A fantastic way to live

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old


To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 42 lessons life taught me.
It is the most-requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

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

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

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

6. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

7. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

8. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

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

10. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

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

12. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

13. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

14. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

15. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

16. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

17. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

18. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer...

19. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie... Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

20. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

21. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

22. The most important sex organ is the brain.

23. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

24. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

25. Always choose life.

26. Forgive everyone everything.

27. What other people think of you is none of your business.

28. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

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

31. Believe in miracles.

32. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

33. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

34. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

35. Your children get only one childhood.

36. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

37. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

38. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

39. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

40. The best is yet to come.

41. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

42. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

The Charlie Schulz Philosophy

> The Charlie Schulz Philosophy
> (This is marvelous!! Scroll thru slowly and read carefully to receive
> and enjoy full effect)
> The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the
> 'Peanuts' comic strip.
> You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read straight
> through and you'll get the point.
> 1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
> 2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
> 3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
> 4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
> 5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and
> actress.
> 6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.
> How did you do?
> The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.
> These are no second-rate achievers.
> They are the best in their fields.
> But the applause dies.
> Awards tarnish.
> Achievements are forgotten.
> Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
> Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
> 1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
> 2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
> 3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
> 4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and
> special!!
> 5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
> Easier?
> The Lesson:
> The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the
> most credentials, the most money, or the most awards.
> They simply are the ones who care the most!
>

Concentrate on this Sentence

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence... 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

There comes a point in your life when you realize:

Who matters,
Who never did,
Who won't anymore...
And who always will.
So, don't worry about people from your past,
there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.
Give these flowers to everyone you don't want to lose in 2009
including me, if that's what is in your heart.
Try to collect 5 ; it's not easy!

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

I've just finished Mitch Albom's book, 'The five people you meet in heaven.' It's only a short story, but comforting nonetheless.

The following text struck a chord with me:

"You died. You were forty-seven. You were the best person any of us knew, and you died and you lost everything. And I lost everything. I lost the only woman I ever loved."

She took his hands. "No, you didn't. I was right here. And you loved me anyway.

"Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form, that's all. You can't see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it.

"Life has to end," she said. "Love doesn't."

While the book is talking about the love bonded in marriage, I feel this is also true for the love in a family, which is the the reason why I wanted to share it with you.

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee... You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her t o the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean , mother?'

Her mother explained that! each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff ? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The b ean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy..

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Quote for Today...

There's one sad truth in life I've found
While journeying east and west -
The only folks we really wound
Are those we love the best.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

How to Fold a Dollar Into a Heart

Have you ever received a two dollar bill as change and did not want to use it? Fold it into a heart and keep it in your wallet or give it to a friend. A $20 bill can be used instead to make a cute gift.



Click on this link for a closer look

About This Blog

What is an Enneagram?

The enneagram figure is believed to have originated around 2500 BC. It is a nine-pointed figure inscribed in a circle and it's name derives from two Greek words, ennea (nine) and grammi (line).



The meaning of the symbol itself, together with specific category types organized around the nine points, convey a system of knowledge about nine distinct but interrelated areas of personal growth - or nine ways of seeing and experiencing the world.

My goal is to utilise the Enneagram for mapping and understanding nine areas of personal growth and development; for us to look at ourselves in new and different ways, and for us to ultimately become better people.

These areas are:

Family
Desmond Tutu once wrote, "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." I will forever be indebted for what my family has sacrificed for me, present and past. And I hope to grow by continuing to appreciate everything they are for me. The Joyce Brothers wrote, "When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses."

Spiritual
Jack Kornfield wrote, "To undertake a genuine spiritual path is not to avoid difficulties, but to learn the art of making mistakes wakefully, to bring them to the transformative power of our heart." The goal of this blog is that very journey of learning that art.

Financial
"We live by the Golden Rule. Those who have the gold make the rules," Buzzie Bavasi once said, and Zig Ziglar reinforced this when he said. "Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on the "gotta have it" scale." For me money is about balance to which this blog seeks to find, as George Horace Lorimer once said, "It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy."

Self/Personal
Louis L'Amour's quote captures the very essence of this blog, "Up to a point a man's life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him. Then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be. Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune, or the quirks of fate. Everyone has it within his power to say, "This I am today; that I will be tomorrow."

Also, H.F. Hedge wrote, "Every man is his own ancestor, and every man his own heir. He devises his own future, and he inherits his own past." In The Prison and the Angel, Henry Van Dyke said, "Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul." Through this blog I hope we can break out of our individual prisons and comfort zones to become the best we can possibly be.

Professional/Work
In Scnes de la vie Parisienne, Honoré de Balzac wrote, "An unfulfilled vocation drains the color from a man's entire existence." A view Jackson Browne reinforced, "Find a job you like and you add five days to every week." he said. Our jobs and careers can bring out the best in us.

Charles Kingsley wrote, "Thank God every morning when you get up, that you have something to do that day which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work and forced to do your best will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle never know."

Health
The greatest wealth is health. James West wrote, "Health is a large word. It embraces not the body only, but the mind and spirit as well;... and not today's pain or pleasure alone, but the whole being and outlook of a man." Arguably the most important of all the nine, as (George William Curtis wrote) "Happiness lies, first of all, in health."

Social
My blog Dom Forth Presents... focused heavily on some of the better social aspects of life. We are (afterall) social creatures. Yet, socializing nonstop without personal improvement is an opportunity wasted. "We Are the Sum Total of the Five People We Spend The Most Time With" Jim Rohn once said. Do the goals of your social groups match your own?

Education
This quote by William Haley encapsulates the very essence of my belief in education. "Education would be much more effective if its purpose was to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they do not know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it. Great stuff!

Finally, the last area is Travel. Jawaharial Nehru once wrote, “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” I hope that through my travels I can become complete, but am fully aware that it is not travel itself that determines the individual. As Henry Miller wrote, “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” Too true.

Is it a coincidence that it is these 9 areas that are so important? The number nine is a most remarkable number in many respects. It is held in great reverence by all who study the occult sciences; and in mathematical science it possesses properties and powers which are found in no other number.

In his book, The Enneagram, Understanding Yourself and the Others in Your Life, Palmer wrote that each Enneagram number, or style, is based on a pattern of where attention goes. By learning about what kinds of things one habitually attends to and puts energy into, one can observe oneself more accurately and develop more self-awareness.

And, that enhancing one’s self awareness with the help of the Enneagram, one can exercise more choice about one’s functioning rather than engaging in patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior in an automatic, habitual, unconscious way.

It is my goal for us to improve all of theses areas by really challenging these 9 specific areas of life. If it can help us look at ourselves in new and different ways, and we become better people then I'll be happy :)