Welcome
to our first issue of this new year in our
lives! We thank you for
being here with us as we start our journey through
this new set of 365 days,
and we hope that you're able to make this year an
amazing one. We'll do all
we can to bring you material that can help you to
make your life what you
want it to be and to meet the goals you set!
Nature has endowed every normal person with
wonderful equipment for the potential enjoyment
of life. Its gift is embodied in the
marvelous structure of the human nervous system,
whose delicate sensory apparatus gives each of
us an infinite capacity to perceive and partake
of the endless bounty that the world
affords. On a primitive level, our organs
of perception are designed to gain knowledge of
the external environment for purposes of
self-protection. But if our senses are
fully attuned to all their tensile vigor, people
can be like some magnificent Aeolian harp--free
to catch all the jubilant winds of the universe,
ready to respond harmoniously with our own
melodies of joy and affirmation.
Love itself may be defined as the ability to use
our sensory apparatus to its fullest
degree. For love, in its widest meaning,
is simply an intense, positive interest in an
object. When we love a thing, we
become deeply engrossed in it with all our
senses. This is true whether the thing we
love is a person or a flower, a food or a
landscape, a song or a philosophical
theory. In each case we want to come into
the closest possible contact with it--to look at
it, touch it listen to it. It is through
this kind of union with the beloved object that
we are able, by means of our senses, to obtain
pleasure and inspiration.
All of our most exalted moments in life bear
this imprint of profound absorption and
concentration.
In
the rapture of union between a man and a woman,
it is as if our bodies and all our sensations
blend completely with the beloved person.
A comparable unity invests every great
achievement in all phases of life. The
inventor in pursuit of a new discovery works at
his models with a depth of attention that blots
out all else in the world. The sculptor
who creates a new form of beauty shapes each
curve with an intensity of purpose which is
almost fierce in its devotion.
Watch any accomplished artisan at work--a
musical virtuoso with his or her instrument, a
master craftsman with his or her tools--and the
most striking feature of the performance is its
grave and noble concentration. Behind the
great deeds of any leader, whether in religion
of science or industry, there is the same story
of senses and energies marshaled to their utmost
pitch of efficiency. One may even declare
it as a law that achievement of any kind is
possible only where there is complete attention
to the task at hand--which is but another way of
saying that we may expect success only if we
love what we do.
This does not mean that the gifted few are alone
capable of true achievement. The truth is
that all of us attain the greatest success and
happiness possible in this life whenever we use
our native capacities to their fullest
extent. There is as much joy for the
farmer who toils with utmost skill to reap the
maximum harvest from his acre of soil as there
is for the engineer who builds an ingenious
bridge across the torrents of a raging
river. So, too, the husband and wife in
any city apartment who give each other a
lifetime of true devotion have won a prize of
love to match any that Darby and Joan may have
achieved.
The obstacle that faces most of us is not lack
of special talents. What blocks us from
the path of full achievement is rather our
failure to use the natural endowment that is
every person's birthright. Yet it is one
of the tragedies of civilized life that ordinary
attempts to overcome this failure bring us
inevitably into conflict with prevailing social
standards and ideals. Society, with its
primary emphasis on order and regulation,
demands that to a considerable extent we
sacrifice our primitive animal heritage for the
sake of communal safety and stability.
Society does this, ironically enough, through
education. From earliest childhood we are
forbidden by parents, nurses and teachers to
give full and uninhibited play to our natural
impulses. In one respect, of course,
education must inevitably take such a
course. Human beings' natural drives also
include dangerous impulses toward murder, incest
and cannibalism; and we would long ago have
destroyed each other if no restrictions had been
imposed. But education, in its effort to
control these destructive forces, often makes an
unnecessary error. It attempts to throttle
our original impulses altogether, where its
purpose should rather be to direct them toward
constructive channels.
No one, for example, will deny the need to
inculcate the principle that we must not attack
and kill our fellow human beings. It is
another matter entirely, however, when we punish
a little child because his or her instinctual
curiosity has led him or her to touch and tear a
book that has been left on the library
table. Again, we cannot allow a little
child to wander at will into the parental
bedroom at night. Yet this does not mean
that we must take harsh measures of reprisal
when a child quite naturally tries to examine
the naked body of a neighboring playmate.
The incorrigible Bernard Shaw put it neatly when
he argued that most child training revolves
around the precept: "Don't let
them!" Certainly it is true that
parents and educators, in their zeal to rear
tractable members of society, too often develop
a compulsion to thwart the individual's
fundamental nature entirely. Children are
enveloped in a blanket of guilt that smothers
their natural impulses to look and touch and
listen. They are made to feel ashamed of
their normal inquisitiveness, and are threatened
with dire consequences if they exceed bounds
that in most cases have been set down to suit
the convenience--or the blind fears--of their
adult guardians.
To the extent that civilization thus needlessly
suppresses our primitive sensory activities, it
diminishes our capacity to love and to achieve
happiness. How can a child learn to live
successfully--and to love--if they are
constantly forbidden to use the very senses that
are their only means of learning and of
loving? Children cannot be expected to
understand why certain objects of their
investigation are "proper" and why
others should be "improper."
When their efforts to look or to touch are
punished in any particular instance, their only
possible reaction is to feel that the impulse
itself is somehow wrong and therefore
dangerous. The end result in most cases is
not a true capacity for discrimination, but an
impairment of the sensory function itself.
Here is the origin of so much of our adult
timidity and lack of initiative. If so
many of us live emotional lives on a starvation
level of economy, it is partly because we have
never shaken off the guilt attached to our
earliest attempts at expressive activity.
We are weighed down by the barriers placed long
ago on our normal eagerness to explore the world
and to immerse ourselves in its wonders.
The warning finger of remembered restraint
hovers constantly above us, commanding docile
acceptance of pinched routines and paltry
loves. We are afraid to reach out in a
joyful embrace of life because, in the
beginning, we were ordered to touch only that
which our impatient guardians thought proper. .
. .
There are ways in which our primitive impulses
may be given adequate expression without the
danger of communal anarchy. They are the
ways taught by love, and we must learn them if
we are to escape the catastrophes that have
hitherto overwhelmed us so monotonously as
individuals and as nations. It is possible
to be free and happy, and at the same time to
remain at peace with one another.
And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And designer love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
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Over the years as I’ve sought out ideas, principles and
strategies to life’s challenges, I’ve come across four
simple words that can make living worthwhile.
First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don’t
know WILL hurt you. You have to have learning to exist,
let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from
your own experiences—negative or positive. We learn to
do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call
that a positive negative. We also learn from other
people’s experiences, both positive and negative. I’ve
always said that it is too bad failures don’t give
seminars. Obviously, we don’t want to pay them so they
aren’t usually touring around giving seminars. But that
information would be very valuable—we would learn how
someone who had it all then messed it up. Learning from
other people’s experiences and mistakes is valuable
information because we can learn what not to do without
the pain of having tried and failed ourselves.
We learn by what we see, so pay attention. We learn by
what we hear, so be a good listener. Now I do suggest that
you should be a selective listener. Don’t just let
anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what
we read, so learn from every source: from lectures, from
songs, from sermons, and from conversations with people
who care. Always keep learning.
Second, life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can’t just
learn; now you have to try something to see if you can do
it. Try to make a difference, try to make some progress,
try to learn a new skill, try to learn a new sport. It
doesn’t mean you can do everything, but there are a lot
of things you can do, if you just try. Try your best. Give
it every effort. Why not go all out?
Third, life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to
stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed
up for the day or for the game or for the project, see it
through. Sometimes calamity comes and then it is
worth wrapping it up. And that’s the end, but just
don’t end in the middle. Maybe on the next project
you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it
through.
And lastly, life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you
care at all, you will get some results. If you care
enough, you can get incredible results. Care enough
to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody
around. Care enough to start a new enterprise.
Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the
highest producer. Care enough to set some
records. Care enough to win.
Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and
care. What difference can you make in your life
today by putting these words to work?
* * *
Published with permission from the Jim Rohn newsletter
Living
Life Fully, the e-zine
exists to try to provide for visitors of the world wide web a
place
of growth, peace, inspiration, and encouragement. Our
articles
are presented as thoughts of the authors--by no means do
we
mean to present them as ways that anyone has to live
life. Take
from them what you will, and disagree with
whatever you disagree
with--just know that they'll be here for you
each week.
Deep
inside, our integrity sings to us whether we are listening or
not.
It is a note that only we can hear. Eventually,
when life makes us ready
to listen, it will help us to find our
way home.
Once we unlearn many of the cultural expectations
and norms that get us to use our power in
unproductive or even negative ways, we can start
choosing to use our power in positive, giving, and
productive ways.Using our power positively will have a huge
effect on our lives as we start to make it a way of
life—we'll discover that the world truly is a
mirror, and that it gives back to us exactly what we
give to it.If
we use our power in confused ways, never quite sure
of what we hope to accomplish, the world will give
us back confusion and uncertainty.If we dedicate ourselves to using our power
constructively, though, we'll find that the world
gives us back very positive situations that help us
to see our world and our place in it much more
clearly.
Of
course, we shouldn't use our power in positive ways
simply because we want to get a return on our
expenditure.Think
about it—if we do that, then we're using our power
in a manipulative fashion, trying to get life to
give back to us what we think we deserve, rather
than what life knows is best for us.Our goal should be to use our energy
effectively and productively, and to allow life to
be what it is without trying to control it and the
outcomes it wishes to provide us.
If we wish not to "lay waste our powers,"
we have to make constant, conscious decisions about
what we're going to do in life.Our life situations demand reactions from us,
and we often find ourselves wanting to take action
to accomplish particular goals.How we do this and what we do in these
situations is our way of spending our power, and
it's up to us whether we waste it or use it
productively.
Encouragement
Possibly the most important use of our power is
found in encouragement.Ironically enough, it's also one of the
easiest expenditures of power that we'll ever find,
while the rewards and potential positive outcomes of
this action are almost limitless.
I learned about the positive effects of
encouragement rather late in life.As a child, I found that encouragement was
rare in our household.In retrospect, I see that this was a result
mostly of my parents having to deal with their own
problems and issues, and not truly understanding
their children's need for encouragement.In their minds, it was important for us kids
to be independent and to learn to do things on our
own—which is a very common attitude in the United
States, especially.
What we kids were missing, though, was that surge of
energy that they could have shared with us quite
easily.Think
about the last time someone encouraged you, and how
you felt afterwards.Did you feel energized and ready to take on
the world after hearing the encouragement?While it may be easy to discount this feeling
as a result of our own perception, the cause and
effect relationship is clearly there—you received
encouragement, and you felt energized.Why can't it be possible for someone to
infuse a bit of their own power into your life?Just because many people think that such
things aren't possible in life doesn't mean that
those people are right—there comes a time when we
have to trust our own feelings and sensations and
realize that much of what happens in this world is
beyond the perceptions of reality that have been
taught to people for ages.
I
know that when someone encourages me, I feel a sense
of strength and power, and new possibilities open up
with my stronger sense of self.When all is said and done, of course, nothing
about my situation has changed except my perception
of it, but that change has created more energy
within me, and that spark has been given by some
other person's encouragement.Of course that power is coming from them to
me.
I believe
that the first test of a truly great person is
one's humility.
I do not mean by humility, doubt of
one's own powers. But
really
great people have a curious
feeling that the greatness is not in
them
but through them.
And they see something divine in every
other person.
Contentment is a balm, satisfaction is a friendly
embrace, but happiness
is a warm glow and tingle
that arise from the health of both mind and body.
We all want to be happy, yet how many of us can with
certainty declare
that we are? We all have
little happinesses that raise us up out of the mire
of our daily struggles. Perhaps we should be
content with these small gifts,
for the quality of
perfect happiness is an uncommon state.
This little caution is a warning to those whose life
is a perpetual search for
the perfect happiness--a
holy grail that requires an immense effort. It
is not
found in a clean bathroom, although the TV
commercials want us to think
so. Nor is it
found in money or health or friends or lovers or
travel or small
packages. These may lead to
small happinesses, and blessings on them all.
Perfect happiness is a well-regulated hierarchy of
spirit, mind, and body. The order is
important, and anything that disturbs that order
ruffles the
surface of the lake of happiness.
Unregulated desire, as the Buddha knew
so well, is a
heavy stone dropped into the lake; equally
disturbing is the
tendency to forget about the
spirit and to concentrate exclusively on the
mind or
the body. Perfect happiness is not to be found
in the leaps of
aerobic movement nor in the dense
concentration of scholarly research.
Yet we must not despair. Perfect happiness is
our birthright--it is
only that we must work at it.
from his book Life
Meditations
The genius for happiness is still so rare, is
indeed on the whole the rarest genius.
To possess it means to approach life with the humility of a beggar,
but to treat it
with the proud generosity of a prince; to bring to its
totality the deep understanding
of a great poet and to each of its moments
the abandonment and ingenuousness of a child.
Ellen Key
Yes, life
can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's
actually rather dependable and reliable. Some principles apply
to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called
universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use
them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever
learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning. I use it a lot when I
teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to
the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.
What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or
generous, compassionate or arrogant? In this book, I've done my
best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life,
writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.
Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too! Universal Principles of Living Life Fully. Awareness of
these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration
out of the lives we lead.
Explore all of our
quotations pages--these links will take you to the first page of each
topic, and those pages will contain links to any additional pages on
the same topic (there are five pages on adversity, for example).
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