Strength does not come from physical capacity.
Strength comes from an indomitable will.
  - Mahatma Gandhi


Not everything that counts can be counted, and
not everything that can be counted counts.
  - Albert Einstein


Whenever you take a step forward, you are bound to disturb
something.  You disturb the air as you go forward, you
disturb the dust, the ground.  You trample upon things.
When a whole society moves forward, this trampling is on
a much bigger scale; and each thing that you disturb, each
vested interest which you want to remove, stands as an
obstacle.
  - Indira Gandhi



The character ethic, which I believe to be the foundation of
success, teaches that there are basic principles of effective
living, and that people can only experience true success and
enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles
into their basic character.
  - Stephen R. Covey

It was the late 1940s. Eastern Airline's chair, Captain Eddie
Rickenbacker, had a problem. Customers were complaining because the
airline was mishandling luggage far too often. When nothing else
seemed to work, he decided to take drastic action.

Rickenbacker called a special meeting of the management personnel in
Miami. Eastern's management flew to Miami and was told their baggage
would be delivered to their hotel rooms. Instead, Rickenbacker had
the luggage stored overnight.

It was summer, the weather was hot and humid and the hotel had no
air-conditioning. The various managers showed up to the meeting the
next morning unshaven, teeth unbrushed and wearing dirty clothes.

There was no sign of the baggage all that day. But that night
Rickenbacker had it delivered, at 3:00 a.m., with a great pounding on
all the doors.

He opened the next morning's session by saying, "Now you know how the
customer feels when you mishandle his luggage." He knew his team
would be ineffective until his people empathized with their
customers!

The same is true with us. Until we understand another's problem, we
will never be effective in business or relationships. And the deepest
understanding occurs when we actually sense what the other is
feeling. When husbands and wives, parents and children, friends,
colleagues, and associates will take time to feel what the other is
feeling, something wonderful is likely to happen.

Sounds to me like a chance worth taking!

__________
This reading is found in Steve Goodier's popular book
ONE MINUTE CAN CHANGE A LIFE
        60-second readings of hope and encouragement.

"Organization doesn't really accomplish anything.  Plans
don't accomplish anything, either.  Theories of management
don't much matter.  Endeavors succeed or fail because of
the people involved.  Only by attracting the best people will
you accomplish great deeds."

In a brain-based economy, your best assets are people.  We've heard
this expression so often that it's become trite.  But how many leaders
really "walk the talk" with this stuff?  Too often, people are assumed
to be empty chess pieces to be moved around by grand viziers, which
may explain why so many top managers immerse their calendar time in
deal making, restructuring and the latest management fad.  How many
immerse themselves in the goal of creating an environment where the
best, the brightest, the most creative are attracted, retained and,
most importantly, unleashed?

    - General Colin Powell

Life is like a blanket too short.  You pull it up and your
toes rebel, you yank it down and shivers meander about your
shoulder; but cheerful folks manage to draw their knees up
and pass a very comfortable night.
  - Marion Howard


Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and
old authors to read.
   - Sir Francis Bacon


Whenever anyone says "theoretically",
they really mean "not really".
    - Dave Parnas


Man's rich with little, were his judgement true,
Nature is frugal and her wants are few,
Those few wants, answered, bring sincere delights,
But fools create themselves new appetites.
Fancy and pride seek things at vast expense,
Which relish not to reasn nor to sense,
Like cats in airpumps to subsist we strive,
On joys to thin to keep the soul alive.
     - Poor Richard's Alamanac, Early 18th century


*************
On to occasion of Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, we wish all
our readers, happiness, peace and prosperity.....

"Here's the way I believe it all works. Many possible paths to our
best lives have been written for us. There are many doorways into
the mansion of bliss. Just as there are many routes you can take to
get home from work, there are many routes you can take to get to
your biggest life, the life that has been meant for you - and
getting there is a homecoming of sorts as well. There are many jobs
you can take that will get you to your destiny. Similarly, there are
many soulmates available to you, each offering different lessons,
but all able to help you grow into and awaken your best self.
Getting to your highest self and biggest life is the main purpose of
life. Getting home to the place of brilliance, love and fearlessness
you have forgotten is the reason for your existence. Now it is up to
you which route or path you take as you attempt to get to your
authentic life. No one path is better than the other - they just
look different. Taking one path might mean a longer trip, just like
taking one particular route home may mean you need to travel a
longer distance and face a few bumpier roads. Taking another path
might be like taking an expressway to your destination, with a
smooth ride and cloudless blue skies. It's up to you. It is, in
large part, determined by the choices you make within the moments of
your days. You co-write the script that has been written for the
story of your life....."

From: Discover your Destiny With the Monk who sold his Ferrari by
Robin Sharma, Jaico Publishing House, 2005

People who migrate through crucibles - a time of testing, when a
certain kind of courage is needed and when one comes out stronger,
with a more robust passion, and a more robust embrace of life - become
bigger people. Gandhi is a beautiful example of someone who went
through many crucibles in his life, many of them not widely known. And
after every one of them he became bigger, more certain and
understanding of his capacity to engage and mobilize people for
freedom. We all have our crucibles and some of us come through them
while others collapse and become martyrs or victims. That's the worst
response one can have to crucibles.

   - Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business Administration,
University of Sothern California's Marshall School of Business (From
Corporate Dossier, The Economic Times, Nov 4, 2005)

First is the danger of futility; the belief there is nothing
one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of
the world's ills--against misery and ignorance, injustice
and violence.  Yet many of the world's great movements, of
thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man.
  - Robert F. Kennedy


No time for your health today?
No health for your time tomorrow.
  - Irish Proverb



If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light.  Take off
all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and
fears.
  - Glenn Clark


To get your ideas across use small words, big ideas,
and short sentences.
  - John Henry Patterson


The mind is like the stomach.
It's not how much you put into it,
but how much it digests.
  - Albert Jay Nock

"You don't know what you can get away with until you try."

You know the expression, "it's easier to get forgiveness than
permission."  Well, it's true.  Good leaders don't wait for official
blessing to try things out.  They're prudent, not reckless.  But they
also realize a fact of life in most organizations: if you ask enough
people for permission, you'll inevitably come up against someone who
believes his job is to say "no."  So the moral is, don't ask.  Less
effective middle managers endorsed the sentiment, "If I haven't
explicitly been told 'yes,' I can't do it," whereas the good ones
believed, "If I haven't explicitly been told 'no,' I can."  There's a
world of difference between these two points of view.

     - General Colin Powell

Do everything with a mind that lets go.
If you let go a little, you will have a little peace.
If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.
If you let go completely, you will know complete peace and freedom.
Your struggles with the world will have come to an end.
                by Achaan Chah

From bestspirituality.com

Expect the best, prepare for the worst and don't be
surprised when you get what you deserve.
  - Lionel Goulet


Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.
  - Sophia Loren


Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men
and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit.
   -Conrad Hilton

Wherever you see a successful business, someone once made a
courageous decision.
    -Peter Drucker

Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that
stirs in your heart, beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness
that drapes your finest thoughts, for out of them will grow all
delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you
remain true to them, your world will at last be built.

  - James Allen in As You Think

The following prayer (or affirmation) was presented at a talk at All
India Management Association in New Delhi recently by Ms Ratna Khemani,
an internationally acclaimed personality counsellor.
(www.geocities.com/rkhemani2001/).

Repeated every day, it can work wonders!



Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
I have no doubts, no fears & no worries.
I will encourage myself, motivate myself, support myself.
I am confident, I am capable, I am successful.
I am an asset to myself & to all around me.
Because of me the world is a better place to live.
My first temple is my mind, my second temple is my home, my third
temple is my office and my fourth temple is my neighbourhood. I will
bring a mesage of love, beauty, truth & goodness to all these temples.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it
is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
    - Seneca the Younger

You may not think that living with others is an art,
but it is the finest and most difficult of arts.
By learning it early in life, you can save yourself
many unpleasant experiences.
    - Mary Mercedes, "A Book of Courtesy"

Not until we are lost do we begin to find ourselves.
    - Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

A blush is the color of virtue.
     - Diogenes

A young man wished to marry the farmer's beautiful daughter. He went
to the farmer to ask his permission. The farmer looked him over and
said, "Son, go stand out in that field. I'm going to release three
bulls, one at a time. If you can catch the tail of any one of the
three bulls, you can marry my daughter."

The young man stood in the pasture awaiting the first bull. The barn
door opened and out ran the biggest, meanest-looking bull
he had ever seen. He decided that one of the next bulls had to be a
better choice than this one, so he ran over to the side and let the
bull pass through the pasture out the back gate. The barn door
opened again. Unbelievable. He had never seen anything so big and
fierce in his life.

It stood pawing the ground, grunting, slinging slobber as it eyed
him. Whatever the next bull was like, it had to be a better choice
than this one. He ran to the fence and let the bull pass through the
pasture, out the back gate.

The door opened a third time. A smile came across his face. This was
the weakest, scrawniest little bull he had ever seen. This one was
his bull. As the bull came running by, he positioned himself just
right and jumped at just the exact moment. He grabbed... but the
bull had no tail!

Life is full of opportunities. Some will be easy to take advantage
of, some will be difficult. But once we let them pass (often in  of
something better), those opportunities may never again be available.
So always grab the first opportunity . . .

        - Anon (from www.4minutesperday.com)

We are 2000 members strong today!

We would like to expand the group further.

If you have enjoyed our mails, please recommend the group to at least
5 friends.

They can join by sending a blank email to:

Suvigya-subscribe@...

Your help is very much appreciated!!

SOme new services are planned for 2006 which we are sure you will find
useful.

Thanks and regards

The Suvigya Team

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 to the kitchen. She filled three
pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came
to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she
placed eggs, and 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 do you see?"


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


             She brought her closer and asked her to feel the
carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her
to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she
observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her 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-but 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 bean 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 to
another level? How do you handle adversity?


             Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?


             Count your blessings . . . not your problems.


             You are what you believe.  BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!


Lisa Leguenec  http://www.goals2004.com

If you love, forgive,
If you don't love, forget.
      - Anon

The way to happiness: keep your heart free from hate,
your mind from worry.  Live simply, expect little, give
much.  Fill your life with love.  Scatter sunshine.
Forget self, think of others.  Do as you would be done
by.  Try this for a week and you will be surprised.
      - Norman Vincent Peale


There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing
is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
       -  Albert Einstein


One must learn by doing the thing, for though you think you know it,
you have no certainty until you try.
       - Aristotle (384-322BC) Greek Philosopher

Promise Yourself
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and
make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the
best and expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success
of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press
on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of
yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger,
too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------

Optimist International adopted this creed in 1922. The first time it
was published, it appeared in 1912 in a book titled: "Your Forces
and How to Use Them."

Christian D. Larson, an outstanding writer and lecturer who believed
that we all have the capacity to reach new heights with the right
attitude, is the author of the creed.

The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this
constantly in mind.  Weak desires bring weak results, just as a
small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.
        - Napoleon Hill


Worry is interest paid on trouble before it comes due.
        - William R. Inge


An executive cannot gradually dismiss details.  Business is made up
of details and I notice that the chief executive who dismisses them
is quite likely to dismiss his business.
        - Harvey S. Firestone


Happiness comes to those who are moving toward something they want
very much to happen.  And it almost always involves making someone
else happy.
       - Earl Nightingale

The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost  five. Waiting
with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of
glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?" Quickly
the mother checked the back of the little foil  box and then looked
back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.

"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them,
I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save
enough money to buy  them for yourself.

Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp
dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank  and counted
out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores
and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could
pick dandelions for ten cents.

On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at
last she had enough money to buy  the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed  up  and grown
up. She wore them everywhere - Sunday school, kindergarten, even to
bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or
had a bubble bath.

Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck  green. Jenny
had a very loving daddy and every night  when she was ready for bed,
he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a
story.

One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny,  "Do you love
me?" "Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love  you."

"Then give me your pearls." "Oh, Daddy, not my pearls.  But you can
have Princess - the white horse from my collection. The one with the
pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favorite."

"That's okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good  night." And he brushed
her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked
again, "Do you love me?"

"Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my  baby doll. The brand
new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have
the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves
you" And as always, he brushed her  cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny  was sitting on her
bed with her legs crossed  Indian-style. As he came close, he
noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her
cheek.

"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?" Jenny didn't say anything
but lifted her little hand
up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl
necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, Daddy. It's
for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes,Jenny's kind daddy reached out
with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other
hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case
with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.

He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the
dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure.

So as it is with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give
up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful
treasure.


Isn't God good?

Are you holding onto things which God wants you  to let go of?

Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners,
relationships, habits and activities which you have come so attached
to that it seems impossible to let go of?

Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand, but do
believe this one thing..................

GOD WILL NEVER TAKE AWAY SOMETHING WITHOUT GIVING YOU SOMETHING
BETTER TO TAKE ITS PLACE


- Anon

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to
conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in
the introduction of a new order of things, because the innovator has
for enemies all those who have done well under the old condition, and
lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.

      - The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli

As the old year changes to the new, we wish our readers every
happiness, satisfaction and abundance in all facets of their life in
the year ahead....HAPPY NEW YEAR

-----------------------
Column By Audrina Jones Bunton
-----------------------


It is a beautiful sunny spring day, the flowers are
blooming, the birds are singing, and you find yourself on a
road with a beautiful scenic route. All of a sudden, you hit
the brakes and realize that you have come to a crossroad.


Wait a minute you say, this crossroad is not supposed to be
here. This was supposed to be a straight and easy path. What
happened, and where did it come from?


This crossroad is much like life. In our lives, there comes
a time when we find ourselves at a crossroad -- at the
crossroad of decision. We find ourselves at a place where we
are on the road of no return, and do not know which way to
go.


Wishing that we can turn back to re-do various things that
we cannot change, or wishing that we can just simply do
various things completely different. The road of no-return
exists in all of our lives, but it is not the road of no-
return that should concern us at this present crossroad --
it is the road of the future.


Which road to take, or not to take is vital, and because the
road of no return is what brought you here, it is also the
road of no return that will allow you to decide on which
road to take for the future.


This road may mean a new relationship, or making changes in
your existing relationship. This road may mean a new job.
This road may mean self-enlightenment or spiritual renewal.
This road may mean making a big move in various areas of
your life.


Whatever your crossroad may be -- you must choose it wisely
and carefully. And remember, the road you take today will
determine where you will find yourself tomorrow.


Make the decision today to take the right road. Choose the
road that will allow you to live purposefully -- because
after all, this is your life.
__________
Audrina Jones Bunton is a genuine Motivator on a heart-felt
mission to encourage and inspire people to live life
purposefully and fulfilled. To learn more about living your
life on purpose, go to: http://www.purposefully-living.com

"All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination.
Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning
mind energy into accomplishment and wealth."
            —Napoleon Hill


"Man was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and
endowed with the seeds of greatness."
            -Zig Ziglar


Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result.
             –Oscar Wilde


I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to
endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity.
             –Eleanor Roosevelt

The 8 Myths About Creating Wealth

by Nikola Grubisa
---------------------------------

You have probably read or heard about various myths (these are
the truths that are valid only for certain cases, but not in
general) surrounding wealth and wealthy people, all of which
hinder your quest for financial independence. Here are the most
common and most destructive:


Myth No. 1:
How much you earn depends on how hard you work

If this were true, then the physical, blue-collar workers, who
have been working hard for years, would have been the wealthiest
people on earth. Of course, this isn't true. They form most of
the workforce and the vast majority of the middle-class.

If you witnessed your parents coming home tired from a long day's
work in your youth, you probably learned that money wasn't a
sufficient reward for all that effort. People who work "just" for
the money often have debts because they comfort themselves with
whatever they can buy, beautiful things they lack when working.


Myth No. 2:
Being paid for something you enjoy isn't work and you shouldn't ask
for money for doing something that is enjoyable.

Check this with millionaires. They all have so much money that
they don't need to work anymore. Nevertheless, they work for
other reasons, challenge, satisfaction, fullness of life,
activity, fun ... and all are connected to a love for their work.
If there was no joy in doing a certain task, they would do
something else that would make them much happier and that enables
them to realize their dreams.

In fact, if you don't enjoy your work, you will never become
wealthy doing it! However, just because you enjoy your work
doesn't mean you shouldn't get paid for it - in fact, that is the
ultimate goal, to get paid for what you already enjoy so it never
feels like you are at work!


Myth No. 3:
You need to be in the right line of business to amass wealth

Do you think so? This must mean that all the people who are
involved in the same business are millionaires. Of course, this
isn't true. In each business there are winners and losers;
winners abound, even in businesses that consist of distasteful
(to most) or "impossible" work like sweeping the streets,
collecting the trash, working in a factory, pumping gas, selling
newspapers, etc. On the other hand, there are just as many
"losers" in businesses like selling real estate, management or
being a stockbroker.


Myth No. 4:
You need the right education to make a fortune

Are the most educated people really the wealthiest? Not at all!
In this case, university professors would be the wealthiest
people on earth. Ask them about their salaries, if you get the
opportunity. The truth is vastly different - the wealthiest
people are those who can convert their knowledge (or education)
into money, in the best possible way. They can be highly educated
people (like inventors, scientists, etc.) or almost ignorant.
Being formally uneducated does not equate to poor performance on
the job or the inability to form a strong enough vision to carry
a person to success - they can easily be experts without having a
formal education.


Myth No. 5:
It used to be easier

Statistics show an increase in the number of millionaires in the
world every year. Talking about the "good old times" only offers
comfort and a convenient excuse. If you look around, you'll see
there are people who behaved the same way in the "good old times"
as they do now, yet their success has been recent. With
technology and progress come new ideas, desires and needs and
there are more business opportunities appearing daily to serve
them.


Myth No. 6:
I'm too old (young)

If you research the life stories of some of the most successful
people, you'll see that this isn't true at all. Some became
wealthy early in their lives (perhaps from the stock market),
while others found their fortune in their old age. Ray Kroc, was
more than fifty years old when he bought and made the first
McDonald's.


Myth No. 7:
I don't have enough money to start. You have to spend money to make
money.

This is no different from any other excuse or "myth." Like the
others, it's obvious this one isn't true either. Many have made
their fortunes starting from scratch, living in an apartment or
working out of their garage and yet, they developed business
empires that are worth billions of dollars today. The other
elements of success are far more important than having seed money
to start a business.

But yes, often money helps and it certainly doesn't hurt. Like
everything else discussed in other myths: it probably helps, but
it is not always necessary.

Myth No. 8:
I'll begin when I know everything

Do you believe that you will know everything someday? Or even
that you'll know enough to ever be "really prepared now?" The
more you learn, the more you see what you still need to learn.
Success and obtaining wealth is a dynamic process. Even if you
"could" come out of the gate knowing everything there is to know,
some of those elements will change immediately and many will
change rapidly. If you don't decide now, nothing will happen.

Live and learn.

Some millionaires have even allowed themselves to go bankrupt and
then (even faster) recreated their wealth, sometimes even greater
than before. money itself isn't the obstacle that is keeping you
from being wealthy. If you're really good in your business, don't
worry, because someone that will offer you money (a bank or
business partner) will appear who will appreciate your talent
knowing you are a very good investment opportunity. But you can't
sit around waiting for this - make it happen.

Exercise "taking action" as much as you can. Make your workplace
better or more efficient. After all, even if someone else signs
your paycheck, you really work for you. Even if you are an
employee in a large corporation - it isn't your corporation - but
it is the only corporation through which you can prove what you
are capable of right now.

All of us have what it takes to become a millionaire! Born
winners, yet few of us know how to take advantage of and
cultivate the possibilities hidden inside our own mind!
No one can ever grant you greater potential than your heart
already holds…you need only discover its contents to find the one
true path to your success in life. Born with the seeds to our
success, the greatest decisions must always come from the inside!
You will discover a new, deep well of fortune – yourself!

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Nikola Grubisa is a European Mŕrketing and HRM Consultant and the
co-author of a European bestseller "The milliňnaire Mindset: How
to Tap Real Wealth from Within". Discover more wealth secrets in his
superb ebook...
http://www.aksworld.com/Resources/MMind.htm
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I will always remember Stella. Elderly, blind and living alone, one
might think she should have spun long tales of hardship and misery.
And I suppose she could have told such stories, but she made little
room in her life for self-pity. She might have mentioned the deaths
of friends and family, including her husband; the glaucoma that
finally claimed her eyesight; the small pension on which she was
forced to subsist and the arthritis that kept her homebound in a
little trailer house. And nobody could blame her had she despaired
that she had grown so dependent on others.

She never did lament about all her hardships, either past or present.
But I frequently recall her enumerating her good fortune. Speaking of
her son, she often said: "My Jimmy came to see me today. He's so good
to me!" Of her friends, she often commented: "I've been talking on
the phone all morning. I'm so thankful I have such good friends."
Then, with a broad smile and a slap on her knee, she would invariably
exclaim, "I'm the richest person in the world!"

And maybe she was! She had love. She found it in her friends, her
family and her faith. She had everything she needed for a happy and
fulfilled life. And what's more, she knew it.

Stella spoke of her upcoming 90th birthday. "All my family will be
here," she smiled. Then slapping her knee, she exclaimed, "You know,
I'm the richest person in the world!"

But she barely made that birthday celebration herself. Several days
prior she was laid in a hospital bed and slipped into a coma. Her
family was told she would die shortly. I felt sad that she would not
experience her long-awaited celebration.

However, a strange thing happened. On the day of her birthday, she
opened her eyes and greeted the smiling faces of family and friends
surrounding her bed. She sat up and enjoyed birthday cake while
someone read cards. They told her they loved her and they said,
"Good-bye." At one point, she looked at me with that familiar twinkle
in her eye, smiled and whispered, "I'm the richest person in the
world!"

Stella went to sleep that night and slipped peacefully away. I have
often wondered if she felt sorry for those who have everything but
happiness. After all, they could be just as wealthy and happy as she,
if they only realized that the greatest of all riches is love.

Thanks to Stella, I have now decided to become the richest person in
the world! And I think I can!
__________

This reading is found in Steve Goodier's popular book
JOY ALONG THE WAY [Newly Reprinted!]
60-second readings that make the trip worthwhile

The Rose

Author unknown

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army
uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through
Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew,
but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose.

His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida
library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not
with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the
margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and
insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the
previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell.

With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York
City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to
correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in
World War II. During the next year and one month the two grew to
know each other through the mail.

Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was
budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt
that if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked like.
When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they
scheduled their first meeting - 7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station
in New York.

"You'll recognize me," she wrote, "by the red rose I'll be wearing
on my lapel." So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl
whose heart he loved, but whose face he'd never seen. I'll let Mr.
Blanchard tell you what happened:

A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her
blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were
blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her
pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward
her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose.
As I moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips. "Going my
way, sailor?" she murmured.

Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw
Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A
woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat.
She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-
heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I
felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow
her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had
truly companioned me and upheld my own. And there she stood. Her
pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm
and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate.

My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that
was to identify me to her. This would not be love, but it would be
something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a
friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful. I squared
my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even
though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my
disappointment.

"I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am
so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?" The woman's
face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is
about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who
just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she
said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you
that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street.
She said it was some kind of test!"

It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom.
The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the
nattractive.

"Tell me whom you love," Houssaye wrote, "And I will tell you who
you are..."

"Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it.
Autograph your work with excellence."
               - Oscar Wilde


`Your situation may not always be in your control but your attitude
is.'
              - Tracy Brinkmann


"If you're serious about becoming a wealthy, powerful, sophisticated,
healthy, influential, cultured and unique individual, keep a journal.
Don't trust your memory. When you listen to something valuable, write
it down. When you come across something important, write it down."
              – Jim Rohn

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for."
          - John Lubbock



A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to
blame someone else.
          – John Burroughs


"The weakest living creature, by concentrating his powers on a single
object, can accomplish something; whereas the strongest, by dispersing
his over many, may fail to accomplish anything."
           - Thomas Carlyle

I was in darkness, but I took three steps and found myself
in paradise.

The first step was a good thought;

the second, a good word; and,

the third, a good deed.

Author unknown

Love and magic have a great deal in common.They enrich the soul,
delight the heart. And they both take practice.
        - Nora Roberts


Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow
is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only
different kinds of good weather.
        - John Ruskin

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your
envies, jealousies, unforgiveness,selfishness, and fears.
        - Glenn Clark


Every man has three characters:
   that which he exhibits,
   that which he has,
   that which he thinks he has.
        - Franz Kafka