BE CHILDLIKE   As we grow up, let us try not to lose the inherent intelligence bestowed on us by nature.

Austrian neurologist and psychologist, Sigmund Freud is best remembered as the father of psychoanalysis. Although, several theories he propounded are considered controversial by many, his impact on psychotherapy cannot be over emphasised.

What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult. - Sigmund Freud

In the above quote, Freud says that children are far more intelligent than adults. He says they are radiant because they are fearless. Their minds are gallant because they allow their imagination to run riot. They are vivid and boundary-less in their mental pursuits because they have not yet learnt about the "limitations", which are a construct of the adult mind. This is evident from his use of the word "feeble" when describing the intelligence of an average adult.

Freud is obviously quite unimpressed by the mind of the average adult, which is mostly fraught with constraints - real or imaginary.

Most adults do not allow their minds to expand to new horizons because venturing into unfamiliar territory is a scary proposition.

Weakness, then, is the hallmark of the average adult mind, according to Freud. Contrast this with a child, whose mind is not yet aware of the meaning of "limitation" and therefore simply explores all possibilities. It does not matter to the child whether it is in the realm of possibilities; he or she simply embarks upon new, exciting mental journeys.

Freud's use of the word "average" for adults also implies that he believes that there are some adults who are not average. These have retained their childlike courage and therefore manage to also retain their radiant intelligence.

Freud's belief that children are more intellectually radiant is reflected in that all-time favourite quip from Albert Einstein who strongly believed that "imagination is more powerful than knowledge".

Freud seems to be telling us to be as daring as a child in our intellectual pursuits - and this will lead us to discover a sparkle that's been missing in our lives.

(By: Manoj Khatri)

DON'T BE A DUCK. BE AN EAGLE

Harvey Mackay tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine.

Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed my friend a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally's Mission Statement. To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf."

My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink."

Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'

Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called ‘You'll See It When You Believe It’. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.''That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.

'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on m y cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

How about us?

Smile and the whole world smiles with you.....The ball is in our hands!

A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up...let us do good to all people.

(By: B Ray Chaudhary)

SOME NON-SECRETS TO HAPPINESS

The only way to happiness is to look within you. Remember that happiness is not constant. Some people think that if they're not feeling happy, something is wrong. The real truth is that happiness is usually found somewhere off the beaten path - between the fantasy overpass and the reality off-ramp.

Here are a few tools that may help you find your way (think of them as a Happiness GPS [global positioning system]):

1. Be Easily Amused. People who laugh and smile are happier - and usually live longer - than people who lack a sense of humour.

2. Don't Dwell On The Negative. If there's something wrong, accept it and move through it. Ruminating about how bad life is won't help, and can lead to depression. If you can't stop the thoughts, consult a professional.

3. Trust That Your Life Has Meaning. If it doesn't, or you can't find any at the moment, act as if you have it, until you stumble on what really floats your boat.

4. Do Something Nice For Yourself. It doesn't have to cost money or be a big deal. Sometimes just watching the sunset and letting the world go by can be very healing for the soul.

5. Always Have Something With You To Read. This way, you'll never be bored or waste time. When you read, you are both relaxing and learning.

6. Do Something For Someone, Without Expecting Anything In Return. Help an old lady get her shopping bags into the car. Help someone stuck for parking space. These may seem like insignificant little things, but think how you would feel if someone were similarly helpful to you or someone you love.

7. Depravation Is Depressing. Even if it means you have to spend an extra 20 minutes on the treadmill, eat that chocolate cake, if it can be the reason for your bliss.

8. Get Outside And Appreciate Your Environment. Sunlight and fresh air are now being touted as ways to prevent certain types of cancer. The healthiest thing you can do for yourself, emotionally and physically, is to simply take a walk.

9. Giving Love And Understanding Is The First Step In Receiving It. This is one of the oldest and wisest pieces of truth on earth. Giving away what you want, is a great way to get what you really need.

10. Always Have A Goal. Happiness comes from moving towards what you want, not from going away from it. Any time you achieve a dream, you need to replace it. Make sure you always have something to look forward to.

(By: Barton Goldsmith)

Value of Knowledge

In both the great EPICS of India, Ramayan and Mahabharata, war ends not with celebration of victory but with transmission of knowledge.

In the Ramayan, Ravan lies mortally wounded on the battlefield and the monkeys are celebrating their victory, when Ram turns to his brother, Lakshman, and says, "While Ravan was a brute, he was also a great scholar. Go to him quickly and request him to share whatever knowledge he can."

The obedient Lakshman rushes to Ravan's side and whispers in his ears, "Demon-king, all your life you have taken not given. Now the noble Ram gives you an opportunity to mend your ways. Share your vast wisdom. Do not let it die with you. For that you will be surely be blessed".

Ravan responds by simply turning away. An angry Lakshman goes back to Ram and says: "He is as arrogant as he always was, too proud to share anything." Ram looks at his brother and asks him softly, "Where did you stand while asking him for knowledge?" "Next to his head so that I hear what he had to say clearly." Ram smiles, places his bow on the ground and walks to where Ravan lies. Lakshman watches in astonishment as his brother kneels at Ravan's feet.

With palms joined, with extreme humility, Ram says, "Lord of Lanka, you abducted my wife, a terrible crime for which I have been forced to punish you. Now, you are no more my enemy. I see you now as you are known across the world, as the wise son of Rishi Vishrava. I bow to you and request you to share your wisdom with me. Please do that for if you die without doing so, all your wisdom will be lost forever to the world".

To Lakshman's surprise, Ravan opens his eyes and raises his arms to salute Ram, "If only I had more time as your teacher than as your enemy. Standing at my feet as a student should, unlike your rude younger brother, you are a worthy recipient of my knowledge. I have very little time so I cannot share much but let me tell you one important lesson I have learnt in my life. Things that are bad for you seduce you easily; you run towards them impatiently. But things are actually good for you fail to attract you; you shun them creatively, finding powerful excuses to justify your procrastination. That is why I was impatient to abduct Sita but avoided meeting you. This is the wisdom of my life, Ram, My last words. I give it to you." With these words, Ravan dies.

There's similar knowledge transmission after the Mahabharata war is over and the Kauravas are all dead. As the victorious Pandavas are about to assume control of Hastinapur, Krishna advises them to talk to Bhisma, their grand uncle, who lies mortally, wounded on the battlefield. As a result of a blessing, death would elude him for some time. "Make him talk until his last breath. Ask him questions. He has a lot to tell," says Krishna.

Sure enough, when prompted, the dying Bhisma spends hours discussing various topics: history, geography, politics, economics, management, war, ethics, morality, sex, astronomy, metaphysics and spirituality.

Bhisma's discourse is captured in the Shanti Parva (discussions of peace) and Anushasan Parva (discussions on discipline) that makes up a quarter of the Mahabharata. After listening to their grandsire, the Pandavas have a better understanding of the world, and this makes them better kings.

Both these stories draw attention to the value of knowledge. In triumph, it is easy to claim material possessions of the defeated, but it is not easy to claim their knowledge.

STAND OUT, MAKE A MARK

Some people are content just to be another face in the crowd. By assuming this attitude, they are saying, in effect, to the rest of the world, I’m just average; there’s nothing special about me. For those of us who would rather stand out from the crowd, there are some relatively easy ways but they do require a little bit of commitment on our part.

Follow the following tips to stand out from the crowd:

1. Take time to do the little things right.

The old saying goes that if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Well, that’s not necessarily true, as there are some easy things most people don’t do because they just don’t think those things are worthwhile. The next time you go to the grocery store, notice how many people actually take time to carry the carts back to the cart-return. You will probably notice that only a very few of them do. Others are saying to the world, I don’t have time to do things right or everyone else is doing it that way and I am no different.

The other example has to do with making proper turns while driving, including using your turn signal. Remember how you were taught in driving school? You are supposed to make sharp rights and wide lefts. These are just a couple of examples, but taking the time to do the little things right will make you stand out for the right reasons.

2. Find alternatives to profanity (bad language).

A person who relies on profanity in his speech comes off as ‘boorish’. There are plenty of ways to tell someone exactly what you think about them without being profane. Even a person who is not all that intelligent seems a lot smarter when he avoids the use of profanity. At a minimum, that person seems more high-class than people who just can’t stop themselves from using profanity.

3. Remember things that most other people commonly forget.

For example, 90% of US citizens can’t name the losing candidate in the last election. People are just so caught up in their own little worlds that they don’t bother to retain certain things that don’t directly affect them. You don’t need a photographic memory to memorise stuff. All you have to do is practise. Write things down. Repeat them to yourself. If you can commonly remember things that others have long forgotten, you’ll really stand out.

4. Live below your means.

This is probably the toughest item on my list to follow as our culture dictates that we mortgage ourselves to the hilt. We are taught to buy everything the banks and our credit cards will allow us to buy, whether we can afford it or not. However, we should strive to leave as big a gap as possible between our income and our bills. I know there are people out there who have large families and/or limited incomes and are struggling to make ends meet. I grew up in a very poor family. We lived in housing projects from the time I was six until the time I was 18. However, we were always able to pay our bills on time because my parents didn’t buy things they couldn’t afford. When I began my career, I didn’t make much, but I still always had some money to spare after paying my bills. If I couldn’t afford something, I didn’t buy it. There were even some things that I was able to afford but still didn’t buy because I wanted to have some money left for unexpected expenses. There is a lot of freedom that comes with living below one’s means. When everyone around you is struggling to make ends meet and you’re not, you really stand out.

5. Make decisions based on logic and reason instead of emotion and/or dogma.

Too many people react emotionally to situations, rather than thinking them out rationally. For example, many people will get upset if someone calls them a name or flashes a particular gesture at them, even though there’s no logical reason to get so agitated by such behaviour. It doesn’t make you a Stupid just because someone calls you one. However, many people react as if it does. Other people get caught in the dogma (belief) trap. They make up their minds first and then look at the facts and evidence later. Even when they do get around to the facts, they will seek only those which seem to support their views while disregarding or explaining away those which seem to support a contrary view. You’ve met people who are staunch supporters of one particular political party or the other, for example. To them, their party is always right and the other is always wrong, even though common sense tells us that one particular side of any issue is never right all the time. Reasonable people realise that the truth usually lies somewhere between the two extremes. Many times, I’ve come across rah-rah partisan sites in the web, which disregard the dictates of common sense in favour of the fact that their extreme side has cornered the market on all truth. By using logic and reason to make your decisions in an open-minded fashion, you give yourself a major advantage over much of the population.   (By: Terry Mitchell)

 MANAGE YOUR ENDLESS ENERGY SMARTLY

How you can tap into a massive source of vital energy inside your own body -- and how you can put this great force to work in your life by employing a simple, but powerful universal principle. Although this principle is rarely talked about in popular spiritual and self-help circles, it is widely used by some of the smartest people in the world: • Toyota uses it to power its hybrid cars • Entrepreneurs use it to create great wealth • NASA uses it to run the space shuttle • Architects use it when they design skyscrapers • Olympic athletes use it to win gold medals And although this principle is very powerful, it is also very easy to understand and use. You don't have to be an Olympic athlete or NASA scientist to put it to work in your life to immediately become more productive and have more fun. Here's how it works: The human body produces an amazing amount of energy. In fact, every one of your cells is a tiny power plant working around the clock, feeding energy to the entire system. Our body uses this energy to heat our blood, digest our food, pump our heart, power our brain, and much more. Engineers and scientists know that the easiest way to put more energy into a system is not to make more energy, but instead to waste less. This can be as simple as adding better insulation to a wall or as complex as recapturing the heat energy from the disk brakes in a car. We can apply this very same principle to our own lives. A huge amount of the energy our body generates currently gets wasted because we're not conscious of how it gets used. But, once we learn how to consciously conserve and direct our vital life force, a whole new world opens up to us. It's something like realizing you've been running your car engine 24 hours a day -- even though you're not using the car to go anywhere. Suddenly you see it's unnecessary, useless. And what happens the moment you stop wasting all that energy? It's like instant access to thousands of extra dollars that were going down the drain; you reduce wear and tear on your car, and help the environment to boot! So where is all of this extra energy being wasted in our lives? Where are we "leaving the motor running" so that we're always running out of "gas"? Everyone knows the answer to this question: STRESS! Stress drains our vital life forces, ruins our immune systems, keeps us on edge so that all our relationships are compromised, leaves us exhausted -- and worst of all, it destroys the possibility of our coming to know what we all want more than anything else in life: a mind at peace with itself, and a quietly contented heart. Think of how rich, vital, and creative your life would be if stress wasn't allowed to sneak in and steal away your energy every waking moment: • Your day would go smoothly, unblemished by minor irritations or major blowups • You would never get depressed over, critical of, or threatened by anything that happens • You couldn't mistake negative thoughts and feelings as "friends" in your time of need • Your relationships would reflect loving compassion instead of judgment and self-concern • You would be able to notice and enjoy the beauty around you

KNOW WHO YOU ARE? Hiding behind a sea of emotions will keep you from growing into the person you were meant to be. Our whole purpose on this earth is to love others with complete and true love. But before we can do that, we must love ourselves. So, how is your relationship with yourself ? It’s a good idea to ponder into the deep side of you and meditate upon the mysteries of who you are, or better yet, of whom you can become. Before we can have significant and lasting relationships with others, we need to understand the person we are now and the person we can become. Break free from your inhibitions and ask yourself, “Who am I?” “What is my purpose in life?” Answer with complete truth and honesty. Then live your life off that foundation. Base your life upon who you are. Break free from your doubts and fears and be happy loving who you are. Once you love who you are, you will be totally free to love others. If our purpose on this earth is to love others, we certainly cannot truly achieve that if we are hiding inside our insecurities and not really loving ourselves. Hiding behind a sea of emotions or a certain weakness will keep us from growing into the person we were meant to be. Being afraid to love others because of being hurt in the past also keeps us from trusting others enough to love. The first step in growing out from self is to understand what your purpose, goals, ideas, and dreams in life are. Believe it or not, some folks aren’t sure what their purpose and goals in life are and live in a depressed state of aimless wondering and disillusionment. But it doesn’t have to be like that! The focus here is to grow out from self by knowing first, who we are, and then working towards the substance of who we are. Who are you? What are you? Where are you going? Why are you going? Find it, seek it, acknowledge it, know it, and go after it with gusto! It’s like a caterpillar that eventually metamorphosises into a beautiful butterfly. All of God’s creations have the ability to turn into beautiful butterflies. But not all of God’s creations will become beautiful butterflies. Why is that? A caterpillar doesn’t allow itself to be free from self. Whether it is through weakness or fear, a caterpillar must break free from what is holding it back by realising it can become a butterfly. A butterfly is free from the restraints of self. A butterfly has grown out from self and now seeks to love others with all the love it has while a caterpillar is still seeking to be loved by others. Unfortunately, many caterpillars do not know they have the ability to become butterflies and so remain in their cocoon until they die. Come out of your cocoon and become the butterfly you were always meant to become. Learn to know who you are by having a truly honest relationship with yourself. Grow out of any negativity that may be wedged within your mental and spiritual capacities. Low self-worth, fear, mistrust, insecurities, sin, and unbelief will keep you from discovering the natural and true person you really are. But when you have enough belief in God then you know He will keep you safe from those feelings that plague you or that would keep you from growing into the butterfly you were meant to be. Fearful and insecure persons hide behind negative emotions and are enveloped within a particular weakness in their life. Unbelief is a weakness. Unbelief in the Creator is the biggest and most damaging weakness a person can carry upon their shoulders. For 15 years I lived in my weakness of unbelief, which prompted me to drink, which fueled my addiction to alcohol. After becoming sober, I wallowed in negative emotions for three more years. During those years, I didn’t know how to have a relationship with myself because my relationship was with the bottle. I was rebellious to my marriage and God. My low self-esteem kept me living in a cocoon bound by a web of deceit that kept me from growing into the beautiful butterfly I was meant to become. I was afraid to grow out from self and get to know God. Please learn from my mistakes. Get to know who you are, because that is what God wants for you. Come out of hiding, all you caterpillars, and become free butterflies! (By: Angie Watkins)