Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

- Mother Teresa -

Got this creed from......yep you guessed it, 'The Law of Success' by Napolean Hill. In my opinion we all need to print this blog, put it by our bedside, read it twice a day and make a promise to live by it.

'I believe in myself.
I believe in those who work with me.
I believe in my employer.
I believe in my friends.
I believe in my family.
I believe that God will lend me everything I need with which to succeed if I do my best to earn it through honest and faithful service.
I will be patient with other people and tolerent with those who do not believe as I do.
I believe that success is the result of intelligent effort and does not depend upon luck or sharp practices or double crossing friends, fellow men or my employer.
I believe I will get out of life exactly what I put into it, therefore I will be careful to conduct myself toward others as I would want them to act toward me.
I will not slander those whom I do not like.
I will not slight my work no matter what I see others doing.
I will render the best service of which I am capable because I have pledged myself to succeed in life and I know that success is always the result of conscientious and efficient effort.
Finally, I will forgive those who offend me because I realise that I shall sometimes offend others and I will need their forgiveness.

Here's to a beautiful world.

Last month I wrote in my blog that I was reading a really great book called "Laws Of Success". Well yes I am still reading it. It is a double volume book and time is unfortunately limited.....so please excuse me.

Reading this heading one might get a perception that this is a religious blog. Far from that, but definately spiritual. This is not the first time I am talking about having faith in Infinate Intelligence, but I came across a passage I read in the book I would like to share with you:

"There are times when the mind is sick and it makes the body  sick.  At such times it needs a stronger mind to heal it by giving it direction and especially by giving it confidence and faith in itself. This is called suggestion. It is transmitting your confidence and power to another, and with such force make the other believe as you wish and do as you will."

Where am I going with this? I must say at times I get lost in my own thoughts. At this moment of time I am going through a very positive challenge  in my life. Last year I decided  to  sell  up everything I had in South Africa, leave very special friends and my beautiful family behind and take my journey of self discovery and personal growth to a new level. As the saying goes 2 steps back 4 steps forward.  In the last year  since I left home  I have experienced many  lonely and sad, but yet so powerful challenges. What has kept me going? What has kept me positive? What has kept me happy? What has helped me find inner peace? What is helping me take my career to a new level?  FAITH in myself. FAITH that  I am  being guided to  personal greatness. FAITH that I am not alone....that I am being guided by this infinate intelligence.

I would like to  share a little story that happened to me. It was one of those mornings when you wake up feeling a bit blue, doubting yourself and feeling like everything is against you, when I have to say my level of faith was on quite a low. Eventhough I wasn't feeling great I didn't allow it to stop me going for one of my runs. So there I am panting along feeling quite blue, but still focusing hard to lift my spirits and I happen to look up and at that moment I see a car in the distance about to go round a corner and I swear to you the number plate spelt out the word FAITH. I dont expect you to believe me and my hair stands on end telling you this, but at that moment in time I was reminded that I am not alone, that I am on track and that I must stay strong.....my spirit was immediately lifted. Why did I look at that car's number plate? I never run looking at the number plates of cars. It made me so much stronger....so much more positive. It instilled so much belief in myself. And how things have grown since that day a few weeks ago. As Wane Dyer says "Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change."

If you are reading this and it hasnt really hit home....then you are not in that space in this moment of your life. But I strongly believe in planting the seed in the sub conscious. You might be having a bad moment in your life one day and maybe you will remember reading this and it will help lift your spirits and help you through.

If however you are reading this and you are experiencing an AHA moment. Maybe it brings tears to your eyes because it is so in your face where you are in life right now.........then I truly believe the universe has brought this to you to choose to do with it what you want. Like Napolean Hill says in the passage above that sometimes we need someone stronger than us to instil faith into us.....for me it was the number plate for you I hope it will be this blog.

Life really is beautiful.
Inner peace and happiness to you all.
Have faith.

Namaste good people

Busy reading a wonderful book called "The Laws Of Success" by Napoleon Hill and I have come across a wonderful poem he has quoted in his book:

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't;
If you like to win, but you think you can't,
It is almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose you've lost,
For out of the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will -
It's all in the stateof mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are -
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But soon or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

Very simply put, you create the life you want and even dont  want. So choose to focus on what you want and not on what you don't want.....and create a beautiful life for yourself.

Life is beautiful.

*Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is
the ultimate anti-depressant.

* Live with the 3 E's: Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

* Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

* Dream more while you are awake.

* Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat fewer foods that
are manufactured in plants.

* Try to make at least 3 people smile each day.

* Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk, and let new
and flowing energy into your life.

* Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, issues of the past,
negative thoughts, or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your
energy in the positive present moment.

* Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are
simply part of the curriculum, but the lessons you learn will last a
lifetime.

* Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

* Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

* Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

* You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

* Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

* Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their
journey is all about.

It's a Friday night, got a busy weekend ahead of me so decided to hire a DVD. Got the movie called 'Click'. What a powerful message.

For those of you who haven't seen it, it is about a man who has a family but is bored with life. He works for an architect firm and his boss is working him to the bone. He also lives in a house with many remotes. One night in his frustration he goes out looking for a universal remote.

To cut the story short he comes across a remote that he can use to go backward and forward in life. He can use it to cut out the volume or pause something. The first few days he uses the remote to his advantage the problem is the remote memorises the reasons he uses the remote. For example his wife wanted to make love to him, but he was under pressure to get work out for his boss so he would fast forward making love to his wife and lose only 3 minutes of his time. He also starts using the remote to fast forward his life to where he wants to be rather than where he is. So all of a sudden everytime his wife wants to make love to him the remote automatically fast forwards him. And before you know it he has lost many years of his life.

Not to give away to much of the movie, as I would really recommend you all see it, but we really need to love life. We need to appreciate what we do have and we need to live for the moment. Always do the best that you can in EVERY aspect of your life, so that you never have regrets. Always be true to yourself and to those you love. Success is not only measured by what you own, what car you drive or what position you hold. Do you love yourself? How do you treat your body and mind? How do you treat those that you love and those that you come across in life? Always follow your heart as it is your guidance system to greatness.

Life really is beautiful.

Courtesy of Robin Sharma:

It's so very human to fight for your excuses. "I can't be better than I am at work." "I don't have the time to exercise." "I can't do this dream or that dream because it's too hard/scary/impractical." The more you fight for your excuses, the more they'll own you. Let them go. And step into your power.

Leaders don't make excuses. They create results. And no great life was ever built on a foundation of excuses. So stop making them. Most of them are self-created delusions. Designed to help you avoid doing the things you are afraid to do. Yes, beneath every excuse lives a fear. A fear of changing. A fear of the unknown. A fear of failure. A fear of success.

Today can be the day you burn the bridges that lead to your excuses. Today can be the day you step up to the possibilities that lay just off the beaten path of your life. Today can be the day you Lead Without Title. And access your greatness.

Let's all be the best that we can be in all aspects and roles of our lives.

Reading Victor Frankl's book "Mans Search for Meaning." For those of you that dont know he was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. He was the one that realised that man can strip you of all dignity except one thing........he cannot strip you of the power to choose your reaction to any given situation. It's a book which delves into, what I believe to be a very commonly asked question..........what is the meaning of life?

This is what he says:
"I doubt whether a doctor can answer this question in general terms. For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general terms but rather the specific meaning of a persons life at a given moment. To put the question in general terms would be comparable to the question posed to a chess champion: "Tell me master what is the best move in the world?" There simply is no such thing as the best or even a good move apart from a particular situation in a game and the particular personality of one's opponent. The same holds for human existence. One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfilment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus everyone's task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it. As each situation in life represents a challenge to man and presents a problem for him to solve, the question of the meaning of life may actually be reversed. Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.

He goes on to say:
By declaring that man is responsible..........................it denotes the fact that being human always points, and is directed, to something, or someone, other than self - be it a meaning to fulfil or another human being to encounter. The more one forgets himself - by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love - the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself.

Thus far we have shown that the meaning of life always changes but that it never ceases to be. According to logotherapy we can discover this meaning in life in three different ways:

1. By creating work or doing a deed;
2. By experiencing something or encountering someone; and
3. By the attitude we take towards unavoidable suffering.

The first, the way of achievement is quite obvious. The second and third need further elaboration. The second way of finding a meaning in life is by experiencing something - such as goodness, truth and beauty - by experiencing nature and culture or, last but not least, by experiencing another human being in his very uniqueness - by loving man."

If only we could all have the same meaning in life.......to love one another.

Peace, love and beauty to you all. Choose to always be happy.

Busy finishing off a book by Robin Sharma called "Leadership Wisdom from the monk who sold his Ferrari" and I came across a quote which I think is beautiful:


"I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be "Happy." I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be compassionate. It is above all, to matter: to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you have lived at all."

I believe if you can live your life by this you will be happy. Imagine this world if we all lived by this. We all need to leave a legacy no matter how small, no matter who we leave it with. It allows us to live our life true to ourself. It allows us to be honest with each other . It allows us to live our lives the best that we can. It allows us to treat everyone with the respect they deserve.

Lets all be to each other what Nelson Mandela was to South Africa.....what Nelson Mandela is.

Life is beautiful

God, the higher power, universal energy or whatever you may want to call it gave us a beautiful gift......it gave us the gift of CHOICE.  This little story that follows shows us how we can use choice to create a life for ourselves better than we are capable of dreaming. I hope it brings a lump to your throat the way it did for me.

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and
always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was
doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how
to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked
him, "I don't get it!

You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices
today. I can choose to be in a good mood or ... I can choose to be in a
bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood."

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can
choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their
complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the
positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the
junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations.
You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your
choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to
start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him w hen I
made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident,
falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from
the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be
twins...Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his
mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my
soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I
remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could
choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

He continued, "..the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into
the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I
got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed
to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John.
"She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and
nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and
yelled, 'Gravity'."

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as
if I am alive, not dead."

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his
amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to
live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own."  

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

I hope you find this as beautiful as I did.