The True Nature of Crisis is an Opportunity in Disguise

One of my Chinese friends once told me that the word “crisis” in chinese is made out of two characters “crisis” and “opportunity”. He said that the Chinese believe that the true nature of crisis is an opportunity in disguise.

The nature of a cirisis is devastating and most people are not trained to endure crisis these days. Most people will lose heart and blinded by emotion when faced with crisis. Hence most will not see an opportunity within a crisis. But there are some people who can endure the unendurable and seek an opportunity that exists within a crisis situation.

So if you are facing some kind of crisis in your life right now, don’t panic and don’t lose heart. Try your best to endure the crisis. It is within the process of endurance, opportunity will surface and reveal itself.

Mahatma Gandhi once wrote…

God is the toughest taskmaster I have known.
He tries you through and through.
When you find your faith or your body is failing you, and you are sinking,
He comes to your assistance.
He proves to you that you must not lose your faith…
I cannot recall a single instance when,
at the eleventh hour, He has forsaken me.

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Self Help: Tips To Reduce Stress Through Breathing

Everyday we breathe without consciously aware how we actually do it. Breathing technique is very important in any form of exercise. During an exercise, experts always tell us to exhale upon exertion and inhale upon release. The reason for this is to lower the risk of getting injured internally.

A simple inhaling and exhaling act can be very effective to reduce stress. Next time, when you feel overwhelmed by something, try this exercise… Shift your attention to your breathing. Sit up with your spine straight and your head facing forward. Inhale slowly through your nose and exhale through your mouth.

As you inhale and exhale, feel your breath as it circulates your nose and mouth. Notice how your chest or belly rises and falls. This will immediately slow down your heart rate and calm you down. You will feel better and more prepared to cope with the situation at hand. This technique of reducing stress through breathing is simple to do yet very effective. Try it, it works!

A Few Easy Steps For Overcoming Procrastination

Does this sound familiar? You wake up in the morning; have your coffee; read your list of things to do today; then go back to bed.  Is this procrastination, or a more serious problem?  If it occurs more than once; it is.  However, people procrastinate for a variety of reasons such as; fear of failing or succeeding; poor organizational skills; and sometimes, a lack of self-esteem. In this post you will learn a few easy tips in overcoming procrastination.

Fear of Failing or Succeeding:
If you fall into this category, there are certain tasks you can perform to understand your resistance. Ask yourself what are you most afraid of; the task, the requirements needed to fulfill the task; the outcome, or possible failure? Perhaps it may go even deeper. Maybe you are afraid you will succeed. Most often, there is a tendency to sabotage a certain project because in succeeding, you are meeting the high expectation others have about you and your work. Thus, more pressure is being placed upon you; and therefore, no excuses can suffice in exceeding those expectations.

Fear of rejection can be another reason why you cling to procrastination. This may originate from low-self esteem; or a lingering uncertainty within your own mind. It can also be generated from a past rejection which has resurfaced by the task itself. Do not place so much importance on what others think; affirming confidence in your own abilities is the key to overcoming rejection. You may feel a slight twinge, but will be able to brush it off if you just remember who you are.

Organizational Skills: Create a Small List:
Instead of pressuring yourself by including twenty or more things to do on your list, create small lists of five things to do. Managing your life in this way will make it easier for you to complete the tasks; leaving you with a feeling of accomplishment. Do not allow anyone or anything to overpower you; your life; or your achievements.

Lack of Self Esteem and Motivation:
Lack of self-esteem prevents you from completing the easiest task. Why? Either because you do not feel you are worthy of the challenge, or because you feel you are not good enough to complete it. Motivation is a good place to begin. Start with an easy task first; then gradually work your way up to full completion. Your confidence will build; you will feel more positive about what you can accomplish, and you will be less likely to avoid the next task at hand.

Lift the Weight off Your Shoulders:
Here is an analogy which may help you. Food shopping requires a list, correct? Each time a product is placed in the shopping cart, you cross it off the list.  Well, following the same procedure with other tasks in your life will lift the weight off your shoulders, and the burden will disappear. The secret is not to overload your mind with tasks neither you nor anyone else can handle. Take it one step at a time. Remember, no one is testing you; there is no time-clock. There is no pressure.

Self Help Tip - How To Overcome Your Fear

To vercome your fear, you must first find the courage to face fear. Here is the technique I learned to have the courage to face fear: Mentally take your fear out and put it in front of you, stare into the eyes of fear. Your fear will become less intense when you are looking into its eyes. In some cases, your fear will completely disappear.

So don’t be afraid, have the courage to stare your fear into its eyes. You will soon realize that the fear is weakened when you look into its eyes.

For example, let say you are scheduled to talk in front of a group and you feel nervous and fearful. Now, mentally take the fear out in front of you and stare at it. Just say to yourself that you are going to talk naturally in front of people, you will tell them what you are going to tell them, you are going to talk straight to the point, no mumbo jumbo! You are just sharing what you know and you are going to prepare what you are going to share. If you do that, your fear of speaking in front of a group will lessen.

You can’t get rid of fear completely but you can manage and control it.

Let’s me leave you with the following sacred writing from the ANCIENT HINDU SCRIPTURE :

The content of fear may be intense and gripping, so much so that it overwhelms us completely. But when we look beyond that content at the fear itself, we will find pure energy which, if we focus on it directly, will begin to reveal its real nature. Then, instead of filling us with agitation, the energy of fear can actually lead us to a state of exhilaration, or intense concentration, or love.

overcome fear

Benefits of Positive Thinking on Your Health

There was a woman whose entire life was surrounded by negativity. After a time, she too became as negative as the people around her. Conversations with her would involve past memories that were sad and depressing, and there seemed to be no laughter in her voice. As her depression grew, there was no longer room for the light and she soon died of cancer.

Positive thinking is synonymous with good health. Any doctor or psychologist will tell you that being in a state of depression will only cause illness, but living in a state of happiness can guarantee a longer life span.

There have been so many stories written about men and women who lived until hundred or more years old. When asked what attributed to their longevity, part of the answer would always include the words “positive thinking”, “positive outlook” and “happiness.”

Positive thinking has the power that can lift you out of yourself and allow you to grab on to life with full of passion. It can cheer up even the grumpiest of people. It can even turn Scrooge into a loving, caring and giving individual.

Live a life full of positive people such as family and friends. Avoid those people who are full of negativity or have a view of life that always leaves them sad and dejected. Don’t try to control everything, this will only lead you to depression, stress and negativity. Control only those that are within your control and leave the rest to fate.

Positive thinking can be attained through affirmations. Said daily, they can immediately take you out of the bad mood you’re in and literally make you feel more happy. You can meditate as well using a mantra of your own choosing. Whatever it takes, the moment you feel downhearted, think about those who have nothing. Think of those who are caught in wars and famine and of those who have no family or friends.

Be happy and surround yourself with people who make you happy. You will live longer and be more happier by living a positive and healthy life.

positive thinking

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind

It is said that we have a mind that is operating in two diffrerent levels: the conscious and subconscious. The conscious mind is the reasoning mind. It is the one that decides and makes choices. For example, you decide not to go to gym today, you decide to buy a red car, you choose what to wear to a party tonight, and so on.

On the other hand, your subconscious mind doesn’t reason things out like your conscious mind does. It accepts everything your conscious mind throws at it. It will never argue or fight with your conscious mind. So whatever the conscious mind thinks it is, the subconscious mind will accept.

For example, if you think that you are right, even though you’re wrong, your subconscious will accept that you’re right and proceed to bring about the results.

The subconscious mind will never go to sleep, it always on the mode of accepting commands (good and bad) and quietly executes them one by one to generate the results you asked. It never raises any question or objection.

How to Take Advantage of the Power of Subconscious Mind?

Knowing that the subconscious mind never goes to sleep and always on a receiving mode, you should take advantage of it by continously injecting positive thoughts to it. Always try your best to avoid putting negative thoughts to your subconscious mind. Any time when you are thinking about something negative, hold it for a second and change into the positive one.

Always contributing positive thoughts such as happiness, joy, health, peace, respect, harmony and abundance into your subconscious mind. As time goes by, all these positive thoughts will slowly and quietly emerge and take shape. It will guide and lead you to take the right actions and produce the positive results you want. The subconscious mind is that powerful. Believe it.

power of subconscious mind

Everyone was borne with personal powers. For example, we have the power to believe, power to feel and power to make choices. All of us have 24 hours a day, some people choose to ignore their powers while others utilize and develop their powers every day.

Personal powers are the resources available for us when we were born. It will be a waste if we don’t make use of them. Those who use their personal powers everyday can become powerful people. Those who choose to ignore them will experience power outages in their life. Now you know why there are people who succeed and there are people who fail.

So start using your powerful resources. Don’t waste them and never let power outages occur in your life. It’s very difficult to start the generator when you have the power outages

“What we do today, at this very moment, will have a cumulative effect on all our tomorrows“. - Alexandra Stoddard.

Unleash your personal power engine today. Start to believe in yourselve and willing to make choices. Set goals, establish priorities and persevere until you achieve your goals. When you do that, new opportunity will open up. Choose to make it happen. Start Now!

Do your best in whatever areas you are doing each day and try your best to keep improving on what you do each day. Of course, there must always be a balance. If you work hard, play hard as well. If you workout, don’t forget to rest as well. Learning to balance your life is very important.

Remember we all have 24 hours a day, if you try to work more than 24 hours, you will be depleted and exhausted but if you choose not to use your 24 hours in a productive way, you will feel very unfulfilled and frustrated.

Finally, let me leave this beautiful quote from Abraham Lincoln: “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years“.