The Strangest Secret...

An excerpt from The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale
George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."

Well, it's pretty apparent, isn't it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.

Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry - his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing... he becomes nothing.

How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.

Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision.

We're comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant.

Now, let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.

As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."

Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants - one corn, one poison.

The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant must return to us.

You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.

Life is about correcting mistakes!!

Monica married Hitesh this day. At the end of the wedding party,
Monica's mother gave her a newly opened bank saving passbook.
With Rs.1000 deposit amount. Mother: 'Monica, take this passbook. Keep
it as a record of your marriage life. When there's something happy and
memorable happened in your new life, put some money in. Write down what
it's about next to the line. The more memorable the event is, the more
money you can put in. I've done the first one for you today. Do the
others with Hitesh.When you look back after years, you can know how much
happiness you've had.' Monica shared this with Hitesh when getting home.

They both thought it was a great idea and were anxious to know when the
second deposit can be made.
This was what they did after certain time:

- 7 Feb: Rs.100, first birthday celebration for Hitesh after marriage

- 1 Mar: Rs.300, salary raise for Monica

- 20 Mar: Rs.200, vacation trip to Bali

- 15 Apr: Rs.2000, Monica got pregnant

- 1 Jun: Rs.1000, Hitesh got promoted

..... and so on...

However, after years, they started fighting and arguing for trivial
things. They didn't talk much. They regretted that they had married the
most nasty people in the world.... no more love...Kind of typical
nowadays, huh?

One day Monica talked to her Mother: 'Mom, we can't stand it anymore. We
agree to divorce. I can't imagine how I decided to marry this guy!!!'

Mother: 'Sure, girl, that's no big deal. Just do whatever you want if
you really can't stand it. But before that, do one thing first. Remember
the saving passbook I gave you on your wedding day? Take out all money and
spend it first. You shouldn't keep any record of such a poor marriage.'

Monica thought it was true. So she went to the bank, waiting at the
queue and planning to cancel the account.
While she was waiting, she took a look at the passbook record. She
looked, and looked, and looked. Then the memory of all the previous joy
and happiness just came up her mind. Her eyes were then filled with tears.
She left and went home.

When she was home, she handed the passbook to Hitesh, asked him to spend
the money before getting divorce.The next day, Hitesh gave the passbook back to Monica. She found a new deposit of Rs.5000. And a line next to the record: 'This is the day I notice how much I've loved you thru out all these years. How much happiness you've brought me. 'They hugged and cried, putting the passbook back to the safe.

Do you know how much money they had saved when they retired? I did not
ask.I believe the money did not matter any more after they had gone thru
all the good years in their life.

"When you fall, in any way, Don't see the place where you fell, Instead see the place from where you slipped.
Life is about correcting mistakes."

EASY ....... DIFFICULT

Easy is to get a place in someone's address book. Difficult is to get a place in someone's heart.
Easy is to judge the mistakes of others. Difficult is to recognize our own mistakes
Easy is to talk without thinking. Difficult is to refrain the tongue
Easy is to hurt someone who loves us. Difficult is to heal the wound...
Easy is to forgive others. Difficult is to ask for forgiveness
Easy is to set rules. Difficult is to follow them...
Easy is to dream every night. Difficult is to fight for a dream...
Easy is to show victory. Difficult is to assume defeat with dignity...
Easy is to admire a full moon. Difficult to see the other side...
Easy is to stumble with a stone. Difficult is to get up...
Easy is to enjoy life every day. Difficult to give its real value...
Easy is to promise something to someone. Difficult is to fulfill that promise...
Easy is to say we love. Difficult is to show it every day...
Easy is to criticize others. Difficult is to improve oneself...
Easy is to make mistakes. Difficult is to learn from them...
Easy is to weep for a lost love. Difficult is to take care of it so not to lose it.
Easy is to think about improving. Difficult is to stop thinking it and put it into action...
Easy is to think bad of others. Difficult is to give them the benefit of the doubt...
Easy is to receive. Difficult is to give
Easy to read this. Difficult to follow
Easy is keep the friendship with words. Difficult is to keep it with meanings.