The Piece About Imperfectness and Satisfaction

The piece about “Imperfectness” and “Satisfaction”

In this society that emphasizes on the packaging, we would sometimes inevitably envy other people’s good looks, and lament about our own imperfection.

But in fact there’s not a single person whose is perfect, Everyone has a lack of something.
Some couples are very loving, with handsome earnings, but they have their own problems.
Some people have the looks and talent, but could have a rough time in relationships.
Some people have lots of money, but they don’t have filial children or happiness.
Some people look to have a good life, but their brain could be empty all their life.

Everyone’s life has been designed with imperfections, You may not want it, but it will follow you.
I used to hate my imperfections, But now I have learnt to accept it with open arms.

The flaw in life is like a spike on our backs, reminding us to be humble and empathetic with others.

If there are no hardships, we will be complacent. If there are no sufferings, we cannot be compassionate and console those who are less fortunate.
Life cannot and can never be too perfect.
Having a crack, to let happiness flow to others, is a beautiful thing.

You don’t have to have everything.
If you have everything, what’s left for the others?
Also recognise that life has flaws, That you shall not compare yourself with others, Instead cherish what you already have.

So, don’t go around envying others, count the blessings that Heaven has bestowed upon you.
You will find that there are more things that you have, than things that you don’t have.

And what you do not have, although not lovable, is very much part of your life, Accept and appreciate it, and your life will be much happier.

How To Live A Better Life - Pope John XXIII

HOW TO LIVE A BETTER LIFE - POPE JOHN XXIII

So here are ten tips from Pope John XXIII about how to live a better life, day to day:

1. Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
2. Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.
3. Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
4. Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
5. Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
6. Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
7. Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.
8. Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
9. Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.
10. Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for 12 hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.

To conclude: here is an all-embracing resolution: “I want to be kind, today and always, to everyone.”
I’ve started to think more about kindness. I thought of it as an important but bland virtue (in the same class as reliability and dutifulness), but I suspect that I’ve been overlooking something very important. I was just reading Henry James, who echoed the sentiment above: “Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.”

12 quick tips for boosting your happiness at work

12 quick tips for boosting your happiness at work

- by Gretchen Rubin

Of course, being happy at work depends mostly on how much you like your job. But there are also smaller steps that can boost your happiness, as well -- partly by boosting your physical comfort and your productivity.

Some of these steps are VERY small, but the fact that you’re taking steps to improve your situation itself boosts happiness.

1. Check for eyestrain by putting your hand to your forehead in a salute. If your eyes feel relieved, your work space is too bright.
2. Sit up straight with your shoulders down — every time I adjust my sitting position, I instantly feel more energetic and cheerier.
3. Get a phone headset. I resisted for a long time, because it looks so preposterous, but it’s really much more comfortable. Also, it lets me pace while I talk on the phone, which also looks preposterous, but is energizing.
4. Don’t keep candy on your desk. Studies show that people are much more likely to snack when a treat is within easy reach, and a handful of M&Ms each day could mean a weight gain of five pounds by year’s end.
5. Never say “yes” on the phone; instead, say, “I’ll get back to you.” When you’re actually speaking to someone, the desire to be accommodating is very strong, and can lead you to say “yes” without enough consideration. Along the same lines…
6. When deciding whether to say “yes,” imagine that you’re accepting a job that you’ll have to do next week. Don’t agree to something just because it seems so far off that it doesn’t seem onerous.
7. Don’t let yourself get too hungry. My husband goes without eating for hours and hours at a time, so once, trying to be helpful, I bought him a big bag of granola to keep in his desk. He ate the whole bag in one day and ended up sick as a dog. Lesson: eat regularly.
8. Take care of difficult calls, tasks, or emails as quickly as possible. Procrastinating makes them harder; getting them done gives a big boost of relieved energy.
9. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, think hard about how you spend your time. Be honest. How much time do you spend surfing the internet, looking for things you’ve misplaced, or doing a task that’s really someone else’s job? Also…
10. Let yourself stay ignorant of things you don’t need to know.
11. Go outside at least once a day, and if possible, take a walk. The sunlight and activity is good for your focus, mood, and retention of information.
12. Say “Good morning” to everyone. Social contact is cheering, and if you feel that you’re on good terms with all the people in your office, you’ll be happier each day. Also, it’s polite.

Happiness (12 April 2009)

HAPPINESS (12 April 2009)

Happiness is a feeling of ease, well-being and satisfaction and can range from mild to intense and be either momentary or enduring.

Happiness can be classified as :

- happiness of ownership

- hapiness of wealth

- happiness of freedom from debt

The sense of achievement, from excelling in one's chosen profession and making a good living out of it can make one very happy.

Happiness is reachable, no matter how long it last.

How To Live A Long And Happy Life ?

How To Live A Long And Happy Life ?

My friend sent me this interesting article. I find that it will be a waste if I do not put it in my blog to share. Enjoy ....

At the age of 97 years and 4 months, Shigeaki Hinohara is one of the world's longest-serving physicians and educators. Hinohara's magic touch is legendary: Since 1941 he has been healing patients at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo and teaching at St. Luke's College of Nursing. After World War II, he envisioned a world-class hospital and college springing from the ruins of Tokyo; thanks to his pioneering spirit and business savvy, the doctor turned these institutions into the nation's top medical facility and nursing school. Today he serves as chairman of the board of trustees at both organizations. Always willing to try new things, he has published around 150 books since his 75th birthday, including one "Living Long, Living Good" that has sold more than 1.2 million copies. As the founder of the New Elderly Movement, Hinohara encourages others to live a long and happy life, a quest in which no role model is better than the doctor himself.

Doctor Shigeaki Hinohara JUDIT KAWAGUCHI PHOTO

Energy comes from feeling good, not from eating well or sleeping a lot. We all remember how as children, when we were having fun, we often forgot to eat or sleep. I believe that we can keep that attitude as adults, too. It's best not to tire the body with too many rules such as lunchtime and bedtime.
All people who live long regardless of nationality, race or gender share one thing in common: None are overweight...

For breakfast I drink coffee, a glass of milk and some orange juice with a tablespoon of olive oil in it. Olive oil is great for the arteries and keeps my skin healthy. Lunch is milk and a few cookies, or nothing when I am too busy to eat. I never get hungry because I focus on my work. Dinner is veggies, a bit of fish and rice, and, twice a week, 100 grams of lean meat.
Always plan ahead. My schedule book is already full until 2014, with lectures and my usual hospital work. In 2016 I'll have some fun, though: I plan to attend the Tokyo Olympics!

There is no need to ever retire, but if one must, it should be a lot later than 65. The current retirement age was set at 65 half a century ago, when the average life-expectancy in Japan was 68 years and only 125 Japanese were over 100 years old. Today, Japanese women live to be around 86 and men 80, and we have 36,000 centenarians in our country. In 20 years we will have about 50,000 people over the age of 100...

Share what you know. I give 150 lectures a year, some for 100 elementary-school children, others for 4,500 business people. I usually speak for 60 to 90 minutes, standing, to stay strong.

When a doctor recommends you take a test or have some surgery, ask whether the doctor would suggest that his or her spouse or children go through such a procedure. Contrary to popular belief, doctors can't cure everyone. So why cause unnecessary pain with surgery I think music and animal therapy can help more than most doctors imagine.

To stay healthy, always take the stairs and carry your own stuff. I take two stairs at a time, to get my muscles moving.

My inspiration is Robert Browning's poem "Abt Vogler." My father used to read it to me. It encourages us to make big art, not small scribbles. It says to try to draw a circle so huge that there is no way we can finish it while we are alive. All we see is an arch; the rest is beyond our vision but it is there in the distance.

Pain is mysterious, and having fun is the best way to forget it. If a child has a toothache, and you start playing a game together, he or she immediately forgets the pain. Hospitals must cater to the basic need of patients: We all want to have fun. At St. Luke's we have music and animal therapies, and art classes.

Don't be crazy about amassing material things. Remember: You don't know when your number is up, and you can't take it with you to the next place.

Hospitals must be designed and prepared for major disasters, and they must accept every patient who appears at their doors. We designed St. Luke's so we can operate anywhere: in the basement, in the corridors, in the chapel. Most people thought I was crazy to prepare for a catastrophe, but on March 20, 1995, I was unfortunately proven right when members of the Aum Shinrikyu religious cult launched a terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway. We accepted 740 victims and in two hours figured out that it was sarin gas that had hit them. Sadly we lost one person, but we saved 739 lives.

Science alone can't cure or help people. Science lumps us all together, but illness is individual. Each person is unique, and diseases are connected to their hearts. To know the illness and help people, we need liberal and visual arts, not just medical ones.

Life is filled with incidents. On March 31, 1970, when I was 59 years old, I boarded the Yodogo, a flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and as Mount Fuji came into sight, the plane was hijacked by the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. I spent the next four days handcuffed to my seat in 40-degree heat. As a doctor, I looked at it all as an experiment and was amazed at how the body slowed down in a crisis.
Find a role model and aim to achieve even more than they could ever do. My father went to the United States in 1900 to study at DukeUniversity in North Carolina. He was a pioneer and one of my heroes. Later I found a few more life guides, and when I am stuck, I ask myself how they would deal with the problem..

It's wonderful to live long. Until one is 60 years old, it is easy to work for one's family and to achieve one's goals. But in our later years, we should strive to contribute to society. Since the age of 65, I have worked as a volunteer. I still put in 18 hours seven days a week and love every minute of it.

Have Faith In Yourself

HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF

Firstly, I like to thank you for visiting my blog. My visitors have hit a record high last week, ie I have a total of 52 visitors last week. This make me wanting to write more frequently and share more.

Many years ago when I was still a boy, I still can remember a friend of mine once asked me : when then you can say it is faith ? The answer from him is after it has happened.

In these tough economic times, we need to rethink, re-evaluate and retune our financial blueprint to stay on course to maintain our worldly responsibilities. Practicing the principles of abundance and prosperity bridges both the inner and outer worlds while handling our day-to-day lives from a place of fullness and gratitude.

In times of fear, we tend to forget that the inner creates the outer. It is so normal in our society to look outside ourselves for so many things. And when we hear fearful things going on in the world around us it is easy to get caught up in it. It is so easy to give in to the fear that so many are holding.

In life, there are always undesirable things. Perhaps a person who feels things are not going as well as they could will feel better if they change their point of view and see things from another perspective.

Perhaps this message will bring fresh new ways of thinking to everyone. Perhaps everyone can appreciate and be thankful for each beautiful day that follows.

Life is the continual demonstration of the power of thinking positive and having faith. Believe in yourself. Never lose faith.

Nature Of Your Destiny

The Nature of Your Destiny

It is seldom noticed that we have two destinies in life, and while both are inextricably linked, one is fixed and the other is flexible. One is temporary and the other is always permanent. One is based in the world ‘out there’ while the other is already set in ‘your’ world in the ‘in here’.

For most people destiny is a mysterious and often mystical notion that is pregnant with possibility. While many consult astrologers and clairvoyants, others gaze into crystal balls or turn a deck of cards with the most bizarre images, all seeking a glimpse of what the future may bring. Some will speculate on the configuration of the lines on the palms of their hands, while others will read their future fortune from leaves at the bottom of their tea cup. But this fascination with fate only strengthens the illusion that our destiny is in the hands of others and is shaped by random events and unseen forces. This is the first of three errors that we make around the notion of personal destiny.

The second error is to think that our destiny is only an ‘outer condition’ defined by location, wealth and relationships. It isn’t, and that’s because our primary reality, as we have been exploring these last few weeks, is the universe within, our consciousness. And in this reality our destiny is fixed and cannot be altered in any way. But it won’t show up in your tea leaves!
The third error is to project destiny into some future moment of arrival at ‘the destination’. In truth there is no arrival simply because we/you/I i.e. the self, never actually goes anywhere in the real world of our consciousness. We may take our vehicle i.e. our body, for journeys around the three dimensions of the world out there, but you/I/we will remain absolutely stationary at the wheel, otherwise known as the ‘throne of consciousness’. No harm in enjoying the passing scenery, referred to as life on planet earth, but believing we are a part of the scenery is a grave error that may take our vehicle to an early grave … so to speak!

It is these three errors of understanding that serve to induce the feeling that we are victims of circumstances, enslaved today to what we desire to acquire tomorrow, and trapped in an idealistic notion of what our destiny ‘could’ be like. All compounded by the feeling we have no control on how our life will unfold. It all results in ‘absence’, as we become busy in our imagination, speculating about some distant future, so that we are seldom fully present in the moment now.

Curiosity and hope lie at the heart of the question, “I wonder what my destiny is/will be”? But they only signify that misery is present at worst, or quiet desperation at best. Or a sense that our life is not making sense… somewhere in the middle.
So let’s do destiny!

One Self Two Destinies As you look out at the immediate world around you right now you will see your ‘destiny of today’ in the world. Where you are, who is in your life, what you are doing and even your personality, are all aspects of your ‘destiny of today’. In essence your decisions yesterday determine your destiny of today. The ‘creative process’ reminds us that there is no such thing as random fate but that your destiny in the world is your creation and therefore in your hands. Thoughts trigger feelings and sometimes the other way round, but both will shape and be shaped by your decisions. Thoughts feelings and decisions will define your attitude and altogether they shape your action as behavior. And behavior is an ‘expression’ which will shape relationships and therefore circumstances. We are all 100% responsible for this process by which we create our responses. And the outcomes in our life are dependent on our responses to events. It’s not winning the lottery that defines your destiny, it’s what you do with the money, and how you deal with the attention it attracts, that will shape your future.

All of which raises the question, “What is informing our decision making?” Is it the beliefs we have learned or the wisdom that we have cultivated? For most people it’s their learned beliefs and consequent experiences which automatically inform their decision making. It’s now easy to see how a ‘learned belief’ that if we spend money that we have not yet earned it is likely to result in a destiny that for some borders on destitution. It’s now easy to see that a collectively inherited belief that nature will supply unlimited energy is likely to result in a slightly damp environment for millions of people in the future. It’s easy to see the connections between belief and destiny when we blindly believe that our inner happiness can only be stimulated by some external sources. As a result each new generation becomes more agitated and addicted than the last. Just a few of the illusions we allow to inform our decisions and therefore shape our destiny. We all carry hundreds of such beliefs but tend to remain asleep to their influence on our decisions and directions.

This is why if we are to restore our destiny in the world to our own enlightened hands it is rather important we break our blind acceptance of what we are taught and question absolutely everything. Not in a frenzy of frustrated doubting, or even just the desire to ensure our own desires are fulfilled, but out of recognition that only the truth can generate the wisdom to shape the decisions and actions that will create a destiny that brings benefit to all. Because one thing is for sure in the world ‘out there’, our individual destiny cannot be separated from the collective. Seriously asking and enquiring into what is meant exactly by ‘brings benefit to all’ is as good a place as any to begin an earnest conversation.

Answers to such questions do not come easily to intellects that have grown accustomed to receiving and accepting the beliefs of others. Our intellects have atrophied, having done little such inner work, and now tend to be a little lazy and somewhat fuzzy. Until the value is seen of a clear and discerning intellect, able to generate and use wisdom to inform our decision making, we will always feel that our future fortune is at the mercy of others. Even though we may ‘appear’ to be making our own decisions there is the subtle and gnawing underlying feeling that they are being hijacked by a programmed set of inherited beliefs, some of which we intuitively sense cannot be true. Awakening, strengthening and refining our intellect in order to see this clearly for our self is the domain of meditation, contemplation and reflection. These three ‘inner exercises’ are in themselves wisdom in action, but only once their value is realised.
If you do spend such quality time on cultivating your wisdom from inside out you will begin to rediscover a universe where your destiny is fixed and immutable. This is the territory of your nature. The plant and animal kingdoms of the natural world around us have no concerns about their destiny. They largely live by their nature from day to day and moment to moment. We do the same when we are reconnected with our true nature as human beings. When we know our self as beings of peace, at peace with ourselves and the world, when we know ourselves as sources of love, with the intention to connect harmoniously with others, when we know our self as a joyful being, allowing that joy unobstructed passage from our heart to the world, we are being our natural self, we are residing in our true nature. That’s when all thoughts of what our future may hold become irrelevant. It is this truth of our nature, the fixed, immutable and unstealable attributes of our natural inner state, which then supply the wisdom to create the quality of decisions that meet events in the world in the right way, at the right time. Only then can we watch our own wisdom overpower our inherited beliefs. Only then can we see how our awareness of our true nature will affect and reflect in the outer circumstances of our life.
Living naturally, living according to our nature begins when we use the power of our peace wisely, staying calm and stable when all around us panic and worry. Only then can we use the power of our love wisely, being of service to others when most others are focused only on personal survival. Only then can we use the infectious power of our joy wisely, lifting the spirits of others in their sadness and sorrow. Such is the power of our true nature, which we can never lose, because we cannot lose our self. There is only a temporary loss of self awareness.
Restoring our awareness of our true nature requires three realisations. First, that our nature cannot be found ‘in’ the world or acquired ‘from’ the world. Love, peace and joy lie not in our material surroundings. They lie only at the core of our being. Only then can our meditations and contemplations induce the second realisation that such attributes of the self are not one dimensional states, but multidimensional and multifaceted, with many applications. And then there will come a moment when we realise that it is how we apply our natural inner resources to the creation of our responses ‘to’ the world that will shape our destiny ‘in’ the world. Notice how the kind, the compassionate and the selfless easily attract to themselves rewards that are not sought. Notice your own level of contentment when you use your own nature in such wise ways.
When we know our nature as stillness in a moving world, as silence in a noisy world, as love in a fear filled world, then our nature is able to bring light into an endarkened world. When we know our true nature, the mystery of our destiny disappears, speculation ends and hope becomes a stranger in the presence of a growing wisdom. When we know the true nature of our self we will know the exact nature of our destiny. This is why nature is destiny.
All that remains is to remove what is unreal between you and your nature.

Question: What does it mean exactly ‘to know your nature is to know your destiny’ (make some notes).

Reflection: ‘Your fate is your destiny and there is no such thing as luck’ – discuss with your self!

Action: Look for signs this week for the connections between your decisions yesterday and your destiny of today and between your decisions today and your destiny of tomorrow.

© Mike George 2009