Life Instruction Manual

 Life Instruction Manual

• Drink plenty of water.
• Eat breakfast like a king, lunch, like a prince and dinner, like a beggar.
• Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants & has to be killed, bled, cured, aged, smoked, fried, or frozen
• Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
• Make time to pray.
• Play more games. Feed the birds. Plant flowers or vegetables- even in a pot.
• Read more books than you did in 2008.
• Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
• Sleep for 8 hours.
• Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile & notice your surroundings, changes in nature every day, & listen to the birds.

Personality:

• Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.  Each person has their place in the scheme of life. 
• Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment - do what you can to make the world around you better.
• Don't over do. Keep your limits. Physically, spiritually, financially or emotionally.  Be humble.
• Don't take yourself so seriously.  No one else does.
• Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
• Dream more while you are awake.
• Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
• Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past.  Don't blame your parents for every problem you have.That will ruin your present . We choose actions & reactions when we become adults.

Happiness.

• Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others. It's easier to understand & move on.
• Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present. Yesterday is gone, & you have a limited number of tomorrows.
• No one is in charge of your happiness except you. It's your choice to feel happy or miserable, anger or joy, frustration or acceptance, jealousy or peace, shame or pride 
• Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away; like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
• Smile and laugh more.
• You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

• Call your family often.
• Each day give something good to others.
• Forgive everyone for everything.
• Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
• Try to make at least three people smile each day.
• What other people think of you is none of your business...
• Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.  Your friends will. Stay in touch.

 Life: 

• Do the right thing!
• Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful..
• GOD heals everything.
• However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
• No matter how you feel, get up , dress up and show up.
• The best is yet to come.
• When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
• Your Inner most is always happy.  So, be happy.

   Last but, not the least: 

• Please Share this to everyone you care about - even if they receive it many times, it will be a reminder on how to have a happy, healthy spiritual life , to enjoy each moment we are granted, & how to live free of conflict in harmony with others.  

We only share this earth for a short time. Why waste it on hateful thoughts and deeds when there is so much joy and happiness to discover and surround yourself with.




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How To Become A Lifelong Learner

Start with your attitude.

Lifelong learning begins with a heart that desires change, wisdom, and application.

“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” Lou Holtz

Ask questions.

Learners ask good questions. They possess an insatiable curiosity - a longing to know, discover, inquire. Ask questions that get below the surface.

“He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever” Chinese Proverbs

Join Others.

Collaborative learning - in classes, small groups, with friends and colleagues - allow us to benefit from diverse perspectives and approaches. People are a gold mine of learning that is tapped through conversation.

“It's not enough to have a dream unless I'm willing to pursue it. It's not enough to know what's right unless I'm strong enough to do it. It's not enough to join the crowd, to be acknowledged and accepted. I must be true to my ideals, even if I'm excluded and rejected. It's not enough to learn the truth unless I also learn to live it. It's not enough to reach for love unless I care enough to give it.”

Check out the other side.

Take time to examine and understand another point of view, even if it radically contradicts yours. You may see things in a new light, or you may have your old convictions strengthened. Personal convictions that have been tested remain flabby.

“Getting people to like you is merely the other side of liking them.” Norman Vincent Peale

Read broadly.

Include a diversity of books, authors, and topics. Resist the temtation to read only those books that reinforce what you already believe.

“The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them” Mark Twain

“Don't just read the easy stuff. You may be entertained by it, but you will never grow from it.”

Keep a journal.
Recording what we learn captures our growth in wisdom.

“Journal writing is a voyage to the interior"

Experiment.
Try new approaches and ideas. Age does not affect your ability to learn. An eighty-year-old can learn to surf the net like an eighteen-year-old.

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”

Apply what you know.

Our depth of understanding is often directly related to our ability to apply what we've learned. Application takes knowledge from the head to the heart.

“The results you achieve will be in direct proportion to the effort you apply.” Denis Waitley

“Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.” Brian Tracy