33 ways to start your day

Here are at least 33 ways in which you can transform your days by only spending 5 minutes every morning.

1. Write In Your Journal

You gotta love the morning stillness and the unspoken promise of something ready to start. Mornings are fantastic for journaling. Whenever I do it (which is rare!), I feel like I already consumed several hours from that day and yet I’m only at the very beginning of it. Journaling acts like a mind emptier and out of nowhere I feel energized and ready to go. Not to mention that in the morning I have less inhibitors and my journaling is far more authentic.

2. Enjoy The Morning Silence

And do nothing. Just feel the silence and let it spread over your mind and body. I’m fascinated by all the little noises that are born from that morning silence: from my familiar house noises (wife and daughter waking up, steps, windows, doors) up to the neighborhood noises (car engines, low voices, small buzz). Everything starts in that silence and sometimes I think that if I focus enough on it I could actually predict, or even create all those little noises.

3. Be Grateful For Something 5 Minutes

Point your mind to something you’re really grateful for and stay there. Might be your family, your wealth, your health or just your present moment. Feel grateful for it. There’s nobody between you and that thing, there’s nobody watching or listening. You’re free to feel grateful and happy. And then start your day as usual. It’s only 5 minutes, yet the impact of such a day starter is overwhelming: whenever I’m doing it I feel like walking 2 centimeters above the road for the entire day.

4. Open Windows

Regardless of the current season. If it’s cold outside, even better. Open your bedroom windows, your living room windows, your kitchen windows. Let the fresh air inside, welcome the small buzz of the city waking up, silently watch the last forces of the night walking away. Let yourself be refreshed. The yesterday you is no longer there and the today you is slowly getting in shape. Those open windows will unconsciously allow you to receive change and novelty with much more ease during the day.

5. Throw Away A Useless Object

You’re going to spot it pretty easily if you put your mind to it. It often happens to me to stumble upon unneeded stuff in my house during the early morning. If it’s a chair staying in my way, maybe its place is not in my house. Maybe it’s a piece of paper or a wrecked device. I find joy and a subtle enthusiasm in throwing away things that are only cluttering my space, and doing it first thing in the morning makes it even more powerful.

6. Help Somebody

Write an answer to an old question, do part of a small chore, move an object out of somebody’s way. No need to be huge or visible. Just keep in mind the intention of being helpful immediately to somebody else. During the morning your mind is far more clear and you have access to more energy than usual. Hence, your helping activities will be much more effective if you decide to do them as the first thing after you wake up.

7. Meditate For 5 Minutes

Empty  your mind and isolate from your environment. Focus on your breathe. If there are thoughts coming in your way, acknowledge their presence and then kindly ask them to go away. Meditating in the morning is easier, there are fewer perturbing factors. Even after a good sleep, your mind is still trying to find answers, to solve problems, to fight or resist. Do yourself a simple, yet solid service and pack your morning time with an extra meditation on top.

8. Think How To Help Somebody During The Day

This is different from number 6 in terms of the actual time of the helping act. Now you’re planing how to help somebody during the day, you’re visualizing the context and try to find a specific time in your schedule for this helping act. Again, doesn’t have to be huge, a piece of advice, facilitating something or a small gift. The mere act of planing how to help somebody will change the course of your entire day.

9. Exercise

Like in getting physical. I’m doing this almost every single day, but I’m doing it often enough. A part from your brain there’s a body, too. A collection of joints, muscles and bones. And in order to be balanced you have to take care of those too. The good news is that your body has a feedback mechanism for the good things you do to it: it’s called “endorphins”. Every time you start your day with a decent workout, you’ll be blessed with a decent rush of endorphins. Usually, it lasts until evening.

10. Spend 5 Minutes In The Garden

Alternatively, spend some times near your flowers. Or your terrace. Just be outside in the first minutes of the day, trying to breathe the fresh air and feel the vibe of the green life. Clear you mind and open your senses. Let your awaken body to synchronize with this frequency and don’t start the day until you completely immersed in this flow for at least 5 minutes. I seldom run into a fight or even got closer to some aggressive scene when I start my day like this.

11. Forgive Somebody

Let go. Forgive and forget. Morning are very good for that because you have so little inference from the outside world, only your own mind and personal history. Does it really matter that much? Feeling that grudge and anger towards somebody who hurt you? Yes, he hurt you, but it really matter that much? Forgiving somebody as the first thing in the morning makes me want to conquer the world the very next minutes. And it works really well with forgiving yourself too.

12. Think For 5 Minutes At Someone You Love

Again, that person may be your family, someone you loved at some point in your life or someone who just appeared. Keep that person in mind, imagine having a conversation or doing something together. Create an internal representation of a desired bond. Not only it will actually attract that person towards you (somehow) during the day, but what you think in those moments will add up to the relationship in a very mysterious way. It’s like what you think it’s already happening.

13. Read A Poem

Poetry, or any form of art, talks to your irrational mind. Usually, your morning is cluttered with rational thoughts and activities: get up and ready for the job, prepare the kids, get the morning tasks solved. Talking to your irrational mind will break this circuit, but it will do it creatively. For instance, my favorite morning poem is “If”, by Rudyard Kipling. Every time I read it, even if the day is packed with difficult tasks, somehow, I find the energy and right attitude to get over them. Totally irrational.

14. Make Coffee or Tea For Your Partner

I like this whole beverage ritual in the morning, I think it has something to do with deeply buried recollections of religious rituals we humans, as a species, performed during the history. There’s something sacramental about preparing the water, making fire, putting the right amount of tea or coffee. It’s like asking gods for benevolence. Only this time is not about gods, it’s about your partner. Paving your road through today with your partner blessing.

15. Write A Thank You Letter

You don’t have to send it, just write it. When I first experienced this I had a little bit of a shock. I realized I don’t know how to do it. And for whom. That was a sad shock. Not having somebody to say “thank you” in your life can bring in quite a sorrow. So, be sure to start at least one of your mornings with a “thank you” letter. Bring to the light people or events you are thankful for. If you say “thank you” to something first thing in the morning, you’re inviting those specific type of events into your life.

16. Take A Day Off From Your Job

And use the rest of the day for yourself. Even if you’re self employed, or especially if you’re self employed, take a day off. And start it clean, from the early morning. Those free days are somehow bigger when I decide to have them unexpectedly. If I start my morning with the clear decision to take the day off, something very strange will happen: my businesses will run smoother without me. My blog traffic will spike. It’s like too much work means getting in the way of your own success.

17. Do Some Crafting For 5 Minutes

If you’re a man, fix something, replace a light bulb or use your screwdriver to harden some piece of furniture. If you’re a woman, modify some clothes. (Later update: You can do it the other way around, if you really think this is a sexist approach – read the related comments below. And please, get over it it’s just a simple example, I never thought, nor do I will, that because you’re a woman or a man you should do ONLY a certain type of things. Are we cool now?) Just do something with your hands, without any preparation, in the morning silence. In a very surprising way, this morning crafting will unfold some new opportunities. You can find a solution to an old problem or you will solve something for somebody else. It’s like this morning crafting will actually make you craft the rest of your entire day.

18. Learn A New Word In A Foreign Language

Just one word. Every morning, for several weeks. I used to learn some hiragana and katakana only in the morning (and that proved really interesting during my first trip to Japan). It forces your brain to find parallel ways to solve problems and your body to stay focused on a small problem from the very beginning of the day. Again, in a very strange way, learning a new foreign word each morning makes me dream about foreign lands. Which is quite a way to start your day.

19. Imagine Your Morning in a New Country

How your morning will be in New Zealand? Or in Thailand? Or in Austria? If you’ve ever been there, try to remember the smells, the air, the noises. Waking up in a different country every morning might be a fantastic experience (I might do this one day, by the way). If you’ve never been there, just try to imagine your morning there. After spending 5 minutes in a distant country, getting back to your actual day will feel like coming home from a long trip. Which is, partially, true.

20. Go For A Short Walk

Like the first thing in the morning, before even having breakfast. Breathe the air, look at the neighborhood. Watch the morning light and hear the noises. Move around. When you got home, your day will be different. This short walk often acts like setting up the scene for something I want to happen. Walking around alone, before igniting the day, makes me feel like a director inspecting the stage. Everything looks cool, let’s make a great film today.

21. Write A Powerful Goal

Mornings are very good for writing goals. I especially like that time of the day for writing goals because I have very few interference from the outside world. Which makes me much more authentic. I value more the goals written in the morning because I am less influenced. I know for sure that during the morning I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, I’m just me and what I want. Some of my best health decisions are picked up during the morning.

22. Clean Your Desk

Again, this must be done before having breakfast, or before any other domestic task (and this also assumes you work from home, at some point). Put things in order, wipe the dust, prepare your working setup. And then start the day as usual. After having breakfast, interacting with your family or just finishing your morning routine, come back to your office. A shiny, fresh and neat vibration will welcome you. A short sign of appreciation from yourself.

23. Sing a Song

I do this all the time in the shower. And I highly recommend it. Despite what your neighbors may say (or even some of your early riser family members). Singing a song goes hand in hand with reading a poem. Doesn’t matter if you know how to sing. just go ahead and knock some “Let It Be” as loud as you can (“Let It Be” is my favorite shower song, by the way). If you hear me humming some tunes in my head that’s a good sign I started with a loud song in the shower.

24. Read and Evaluate your Morning Phrase

Do you have a morning phrase? Craft one, it’s easy. Starting a day with a morning phrase it’s like a mental programming exercise for maximizing your potential. It may take even less than 5 minutes and it’s a powerful tool for energy channeling. The trick is to keep it for at least several weeks. But the advantage is that this exercise is very powerful. Wanna setup a millionaire mindset? Or just planning or quitting smoking? Put it in a morning phrase and use it.

25. Delete Some Email

Or some old, unneeded files. That’s the mirror in the virtual world of number 5. Remove the clutter. Get rid of old messages, logs or files. Be in the flow. They say you have to let go the current you in order to become who you really want. I used to be a packer. Making folders and packing and storing everything in my computer. Now I start my mornings every now and then with a refreshing session of file deletion. Making room for what the day may bring in.

26. Watch The Sunrise

Easiest of all and yet so underrated. There’s so much power and simplicity in watching the sunrise, connecting to the light and actually feeling how the Sun will start another day. And you’re there witnessing this cosmic process. Every time I watch the sunrise, being it at my home or in a foreign country, I have a subtle feeling of responsibility. This huge cosmic mechanism is turning around me as my playground: what am I going to do in it today?

27. Read Your Yesterday Journal

If you keep a journal, of course. Look at yesterday from the very first moment of your new day. What do you love about yesterday? What do you don’t like about it? Now you have the chance to change those things. Reading your journal first thing in the morning is a surprising experience. Seeing what you wrote without any noise and with a clear mind will reveal things that you didn’t noticed. Maybe because you didn’t like them?

28. Do A Short Yoga Session

You don’t have to be an expert yogi to start your day with a mild yoga session. I often find myself lighter and more flexible when starting the day with a short suite of yoga or deep breathing. It stretches your body and calm your mind. I once did this for more than 6 months, every single morning. It was perhaps the most calm and balanced period of my life. And besides calm and balance, what else do you need when you start your day?

29. Visualize 3 Moments From Yesterday

Keep your eyes closed and try to remember 3 moments from yesterday. It’s not reading about them in your journal, it’s trying to visualize them in your mind. First of all, the very selection of those 3 moments will tell you something about your current state. Are those moments embarrassing or happy? Second, keeping them live in your head will help you find a solution or a sequel to them. It will help you keep yesterday linked to today. Some people call this flow.

30. Visualize 3 Moments From Today

Can be practiced in tandem with the one above, or separately. Visualizing 3 moments from today means actually create those 3 moments. See yourself performing those actions, attending those meetings, saying those words or writing those sentences. It’s early in the morning and nobody is pressuring. You have the freedom to see yourself exactly as you want to be. In my experience, almost any of these “predicted” moments are actually happening during the day.

31. Take A Picture Of Yourself

I am going to start this as an interesting challenge. Not the actual process of taking a photo of myself each morning, but seeing those photos in a fast moving sequence months after. You can’t fool the camera in the morning. All your problems, joys, frustrations or thrills are so transparent in a photo taken in the first moment of the day. It’s like a message you send to your future self without even knowing the message.

32. Identify One Task To Be Canceled

It must be one. Out of your entire to do list for today there must be one task which can be canceled. Sometimes I wake up with the only thought of identifying my canceled task for the day. I usually chose this approach after a very intense and tiring yesterday. It give me a sense of freedom and flexibility. And most of the time the freed time will make room for something interesting, or at least surprising. It’s like opening your door to the unexpected.

33. Chose A Theme Of The Day

This works in tandem with your personal mission (if you don’t have a personal mission maybe it’s time to find one). Find one red stripe which will go through your entire day. Like making this day “the productivity day”. Or “the observation day”. Or “the money day”. This will be the dominant vibe of your entire day. By setting course in the very first moments of the morning you will maximize your chances to actually create your day on that exact theme.

Story: How to Walk on Water

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This past Sunday I was relaxing at the water’s edge of a local beach when a young boy ran full speed right by me and into the shallow surf.  He continuously hopped up and down as he was running forward, kicking his little legs in the air and across the surface of the water before inevitably falling face-first into the waves.  He got back up and repeated this act several times, each time with more determination than the previous attempt.  It became obvious that he was trying to run across the surface of the water.  I couldn’t help but to laugh.  His combined levels of determination and exertion were priceless.

After several attempts, he noticed my laughter and walked over to me.  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

“You remind me of me, and it makes me smile.” I said.

“Do you know how to walk on water?” he asked. “Like a superhero?”

“Well, I think I can help you out.” I said. “Let me give you a few pointers.”

Curious, the boy sat down on the sand next to me.  His mother scurried over, worried… but I reassured her that her son wasn’t bothering me.  Relieved, perhaps, to have her son sitting safely on the sand instead of flying face-first through the air, she went back to her beach chair 20 feet away and continued a conversation with another lady.

“So, you want to walk on water, eh?” I asked.  He nodded his head anxiously.

A Rough Summary of What I Told Him

1. Make sure you were born to walk on water. – You must follow your heart, and be who you were born to be.  Some of us were born to be musicians… to communicate intricate thoughts and rousing feelings with the strings of a guitar.  Some of us were born to be poets… to touch people’s hearts with exquisite prose.  Some of us were born to be entrepreneurs… to create growth and opportunity where others saw rubbish.  And still, some of us were born to walk on water… to invent the capability of doing so.  If you’re going to walk on water, you better feel it in every fiber of your being.  You better be born to do it!
2. Decide that nothing can stop you. – Being born to walk on water isn’t enough by itself.  We must each decide to accept our calling.  Unfortunately, most of us make excuses instead.  “But I might drown trying,” we say.  Or, “But I have a family to think about first.”  Walking on water, or doing anything that hasn’t been done before, requires absolute, unconditional dedication.  The only person who can control your level of dedication is you.  If you’re serious about walking on water, you must decide that nothing… not gravity, not a group of naysayers, NOTHING… can stop you!
3. Work on it for real. – While many of us decide at some point during the course of our lives that we want to answer our calling… to accomplish our own version of walking on water, only an astute few of us actually work on it.  By “working on it”, I mean truly devoting oneself to the end result.  The rest of us never act on our decision.  Or, at best, we pretend to act on it by putting forth an uninspired, half-ass effort.  But to truly walk on water, you’ll have to study physics, rheology, hydrophobic substances, etc… and then you’ll have to define and redefine next-generation theories and complex hypotheses, which must be tested relentlessly.  When the tests fail, you must be ready to edit your theories and test them again.  This kind of work, the real kind, is precisely what enables us to make the impossible possible.
4. Let the whole world know what you’re up to. – When you’re trying to walk on water, or do anything that nobody else has done before, life can get lonely pretty quickly.  To keep your motivation thriving, it’s important to let others know that you’re attempting to defeat the formerly impossible.  Don’t be shy!  Let the whole world know that you’re trying to walk on water.  No doubt, it’ll place a bit of extra pressure on your back, and you’ll almost certainly hear some laughter in the crowd.  But this kind of pressure fuels motivation, which is exactly what you’ll need to accomplish such a colossal undertaking.  And when you finally do succeed, the last bit of laughter heard will be your own.
5. Value the people who value your ambitions. – When most people hear about your “mission impossible” aspirations, their natural reaction may be to roll their eyes, call you crazy, and tell you to quit being foolish.  But fortunately, the world is also inhabited by pioneers and believers who see the value in your dreams.  These people understand that achieving the formerly impossible is one of the greatest gifts human beings possess.  They’ll likely give you tips, bits of assistance, and the extra push you need to succeed.  These are extraordinary people, and you’ll want to surround yourself with them, because they will ultimately assist you over the hurdles and across the surface of the water.  Think of them as an influential, personal support team.  Without them, walking on water will be a far more difficult feat, if not completely impossible.
6. Ignore the negative naysayers. – No matter how much progress you make, there will always be the people who insist that walking on water is impossible, simply because it hasn’t been done before.  Or they may incessantly suggest that the idea as a whole is utterly ridiculous because nobody really cares about walking on water anyways.  When you come across these people, don’t try to reason with them.  Instead, forget that they exist.  They will only waste your time and energy.
7. Prepare yourself for the pain. – Even though you’re no longer mindlessly running face-first into the oncoming ocean surf, but instead forming complex theories based on the studies of rheology and fluid viscosity, it doesn’t mean you won’t experience your fair share of pain.  You’re in the business of walking on water, of doing something that has never been done before.  You’ll likely get a waterlogged, lungful of water on a regular basis.  But the pain will seem like a small price to pay when you become the first person to jog across the rapids of the Mississippi.
8. Enjoy the pain of your greatest challenge. -  Superheroes aren’t real.  In real life nobody has ever walked on water.  But lots of people have achieved formerly impossible feats, and continue to enjoy the possibilities of new challenges.  These people will all tell you there’s nothing more gratifying than the thrill of your greatest challenge.  The inherent pains along the way are simply mile markers on your trip to the finish line.  When you finally do finish, you may actually find yourself missing the daily grind.  Ultimately, you’ll realize that pleasure and pain can be one and the same.
9. Never give up!  Never quit! – The reason nobody has walked on water isn’t because people haven’t tried.  Remember, you just tried several times in a row, and I’m sure many others have too.  The reason nobody has succeeded is, simply, that within the scope of modern science and physics, it’s currently impossible.  But this doesn’t mean that with your help it won’t become possible in the future.  If you were born to do it and truly dedicate yourself to the end result, anything, including walking on water, is entirely possible!

Just a Chance

When we were done talking, the young boy got up and ran back over to his mother.  He pointed over to me and I smiled and waved back.  Then he said to her, “Mommy, mommy!  That guy just taught me how to walk on water!”

A few moments later she walked over to scold me for supposedly giving out reckless advice.  She told me I was giving her son a false sense of hope.  I told her all I was giving him was a chance.

Instructions for Life

01. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

02. Memorize your favorite poem.

03. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.

04. When you say, “I love you”, mean it.

05. When you say, “I’m sorry”, look the person in the eye.

06. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

07. Believe in love at first sight.

08. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.

09. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.

10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

11. Don’t judge people by their relatives.

12. Talk slowly but think quickly.

13. When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, smile and ask, “Why do you want to know?”

14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

15. Call your mom often.

16. Say “bless you” when you hear someone sneeze.

17. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

18. Remember the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.

19. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

20. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

21. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

22. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

23. Spend some time alone.

24. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

26. Read more books and watch less TV.

27. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll get to enjoy it a second time.

28. Trust in God but lock your car.

29. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home.

30. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

31. Read between the lines.

32. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

33. Be gentle with the earth.

34. Pray. There’s immeasurable power in it.

35. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.

36. Mind your own business.

37. Don’t trust a man/woman who doesn’t close his/her eyes when you kiss.

38. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

39. If you make or have a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth’s greatest satisfaction.

40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.

41. Learn the rules, then break some.

42. Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other is greater than your need for each other.

43. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

44. Remember that your character is your destiny.

45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Live Your Life On Purpose – The Twelve Signs of Inner Peace

Loss of interest in conflict

Frequent attacks of smiling

Frequent overwhelming attacks of appreciation

Loss of desire to judge others

Unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment

Tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fear based on past experience

Loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others

Loss of the ability to worry (a serious symptom)

Contented feelings of connectedness to others and nature

Increasing susceptibility to love extended by others as well as an uncontrollable urge to extend it

Increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make things happen

10 Traits of Highly Successful People

They work hard! Yes, they play hard, too! They get up early, they rarely complain, they expect performance from others, but they expect extraordinary performance from themselves. Repeated, high-level success starts with a recognition that hard work pays off.

They are incredibly curious and eager to learn. They study, ask questions and read—constantly! An interesting point, however: While most of them did well in school, the difference is that they apply or take advantage of what they learn. Repeated success is not about memorizing facts, it’s about being able to take information and create, build, or apply it in new and important ways. Successful people want to learn everything about everything!

They network. They know lots of people, and they know lots of different kinds of people. They listen to friends, neighbors, co- workers and bartenders. They don’t have to be “the life of the party,” in fact many are quiet, even shy, but they value people and they value relationships. Successful people have a Rolodex full of people who value their friendship and return their calls.

They work on themselves and never quit! While the “over-night wonders” become arrogant and quickly disappear, really successful people work on their personality, their leadership skills, management skills, and every other detail of life. When a relationship or business deal goes sour, they assume they can learn from it and they expect to do better next time. Successful people don’t tolerate flaws; they fix them!

They are extraordinarily creative. They go around asking, “Why not?” They see new combinations, new possibilities, new opportunities and challenges where others see problems or limitations. They wake up in the middle of the night yelling, “I’ve got it!” They ask for advice, try things out, consult experts and amateurs, always looking for a better, faster, cheaper solution. Successful people create stuff!

They are self-reliant and take responsibility. Incredibly successful people don’t worry about blame, and they don’t waste time complaining. They make decisions and move on.…Extremely successful people take the initiative and accept the responsibilities of success.

They are usually relaxed and keep their perspective. Even in times of stress or turmoil, highly successful people keep their balance, they know the value of timing, humor, and patience. They rarely panic or make decisions on impulse. Unusually successful people breath easily, ask the right questions, and make sound decisions, even in a crisis.

Extremely successful people live in the present moment. They know that “Now” is the only time they can control. They have a “gift” for looking people in the eye, listening to what is being said, enjoying a meal or fine wine, music or playing with a child. They never seem rushed, and they get a lot done! They take full advantage of each day. Successful people don’t waste time, they use it!

They “look over the horizon” to see the future. They observe trends, notice changes, see shifts, and hear the nuances that others miss. A basketball player wearing Nikes is trivial, the neighbor kid wearing them is interesting, your own teenager demanding them is an investment opportunity! Extremely successful people live in the present, with one eye on the future!

Repeatedly successful people respond instantly! When an investment isn’t working out, they sell. When they see an opportunity, they make the call. If an important relationship is cooling down, they take time to renew it. When technology or a new competitor or a change in the economic situation requires an adjustment, they are the first and quickest to respond.

Rich or Poor?

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad.”

“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.

“Oh yeah,” said the son.

“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered:

“I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

The boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”

Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing?

Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.

21 Suggestions for Success

1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
2. Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent.
3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
5. Be forgiving of yourself and others.
6. Be generous.
7. Have a grateful heart.
8. Persistence, persistence, persistence.
9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.
12. Commit yourself to quality.
13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.
14. Be loyal.
15. Be honest.
16. Be a self-starter.
17. Be decisive even if it means you’ll sometimes be wrong.
18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.
20. Take good care of those you love.
21. Don’t do anything that wouldn’t make your Mom proud.

Rebels / Crazy ones

Daffodil Day – 26th March

Daffodil Day is the Irish Cancer Society’s annual fundraising campaign supporting free cancer patient care and information services across the country. It’s a day for all of us to come together and pin a daffodil to the nation, giving hope and support to people affected by cancer in Ireland.

Daffodil Day was first held by the Irish Cacner Society in 1987. Since then, Daffodil Day has grown to become Ireland’s biggest charity event of its kind.  Thanks to you, Daffodil Day now raises around €4 million each year, providing support and care to people with cancer and to those developing cancer even as you read this.

Your support will help the Irish Cancer Society maintain the hope the daffodil symbolises to the thousands of people diagnosed with cancer each year in Ireland.

My Nana passed away in 2007 after being diagnosed with Cancer. It was a terrible time and there was lots of tears shed and lots of prayers said. Nurses and doctors and the support from the Cancer Society made this period easier, and made the grieving for my Mam anyway a cleansing process….

So many people are touched by cancer each year, with increased numbers of people diagnosed with the illness as we move through time. If any of you are willing to help me out to organise an event in Navan / Maynooth, please let me know, even if it’s something as simple as a coffee morning, or perhaps my idea is to have a gig with some local talent performing? Please let me know. Thanks

Instructions for life….

~ Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully ~

~ Memorize your favorite poem ~

~ Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want ~

~ When you say, “I love you”, mean it ~

~ When you say, “I’m sorry”, look the person in the eye ~

~ Be engaged at least six months before you get married ~

~ Believe in love at first sight ~

~ Never laugh at anyone’s dreams ~

~ Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely ~

~ In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling ~

~ Don’t judge people by their relatives. “NO KIDDING” ~

~ Talk slow but think quick ~

~ When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, smile and ask, “Why do you want to know?” ~

~ Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk ~

~ Call your mom ~

~ Say “bless you” when you hear someone sneeze ~

~ When you lose, don’t lose the lesson ~

~ Remember the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions ~

~ Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship ~

~ When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it ~

~ Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice ~

~ Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, his/her conversational skills
will be as important as any other ~

~ Spend some time alone ~

~ Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values ~

~ Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer ~

~ Read more books and watch less TV ~

~ Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll get to enjoy it a second time ~

~ Trust in God but lock your car ~

~ A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home ~

~ In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past ~

~ Read between the lines ~

~ Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality ~

~ Be gentle with the earth ~

~ Pray. There’s immeasurable power in it ~

~ Never interrupt when you are being flattered ~

~ Mind your own business ~

~ Don’t trust a man/woman who doesn’t close his/her eyes when you kiss them ~

~ Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before ~

~ If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth’s greatest satisfaction ~

~ Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck ~

~ Learn the rules then break some ~

~ Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other is greater than your need for each other ~

~ Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it ~

~ Remember that your character is your destiny ~

~ Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon ~