being...

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Colours

Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel. All claimed that they were the best. The most important. The most useful. The favorite.

Green said:
"Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees and leaves. Without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority."

Blue interrupted:
"You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing."

Yellow chuckled:
"You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me there would be no fun."

Orange started next to blow her trumpet:
"I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes, and papayas. I don't hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you."

Red could stand it no longer he shouted out:
"I am the ruler of all of you. I am blood - life's blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood. Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy."

Purple rose up to his full height:
He was very tall and spoke with great pomp: "I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me! They listen and obey."

Finally Indigo spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination:
"Think of me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace."

And so the colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort.

In the midst of the clamor, Rain began to speak:
"You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me."
Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands.

The Rain continued:
"From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The Rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow." And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a Rainbow appears in the sky, let us remember to appreciate one another.

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Life

"Honest criticism is hard to take,
particularly from a relative, a friend,
an acquaintance, or a stranger."
- Franklin P. Jones

"By your stumbling, the world is perfected."
~Sri Aurobindo

"A man’s errors are his portals of discovery."
-James Joyce

"Life is like playing a violin in public
and learning the instrument as one goes on."
- Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

"Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that
I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Americaan essayist and poet

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom
to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be
they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving
other human beings of that precious right."
-Mahatma Gandhi, (1869-1948) Indian natiionalist

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable,
but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."
- George Bernard Shaw

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THE WORLD VILLAGE
Research made by Phillip M. Harter in Standard University revealed that if you could shrink the earth's population to a village of 100 people, with all the existing ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following.

There would be:

57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western Hemisphere both north and
south, 8 Africans.

52 would be female while 48 would be male

70 would be non-white, while 30 would be white

70 would be non-Christian while 30 would be Christian

89 would be heterosexual, while 11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 59% of the entire worlds wealth and all 6 would be
from the United States

80 would be living in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition

1 would be near death, 1 would be near birth.

1 would have a college education

1 would own a computer

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READ THIS. LET IT REALLY SINK IN.
THEN CHOOSE HOW YOU START YOUR DAY.

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate.
He is always in a good mood and always has
something positive to say.

When someone would ask him how he was
doing, would reply, "If I were any
better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day,
Michael was there telling the employee
how to look on the positive side of
the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious,
so one day I went up to Michael and asked
him, "I don't get it! You can't be a
positive person all of the time.
How do you do it?"

Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up
and say to myself, you have two choices today.

You can choose to be in a good mood or ...
you can choose to be in a bad mood.
I choose to be in a good mood.

Each time something bad happens, I can
choose to be a victim or...I can choose
to learn from it. I choose to learn
from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining,
I can choose to accept their complaining or...
I can point out the positive side of life.
I choose the positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I
protested. "Yes, it is," Michael said.
"Life is all about choices. When you cut
away all the junk, every situation is a
choice.

You choose how you react to situations.
You choose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

The bottom line: It's your choice how you
live your life."

I reflected on what Michael said. Soon
hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to
start my own business. We lost touch, but
I often thought about him when I made a
choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Michael
was involved in a serious accident, falling
some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of
intensive care, Michael was released from
the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw Michael about six months after the
accident. When I asked him how he was, he
replied. "If I were any better, I'd be twins.
Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask
him what had gone through his mind as the
accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind
was the well-being of my soon to be born
daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I
lay on the ground, I remembered that I
had two choices: I could choose to live or...
I could choose to die.

I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose
consciousness?" I asked.

Michael continued, "...the paramedics were
great. They kept telling me I was going to
be fine. But when they wheeled me into the
ER and I saw the expressions on the faces
of the doctors and nurses, I got really
scared. In their eyes, I read "he's a dead
man. I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting
questions at me," said Michael. "She asked
if I was allergic to anything.

"Yes, I replied." The doctors and nurses
stopped working as they waited for my reply.
I took a deep breath and yelled, "Gravity."

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am
choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am
alive, not dead."

Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his
doctors, but also because of his amazing
attitude. I learned from him that every day
we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day
has enough trouble of its own."

After all today is the tomorrow you worried
about yesterday.

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE
by the Dalai Lama

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three Rs:
- Respect for self
- Respect for others and
- Responsibility for all yourr actions

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.