FOLLOWING YOUR BLISS FOR LIFE

Little yellow chicks for sale - “Our theories of the eternal are as valuable as are those which a chick which has not broken its way through its shell might form of the outside world.”

Who was it that said, "Follow your dream - unless it's the one where
you're at work in your underwear during a fire drill."?

Author Joseph Campbell's advice was to "follow your bliss." American
painter Grandma Moses did that. She actually started painting at age
76, after arthritis forced her to give up embroidery. "If I hadn't
started painting, I would have raised chickens," she once said.

And I heard of a bus driver in Chicago who followed his bliss with
some surprising results. He sings while he drives. That's right...
sings. And I don't mean he sings softly to himself, either. He sings
so that the whole bus can hear. All day long he drives and sings.

He was once interviewed on Chicago television. He said that he is
not actually a bus driver. "I'm a professional singer," he asserted.
"I only drive the bus to get a captive audience every single day."

His "bliss" is not driving a bus, though that may be a source of
enjoyment for some people. His bliss is singing. And the supervisors
at the Chicago Transit Authority are perfectly happy about the whole
arrangement. People actually let other buses pass by so they can
ride with the "singing bus driver." They love it.

Here is a man who believes he knows why he was put here on earth.
For him, it is to make people happy. And the more he sings, the more
people he makes happy. He has found a way to align his purpose in
living with his occupation. By following his bliss, he is actually
living the kind of life he believes he was meant to live.

Are you following your bliss? When you do, you may discover that you
are experiencing the kind of life you feel you were meant to live.
And what's more, you will be happy.

From Lifesupport

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NEEDING A NUDGE IN LIFE

Steel ladles for sale - “Courage is to feel the daily daggers of relentless steel and keep on living.”

A wiser person than I once said that humans have four basic needs.
One is the need to be nurtured. Next is the need to be needed.
Third, the need to be noticed. And finally, the need to be nudged.

Although I never had much luck nudging my own children, I've often
thought of a story about a small boy who could not be nudged to quit
banging a drum. Various attempts were made to do something about
quieting the child.

One person told the boy that he would, if he continued to make so
much noise, perforate his eardrums. This reasoning was too advanced
for the child, who was neither a scientist nor a scholar.

A second person told him that drum beating was a sacred activity and
should be carried out only on special occasions. A third person
offered the neighbors plugs for their ears; a fourth gave the boy a
book; a fifth gave the neighbors books that described a method of
controlling anger through biofeedback; a sixth person gave the boy
meditation exercises to make him placid and docile. None of these
attempts worked.

Eventually, a wise person came along with an effective motivation.
He looked at the situation, handed the child a hammer and chisel,
and asked, "I wonder what is INSIDE the drum?"

No more problem.

I agree that we sometimes need to be nudged. At times, we may need
to be nudged into healthier behaviors. Or maybe nudged out of
destructive relationships or patterns. Or simply nudged to think a
little bigger; to do or be a something more challenging and less
mediocre.

No doubt, that is why the motivational industry is so successful.
(And no, it is probably not true that if you listen to your
motivational tapes backwards you will become a failure. I think a
couple of you may have been worried about that.)

It seems to me that good leaders know about this basic human need to
be prodded, challenged and encouraged. They also know that the best
way to nudge someone is often simply to invite them along a path
that is more appealing than the one they've chosen. The best leaders
teach us to dream and tempt us to do more than we ever thought
possible. They challenge us to be a part of something great.

Writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, "If you want to build a ship,
don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give
orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
Sometimes all we need is a nudge to desire something magnificent.

Is this the nudge you need?

From Lifesupport

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A HUMBLE SPIRIT FOR LIFE

Jing Jing the dog cooling off on a hot day - “Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.”

In his own eyes, Mike was the most popular guy around. "A lot of
women are gonna be totally miserable when I marry," he boasted to
his date.

"Really?" she said. "And just how many women are you intending to
marry?" (Maybe you knew that guy.)

But I like the story of a young woman who wanted to go to college.
Her heart sank, however, when she read the question on the admission
form that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and
conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application,
expecting the worst.

To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear
applicant: A study of the admission forms reveals that this year our
school will enroll 1,452 new leaders. We would like to accept you
because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one
follower."

Sometimes a little bit of humble pie goes well with a rich meal.

Actually, what passes for conceit in many people is often just a
plea for attention. A poor sense of self may cause one to want to be
the prominent star in every constellation. Humility, on the other
hand, does not require that one shine less brightly than others,
simply that all be given opportunity to shine.

That great 19th Century African American educator Booker T.
Washington exemplified the power of a simple and modest spirit. A
story is told of a day when Washington, then a professor at Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama, happened to pass the mansion of a wealthy
woman as he walked to work.

The woman did not recognize him and called out, "Hey you! Come here!
I need some wood chopped!" She was a product of her southern
post-Civil War culture and simply perceived him as a black man who
was there to do her bidding.

Without a word, Dr. Washington peeled off his jacket, picked up the
ax and went to work. He not only cut a large pile of wood, he also
carried the firewood into the house and arranged it neatly by the
fireplace.

He had scarcely left when a servant said to the woman, "I guess you
didn't recognize him, ma'am, but that was Professor Washington!"

Embarrassed and ashamed, the woman hurried over to Tuskegee
Institute to apologize. The great educator respectfully replied:
"There's no need to apologize, madam. I'm delighted to do favors for
my friends."

The professor may have taught one of his greatest lessons that day.
It was a lesson about astronomy: he taught that every star can shine
without one out-shining all the others. It was a lesson about peace:
he taught how self-interest must often be set aside for the good of
the whole. And it was a lesson about spirituality: he taught about
the power of a meek and humble spirit in a world where aggression is
too-often confused with strength.

It is a lesson we are still learning.

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A WAY TO FIND ENJOYMENT IN LIFE

Fresh brinjals@eggplants for sale - “I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly eradicated it in a child, he would grow up to be an eggplant.”

At one time, Bangkok television aired the American situation comedy
LaVerne and Shirley. For whatever reason, officials there believed
that a disclaimer was necessary for the Thailand audience, so this
subtitle was added to each show: "The two women depicted in the
following episode are from an insane asylum."

Personally, I'm thankful there is a little silliness in the world.
And I don't mind not acting like everybody else. Like the
"irrepressible" educator and speaker Leo Buscaglia once said: "I don't
mind if people think I'm crazy. In fact, I think it's great! It
gives me tremendous latitude for behavior."

Buscaglia knew how to laugh. And I think knowing how to laugh and
have fun is an important part of living.

Someone asked me what I do for fun. I felt I should answer with
something others enjoy, like golf or skiing. But my idea of fun is
not usually associated with entertainment and recreation. It is more
about squeezing as much enjoyment into every day as I can. Instead
of looking for something fun to do, I try to make whatever I do a
little more fun. And if I can't always do things I enjoy, I can
learn to enjoy more of the things I do.

I like the word "enjoyment" because it has "joy" inside of it. So
does the word "rejoice." And rejoicing is a way to find enjoyment of
life.

Speaking of Leo Buscaglia, he used to tell a story about his mother
and their "misery dinner." It was the night after his father came
home and said it looked as if he would have to go into bankruptcy
because his partner had absconded with their firm's funds. His
mother's response was to sell some of her jewelry to buy food enough
for a grand feast. At first, other members of the family scolded her
for it. But she told them that "the time for joy is now, when we
need it most, not next week." They learned to appreciate the hopeful
attitude that lifted them out of fear and into joy.

I want to learn to be happy even in those difficult and trying
times. I won't be happy FOR them (who likes problems?), just IN
them. I need the soothing medicine of laughter when it hurts. I want
to learn that the time for joy is now, when I need it most.

Maybe it sounds silly, but I want to learn to rejoice in all things.
And If I'm doing that well, it really doesn't matter what I like to
do for fun.

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes

THOSE YOU TOUCH...YOU CHANGE IN LIFE

Fake Gundam action figure toy - “An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.”

Did you know that your money likely has traces of cocaine on it?

A study by Jack Demirgian of the Argonne National Laboratory
revealed that a full 78% of the currency circulating in Miami and
other major US cities carries trace amounts of cocaine. That's
probably true elsewhere, too.

They were only looking for cocaine, but I wonder what else might be
found on the bills? Maybe fast-food products, such as frying grease,
mustard or teriyaki sauce? Tea or coffee? And how about rouge or
lipstick from purses and lint from pockets? Perhaps ink from a leaky
pen? I've found more indistinguishable stains on some of my money
than I care to think about.

What's more, we're told that if they look closely enough, they can
even learn something about where your money has been. To the store.
To the beach. Even hidden beneath a mattress.

Just about anything that comes into contact with money leaves a bit
of itself behind. Then, when the bills rub up against each other in
a wallet or billfold, they share contaminates. Everything the bills
touch will be changed, however slightly.

So it is with us. Everything we touch is changed. I used to play
English hand bells. "Don't touch the bells with your bare hands," we
were told. "Wear gloves." The oils from our hands changed the
quality of the bells.

Everything we touch is changed. And everybody we touch is changed --
even if we're not infected with something contagious. I'm not only
talking about physical touch, either. Often we touch their minds and
spirits and hearts. Everybody we speak to, rub shoulders with or
even smile at...is changed in some minute way. These changes can be
helpful or hurtful, depending on our interaction. It is like leaving
a piece of ourselves behind with everyone we meet, and taking a
piece of them with us.

And even little changes can make a difference. NO ONE is
insignificant in this regard.

Bette Reeves said, "If you think you are too small to be effective,
you have never been in bed with a mosquito." You don't need to be a
mosquito to have an effect on people around you. The question is:
what little part of yourself will you leave behind? How will you
influence them? Will your encounter be thoughtful or hurried?
Helpful or harmful? Intentional or accidental?

There is something awe-inspiring about the influence we have on one
another. Whom will you touch today? What will you leave behind, and
what will you take with you?

From Lifesupport

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