Life in Small Bites

A dragon was threatening the survival of humanity, withholding the water that fell to the earth. Indra, a powerful god, killed the dragon with a bolt of lightning and saved the world. After having carried out this glorious deed, he felt very special and summoned Visvakarman, the god of arts and crafts, ordering him to build a palace of unrivaled splendor that would be worthy of himself, the king of the gods. Within a year, the great architect had managed to construct a beautiful big palace, with wonderful gardens, crystal clear lakes, orchards and forests, but Indra always asked for more, however, and every time the work was just about finished, he would come up with some new demands.

Very tired, Visvakarman went to Brahman to complain, who then took the complaint to the highest level and spoke to Vishnu.

The following morning, a blue boy appeared at the doors of the palace asking to speak to Indra. The guards could see that he was special, and took him to the royal presence.

Walking into the courtroom, he addressed Indra. “Great king, I see that your beautiful palace is still not finished. How many years do you think it will take to be completed?”

The great Indra laughed. Drunk on his own glory, he rather fancied the young boy’s pretension in wanting to know something he did not know.

“Even I do not know this,” he answered.

“No Indra that came before you ever managed to finish such a majestic palace.”

“There were Indras that came before me? There were others?”

“Many. An infinity of them, in fact.”

Indra was perplexed. “How many Indras have already existed?”

“The life of an Indra lasts 71 eons, and when 28 Indras have died, one day and one night will have passed for Brahman. The Brahmans die too and are followed by others. As well as this, earth is one amongst many others that exist in our universe, and there are many universes too. It is easier to count all of the grains of sand on all the beaches of the universe that to count the number of Indras that already came before you.”

At this moment, a long procession of ants many yards long came into the room in rows of four, marching like a military parade. The boy started to laugh. Curious, Indra asked, what was so funny.

“Look, great king. Each of these was already an Indra. They became so proud of what they had achieved that, after many incarnations, they came back to earth transformed into ants.”

The great Indra understood the lesson. He called Visvakarman immediately and called off the construction, moving on to dedicate himself diligently to his own spiritual development.

This story is being retold by Roberto Lima Netto, the Brazilian author of The Amazon Shaman and the Happiness Academy blog.

The following are wise ‘action’ thoughts from Peter H. Diamandis, founder of the X-Prize.  Many will be included in our next edition of Small Bites.

1. If anything can go wrong, Fix It!!… to hell with Murphy!

2. When given a choice… take both!!

3. Multiple projects lead to multiple successes.

4. Start at the top then work your way up.

5. Do it by the book … but be the author!

6. When forced to compromise, ask for more.

7. If it’s worth doing, it’s got to be done right now.

8. If you can’t win, change the rules.

9. If you can’t change the rules, then ignore them.

10. Perfection is not optional.

11. When faced without a challenge, make one.

12. “No” simply means begin again at one level higher

13. Don’t walk when you can run.

14. Bureaucracy is a challenge to be conquered with a righteous attitude, a tolerance for stupidity,       and a bulldozer when necessary.

15. When in doubt: THINK!

16. Patience is a virtue, but persistence to the point of success is a blessing.

17. The squeaky wheel gets replaced.

18. The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live.

19. The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!

20. The ratio of something to nothing is infinite.

21. You get what you incentivize.

22. If you think it is impossible, then it is… for you.

23. An expert is someone who can tell you exactly how it can’t be done.

24. The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea.

25. If it were easy it would have been done already.

26. Without a target you’ll miss it every time.

27. Bullshit walks, hardware talks.

28. A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.

29. The world’s most precious resource is the passionate and committed human mind.

30. If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.

Copyright, 1986, 2009, Peter H. Diamandis, All Rights Reserved. Laws # 14 & #18 by Todd B. Hawley. #19 Adopted from Alan Kay. #26 by Byron K. Lichtenberg. #27 by Gregg E. Maryniak. Contact info:peter@xprize.org

I walked a mile with Pleasure

She chatted all the way;

But left me none the wiser

For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow,

And ne’er a word said she;

But, oh!  The Things I learned from her,

When Sorrow walked with me.

– ROBERT BROWNING HAMILTON

by MICHAEL JOSEPHSON on AUGUST 7, 2012

 The older I get the less I know, but I know some things:

I know that I’m a work in process and that there will always be a gap between who I am and who I want to be.

I know that I don’t have to be sick to get better and that every day brings opportunities to improve my life and my character.

I know that it’s easier to talk about integrity than to live it and that the true test is my willingness to do the right thing even when it costs more than I want to pay.

I know that character is more important than competence.

I know that it takes years to build up trust and only seconds to destroy it.

I know that I often judge myself by my best intentions and most noble acts, but that I’ll be judged by my last worst act.

I know that I can’t control what will happen to me but that I have a lot to say about what happens in me.

I know that pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

I know that attitudes, both good and bad, are contagious.

I know that winning is more than coming in first and that there’s no real victory without honor.

I know that it takes a conscientious effort to be kind, but that kindness changes lives.

I know that neither gratitude nor forgiveness comes naturally; both often require acts of will.

I know that real success is being significant.

I know that happiness is deeper and more enduring than either pleasure or fun and that I’m generally as happy as I’m willing to be.

I know that the surest road to happiness is good relationships and that the best way to have good relationships is to be a good person.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH LIGHT 

by Ton Pascal

I received many great suggestions and wonderful quotations for a better living, from dear friends. I am grateful and feel blessed to have friends like this. Whether we are well, but looking for support of our convictions, or if something, or someone brought us down, it is nice to know that we have  guiding, gentle hands by our side.

I decided to publish here these beautiful thoughts for all of you to use as inspirational guidance. Feel free to send these old, wise suggestions, to anyone you care for, and are thinking about right now.

– Don’t ever take away someone’s hope; it may be all they have to hold on to.

– There is nothing good or bad in life, it is all about choices, so choose wisely.

– Don’t be afraid of saying, “I don’t know” or “I am sorry”. – Learn to say “no”, but do so with kindness and caring.

– Don’t make decisions when you are angry. – Live in the moment. Don’t rush ahead. There is much to taste of life in the “now”.

– Don’t expect life to be fair, but don’t be so hard on yourself.

– You’ve come to this life to learn all about who you are. So enjoy the experience.

– Put yourself into positively challenging situations everyday.

– Don’t be worried about losing a battle, if this helps you win the war.

– Much of your growth as a person will come through hardships and challenges. Embrace those and know you will be better, stronger and wiser because of them.

– Create magic moments for your family, friends and yourself.

– Don’t put things off. Do what needs to be done in the moment.

– Treat everyone, as you would like to be treated.

– Don’t get out of control at any time, breathe deeply, rethink what to do and say.

-Take care of your physical body.

– Love your body. It knows what you think, from your emotions spring health or illness.

– Repeat positive affirmations all the time.

– Look into the eyes of people.

– Learn to listen. It is an art.

– Don’t believe all that you hear AND don’t say all that you think.

– Always tell the truth.

– Be thoughtful and careful with what comes out of your mouth since with those words you create your own reality.

– You don’t need other people to love yourself. Loneliness is only a state of mind.

– Nurture and maintain your friendships.

– Choose your partner well, for there is derived a lot of happiness.

– Live more in your heart and less in your head.

– Surround yourself with light everyday!

– You have a right to be happy!

– Get rid of hatred and bitterness, they do you more harm.

– Life is all about energy. Try to feel it around you, through you and in you.

– Distinguish the positive from the negative.

– There are no coincidences and no accidents in life. Everything big and small is for a reason. Pay careful attention.

– Enjoy the beauty of this Earth all around you.

– There are those things in life that can never be recaptured: the spoken word, time passed and opportunities.

– Do one thing at a time and do it well.

– There are two dominant energies in life, love and fear. Love overcomes all. Stay out of fear. There is nothing to fear, it only brings chaos

– Meditate at least thirty minutes a day.

– Learn to enjoy times of rest. And have a great journey.

Much love, Ton Pascal

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Ton Pascal is a self-thought, self-help advocate, and author. “Being responsible for your thoughts and actions is what I call spirituality. My goal is to help as many people as possible to stop living on the periphery of life. Your thoughts and dreams will provide for you a rich, meaningful and abundant life; this is the Law of Attraction at work. It will enable you to create the map of your life’s journey. It is not just being alive that makes life worth living, but the depth and sense you bring to your life.”