Feel the Meaning of Life

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them: Work, Family, Health, Friends, Spirit. And you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls — family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.

How?

Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special. Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you. Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would cling to your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life. Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us each together. Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave. Don't shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings. Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going.

Your Inner Passion in Your Heart

Everyone — every person in this world has a Dream: a passion, a vision in their life that pulls them and urges them to move forward in life. You, my friend have this vision within you, it “whispers” to you occasionally, but in some cases it cries out. It cries out to be listened to and acted upon because this vision comes from your soul.

Within this “Inner Vision” there lies the magic of living your life with passion, fulfillment and purpose. This means being true to who you really are — and living your life on purpose with all the passion and energy you are capable of living.

When you live within your inner passions-you'11 never have to seek approval from others — you'll “chart your own course” and be the master of your own destiny. More importantly, you’ll feel whole, connected and inspired.

Find your inner fire，your sense of purpose; this fire will help you harness strengths you’re not even aware you have. Be connected with your inner passions — your Life’s Dreams, and live that passion every day.

Learn to Live in the Present Moment

To a large degree, the measure of our peace of mind is determined by how much we are able to live in the present moment. Irrespective of what happened yesterday or last year, and what may or may not happen tomorrow, the present moment is where you are - always!

Without question, many of us have mastered the neurotic art of spending much of our lives worrying about a variety of things - all at once. We allow past problems and future concerns to dominate our present moments, so much so that we end up anxious, frustrated, depressed, and hopeless. On the flip side, we also postpone our gratification, our stated priorities, and our happiness, often convincing ourselves that "someday" will be better than today. Unfortunately, the same mental dynamics that tell us to look toward the future will only repeat themselves so that "someday" never actually arrives. John Lennon once said, "Life is what's happening while we're busy making other plans." When we're busy making "other plans", our children are busy growing up, and people we love are moving away and dying, our bodies are getting out of shape, and our dreams are slipping away. In short, we miss out on life.

Many people live as if life were a dress rehearsal for some later date. It isn't. In fact, no one has a guarantee that he or she will be here tomorrow. Now is the only time we have, and the only time that we have any control over. When our attention is in the present moment, we push fear from our minds. Fear is the concern over events that might happen in the future - we won't have enough money, our children will get into trouble, we will get old and die, whatever.

To combat fear, the best strategy is to learn to bring your attention back to the present. Mark Twain said, "I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened." I don't think I can say it any better. Practice keeping your attention on the here and now. Your efforts will pay great dividends.

Living in Big Cities

Why are so many people so anxious to get away from the small town or village where they were brought up, and to make for the big cities? They usually describe their hometown as "boring" or "dead," or - the harshest criticism of all - as "provincial."

If we examine the question from a distance, as if we were viewing the whole country from a long way off, we start to get a clue about what it is that lures us into the big cities. The main point to notice about big cities is that they are big: there are a lot of people, and there are a lot of things going on. If you look down on a city, literally from a great distance, from an airplane at night, you will be struck by the incredible brightness of a city: there are so many lights that you cannot help feeling that all the bright things of life are down there waiting for you. But a feeling of disappointment will set in shortly after you land, because you will discover as you drive into the city center from the airport that the lights are just that: lights, miles and miles of street lights and neon signs. They are not in themselves sources of joy and happiness: city lights are not friendly, they are merely lights. In fact, the effect will probably be to make you feel lonely and isolated.

And yet the city lures us, because it is not provincial like the dead little town we have left behind us. "Provincial" is in fact our way of describing not the town but the attitude of the people. In our little town, we know (or think we know) everybody. And what we know about them is that they do not want to go anywhere, or to do anything outside to normal routine of their everyday lives. Unlike us, they have no sense of adventure, no longing for new experiences or new horizons.

So we look down on them, pity or despise them, pack our bags, and make for the big world which we know is out there, where the bright lights are. Then a curious thing happens. We find a job, make a small circle of friends and acquaintances, and move into some cramped accommodation. Gradually we get to know our section of the city, its shops and its people, and for a while, we begin to feel at home. It is small enough, our part of the city, for us not to feel lost or anonymous. We, in effect, create another little village for ourselves within the big city. The ultimate irony comes when we rent a television set so that we can stay in at night and watch exactly the same programs that our despised country cousins watch. Soon we too become "provincial", and others who live round us will be glad to get up and leave us behind.

The happy door

Happiness is like a pebble dropped into a pool to set in motion an ever-widening circle of ripples. As Stevenson has said, being happy is a duty.

There is no exact definition of the word happiness. Happy people are happy for all sorts of reasons. The key is not wealth or physical well-being since we find beggars, invalids and so-called failures, who are extremely happy.

Being happy is a sort of unexpected dividend. But staying happy is an accomplishment, a triumph of soul and character. It is not selfish to strive for it. It is, indeed, a duty to ourselves and others.

Being unhappy is like an infectious disease. It causes people to shrink away from the sufferer. He soon finds himself alone, miserable and embittered. There is, however, a cure so simple as to seem, at first glance, ridiculous; if you don’t feel happy, pretend to be!

It works. Before long you will find that instead of repelling people, you attract them. You discover how deeply rewarding it is to be the center of wider and wider circles of good will.

Then the make-believe becomes a reality. You possess the secret of peace of mind, and can forget yourself in being of service to others.

Being happy, once it is realized as a duty and established as a habit, opens doors into unimaginable gardens thronged with grateful friends.

The Crystal Shoes

"Hi! John." Mary ran towards me with a rare bright smile on her face,saying, "I'm gonna have a dance performance tonight I hope you'll come. Here is the ticket. Don't forget!" She left in a hurry, disappearing in the throngs of people quickly.

"What?" I just came to my mind, "What performance? Dance? Is that credible?" I asked myself. Mary was not such kind of girl. She was a quite ordinary one. I had never seen her making up or wearing attractive clothes, moreover, she always wore her big black-frame glasses, for she did not know how to dress up indeed. What a terrible thing, especially for a plain girl!

"I should go to. I must go to. That's a miracle!" I thought.

I arrived at the hall with the ticket, and found my seat. Her performance was the seventh one. I knew I would suffer from a hard time before her turn, for I had no sense of art, but her performance was worth watching, no matter how long I would wait for.

Time went slowly. I struggled with myself not to fall asleep.

"Let's welcome the next exciting dance--Latin!" Applause fulfilled the hall at once.

I opened my eyes as large as possible, fearing to lose anything. Wearing a golden and shining skirt, Mary appeared on the glorious stage. Her dress went well with the brilliant lights. Such scene seemed to be a mermaiden showing up under the glittering sunshine. Meanwhile, I could feel all the audience in the hall focused their eyes on her and it was also hard for me to remove my sights from her. She was so beautiful: her stature was slim; her long golden hair lay back in curls over her delicate ears. Dancing with a charming smile, she was fully absorbed in the Latin music. At this moment, she looked like a pretty butterfly flying on the splendid stage... I could hardly believe my eyes.

After all the performance ended, I waited for her at the gate.

"Hi!" She stood in front of me with a bag and her crystal high-heeled shoes in her hands, and dressed as she used to be, but the making-up still could be seen.

"How do you feel?" There was not a little bit tired expression on her face.

"Fantastic!" I answered.

"Haha. I knew it would be." She could not conceal her excitement, laughing like a child.

"May I lend a hand?"

"Thank you!" She handed her crystal shoes to me which were shining in the wonderful starry night; at the mean time, I realized that every girl has a pair of special shoes which are like the crystal shoes of Cinderella.

One day a wealthy family man

One day a wealthy family man took his son on a trip to the country so he could have his son see how poor country people were.

They stayed one day and one night in the farmhouse of a very humble farm. On the way back home at the end of the trip the father asked the son,"What did you think of the trip?"

The son replied,"Very nice, Dad."

The father then asked, "Did you notice how poor they were?"

The son replied,"Yes, I guess so."

The father then added, "And what did you learn?"

To this question, the son thought for a moment and answered slowly, " I learned that we have one dog in the house and they have four. We have a fountain in the garden and they have a stream that has no end."

We have fancy lanterns in our garden, while they have the stars. Our garden goes to the edge of our yard, but for their back yard they have the entire horizon!

At the end of the son's reply, the rich father was speechless. His son then added: "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we really are."

Isn't it true that all depends on the lens you use to see life?


If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude toward life, you've got everything! You can't buy any of these things. You can have all the material possessions you can imagine, provisions for the future, etc., but if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing!