Artist: Emile Munier (1840-1895) Serenity The real sign of serenity is not seen so much in the face, as found in the depth and stillness of the eyes. Balance in Life The indication of balance in life is a sense of well-being, optimism and a clear conscience. The foundation for achieving this is to look after ourselves spiritually - making our mind peaceful, loving and thoughtful at all times. Then we will instinctively know how much time to spend on our own well-being and how much on fulfilling other responsibilities. We can only give our best to others when we are ourselves at our best. Limiting Influences On Your Decision Making Ability It is extremely important to realize that, in any situation, you have the power to choose whether your response in that situation will be passive or pro-active, positive or negative, indifferent or attentive etc. You choose what action you take and how you feel. But do you exercise your power of choice all the time? You need to check which factors influence your decision making and push you either in one direction or the other? There are many factors that control and limit your power to make the right, and more importantly, free choices. These factors primarily include influences of people that dominate your ways of thinking, your beliefs, your attitudes, even your complete personalities, etc. You are also limited by the influence of your own fears, attachments, desires, biases or other negative and waste thoughts, which result in a lack of focus. There are a lot of people who are not used to thinking for themselves or even prefer being a 'yes' man going along with what others think and say, without having an opinion of their own. Also as you pass through your childhood and teenage life and enter adulthood, you acquire many preconceived ideas or beliefs from your family and social and cultural environment; that is why you assume inside that some things or people are always positive and others are always negative when, in fact, that's not necessarily true. This directly affects the type of decisions you make, each time there is a requirement for one. In any particular situation, courage, wisdom, high self-esteem and focus is required to sit down calmly and make an assessment about the possible choices before you, and then finally make the right decision. The more you practice relaxation, positive thinking and meditation, the more you rise above all the negatively influencing factors mentioned above , the more you experience the positive qualities and powers mentioned above and exercise your power of choice accurately and with confidence. (To be continued tomorrow ....) Soul Sustenance To Complement And Not To Compete (Part 1) Harmony, well-being and the fulfillment of individual purpose are only possible when our consciousness is universal or inclusive (taking everyone into consideration) in the sense that we can recognize and appreciate the purpose and necessity of all things in life and, therefore, give them the space to express their basic right to be. When people, either on an individual or collective level are no longer universal or they are exclusive (no longer taking everyone into consideration), that is, when the foundation of their identity is based on ego and superiority, then harmony, peace and certainly love are lost both in the individual and in society. Individuals, societies, nations, religions and politics all do not remain universal when they are gifted a particular specialty, talent or position. While it is healthy and necessary to value who you are, it becomes most unhealthy and violent to become attached to your special qualities, making others feel inferior because they do not possess those same qualities. The reason for conflict, on any level, is nearly always this sense of right to dominate or suppress others because we feel we are better in one way or another. Unfortunately, in modern society, the idea of outdoing others in order to prove the value of the person, or idea, has overtaken the basic principle of life, which is complementarity. When we learn to complement rather than compete, there will be peace and, above all, self-respect. Self-respect means to recognize myself as I am and thus fulfill my purpose without injury to, or comparison with, others. (To be continued tomorrow …) Message for the day The true joy of living lies in the ability to enjoy the present moment. Expression: The one who is able to remain in the present is able to learn from the past and bring out the best from the self. Also there is a clear vision of the future, so all the energies are directed towards that vision. The mind is neither totally caught up with the past nor with the future. Since there is attention on the present moment, there is the ability to use it to the fullest extent. Experience: When I am in the present I am able to remain in the awareness of the gifts of the present. Having learnt from the past I am able to enrich myself from the different experiences that I have had. As I am also clear about where I have to go, I enjoy the journey and also move on towards constant success.