Some Thing(s) To Smile About

I recently picked up a new book (well, actually my mom picked it off the shelf XD) to read. It's called "Something Else To Smile About" by Zig Ziglar, another famous motivator who wrote books like "See You At The Top", which has sold millions of copies worldwide. In this book, he offers some very short and simple but meaningful and inspirational thoughts about life in general and how we can make the most out of it whether in hard times or otherwise. I'm still reading it, but the first few pages I flipped through have generally been thought-provoking. Some of them I've learned through experience, some from John C. Maxwell, while others are new to me.

Let's start of with a little quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

If you learn only methods, you'll be tied to your methods, but if you learn principles you can devise your own methods.

Pretty neat, eh? It's a matter of what goes in our minds that counts. Speaking of which, what influences our thinking? Mostly this influence comes from the people we meet and what we see every day - be it on the telly, the computer or at the movies. If you've noticed, there are times when we absorb the positive traits of a person we meet, or do something that we've seen in the movies, all out of random spontaneity or after some time. We always take in the good, but be warned that we also end up taking in the bad stuff too.

Our performance now will determine our success and happiness in the future. So if you absorb lots of positive elements from your daily life you can be sure that you'll find yourself getting on the right track. When it comes to people involved in the dark side of life, they chose to take in only the bad stuff that will only ruin their lives. It's not unavoidable; all you have to do is watch what you feed into your mind. This food for thought affects our actions and our future as well, so it's best if you control what goes into your head.

Take some time off and think this through. Ask yourself, "What goes into my head? Are they beneficial? Or are they dragging me down? What can I do to avoid being dragged down? Can I change my thoughts in time?" If you can answer all of them then you're on the right track.