Have you ever heard the quote by Mark Twain “The world owes you nothing, it was here first?” A conversation I had today with one of my students got me thinking. Why does everyone think we’re just entitled to success? The truth is…

You don’t deserve anything.

Yet, you deserve to have it all.

Does that make sense? Two opposites, that at only the highest level of awareness – can you sit at both completely comfortable and content being in both realties. Because both are true. The world is unfortunately set up for your failure. All the odds are against you? But aren’t there promises blatantly scribed in the worlds most ancient scriptures proclaiming we are and we become what we seek.

This isn’t the Law of Attraction.

I’m not about the “woo woo” — Really. I’m not!

Here’s what I am saying. Today you have the option to become whatever you want. You have the option to design the life. And your current situation is the direct consequence by your design (or default) in the past.

And I’m talking about specifics.

My aunt and I were speaking yesterday about the power of prayer. Now, we may not have the same God (if you need one, I can introduce you to mine)… but I think we can both agree on the power of prayer.

A young man was telling a story in a book about how for months he prayed to God asking for a bicycle and a desk. Discouraged and in tears one night, this kid sought his God to question Him “Why are you forgetting me? I’ve been praying ever so diligently” God responded; “You’ve asked for nothing, I have no idea what bicycle you want, there are thousands of varieties…and you desk? How big? What color? Do you want a chair too?”

The boy stirred up his faith and his Design Cap and captured his dream bike and desk on paper. He wanted an American bike (was from Asia) and a desk made of Philippine mahogany. After some time in thought, he went back to sleep.

The best part of the story was a few months later he had the exact bike he wanted and the desk he longed for.

What do you want? Looking for a spouse? Have you clearly written down exactly what your ideal spouse looks like, sounds like, does for a living, their body type, race, occupation?

How about your dream business or clientele? I know for me, when I am designing my life – I don’t ask for just “more customers” What kind of customers do you want? I want those that are absolutely in love with my product. That refer me their colleagues. Ones that will reorder religiously.

This works for everything!

Once things are clearly defined and you realize that as much as you are worth every bit to receive this (oh, and that’s so important) now you have to set your sights on accepting it into your life.

There is nothing that will stomp on a dream or a vision or a plan than lack of faith and crossed arms. Open wide.

There is a common phrase we hear so often “Ask and you shall receive,” but they sometimes leave out the next portion “Seek and you shall find.”

The next step is to seek the information. Seek the prospects (business or romantic LOL!). To seek is to act. To act is to win.

Be a winner!

Unknown Author

Music: ‘Hope’ © Margi Harrell

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I woke up early today, excited over all I get to do before the clock strikes midnight. I have responsibilities to fulfill today. I am important. My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have.

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.

Today I can feel sad that I don’t have more money or I can be glad that my finances encourage me to plan my purchases wisely and guide me away from waste.

Today I can grumble about my health or I can rejoice that I am alive.

Today I can lament over all that my parents didn’t give me when I was growing up or I can feel grateful that they allowed me to be born.

Today I can cry because roses have thorns or I can celebrate that thorns have roses.

Today I can mourn my lack of friends or I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover new relationships.

Today I can whine because I have to go to work or I can shout for joy because I have a job to do.

Today I can complain because I have to go to school or eagerly open my mind and fill it with rich new tidbits of knowledge.

Today I can murmur dejectedly because I have to do housework or I can feel honored because the Lord has provided shelter for my mind, body and soul.

Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped. And here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping.

What today will be like is up to me. I get to choose what kind of day I will have!

Have a GREAT DAY! Unless you have other plans.

Author Unknown
Submitted by: Jayden

Music: ‘solitude’ © Margi Harrell

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A Christian is a keyhole through which other folk see God. – Robert E. Gibson

We should live our lives as though Christ was coming this afternoon. – Jimmy Carter

Life is an adventure in forgiveness. – Norman Cousins

To be like Christ is to be a Christian. – Daniel Webster

One on God’s side is a majority. – Wendell Phillips

The measure of a Christian is not in the height of his grasp but in the depth of his love. – Clarence Jordan

True happiness is not found in any other reward than that of being united with God. – Thomas Merton

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired. – Martin Luther

Never think that God’s delays are God’s denials. Hold on! hold fast! hold out! Patience is genius – Georges L.L. de Buffon

The purpose of Christianity is not to avoid difficulty, but to produce a character adequate to meet it when it comes. It does not make life easy; rather it tries to make us great enough for life. – James L. Christensen

Music: ‘solitude’ © Margi Harrell

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Don’t look for the flaws as you go through life;
And even when you find them,
It is wise and kind to be somewhat blind
And look for the virtue behind them.
For the cloudiest night has a hint of light
Somewhere in its shadows hiding;
It is better by far to hunt for a star,
Than the spots on the sun abiding.

The current of life runs ever away
To the bosom of God’s great ocean.
Don’t set your force ‘gainst the river’s course
And think to alter its motion.
Don’t waste a curse on the universe-
Remember it lived before you.
Don’t butt at the storm with your puny form,
But bend and let it go o’er you.

The world will never adjust itself
To suit your whims to the letter.
Some things must go wrong your whole life long,
And the sooner you know it the better.
It is folly to fight with the Infinite,
And go under at last in the wrestle;
The wiser man shapes into God’s plan
As water shapes into a vessel.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Poems of Optimism by Ella Wheeler Wilcox


Music: ‘Left Alone’ © Yuko Ohigashi

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David Morse — American missionary to India — became great friends there with the pearl-diver, Rambhau. Many an evening he spent in Rambhau’s cabin reading to him from the Bible, and explaining to him God’s way of salvation.

Rambhau enjoyed listening to the Word of God, but whenever the missionary tried to get Rambhau to accept Christ as his Savior — he would shake his head and reply, “Your Christian way to heaven is too easy for me! I cannot accept it. If ever I should find admittance to heaven in that manner — I would feel like a pauper there…like a beggar who has been let in out of pity. I may be proud — but I want to deserve, I want to earn my place in heaven — and so I am going to work for it.”

Nothing the missionary could say seemed to have any effect on Rambhau’s decision, and so quite a few years slipped by. One evening, however, the missionary heard a knock on his door, and on going to open it he found Rambhau there.

“Come in, dear friend,” said Morse.

“No,” said the pearl-diver. “I want you to come with me to my house, Sahib, for a short time — I have something to show you. Please do not say ‘No’.”

“Of course I’ll come,” replied the missionary. As they neared his house, Rambhau said: “In a week’s time I start working for my place in heaven; I am leaving for Delhi — and I am going there on my knees.”

“Man, you are crazy! It’s nine hundred miles to Delhi, and the skin will break on your knees, and you will have blood-poisoning or leprosy before you get to Bombay.”

“No, I must get to Delhi,” affirmed Rambhau, “and the immortals will reward me for it! The suffering will be sweet — for it will purchase heaven for me!”

“Rambhau, my friend — you can’t. How can I bear you to do it — when Jesus Christ has suffered and died to purchase heaven for you!”

But the old man could not be moved. “You are my dearest friend on earth, Sahib Morse. Through all these years you have stood by me in sickness, in want — you have been sometimes my only friend. But even you cannot turn me from my desire to purchase eternal bliss…I must go to Delhi!”

Inside the hut Morse was seated in the very chair Rambhau had specially built for him — where on so many occasions he had read to him the Bible.

Rambhau left the room to return soon with a small but heavy English strongbox. “I have had this box for years,” said he, “and I keep only one thing in it. Now I will tell you about it, Sahib Morse. I once had a son…”

“A son! Why, Rambhau, you have never before said a word about him!”

“No, Sahib, I couldn’t.” Even as he spoke the diver’s eyes were moistened.

“Now I must tell you, for soon I will leave, and who knows whether I shall ever return? My son was a diver too. He was the best pearl diver on the coasts of India. He had the swiftest dive, the keenest eye, the strongest arm, the longest breath of any man who ever sought for pearls.

What joy he brought to me! Most pearls, as you know, have some defect or blemish only the expert can discern, but my boy always dreamed of finding the ‘perfect’ pearl — one beyond all that was ever found. One day he found it! But even when he saw it — he had been under water too long… That pearl cost him his life, for he died soon after.”

The old pearl diver bowed his head. For a moment his whole body shook, but there was no sound. “All these years,” he continued, “I have kept this pearl — but now I am going, not to return, and to you, my best friend — I am giving my pearl.”

The old man worked the combination on the strongbox and drew from it a carefully wrapped package. Gently opening the cotton, he picked up a mammoth pearl and placed it in the hand of the missionary.

It was one of the largest pearls ever found off the coast of India, and glowed with a luster and brilliance never seen in cultured pearls. It would have brought a fabulous sum in any market.

For a moment the missionary was speechless and gazed with awe. “Rambhau! What a pearl!”

“That pearl, Sahib, is perfect,” replied the Indian quietly. The missionary looked up quickly with a new thought: Was not this the very opportunity and occasion he had prayed for — to make Rambhau understand the value of Christ’s sacrifice? So he said, designedly, “Rambhau, this is a wonderful pearl, an amazing pearl. Let me buy it. I would give you ten thousand dollars for it.”

“Sahib! What do you mean?”

“Well, I will give you fifteen thousand dollars for it, or if it takes more — I will work for it.”

“Sahib,” said Rambhau, stiffening his whole body, “this pearl is beyond price. No man in all the world has money enough to pay what this pearl is worth to me. On the market a million dollars could not buy it. I will not sell it to you. You may only have it as a gift.”

“No, Rambhau, I cannot accept that. As much as I want the pearl, I cannot accept it that way. Perhaps I am proud, but that is too easy. I must pay for it, or work for it…”

The old pearl-diver was stunned. “You don’t understand at all, Sahib. Don’t you see. My only son gave his life to get this pearl, and I wouldn’t sell it for any money. Its worth is in the life-blood of my son. I cannot sell this — but I can give it to you. Just accept it in token of the love I bear you.”

The missionary was choked, and for a moment could not speak. Then he gripped the hand of the old man. “Rambhau,” he said in a low voice, “don’t you see? My words are just what you have been saying to God all the time.”

The diver looked long and searchingly at the missionary, and slowly, slowly he began to understand. “God is offering you salvation as a free gift,” said the missionary. “It is so great and priceless that no man on earth can buy it. Millions of dollars are too little. No man on earth could earn it. His life would be millions of years too short. No man is good enough to deserve it. It cost God the life-blood of His only Son to make the entrance for you into heaven. In a million years, in a hundred pilgrimages, you could not earn that entrance. All you can do is to accept it as a token of God’s love for you — a sinner.

“Rambhau, of course I will accept the pearl in deep humility, praying God that I may be worthy of your love. Rambhau, won’t you accept God’s great gift of heaven, too, in deep humility, knowing it cost Him the death of His Son to offer it to you?”

Great tears were now rolling down the cheeks of the old man. The veil was beginning to lift. “Sahib, I see it now. I have believed in the doctrine of Jesus for the last two years, but I could not believe that His salvation was free. Now I understand. Some things are too priceless to be bought or earned. Sahib, I will accept His salvation!”

Submitted by: Josh

Music: ‘solitude’ © Margi Harrell

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Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the famous 19th-century poet and artist, was once approached by an elderly man. The old fellow had some sketches and drawings that he wanted Rossetti to look at and tell him if they were any good, or if they at least showed potential talent.

Rossetti looked them over carefully. After the first few, he knew that they were worthless, showing not the least sign of artistic talent. But Rossetti was a kind man, and he told the elderly man as gently as possible that the pictures were without much value and showed little talent. He was sorry, but he could not lie to the man.

The visitor was disappointed, but seemed to expect Rossetti’s judgment. He then apologized for taking up Rossetti?s time, but would he just look at a few more drawings – these done by a young art student?

Rossetti looked over the second batch of sketches and immediately became enthusiastic over the talent they revealed. “These,” he said, “oh, these are good. This young student has great talent. He should be given every help and encouragement in his career as an artist. He has a great future if he will work hard and stick to it.”

Rossetti could see that the old fellow was deeply moved. “Who is this fine young artist?” he asked. “Your son?”

“No,” said the old man sadly. “It is me – 40 years ago. If only I had heard your praise then! For you see, I got discouraged and gave up – too soon.”

Submitted by: Evita


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When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I saw you make my favorite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I heard you say a prayer, and I knew there is a God I could always talk to and I learned to trust in God.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick,
and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing
and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don’t.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it
and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I saw how you handled your responsibilities,
even when you didn’t feel good
and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it’s all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I learned most of life’s lessons that
I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I looked at you and wanted to say, “Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.”

Submitted by: Thomas


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Many of us, when we look at ourselves, tend to feel lonely and bored. Why? It is because we have not seen the deeper layers of
our self.

We look at ourselves only in the realm of the mind, or at the level of the body and never look at the deeper layers. If you don’t look at the deeper layers of yourself, you find yourself empty and shallow and experience a sense of loneliness. When you experience a sense of loneliness, you find that your life is utterly boring.

However, if you are meditative with reference to your self, you will see that your body, mind and intellect are the periphery of your personality. In the deeper layers of yourself, there is the pure Saakshi Chaitanya.

When you understand the deeper layers of yourself, you will become content and blissful. In that state you experience not loneliness, but aloneness. And the moment you start experiencing aloneness you will find that the quality of your life becomes very different. Therefore, with reference to your own self, learn to be more meditative. What does it mean, to be meditative?

If you are not meditative, you will find your life to be in bondage, in shackles; the more you are meditative with reference to your self, the more will be the freedom of your life, the more liberated your life will be. Therefore, being non-meditative to one’s self leads to bandhana or bondage, whereas meditativeness with reference to one’s self leads to a state of nirvana or kaivalya or moksha . Therefore, it is a great responsibility on us, whether we are in grihasthashram or sanyasashram , to learn to be more meditative with reference to our self.

A king was looking for a suitable candidate for the post of prime minister. After several tests, three people were short-listed. The next day was the final test. There was a rumor that the king had a magic lock, created by a clever craftsman, which can be opened only with great skill and knowledge. And whoever unlocked it, would be the prime minister.

Hearing the rumor, two of the selected candidates acquired a lot of books on locks. They spent the whole night going through the mathematical equations relating to locks. The third person was very relaxed. The other two commented to each other that this fellow was a fool. Instead of making the best use of the time he is relaxing! The next morning, all three were taken to the palace. And the rumor turned out to be true. The king said whoever unlocks the lock created by a master craftsman will be prime minister.

These two people felt very happy thinking that it was good that they had referred to many books and then they went and looked at the lock. Once again they returned to the books and started referring to them to find out a solution to the problem, whereas the third person, looking relaxed, went there and looked at the lock and pulled it, and to his surprise, it opened. In fact, it was not locked at all. The other two were still busy referring to the books.

In the meantime, the king announced that the third person had been selected as prime minister. The other two asked him, “You never referred to any book on locks, how did you unlock it?” And the king said, “The very first thing that a prime minister should do is that he should know whether the problem really exists or not, before trying to solve it.”

If you do not know whether the problem exists or not and if you try to solve it, the whole effort becomes futile. Here the problem was that the lock was not fastened. And these two persons assumed it was locked and with that assumption they tried to solve the problem. Therefore, they found that they had wasted their time.

We feel we are in bondage. We have to really start looking within. We’ll find that our fears are imaginary; we imagine that we are bound.

Submitted by: Jonhny

Music: ‘Dream’ © Margi Harrell

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