Think positive when you reach your lowest point

We all face problems or hurdles as we travel along the road of life, this article gives my viewpoint on how to deal with these issues. I have personally taken inspiration from my favourite football team, Birmingham City. They have a famous song which their supporters regularly sing, it is called, keep right on to the end of the road.

Birmingham City are not exactly a successful football team and have won very few trophies in their one hundred and twenty year existence. I have been watching and supporting the team since the age of four. Despite many poor results and seasons, the fans always try to remain positive and in good humour. The song is basically telling the players to keep going and hopefully showing them that whatever happens the supporters will always remain true and loyal.

I have often been amazed by the passion and the buzz that I get when going to watch them, and also the passion of the rest of the crowd. During one season, these supporters without knowing it, taught me a huge lesson. The season in question had been a very poor one for Birmingham and it resulted in the team being relegated to the then second division (the leagues have been reformed since then and this division is now known as the first division). This was the lowest point the club had ever reached.

With two games remaining the club was already doomed and the next match was the final home game of the season. At most clubs the fans would no doubt give the players some stick and would make it an uncomfortable afternoon for them. Not so at Birmingham, the fans were as passionate as ever and continued to support and cheer them on. At one point a leaflet was sent round the Birmingham supporters which had been produced by the supporters club members. It stated on this leaflet that despite the club reaching its lowest point, that they wanted as many fans as possible to travel to the last match of the season, which would be in London. This was to show the team that we still supported them and that we would be back the next season. I went to that match as did around six thousand other Birmingham fans. One song was sang throughout the whole match, keep right on to the end of the road. It was an amazing experience for me and one that I will never forget. The team still lost but that did not matter one bit. 

Later I thought about what had happened. I realised that when I felt a bit depressed, I needed to think of that day and to quickly pick myself up. I was a very negative thinker and realised I needed to think in a far more positive way. This is not easy however but is something that I try hard to do. My belief is that positive people have positive and happy lives. This is what I want and the above example has helped me to get back onto my feet many times.

Birmingham City have recently managed to progress back up through the leagues and three years ago reached the promised land of the premier league. This season has not gone so well and the team yet again are facing a relegation. Guess what, I and many thousands will still be supporting them next year whichever league they are playing in. Keep right on!
  

in Inspirational

Anything is Possible

The other day I was reading a very interesting article concerning a shark attack that occurred way back in 1916. It played off along the North East coast of the U.S. and concerned a great white shark, that had been had been terrorizing the New Jersey beaches.

Now everybody knows and accepts that a shark is a creature of the sea and needs salty water to survive. Therefore nobody thought that a shark may attack them in freshwater, but that is exactly what happened later that year.

This particular shark remained close to the shore and eventually swam up a river stream around Raritan Bay, attacking a couple of bathers upstream.

Shortly before the attacks occurred, a retired Sea captain, by the name of Thomas Cottrell saw this shark swimming upstream while crossing a bridge. He couldn't believe his eyes, but nevertheless got into his boat and raised the alarm. Not surprisingly nobody believed him. "A shark in a river? C'mon, get real, It's not possible."

But you know what? As incredible as it seemed there was a shark in the river and all those who didn't heed the warnings were in danger of being attacked.

Eventually this shark killed two people. The first victim was a teenager who may or may not have heard Cottrell's warning. Shortly after this attack another man jumped in the water to look for the victim, even though he was told there is a shark in the water. He too was attacked and died from a severe loss of blood.

While reading this I couldn't help thinking about September 11 and see the parallels between these two stories.

When asked by the U.S. Congress and the media, why "clues" which should have been picked up were disregarded, the heads of the FBI and CIA as well as members of the Bush administration replied, "We didn't think they would use airplanes as missiles."

Had the FBI and CIA believed that something like what happened on 9/11 was possible they might have put measures into place which would likely have prevented this from happening. But they didn't, even though the hijackers left dozens of "clues." 

Similarly if the swimmers at the US East Coast had believed Captain Cottrell when he told them there was a shark in the river, chances are that nobody would have been killed by this shark on that day.

But because they believed it is "impossible" for a shark to be found in freshwater they disregarded the warning altogether, just as the US law enforcement agencies did, resulting in many paying with their lives.

On the other hand there are human beings who overcame extraordinary odds and accomplished great feats. Everyday we hear stories of people who were told by the so-called "experts" they didn't have what it took, yet made it regardless.

The lesson here is that anything is possible, both the good and the bad. By believing or not believing in something doesn't mean you will not be affected by whatever happens. But it means that based on what you believe, you may take some action which may save you from something terrible or may get you out of a terrible situation.

There are many of us who are in terrible situations, including poverty, unhappiness, debt, etc. Those of us who have changed their situation, did it because they believed they could make it.

Those who don't obviously don't believe that they can change their situation otherwise they would have done something about it, right?

How many opportunities have you missed just because you thought it wouldn't work or wasn't possible. Just think what you could do if you believed that you could do anything, even realise your dreams?

What great talent do you have which you have done nothing about, because you probably believed you can't do it.

I hope to have shown you through this short article that anything is possible. And that by just believing, "I Can," your battle is already half-won.
  

in Success

Mid Life Crisis (MLC) Fact or Fiction? PART 2. This too will pass...

Yes you will receive a basic interpretation of Astrology on this 'MLC' (mid life crisis) article as well as the psychological fraternities opinions.
The higher acceptance we need to grasp is the maturity to surrender our restlessness, this confusion, this state of 'is this all there is?' It seems in our resistance we are actually further denying our next exciting chapter we have a chance at recapturing, BOB D.
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(Boulevard Of Broken Dreams).


Our dreams and previous desires with maturity, experience and hopefully wisdom and discernment can once again be ours using the challenges of the 'MLC' (38-45 years of age) positive lessons than the opposite and painfully chosen 'uncomfortable yet comfortable' challenges.


Astronomically our slower moving planets Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and now Chiron (pronounced Ky-ron and known as the Wounded Healer) a planet asteroid, still un-decided by science.

It is believed the manifestations of the energy of these slower moving planets affect the consciousness of not only the individual but the whole of earth as one, as they progress in their journey and affect us and each other as a WHOLE. A ONE.


At the age of 38-45 some major aspects (astrology jargon - meaning energy forces affecting an individuals map of birth where the slower moving planets mentioned were situated). In other words some major opportunities and challenges are presented having an effect of a certain forced maturity through areas of life that may have not been authenticated as yet. As these planets affect your birth map you can't deny the effects even until it is felt years later.

That's where it gets uncomfortable. Up till now some of us having been living a life that was illusionary in a sense, it was taught by our environment of all its many programmed aspects. Now we have the chance to really have an extra hand from these planets as slow and painful as some of us may feel through, our resistance to our inner truth, potential and purpose on this planet.


Psychology will tell you this age group 'MLC' is painful and prescribe anxiety and depression medication as they rightly understand it. (It can help to relieve some of the pressure and confusion). When a person has lived a life as 'almost another person' the shock and post natal stress is real. These people are asking themselves "who am I if I'm not who I thought I was and what am I going to do about it". "Where do I find the real me?" In abusive marriages one must ask "how they got there." 'MLC' is a powerful stage in our lives to chart a future course into the eventual aspect CHIRON (Known as the Wounded Healer) will offer you wholelistic healing at 50 and a future, planned on the desires of the authentic individual.


Yes mistakes may have been made along the way, addictions wired into our subconscious now have the opportunity to be understood and relearned, thus, rewiring our reactive brain channels that we have been operating in to no avail or help for us or any of our brothers and sisters.

Authentic choices can be made!

'WE ARE ALL ONE'

in Inspirational

The Law of Attraction - The Secret of Success - Law of Attraction Classics: WW Atkinson

There is in Nature a great Law -- the Law of Attraction -- by the operations of which all things -- from atoms to men -- are attracted toward each other in the degree of the common affinity of common use.

The reverse of this law -- which is merely another manifestation of its power -- is what is called Repulsion, which is but the other pole of Attraction, and by the operations of which things tend to repel each other in the degree that they are unlike, opposing, and of no use to each other.

The Law of Attraction is Universal, on all the planes of life, from the physical to the spiritual. Its operations are uniform and constant, and we may take the phenomena of one plane and thereby study the phenomena of another plane, for the same rule applies in each case -- the same Law is in operation in the same way.

Beginning with the tiny corpuscles, electrons, or ions, of which the atoms are formed, we find manifested the Law of Attraction -- certain electrons attract each other, and repel others still, thereby causing to spring into existing groups, combinations and colonies of electrons which being in agreement and harmony manifest and constitute what are called atoms, which until recently were supposed to be the primal form of matter.

Passing on the atoms themselves, we find many degrees of affinity and attraction existing between them which cause them to combine and form into molecules of which all masses of matter consists.

For instance, every drop of water is composed of countless molecules of water. And each molecule is composed of two atoms of Hydrogen and one atom of Oxygen --the combination always being the same in every molecule of water. Now, why do these atoms combine in just this way -- with the same invariable grouping and proportion? Not by chance, surely, for there is no such thing in Nature -- there is a natural law back of every phenomenon.

And in this case it is the Law of Attraction manifesting in the case of these atoms. And it is so in all chemical combinations --it is called Chemical Affinity. Sometimes an attached atom will come in contact with, or in proximity to, another atom, and then bang goes the explosion of the molecule as the atom flies away from its partners and into the arms of the other atom for which it has a greater affinity. There are marriages and divorces in the world of atoms, you will notice.

And in the cases of the molecules, it is found that certain molecules are attracted to others of the same kind, under what is called Cohesion, and thus masses of matter are composed. A piece of gold, silver, tin, glass, or other form of matter is composed of countless molecules held together tightly by Cohesion -- and this Cohesion is merely another form of the Law of Attraction -- the same that draws all things together.

And, underlying the Law of Attraction is to be found our old Principle of Desire and Will. You may shrug your shoulders at this mention of desire and Will in connection with electrons, atoms, molecules -- all forms of matter, but just wait a bit and see what the leading scientific authorities have to say on the subject.

Prof. Hakel, one of the world's greatest scientists -- a materialist who would sneer at the teachings of Mental Science -- even this man, naturally prejudiced against mentalist theories, finds himself compelled to say: ``The idea of chemical affinity consists in the fact that the various chemical elements perceive the qualitative differences in other elements -- experience pleasure of revulsion at contact with them, and execute specific movements on this ground.''

He also positively and distinctly states that in the atoms there must be something corresponding to Desire for contact and association with other atoms, and Will to enable the atom to respond to the Desire Law is constant throughout Nature, from atom to man --physical, mental and spiritual.

But what has all this to do with the Secret of Success you may ask? Simply, that the Law of Attraction is an important part in the Secret of Success, inasmuch as it tends to bring to us the things, persons and circumstances in accordance with our earnest Desire, Demand, and Will, just as it brings together the atoms and other particles of matter. Make yourself an atom of Living Desire and you will attract to yourself the person, things and circumstances fitting in with the accomplishment of your Desire.

You will also get into rapport with those who are working along the same lines of thought, and will be attracted to them and they to you, and you will be brought into relations with persons, things and environments likely to work out the problem of your Desires -- you will get ``next to'' the right persons and things - all by the operation of this great natural Law of Attraction. No Necromancy or Magic about it at all -- nothing supernatural or mysterious -- just the operations of a great Natural Law. 

in Attraction

Inspiration From The Passion Of Waves

Watch the waves. Watch small waves, and watch the large waves. Watch them coming in, on the shore untiringly. What do we see? We see the passion. We see the energy. We also wonder about the purpose of the non-stop motion of the waves.

Waves have the undying passion of meeting the shore. They never get tired doing that. One after another, they keep on coming. They keep on smashing on the shore and then subsiding. Then comes another wave. This goes on and on. We have watched the waves so many times that we don't pay attention to this passion. This passion can teach us a lot. Download some screensavers with videos of waves. Watch them from time to time. You will slowly get that visual of waves associated in your mind with unceasing passion.

The first teaching is not getting tired. Waves don't get tired. They have a job to do - meet the shore again and again. So they keep on. When we have a job to do, we must behave like that. Non-stop work without getting tired. We will surely get tired, but a visual of waves will remind us immediately that we have work to do and we will continue despite all the tiredness.

The second teaching is work without any break. Have we seen waves taking a small break? Never. Same way, we are passionately working towards a goal, we have to keep that passion on all the time. Every moment that passion must drive us. No other thought but our passion. Great work is done only with such passion. You can achieve impossible with this kind of passion.

The third teaching is passion itself. Waves are passionate to meet the shores. They think of nothing but the shore. Similarly we must develop passion for something. Love creates such passion. Romantic love can do that and so can the love for human beings, like Mother Teresa had. Develop passion for something. Whatever may be your occupation, if you develop passion for excellence, you will get unbelievable results. Let us develop that passion. Let us say - I will passionately work in a manner so that I am satisfied only with the best results. I will keep this passion on forever in my work. I will do everything with passion and will make sure that I achieve great results.

Take inspiration from the passion of waves and you shall achieve success, great success. 

in Inspirational

7 Blocks To Creative Thinking And How To Solve Them

Each of us has the power to be creative. It's part of our natural make-up as human beings. The trouble is that, too often, we block our natural creativity and so make errors in thinking and give ourselves more problems than we should. Here are 7 ways to open up your natural creativity and keep the channels unblocked.

1. Don't Make Assumptions. When we assume, we often make an "ass" out of "u" and "me". Assumptions are examples of lazy thinking. We simply don't wait to get all the information we need to come to the right conclusions. There is the story of the customer at the bank who after cashing a cheque and turning to leave, returns and says: "Excuse me, I think you made a mistake." The cashier responds, "I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do. You should have counted it. Once you walk away we are no longer responsible." Whereupon the customer replies: "Well, okay. Thanks for the extra $20."
Tip: When you feel yourself wanting to draw conclusions, just wait until you have all the information.

2. See Things From Other Points Of View. A truly open mind is willing to accept that, not only do other people have other just as valid points of view from theirs, but that these other points of view may be more valid. A story is told that the modernist painter Pablo Picasso was once traveling on a train across Spain when he got into conversation with a rich businessman who was dismissive of modern art. As evidence that modern art didn't properly represent reality, he took out a photo of his wife from his wallet and said: "This is how my wife should look, not in some silly stylized representation." Picasso took the photo, studied it for a few moments and asked: "This is your wife?" The businessman proudly nodded. "She's very small," observed Picasso wryly.
Tip: Don't have a monopoly on how things are. Things aren't always what they seem. Be ready to consider other points of view.

3. Avoid Yo-Yo Thinking. Some people tend to have a tendency to swing from a highly positive mood one minute to a highly negative one the next, all because of what they see in front of them. It's like a yo-yo: up one minute, down the next. It's far more healthy to stay neutral and not let emotions get the better of you.
Tip: Remember that things are rarely as good - or as bad - as you think they are.

4. Get Rid Of Lazy Thinking Habits. Habit can be a major stumbling block to clear thinking and another example of laziness. Try this experiment. Write down the Scottish surnames Macdonald, Macpherson, and Macdougall and ask someone to pronounce them. Now follow these with the word Machinery and see what happens. Most people are likely to mis-pronounce it. This is because we tend to think in habitual ways and don't like what doesn't fit Tip: Don't think that, just because things happened in a certain way once before, that they will happen like that again.

5. Don't Think Like An Old Person, Think Like A Child. Research shows that the number of synapses, or connections, in the brain is greater in a child of two than in an average adult. The reason for this is that, while a child of two has no limiting world view, as adults we do. It's like a sculptor who starts off with a large block of clay, more than he needs, and then gradually removes the clay as he moulds his sculpture. If we use our brain like a child, accepting everything without judgment, we can actually halt and reverse the brain ageing process.
Tip: Don't worry about the myth of age. With the right stimulus and a passion for learning, you can actually improve your brain's powers.

6. See The Detail As Well As The Big Picture. You may know the poem by John Godfrey Saxe called "The Blind Men and the Elephant". This tells how six blind men of Indostan go to see an elephant and each try to work out what it is from touching it. One blind man touches the tusk, another the trunk, another the tail, and so on. Of course, not being able to see the whole elephant, they come to wildly different conclusions.
Tip: Try to keep the big picture in front of you while looking at details. It will help to put everything in its proper place and context.

7. Think For Yourself. Taking time out to think is still frowned on in many organizations that prize activity over creativity. People who work in creativity-constrained organizations are likely to think the way they are supposed to think, or as others think, or as has always been the way to think. It's like the blinkered thinking that Hans Christian Anderson describes in his story of "The Emperor's New Clothes". Everyone in the land refuses to see that the emperor is naked and has been duped into believing he is wearing a splendid costume for his coronation. Only a young boy who has been ill and not party to the cultural brainwashing can see the truth and cries out: "Look, everyone, the Emperor is wearing no clothes!"
Tip: Don't let others tell you how to think. When others ask your opinion, tell it to them straight.

Once you make these 7 techniques part of your habitual thinking patterns, you will amaze yourself with how easy it is to come up with fresh, innovative and creative solutions to all of life's problems. 

in Creativity