Formula For Success

 “Of course there is no formula for success except, perhaps, an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.” ~Arthur Rubinstein

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So ... Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.   Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it :-)Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.They know to Balance between the heart and their brain.

You see, sometimes you’re an observer of other people’s lives and you think you’ll never experience what they’re living, whether it be a positive or negative situation. You think, “That will never happen to me.”Part of the real beauty of life is that it’s unpredictable. Nothing is permanent, everything changes; and of course, a lot of things can happen that will transform who you are and have an impact on your life. The problem is that we need to cultivate the ability to truly accept whatever comes and embrace it.

We need to develop the habit of looking at whatever happens through a positive mindset, instead of a negative and defeatist one.Of course, life will bring many challenges, and it’s not easy to embrace them when we’re suffering and wishing those things would have never happened. But if we start cultivating acceptance in our lives right now, we’ll likely cope with future crises in a different way and view them from a different perspective. We will accept instead of resisting.

Choose not to judge what happens to you. Instead believe that everything happens for a reason and that better things will always follow. That’s the beginning of true acceptance. You never know what can happen in the future. Nothing in this life is permanent, everything changes. And maybe someday you can have what you desire, but if today you can't, you need to let it go and accept that right now you can't have what you want. It's about accepting what is happening right now.I know it’s hard to practice acceptance when you deeply wish things aren’t the way they are. But the truth is, sometimes we can’t change our reality, even though we try.So instead of staring at the closed door in front of us, or getting tired and bruised while we try to break it down, let’s turn around and see how many other windows we have open.

The Precious Gift

People who have a lot of money and no time we call 'rich'. People who have time but no money we call 'poor'. Yet the most precious gifts--care,friendship, time with loved ones--grow only in the sweet soil of unproductive time.

Take a look a your life’s priorities as well as your family’s. Do you all have crazy schedules where you can’t fit in any quality time for people around you? Reevaluate what’s important and necessary in those schedules. In daily life the most precious thing you can give someone is your Time, because when you are giving somebody your time you are giving something that would never come back in your life. This is the piece of your life, you own it. You can never create it in future. The time you give to somebody in your life is exclusively for that person at that point of life.Yet sometimes the idea and value of giving and receiving time is forgotten or unrecognized. Think about it.

When I write this post I remember a story I read Recently.

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie.By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.''Oh, you're such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?'

'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly..'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice.I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice..'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired.Let's go now'.We drove in silence to the address she had given me.

It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.They must have been expecting her.I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.'How much do I owe you?' She asked, reaching into her purse.'Nothing,' I said. 'You have to make a living,' she answered.'There are other passengers,' I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.She held onto me tightly.'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.'

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut.It was the sound of the closing of a life..I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day,I could hardly talk.What if that woman had gotten an angry driver,or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

Of all the things you value in life virtually everything, within reason, is unlimited. You can always make more money, buy more flowers or get more food, Likes or followers or friends on Twitter or Facebook. But time? It’s a rare gem that should be coddled and used wisely.Life passes by too quickly to ignore opportunities to connect with good souls around us. Whether it’s a few minutes or many days, choose to spend some quality time for mankind.

Unconditional Love............

“The most important thing in this world is to learn to give out love, and let it come in.” ~Morrie Schwartz.

Love is a strange and beautiful thing.I always thought I knew what love meant. I grew up hearing the words all the time. It was on Tv,movies in books and magazines, and people all around were saying it.I thought I knew how to love. I mean, I told my teddy bear that I loved him because he kept me safe at night. I told my sister that I loved her, only if she was nice to me and would play the games that I wanted.But If I didn't get gifts form my friends for my birthday or if my sister denied to give her pearl chain to me or If my parents did not get me dress in my favourite pink colour I have felt indifferently.  I seemed to only love the people and things that would give me something in return and that would allow life to go on the way that I wanted it to.

There are times when we say harsh things to people we love just because things aren’t going our way, or because they made us unhappy.In these situations, we find ourselves putting provisions on love. We attach it to how others are acting, and whether they reciprocate the feelings we give to them. We attach it to the circumstances and emotions that go on in a single moment.We find ourselves holding back, fearful of being hurt, afraid to sacrifice a piece of ourselves. But what if we looked beyond all this and just loved?Love because you’re grateful for the things someone has done for you. Love because someone needs you, needs a friend to lean on during their struggles. Love even when it is difficult, even when your mind tells you that you shouldn’t.

Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. I’m not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I’ve learned over the years is that learning to accept each others faults – and choosing to celebrate each others differences – is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.Love by looking beyond people’s faults, struggles, and whatever pain and hardships that life may bring. This unconditional love is something that can so easily be given if we recognize it, and that can change someone else’s life completely. When we love and treat each other with the utmost care and attention, the little things that bother us seem far less overwhelming.What would the world be like if we stopped looking to get something in return, and just loved unconditionally, for the happiness and inner peace it brings us all?