Present Outlook

You are a force to be reckoned with.

You have awesome potential. Unlimited – literally.

The things you could do are incredible, unbelievable, stunning.

You could be an unlimited source of inspiration to others.

You could be a light to lead the way.

Your influence could be profound.

Your legacy could be legendary.

You could change the world – for the better.

You could solve problems, ease tensions, inspire greatness.

You could bring people together, unite them.

You could spread the love.

You could bring down the house.

You could own it.

You could get around/over/under/through any obstacles that stand in your way.

You could realise your potential.

If you choose to.

That’s all it really comes down to at the end of the day.

Choosing to.

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Remember back when you were in high school… knowing what you know now, what would you do differently if you were back there again? Probably lots – in my case, probably almost everything!

The same goes throughout our lives. Looking back on things we can see where fear held us back, and we can see how pointless that fear was in hindsight.

At some point in time you will look back on how you are today, right now, and see how you could have done things differently.

You’ll see that there was fear holding you back from doing some things.

You’ll see that you weren’t making the most of all the opportunities you had before you.

You’ll see that there were things you could have done but didn’t, things that would have improved your life and the lives of others.

You could wait until a long time in the future to think about this. If you enjoy the feeling of regret, this is the best option. But if you want to make the most of your life, why wait until then to look back in hindsight?

Why not do it now?

Don’t wait till that moment in the far of future to realise this. Open your eyes and see it now. Look at yourself and what you’re doing. Where is fear holding you back? What opportunities are you missing RIGHT NOW?!

Original image by Spirit-Fire

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When the world is going through troubled times we sit at home watching the news and we feel powerless to help. The problems seem so massive that we feel that they are outside of our hands – that there is nothing we can do to help.

If we give $100 to the Red Cross, what difference will that make? They’re talking billions of dollars needed for recovery in Japan so is there even any point us giving $100?

Your money will help of course, but there are so many desperate problems out there in the world, and our financial resources are not bottomless.

What else can we do?

Often, in a genuine heartfelt gesture, we update our Facebook with some words of support for the people suffering. I did this myself. This is a nice gesture. But the reality is that it won’t save a life.

It will make you feel a little better, especially if some of your friends ‘like’ it. It may improve your image amongst your friends; they may see you as a caring person really trying to make a difference in the world. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, quite the opposite, it’s positive – but what difference have you actually made to the lives of those suffering?

Let’s be honest – nil.

The person trapped under rubble, desperately waiting and hoping to be found by rescue workers – your Facebook status won’t help them.

The doctors and nurses in a hospital desperately trying to save the lives of the huge numbers of injured in the aftermath of a disaster – your Facebook status won’t help them.

The people running a shelter for refuges desperately trying to source food to feed the thousands of people who are turning up at their shelter every day – your Facebook status won’t help them.

What will help them? Your prayers might.

Your prayers might give that person trapped under rubble a little more strength to hold on a little longer. They might inspire the rescue workers to have one more look in that building the person is trapped in.

Your prayers might give hospital staff a little more strength to work a little harder and longer so that they can save more lives in the aftermath of a disaster.

Your prayers might inspire people around the world to give their money and resources to the victims of a disaster.

Your prayers might just do these things. You’ll never know the power of your prayers. You’ll never know exactly what they do, but they WILL do something. As Mahatma Gandhi said:

Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.

I’ll repeat that in case you missed it:

Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the MOST POTENT INSTRUMENT OF ACTION.

Go and pray now.

(If you feel so inclined you might also like to donate to support the work of the Red Cross in helping the people of Japan, or whichever other humanitarian disaster you feel inspired to support, by finding your local Red Cross on this list of international Red Cross websites.)

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This morning I overheard someone complaining about how the lady at the coffee shop was rude to them. They were really irate; irate enough to say “I’m going to write a letter!”

Wow that lady at the coffee shop must have been really rude. What did she do, was she foul mouthed? Did she rip them off? Nope, the story wasn’t interesting at all. She was just a little rude, not even much at all, she probably hadn’t had her morning coffee herself.

This isn’t interesting in itself, but the interesting thing is this – how many other letters has this person written this year? Probably none. So the single most motivating factor in the world for them, the one thing that makes them want to write a letter and take action is a rude lady in a coffee shop.

• Not war, violence and bloodshed,
• Not the irresponsible use of nuclear power,
• Not corrupt politics,
• Not starving children.

Just a rude lady in a coffee shop.

This is why the world is the way it is! We’re caring about the wrong things!

Forget rude ladies in coffee shops. Forget bus drivers that drive past your stop. Forget meaningless celebrity scandals. Forget these and all the rest of the meaningless clatter of our everyday lives. Let’s concentrate on the real issues in the world today. Let’s take action on the important things.

Let’s write letters about things that actually matter!

(If you want to write letters that actually matter visit Avaaz.org)

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When I was a kid my Dad had a round Tuit. Heard of one before? It was an circular plaque that was on the wall of his business.

If you’ve always said that you would get a round Tuit one day then that day has come because here’s one for you to print out for yourself. So what are you waiting for?

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I used to work for a recruitment company and when interviewing candidates we always asked people for examples of how they had done a particular task in the past. For example,

Can you tell me about a time when you were under a lot of pressure and how you dealt with it?

The idea being that how we behave in the past is a good indicator of how we will behave in the future. Experience shows that this is certainly true.

But it doesn’t have to be.

Whether it is or isn’t is entirely up to you.

If you want to learn from your experiences and change for the better then that is your decision. You’ll be in the minority if you do this mind you. Most people are content to keep making the same mistakes without ever learning from them. They repeat, repeat, repeat ad infinitum. I know I’ve done more than my share of repeating stupid mistakes. But there is another way!

Instead of blindly wandering through life, look for ways to learn from your experiences so you can leave this life more evolved than you were when you entered it!

As Albert Einstein said,

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Be different!

Learn from your mistakes and change for the better!

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Think about what you do in your day, the routines you go through, the good things and the bad – are all of those things done for a good reason, for a real purpose?

Probably some of them are.

But definitely some of them aren’t.

Some of what you do is done for the sake of it, or because you’ve always done it, or because you can’t think of a reason to stop doing it, or because you haven’t thought about other ways of doing it, or because it’s the easiest way, or because it’s the safest way, or just…

Some of it is simply habit and if you think about it you’ll probably struggle to find a good reason why you actually do it.

Either way, it’s worth checking.

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What an amazing story!

A child, born to very traditional Christian parents, starts having memories of a past life as a fighter pilot in the Second World War. From the age of two he is able to give them extraordinary details about the planes he flew and the people who he served alongside.

The father is obsessed with disproving the idea of reincarnation as it goes against his devout Christian beliefs. He researches his son’s comments in great detail. His son even names people he fought with in the war and his father is able to track them and their families down.

His father, eventually has to accept the facts of the situation, that indeed his son is a reincarnation of a World War Two fighter pilot who was killed when his plane was shot down in Japan.

Even a sceptic would find this an impressive story – it’s well worth a read!

Check it out on Amazon

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When ordinary people like you or I are apathetic we give our voice to others who are less so.

When we stand back and allow the world to carry on as it is we also allow others who feel more strongly to have their voice heard more clearly. The loudest and strongest end up getting things their way.

On a case by case basis the effects are insignificant but when this happens on a massive scale the effects can be catastrophic.

In 48 hours, nearly half the British mass media could be bought by one of the world’s worst media moguls.

Right now Rupert Murdoch is attempting to further consolidate his grip on power by expanding in the UK – much to the outrage of the less apathetic among us.

As his voice grows louder, our voices fade away.

But we can still be heard collectively!

I encourage you to use your voice and sign the Avaaz petition urging the UK goverment to stop this from happening.

Sign the Avaaz petition to stop Rupert Murdoch

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Simply become aware of the problems of others.

Feeling sorry for yourself? Take a walk around the children’s ward of your local hospital. Stop and talk to the kids. Ask them why they’re there and see how they are coping.

If you are a human being this is guaranteed to work.

Perhaps you have really big problems in your life and you see the point I’m making but you just don’t think it will work?
In that case you should travel to the Congo and find a village in a troubled area. Talk to the local people and hear them talk about the marauding bandits that roam the countryside. Listen to them as they talk about how they live in fear of being attacked. How these bandits could attack their village at any time, unleashing unspeakable atrocities on them.

Then try to think of your own problems.

You will find that an amazing thing has happened.

Your problems will have changed. They are no longer what they once were, they are smaller and less significant. They may even appear petty.

You may even feel embarrassed to have even considered them problems in the first place.

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