sarah Dessen

There is no shortcut to a great achievement.  There is no substitute for doing the work.  Meditate on this every day: “I will do the work.”  As Einstein once said, “Genius is 1% talent and 99% percent hard work.”  You must run to be a runner.  You must write to be a writer.  You must actively work on a business venture to learn how to run a successful business.

By all means, find ways to be more efficient in your work.  But make no mistake that it takes diligent effort to build something worthwhile.  There are certainly some success stories out there about people who excelled rather quickly, but you will usually find they had put in years of related work long before anyone was paying attention to their seemingly rapid success.  In other words, their current state of achievement is simply all those years of work coming together flawlessly in the present.

Put in the required effort.  Plan your work every morning, and then diligently work your plan every day.  Read Do the Work.

4.  Focus

Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want.  No one can hit their target with their eyes closed.”  ―Paulo Coelho

Lack of focus, not lack of ability, is the most common problem that holds people back from their potential.  We all have strengths and difficulties, and we all have the same twenty-four hour days and seven-day weeks to work with.  If you find it difficult to deal with where you are, or how life is treating you, it’s time to change your focus.

Start focusing on what you want going forward.  Set a specific goal, keep your routine centered on it, and you’ll find the strength to move steadily in a positive direction.  When you focus on the right thing, even the difficult steps will seem easier.  The burdens of the moment become much more bearable when you connect with the purpose behind them.

Your time, energy, and resources will get used no matter how well you focus them.  By choosing to focus properly, you get the highest return for the efforts you invest in your life.

5.  Positive Thinking

“Our thoughts about what we are and what we can be precisely determine what we can be.”  ―Anthony Robbins

The reality you live through daily is a process of your thinking.  You are essentially who you design yourself to be – most of what you experience is the direct result of your own creation.  This reality cannot be changed without first changing your thinking.

Yes, there are lots of inherent events in life that occur completely independently of you – birth, death, loss, sickness, aging, and unexpected changes of all kinds – but these life events do not have to cause ongoing confusion and suffering.  They happen, you experience a little stress, you adjust, and you move forward.  The problem occurs when you don’t adjust and move forward, when your mind clings to these events in a negative light and intensifies their significance into perpetuity.  If your mind does this, of course, it completely overlooks the subtle feelings of excitement, adventure, love, and joy that come from the essence of overcoming a new challenge.

Bottom line:  99% of the time the discontent and frustration you feel is entirely your own creation.  If you dwell on the positive thoughts and possibilities at least as much as you dwell on negative thoughts and painful emotions, life’s challenges help you improve your reality.  Read Learned Optimism.

6.  Mistakes

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”  ―Mahatma Gandhi

No matter what you’re going to make mistakes; it’s an unavoidable truth.  But the good news is, if you follow your heart and intuition, the mistakes you make will be steps in the right direction.  Just because you fail once at something doesn’t mean you’re going to fail at everything.  Keep trying, hold on and believe in yourself.  Keep your head held high, your chin up, and above all, SMILE, because the most beautiful part of it all is that there’s so much left to smile about.

Life is what you make it.  It’s a wild rollercoaster.  Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does.  And then just when you think it can’t get any better, it does.  Every day is a beautiful mystery.  Let go of yesterday’s mistakes and enjoy the mystery as it unfolds today.

7.  Acceptance

“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain.”  ―Henry W. Longfellow

What you must realize is that you don’t really need more time; you just need to appreciate life in the current time.  It’s a beautiful and bitter way of thinking all at once.  If you don’t have what you want now, you don’t have what you want, but you still have a lot.  Be thankful for what is; and also be thankful for what has not yet come to you, for that means there are still many possibilities available to you.

Find peace in the thought that you can’t ever have it all or know it all.  You are always just a fraction of the whole.  For if you weren’t, there would be nothing more to experience.  Value what you know, and also value the countless things you don’t yet understand.  For in what you do not understand, there is the joy of growth.

Life will always be incomplete and a bit asymmetrical.  Realize this and embrace it.  Be happy and sad at the same time, be hungry and thankful at the same time, be nervous and excited at the same time, and be okay with it.

8.  Confidence and Beliefs

“Sometimes beautiful things come into our lives out of nowhere.  We can’t always understand them, but we have to trust in them.  I know you want to question everything, but sometimes it pays to just have a little faith.”  ―Lauren Kate

Believe in yourself through tough times.  Believe in your capacity to succeed.  Believe that your relationships are worth the effort.  Believe that people make mistakes on their way to greatness.  Believe that people can be foolish and intelligent, selfish and generous, and stressed and happy all at once.  Believe that very few people hurt others on purpose.  Believe that there are many roads to what’s right.  Believe in your intuition, especially when you have to choose between two good paths.  Believe that the answers are out there waiting.  Believe that life will surprise you again and again.  Believe that the journey is the destination.  Believe that it’s all worth your while.  Read 1,000 Little Things.

9.  The Present Moment

“Yesterday is gone.  Tomorrow has not yet come.  We have only today.  Let us begin.”  ―Mother Teresa

Regardless of what’s happened in the past or what might happen in the future, it’s being here now that’s important.  We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t edit it; we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if it will ever come.

This moment – right now – is your life.  Say yes to it.  Don’t ignore it by pretending that you’re living in some other time and place.  You aren’t – doing so is impossible.  The only life you can live is the only life there is – the moment you are in right now.  Ignoring this fact is reckless.  Ignoring it is denying reality, and denying reality is rejecting the entire process of living.

Start paying attention to the present.  Start paying attention to your life.  Right now, say yes to the life you‘re living and notice how it starts to flow WITH you rather than against you.

Your turn…

What’s your favorite power quote that can provide a quick dose of inspiration when you need it most?