Thursday, June 30, 2011

Thought of the day 30th of June 2011

Quotes about joy is the topic of the post on the blog ‘Thought for the day’ today. I was thinking maybe too much what to write on this last day of the month and finally decided that joy could be a good theme. Too many people are overpowered by sadness today and see nothing bright for the future. Very few of them can enjoy what they have and not to look at things they do not have. We could feel tremendous bliss daily if we only thought about those little things that God has given us and gives us daily. Let’s hope quotes on joy will help us to see it better and find good reasons for enjoyment. 

Joy lies in the fight, in the attempt, in the suffering involved, not in the victory itself” by Mahatma Gandhi. 

I do think that process of doing something is not less important that the very thing that is being done. We experience anticipation, excitement, and challenge when we are in the process of trying to achieve something. Let us keep this joy in the process of doing the simplest ordinary things in life. 

A joy shared is a joy doubled” author unknown. 

Unlike physical laws, spiritual laws are different. If you give something material to somebody, you lose it. Speaking in spiritual terms, when you share joy, love and other spiritual things with somebody, those things multiply in your life. And if you be persistent and also transform the principle in the material realm, this can also become true with material things too. 

Cheerfulness is the very flower of health” Proverb. 

There would be fewer sick people in the world if there was less sadness. If people laughed more they would never have so many diseases as they have today. So, if you want to be healthy, get more joy today and keep it tomorrow and the day after tomorrow do the same thing. 

Joy is but the sign that creative emotion is fulfilling its purpose” Charles Du Bos. 

It is a pretty natural sign of victory, achievement, accomplishment and successful end of some work. Joy and satisfaction comes when we are able to finish something with success. 

No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy today, mix good cheer with friends today enjoy it and bless God for it” by  Henry Ward Beecher.

Since life is now, you should not plan that you will enjoy it tomorrow, but not today. Who knows, maybe you will not be alive tomorrow. It does not mean you should indulge yourself with some sensual, carnal and sinful pleasures of this world, but that you should grow the fruit of joy by simply taking opportunity to enjoy everything that God gives you. Don’t forget to thank God for everything He gives you.
I hope the quotes about joy blessed you a little. 

See also:


Sadness

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Thought for the day 29th of June 2011


Quotes about moving on

Quotes about moving on is the topic of the post on the blog ‘Thought for the day’ today. We often get stuck in our past experiences and problems; that we forget that life in the past is gone and the real one is now and that which is yet to come. Do not be tied to your past, move on to your real life. I hope the quotes will help you to do that. 

Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today” by James Dean. 

Dreams are a driving force in our lives. We need to meditate on them as often as we can. However, we should also do something about them for we never know when will be our last day here on earth. 

Moving on, is a simple thing, what it leaves behind is hard” by Dave Mustane. 

Most experiences leave a mark on us. They usually have emotional impact, which can be difficult to forget. If they are traumatic they can cause us to remember unpleasant things for years. We not only have to move, but not to concentrate on those experiences and when we do remember them, immediately switch our focus on other things. Of course, firstly, by the means of love of God you have to get healing from the scars that those experiences caused.

When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free” by Catherine Ponder.

When people keep bitterness towards another person, they continue living in the past. The thing about moving on is that you forget both good and bad things so that you could dwell in the good which is prepared for you today and tomorrow. Failing to forgive somebody for the wrong that he/she has done to us, we fail to receive blessings that are now. 

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

I would add that talking is also easy, but to take responsibility for your thoughts and words and act upon them is another thing. If you can stand up for your thoughts and words you are a great person. If you just think and talk and act differently your life will never have spiritual power to bring about changes.
Hope you enjoyed the quotes about moving on. 

See also:


Thoughtful quotes

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Thought of the day 28th of June 2011

Gift of time


Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time” by Jim Rohn. 

Gift of time is exhaustible

 

Gift of time is the topic of the post on the blog ‘Thought for the day’ today. There are a lot of great gifts that God has given us. Time is one of them. All of the gifts have been meant to be used properly and with wisdom. Time is the thing that we have a very small limit of. It is exhaustible. We won’t be on earth forever. One day we will have to leave it and go beyond. There won’t be time there, just everlasting eternity. However, we are here chained by time limits and we should be wise enough not to waste it. If you waste your time you also waste your life for life is made up of time. 

There are resources that are inexhaustible. You cannot say it about time. If you wasted ten years of your life without going after some target, but just living to satisfy your material needs you will never be able to get back that time. However, even if you have been killing your time, you can change and go in the opposite direction by saving your time and using it to your advantage. Let us look at some of the ways how you can use it.

Ways to spend your time


The first and most important thing is to spend time with your Creator in prayer. Some people say that in this life you have to prepare for the one that is to come. I quite agree with that. If you are coming back to your Creator you have to know Him. So spend some time talking to Him and listening to what He has to say to you. 

Find the purpose of your life. By saying that I mean your calling in life. Much has been said about it in my previous posts, so I do not want to expand on it again. You will never be happy if you don’t do what you have been called to. So, find your calling and go after it. 

Spend your time helping others. We are here on earth to help others, show them love. We are here to learn how to give. When you give life increases. This is an eternal universal principle that we should base our lives on. Don’t expect others to give to you before you do that. 

Spend time on developing relationships. People are far more important than things. That’s why you should be spending your time acquiring new friendships rather than acquiring new things. Things won’t bring you such satisfaction as people will and you will give others much greater blessings than things can give them. 

Spend time getting to know the world that God created. This point deals with your leisure time, holidays and the way you spend your free time. We need time to relax and enjoy life, without thinking about complicated stuff in our lives. A good way to do that is outside of cities and town. Get into nature, look how beautiful the world that God created is. This will benefit for other ways of spending your time as well. 

Hope you enjoy the post about gift of time.

See also:


Habit

Monday, June 27, 2011

Thought for the day 27th of June 2011

Peace of mind

 

For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

Peace of mind is the topic of the post on the blog ‘Thought for the day’ today. We are living in an age of turmoil, rush and consequently absolute emotional chaos. We hardly ever stop to calm down our thoughts and feelings and reflect on spiritual matters and state of our souls. That’s why people often lose direction and focus in their lives. They do too many things at a time. Modern technologies which are supposed to give us more time, because we can do our jobs fast, in fact take all our free time away for by means of those gadgets we can do more. And we do more without asking ourselves whether we really need to do that or not. 

Absence of peace of mind lead to problems

 

By behaving in this way we lose peace of mind. Peace protects our thoughts, minds, bodies from very many harmful things. A lot of people are ill because they always experience feelings of anxiety, anger, irritation and etc. These feelings take a heavy toll on our bodies and after years of living under these stress driven feelings our bodies start collapsing. If you are stressed lots of negative chemicals are released into your body that destructive power. And vice versa, when you live in peace, happy chemicals (endorphins) are released into your body and make your body healthier and stronger. 

How do you get peace of mind?

 

You have to get to a place where you could be alone, at least for a couple of minutes. You should calm down all your mental processes and not to think about your daily routine, responsibilities or any other think. When you know that those things ceased, you can start meditating on eternal things: love, joy, God, some verses from Holy Scriptures. Things that are transcendental lift you to a different world where peace, joy and other eternal Heavenly qualities reign. It is very good to do this practice early in the morning, before you start your daily job. You could also try to separate a few minutes during lunch time and spend time alone in a restroom (if you don’t find any other solitary place). And you should do the same procedure before going to bed. This will definitely help you to get peace of mind.

How do you keep peace of mind?

 

In fact, you do the above mentioned practice each day and you will naturally have it. You will also have to learn how to handle stress when it comes. It does come for life has a pretty quick pace nowadays. However, doing things fast does not mean you have to lose peace of mind, get angry, irritated or nervous. Learn to react calmly when stress comes on you. It is your attitude towards the things that you have to do fast make you nervous or help you to stay calm. That’s it. Hope the post helped you to understand importance of having peace of mind.

See also:


Positive attitude in your job

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Positive thought for the day

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results” by Willie Nelson. 

It is natural to thirst for positive results

Positive results is the topic of the post on the blog “Thought for the day’ today. I know that all of us want to be successful. It is natural. Nobody wants to be a loser, failure and unhappy. A man was created to be a victor. We have a deep inside desire for dominion, not for slavery. We want to prosper, not to live in ever continuing financial poverty. We want to be healthy and not sick. We have all these desires from our birth. 

Whey there is so much negative mess around us?

 

However, we see a lot of opposite around us and maybe even in our lives. Where does that come from? I have already talked about the fall of a human being. When Adam sinned he lost his power and authority that has been given to him by his Creator. The lost union with God resulted in various forms of failure. It came into relationship, health, finances. Finally, it resulted in physical death. There would not be death today if there had never been a fall. However, there was a fall and things are as they are today. But it should not stay forever in this kind of status quo. 

How do we restore positive results that have been lost?

 

One of the ways to come back to harmony with God and positive results is to ask God for forgiveness. This restores unity. Then a work with your thoughts begins. You have to clean your mind off all negative thoughts and invite positive ones to reign in your soul. That is the most important aspect in your life if you want to see stable positive results in all spheres of life. Positive thoughts start changing you inside out. They firstly reshape your whole mentality. The result of it is that you start seeing everything in a positive light. 

Positive changes start coming to all spheres of life

 

Then they start affecting your feelings and you start experiencing a large variety of positive feelings: love, joy, satisfaction, happiness and etc. Then, they become words and your speech changes. You no longer pronounce negative words, but positivity saturates your vocabulary. Your reactions to daily life situations, both bad and good, change. You start searching for positive aspects everywhere. Even when something terrible happens you don’t allow yourself to be overcome with grief for a long time, but try to see the event from future perspective and this gives you hope and encouragement. 

Positive results come to your relationships

 

You also start looking at others differently. You don’t criticize them for every mistake they make, but try to notice every good thing they do. So, as you look at people with the eyes of faith, they start liking you and they want to be with you for they know that you will not look upon them with a judgmental attitude but with a look of faith that will help them to rise from their limitations and failures. God bless you in doing that.
I hope you enjoyed positive thought for the day. 

See also:


Saturday, June 25, 2011

Habits

Habit is a cable; we weave a thread each day, and at last we cannot break it” by Horace Mann.
Habit is the topic of my post on the blog ‘Thought for the day’ today. As far as I remember I have dealt a little with the theme when I wrote a post on addictions, but that was long time ago and as I expect to renew the article from time to time I want to try to cover the subject from all possible aspect. Of course, I will not be able to do it today. I think it will be an intro now and will grow to an expanded article later. 

What is a habit?

 

A habit is a repetitive behavior that is done subconsciously. It forms over a period of time and as time passes by the habits that we have formed become stronger and more difficult to change than they are at the stage of habit formation. A subtotal of our habits makes up our personalities and distinguishes us from other people who have a different set of habits. Therefore, I will boldly state that we are who we are because of our habits. But how do we form one?

Habit formation

 

Habit formation is very much connected with our likes. We will definitely form a habit around something we like, good or bad. When we repeat a certain thing for a number of times or days, most probably it will get used to doing it daily. Some say that it takes about two weeks, some about 30 days to form a habit. I am not sure if after that period the practice will become habitual, but more chances are that it will. For some people one day is enough to get addicted to this thing or that. Don’t get me wrong, the same principle works for the good. We can get used to doing a good thing in no time. 

Make a plan how you are going to deal with your bad habits

 

Once a habit is formed it starts controlling our lives. We do the thing automatically. Imagine how destructive it is if the thing we do habitually is bad in itself. It takes time to change it and there has to be willingness and dedication on our part. One should have a definite plan of actions how he is intending to get rid of an old habit and develop a new one. I believe we can not get rid of the old one without accepting the new. There are no empty places in universe and you cannot expect that by simply kicking the old practice something will radically change. No, you will have to form new practices. 

Habits start forming in minds first

 

Any change starts in your mind first. Therefore you should start seeing yourself (in your imagination) without the old thing and doing the new thing. This is called disassociation and association. You begin by disassociating yourself from the old habit and associating yourself with a new one. Do it daily till it becomes a part of your daily (mental) routine.

Learn to control your thoughts

 

You will then have to learn to control your thoughts, which will give you power to control your feelings. You should not be led by your feelings for they will bring you trouble. You cannot behave the way you feel all the time. Allow only thoughts which you select to dominate in your mind, not random ones that cause all possible negative feelings and emotions. 

Find things you enjoy and make them a habit

Since habit formation is connected with things that you like, try to find things that you enjoy and they are not harmful, but beneficial both for you and your family. They should be things that you could do every day for to form a long term practice you need to do the thing every day. This could be reading something inspirational in the morning, or running in the evening, or doing odd jobs about the house. 

Do it every day

 

Then you will have to do the thing every day. It is highly improbable for something to become a new habit if you do it once a week or once in a while. Do it daily for at least 40 days. Then stop to see how much progress you have made. Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t see much change. You will if you go on.
Ok, I guess it’s enough for today. I will try to update the post about change of habits next week.

See also:


Wikipedia on habits

Friday, June 24, 2011

Quotes on thoughts

Quotes on thoughts is the topic of the post on the blog ‘Thought for the day’ today. The entire website deals with importance of your thoughts. I constantly try to cover the topic from every possible aspect. Let us look at what famous people said about thoughts. I believe you will look more carefully at the subject one day than you look at it now. So, let us go to the quotes. 

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world” by Buddha. 

I love the quote. It is so good to know how we can shape and change our worlds. We need to change the cause. That cause is our thoughts. They are like embryos that one day are born and become grownups. Be sure that the things you have inside won’t be seeds that will grow to be monsters that will turn against you after they grow up. 

All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them againJohann Wolfgang von Goethe. 

That is one of the best things that we have. You don’t have to invent anything in terms of controlling your thoughts. Everything has already been described and written somewhere. You simply have to search a little and meditate on what you find. Then practice it daily until it becomes your second nature.  

I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts” by John Locke.

It is sometimes difficult to understand what this or that person is like for you can often say one thing and think absolutely in a different way. Hypocrisy help people to hide who they really are. However, if you want to really see what the person is like and what he really thinks, you should look at his actions. He will not be able to lead a double life all the time. His true self will be expressed by what he does. When you see that you will know what the person really thinks. 

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you” by James Allen. 

This is another way to understand a person and yourself better. You are where you are today, not because somebody else made a decision without you knowing that, but because your thoughts have been drawing you after the nature and direction of those very thoughts. If the destination you have arrived at is not satisfactory, sit down and try to understand what thoughts you have been keeping in your mind. Then change them. 

Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts” by Soren Kierkegaard. 

Don’t be afraid if you notice that various unpleasant thoughts try to creep into your mind. Sometimes those aggressive thoughts attack us, but it is usually for a season. You don’t have to try to get rid of them. There is another very useful and easy way to cast them aside. You simply concentrate on something else and put your interest in the opposite direction. It is important that your dominant thoughts would be in harmony with eternal universal laws and your conscience. Then an occasional thought here and there won’t harm you.
I hope you enjoyed these quotes on thoughts. 

See also:


Attitude

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Negative thinking

Negative thinking is the topic of the post on the ‘Thought for the day’ blog today. I hope you have noticed that I write more on positive thinking in my articles, but I decided to deal with the opposite of it too. I believe we have to stress more the positive aspect of the subject, but as most people suffer from abundance of negativity in their lives, pessimistic way of thinking should also be discussed. I have suffered a lot from the thing and believe can give you some ideas on how to reverse your thoughts from negative to positive. 

What is negative thinking?

 

Negative mentality is seeing everything from a negative point of view. Somehow whatever happens, a person notices only the dark side of a situation. People who are controlled by this kind of thinking fail to notice abundance of good things that happen in their lives daily. This is due to the fact that the pattern of the direction of their thoughts is towards pessimism and any sign of positivism is ignored subconsciously. 

How is negative mentality formed?

 

How does it happen? Nobody is born to be a skeptic. People make themselves that way. In most situations they accept negative mental attitude in their childhood while growing up in environment saturated with pessimism, skepticism and criticism. They hear a lot of bad words, the world for them is painted in the darkest colors, they are taught to distrust everybody. This information is later confirmed in life by their negative experiences and failures. If they fail a few times in a row they start believing that they are born to be failures and are good for nothing. When they fail next time they accept it as part of their personality. This as you may understand becomes a self fulfilling prophecy and they are doomed to repeat the thing till they change their self image and way of thinking. 

Negative feelings are the consequences and negative thinking is the cause

 

The obvious consequence of negative thinking is all possible bad feelings, lack of confidence in all activities that the person undertakes, problems in relationships and many more. When we fail to control our negative thoughts we will never be able to control our feelings. I talked a lot on the point when I discussed influence of thoughts in our lives. Lots of medicine today which is meant to help a person to get rid of bad feelings only affects the effect of the problem, not the root of it. Feelings as you understand are the effect, thoughts are the cause. 

How to get rid of negative thinking?

 

So if you want to change your feelings, change your thoughts. If sadness, depression, hopelessness are your daily reality, try to deal with your thoughts, not with your feelings. The root of negative mentality is negative thoughts that stay in our minds. Replace them with positive ones and half the job is done. Then keep to those thoughts and the other half of the job will be done.
I hope you see how bad consequences of negative thinking are. 

See also:





Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Thoughtful quotes

Thoughtful quotes is the topic of the post. These are meant for people who don’t like shallow content but enjoy thinking deep thoughts. The world today does not like to contemplate, meditate and dwell on more complicated questions. That’s why we are becoming more and more light minded and hardly ever able to see the core of big problems and answer really tough philosophical questions. You choose what kind of personality want to be. You may shift this trend in your life and become a person who searches for truth and embraces it after finding it. Let thoughtful quotes help us in the matter. 

Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes” by Mary Martin.

Don’t confuse those two things. A personality entertaining wishful thinking can never achieve better results than a thoughtful one for wishful thinking does not have a solid foundation for it. A thoughtful person always makes sure that he is building his spiritual house on a firm foundation. 

Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind” by Theodore Roosevelt.

People enjoy action and do not like thinking. That’s why they get into trouble. They do first and think afterwards. Had we changed the order, we would have fewer problems and would be more successful in our choices.

"Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once" by Lillian Dickson.

A lot of people live as if they never die. They waste their precious time, talents, powers and etc. One day, most often at the end of their lives they suddenly wake up. Unfortunately, they cannot change much. Then they spend a lot of time regretting their past actions and lost opportunities to do something significant in life. If that is about you, I am sure you can do something about it. Reevaluate your life and make changes now. Even if that is not much, still change what you want and have to change. This will alter the way you feel about yourself. It’s better late than never. 

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has” by Margaret Mead. 

That’s how changes come. They require dedicated and deep thinking on behalf of those who want to implement them. And you don’t need a lot of people to do that. You need some who would be entirely committed to their task. 

I hope you enjoyed the post and it made you think more seriously about your life. I will update the article from time to time, so be sure to come back to thoughtful quotes post. 

Read my previous post:


Today’s post: