Inspiration - things to think about

Now that I'm switching back to Blogger, I thought I'd migrate a page from the old site that I thought was interesting...

Good Karma

This is what The Dalai Lama has to say for 2006. All it takes is a few seconds to read and think over. Do not keep this message. The mantra must leave your hands within 96 hours. You will get a very pleasant surprise. This is true for all, even if you are not superstitious, or of whatever religious belief/ Faith.

Instructions For Life

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s:
   • Respect for self,
   • Respect for others and
   • Responsibility for all your actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

By Robert Fulghum

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be, I learned in kindergarten.

Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things that I learned:

• Share everything
• Play fair
• Don’t hit people
• Put things back where you found them
• Clean up your mess
• Don’t take things that aren’t yours
• Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody
• Wash your hands before you eat
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you
• Live a balanced life; learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon
• When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together
• Be aware of wonder
• Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup ? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
• And then remember the Dick and Jane books and the first word you learned the biggest word of all: LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.

• The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation
• Ecology and politics and equality and sane living

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.

Think what a better world it would be if we all – the whole world – had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all the governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are… when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together

More Fulghum Recommendation:

(somewhere between Murphy’s Law and The Ten Commandments)

• Buy lemonade from any kid who is selling.
• Anytime you can vote on anything, vote!
• Attend the 25th reunion of your high school class.
• Choose having time over having money.
• Always take the scenic route.
• Give at least something to any beggar who asks.
• Give money to all street musicians.
• Always be someone’s Valentine.
• When the circus comes to town, be there.

Eleven step guide to being handy round the house

from “Maybe, Maybe not”

1. If you can’t find a screwdriver, use a knife. If you break off the tip, it’s an improved screwdriver.
2. Try to work alone. An audience is rarely any help.
3. Despite what you may have been told by your mother, praying and cursing are both helpful in home repair … but only if you are working alone.
4. Work in the kitchen whenever you can … many fine tools are there, its warm and dry, and you are close to the refrigerator.
5. If it’s electronic, get a new one …. or consult a twelve-year-old.
6. Stay simple minded: Get a new battery; replace the bulb or fuse; see if the tank is empty; try turning it to the “on” switch; or just paint over it.
7. Always take credit for miracles. If you dropped the alarm clock while taking it apart and it suddenly starts working, you have healed it.
8. Regardless of what people say, kicking, pounding, and throwing sometimes DOES help.
9. If something looks level, it is level.
10. If at first you don’t succeed, redefine success.
11. Above all, if what you’ve done is stupid, but it works, then it isn’t stupid.

The Dalai Lama And The New Millenium

This is what The Dalai Lama has to say on the millennium, which begins 01/01/2001. All it takes is a few seconds to read and think about.

Instructions For Life In The New Millennium:

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson. Follow the three R’s: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. Spend some time alone every day. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. Live a good, honorable life. Then, when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality. Be gentle with the earth. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.