Love Your Mother

The Childhood Days
　　When you came into the world, she held you in her arms. You thanked
her by wailing1) like a banshee2).
　　When you were 1 year old, she fed you and bathed you. You thanked
her by crying all night long.
　　When you were 2 years old, she taught you to walk. You thanked her
by running away when she called.
　　When you were 3 years old, she made all your meals with love. You
thanked her by tossing your plate on the floor.
　　When you were 4 years old, she gave you some crayons3). You thanked
her by coloring the dining room table.
　　When you were 5 years old, she dressed you for the holidays. You
thanked her by plopping4) into the nearest pile of mud.
　　When you were 6 years old, she walked you to school. You thanked her
by screaming, "I'M NOT GOING!"
　　When you were 7 years old, she bought you a baseball. You thanked
her by throwing it through the next-door-neighbor's window.
　　When you were 8 years old, she handed you an ice cream. You thanked
her by dripping it all over your lap.
　　When you were 9 years old, she paid for piano lessons. You thanked
her by never even bothering to practice.
　　When you were 10 years old, she drove you all day, from soccer to
gymnastics to one birthday party after another. You thanked her by
jumping out of the car and never looking back.
　　When you were 11 years old, she took you and your friends to the
movies. You thanked her by asking to sit in a different row.
　　When you were 12 years old, she warned you not to watch certain TV
shows. You thanked her by waiting until she left the house.
Those Teenage Years
　　When you were 13, she suggested a haircut that was becoming5). You
thanked her by telling her she had no taste.
　　When you were 14, she paid for a month away at summer camp. You
thanked her by forgetting to write a single letter.
　　When you were 15, she came home from work, looking for a hug. You
thanked her by having your bedroom door locked.
　　When you were 16, she taught you how to drive her car. You thanked
her by taking it every chance you could.
　　When you were 17, she was expecting an important call. You thanked
her by being on the phone all night.
　　When you were 18, she cried at your high school graduation. You
thanked her by staying out partying until dawn.
Growing Old and Gray
　　When you were 19, she paid for your college tuition, drove you to
campus, carried your bags. You thanked her by saying good-bye outside
the dorm so you wouldn't be embarrassed in front of your friends.
　　When you were 20, she asked whether you were seeing anyone. You
thanked her by saying, "It's none of your business."
　　When you were 21, she suggested certain careers for your future. You
thanked her by saying, "I don't want to be like you."
　　When you were 22, she hugged you at your college graduation. You
thanked her by asking whether she could pay for a trip to Europe.
　　When you were 23, she gave you furniture for your first apartment.
You thanked her by telling your friends it was ugly.
　　When you were 24, she met your fiancéand asked about your plans for
the future. You thanked her by glaring and growling, "Muuhh-ther,
please!"
　　When you were 25, she helped to pay for your wedding, and she cried
and told you how deeply she loved you. You thanked her by moving
halfway across the country.
　　When you were 30, she called with some advice on the baby. You
thanked her by telling her, "Things are different now."
　　When you were 40, she called to remind you of an relative's
birthday. You thanked her by saying you were "really busy right now".
　　When you were 50, she fell ill and needed you to take care of her.
You thanked her by talking about the burden parents become to their
children.
　　And then, one day, she quietly died. And everything you never did
came crashing down like thunder. "Rock me baby, rock me all night
long." "The hand who rocks the cradle... may rock the world".
　　Let us take a moment of the time just to pay tribute and show
appreciation to the person called MOM though some may not say it
openly to their mother. There's no substitute for her. Cherish every
single moment. Though at times she may not be the best of friends, may
not agree to our thoughts, she is still your mother!
　　Your mother will be there for you; to listen to your woes6), your
brags7), your frustrations, etc. Ask yourself "Have you put aside
enough time for her, to listen to her 'blues' of working in the
kitchen, her tiredness?"
　　Be tactful, loving and still show her due8) respect, though you may
have a different view from hers. Once gone, only fond memories of the
past and also regrets will be left.
　　Do not take for granted the things closest to your heart. Love her
more than you love yourself. Life is meaningless without her.

I am special

In the entire world there's nobody like me. Since the beginning of
time, there has never been another person like me. Nobody has my
smile. Nobody has my eyes, my nose, my hair, my hands, or my voice.
　　I'm special.

No one can be found who has my handwriting. Nobody anywhere has my
tastes ― for food or music or art. No one sees things just as I do. In
all of time there's been no one who laughs like me, no one who cries
like me. And what makes me laugh and cry will never provoke identical
laughters and tears from anybody else, ever. No one reacts to any
situation just as I would react.
　　I'm special.

I' m the only one in all of creation who has my set of abilities. Oh,
there will always be somebody who is better at one of the things I'm
good at, but no one in the universe can reach the quality of my
combination of talents, ideas, abilities and feelings. Like a room
full of musical instruments, some may excel alone, but none can match
the symphony sound when all are played together. I'm a symphony.
　　Through all of eternity no one will ever look, talk, walk, think or
do like me.
　　I'm special.
I'm rare.

And, in all rarity there is great value. Because of my great rare
value, I need not attempt to imitate others. I will accept ― yes,
indeed, celebrate ― my differences. I'm special.
　　And I'm beginning to realize it's no accident that I'm special. I'm
beginning to see that I have been made for a very special purpose.
There is a job for me that no one else can do as well as I. Out of all
the billions of job applicants, only one is qualified, only one has
the right combination of what it takes. That one is me. Because...I'm
special.

FROM neworiental English

Habits and Goals

"First we make our habits, then our habits make us."- Charles C. Noble

It's such a simple concept, yet it's something we don't always do.
It's not exceedingly difficult to do, and yet I think it's something
that would make a world of difference in anyone's life.

Break your goals into habits, and focus on putting those habits into autopilot.

Last week when I wrote my Ultimate Guide to motivation, there were a
number of questions about my belief that having One Goal to focus on
is much more powerful than having many goals.

There were questions about my personal goals (such as running a
marathon, eliminating debt, and so on) and how I was able to achieve
them while working on different projects, and so forth. How can you
have one goal that takes a long time, and still work on smaller
projects at the same time?

These are excellent questions, and my answer takes a little
explaining: I try to turn my goals into habits, and in doing so, I put
my goals on autopilot. Turning a goal into a habit means really
focusing on it, intensely, for at least a month, to the exclusion of
all else. The more you can focus on it, the more it'll be on
autopilot.

But once you put it on autopilot, once a habit is firmly established,
you don't really have to focus on it much. You'll still do it, but
because it's a habit, you only have to use minimal focus to maintain
that habit. The goal becomes on autopilot, and you can focus on your
next goal or project or habit.

My Marathon Example

Let's look at my marathon goal as an example. I was just starting out
in running, and I had the brilliant idea to run a marathon within a
year. (Btw, that's not the brightest idea — you should run for a
couple years before attempting marathon training, or it'll be much,
much more difficult for you.) So that was my goal, and it was my main
focus for awhile.

But in order to achieve that goal, I broke it down into two habits:

1. I had to make running a daily habit (while following a training
plan I found online).

2. I had to report to people in order to have accountability — I did
this through family, friends and coworkers, through a blog, and
through a column in my local newspaper every two weeks. With this
accountability, there's no way I would stop running.

The daily running habit took about a month to form. I focused on this
exclusively for about a month, and didn't have any other goals,
projects or habits that were my main focuses. I did other work
projects, but they kinda took a backburner to running.

The accountability habit took a couple months, mainly because I didn't
focus on it too much while I was building the running habit. But it
stuck, and for that first year of running, I would report to people I
knew and blog about my running every day (this was in Blogger blog
that has since been deleted), and I would write a column every two
weeks for my local paper.

Once those two habits were firmly entrenched, my marathon goal was
pretty much on autopilot. I could focus on my debt reduction goal (as
an example) without having to worry too much about the marathon. I
still had to do the work, of course, but it didn't require constant
focus.

And eventually, I ran the marathon. I was able to achieve this
because, all year long, I had the daily running habit and daily
accountability habit. I put my marathon goal into autopilot, and that
made it much easier — instead of struggling with it daily for an
entire year, I focused on it for one month (well, actually two) and
was able to accomplish it while focusing on new habits and goals.

The Real Meaning of Peace

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest — in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

"Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace." 

FROM  China Daily

Work with the "Now"

There are some people who are completely happy with themselves, their lives, and their prospects for the future. While they can be considered to be more fortunate than most, most who do not fall into that category are not as bad off as they tend to believe. Instead, they are simply lacking something, or making mistakes, which are standing in the way of their lives being as fulfilling as they would prefer. Some even go as far as to not realize the immense potential they possess. 

What is the main difference between those lucky individuals whose lives seem to be wonderfully on-track and those who, often despite every step of trying on their part, appear to have all of the odds stacked against them? While in some cases it is a matter of some people having better luck than others, those whose lives are content in the moment and proceeding in the direction of their choice, do not live in the past. 

Whether you are thinking about your personality or your life in general, success means focusing on the here-and-now. While it is important to acknowledge the choices and experiences which resulted in you being where you are today, it is equally important to not allow yourself to become so caught up in thoughts of the past that the present day passes you by. 

Self-motivation is the key to ensuring that you do not continue repeating the same mistakes. You may have had one or more errors in judgment which led you to take the wrong path, or to make mistakes that were not in your best interest. You can acknowledge this without rehashing them over and over again in your mind, and simply be determined to make different, better decisions today. 

Then is over; this is now. The less time and effort you put into looking at the past, the more you will have for living and experiencing this day. You will also find that letting go of the past will give you a deeper sense of strength. Instead of allowing past mistakes and worries to drain your energies, you will have a renewed energy to live your life to the fullest and enjoy it more. 

Being content with yourself and optimistic about your future is not difficult. Whatever is in the past is over; learn from it and move on. When you are self-motivated enough to do this, you will see that moving ahead is the best definition of living life. 

With that said, what can you do now? Sure it is easy for me to tell you to forget the past, yet it is a whole different practice to actually do it. Life is a complex set of events much of which of course is real, yet a large amount is just your view of what really happened. 

Let me explain with an example. I know not everyone is a football fan but I am guessing most have watched at least part of a game on TV. Most plays and almost all the important plays are played over and over on the TV screen right after the play happened. 

How many times have you watched a play and were certain and I mean certain of the outcome, say the player caught a pass, then watching the instant replay you realize you were totally wrong, the player dropped the pass. What you were certain you saw, never happened. 

The first step in trying to minimize the effects of your past in order to concentrate on your future is to find out how much of the past that you are certain happened were just mistakes on your part. 

A quick example might be as a teenager you tried to build a piece of furniture out of scrape wood in your father’s workshop. The piece of furniture looked good when you finished but fell apart before you could show your father and you assumed your were a lousy carpenter and the rest of your life you have avoided building anything. Yet the reality was the scrap wood you used was faulty and not your building ability. 

Yet the rest of your life you have believed mistakenly you are a poor builder of things.