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Harmony of Life - Vol. 2, June 1999

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"Perseverance is not a long race; it comprises many short races one after another".

CONTENTS:

1. Welcome Note

2. The Power of Prayer

3. A Poem

4. Guest Column

5. Subscription Details

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If a friend has forwarded this to you, please read the Subscription details at the end of this newsletter for subscribing yourself to both the newsletter and the discussion forums.

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1. Welcome Note

2. The Power of Prayer

It was my last day in college. I was extremely happy, when my favorite professor, after signing my autograph book, placed it in my hand with a loving smile on her face and said, "God Bless you dear!". I quickly rushed off to the bench at the corner of the garden of the college where I had spent three long years in completing my graduation. I sat down and opened the book anxious to read what she had written. She had quoted Lord Alfred Tennyson:

After so many years, these words are still an inspiration to me even today!

Prayer has a great power to bring happiness and peace to the human mind. It enlightens us to be more sensitive towards spiritual aspects of life. Our capacity of understanding, appreciating and reacting are enlarged through prayer. We develop Patience and ability to think clearly.

Prayers help us in conquering and controlling our emotions. It is a medium through, which we communicate to the Almighty. Be it asking for help or guidance, or be it saying a thank you, we feel much better after a prayer.

Prayer helps in regenerating hope and removing depression and feeling that all is lost. We learn to trust more in God and in turn ourselves. An inner strength and confidence is developed within us through prayer.

In the words of Nicholas Herman: "All things are possible to him who believes,..they are less difficult to him who hopes,..they are more easy to him who loves, and still more easy to him who perseveres in the practice of these three virtues."

Prayer helps us in becoming stronger in facing any type of difficulty or obstacle that comes in our way. Our good actions and deeds are also a way of prayer, which strengthen our qualities of life. This brings happiness and peace to us.

In the words of Rabindranath Tagore: "Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them".

Prayer removes fear from our minds. After all, when we know we are honest and sincere, when we believe that God is there to guide us, when we believe that in ourselves and are confident, why should we fear anything?

We know that the Almighty will guide us in all our actions. God is great! Prayer is the most powerful form of energy that one can generate. A tranquility of bearing, a facial and bodily repose are observed in those whose inner lives are enriched It helps a man in discovering himself - his selfishness, his silly pride, his fears, his greeds, his blunder. We develop a sense of moral obligation, intellectual humility. It is through prayer that the journey of the soul towards the realm of grace commences.

3. A Poem

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you.

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated don't give way to hating

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make your dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make your thoughts your aim,

If you can meet the Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same,

If you bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will, which says to them: Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you , but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And which is more - you'll be a Man, my son.

4. Guest Column

I am happy to introduce Ms. Karen Orminston, who is a very dear friend of mine. She stays in London and is a PR consultant as well as a Professional Coach. I am really happy that she has been very kind enough to write her thoughts to be shared here.

Are you and your inner voice on the same side? You think you can do it, but those voices keep saying that you can’t? By harnessing the power of Positive Affirmations you can turn down the volume on the negative voice in your head and turn up the volume on the cheerleader, supporter and friend!

Affirmations are, quite simply, statements of fact. Given that your mind is the most powerful tool that you’ve got, doesn’t it make sense to harness that power to achieve whatever it is you’ve set your heart on? A Positive Affirmation is, of course, always positive and always stated as reality. So, for example you might say: ‘I am happy’ rather than ‘I will be happy when …’ or ‘I want to be happy’.

Let me give you an example, taken from the Action Guide ‘How to Be Rich and Happy on Your Income by Hans Jakobi: In 1984 Dan Jansen was a member of the U.S. Olympic team and represented his county in Sarajevo. He didn’t win any medals. Four years later he was considered at his peak and on the morning of his big race, his sister died. He didn’t win. During the following years Dan maintained peak condition and, just weeks before the next Olympics, he set a new World record. During the Olympics however he again failed to win his best event – the 500 metre race. His sports psychologist gave him an affirmation to repeat: "I love the 1000". He wrote this affirmation and placed it on his bathroom mirror. Despite thinking he had no hope of winning this race, Dan kept stating over and over "I love the 1000". Dan not only won the Olympic gold for the 1000 metre race – he also set a new World record.

Your life is what you make it. If you are unhappy with life now, you have the power within yourself to change it. Your future will be what you create. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.

The only way to predict your future – is to take control of choosing it for yourself. We create our life in three ways: by our thoughts, by our words and by our actions. We are sometimes so busy deciding what we want from life we forget about who we want to be.

The subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between fact and fiction. It simply acts on the messages it receives. So, by giving it positive messages, regularly, you allow it to create that reality.

Affirmations can be said at any time of the day and it is a good idea to set aside the same time each day so that they become part of your routine - maybe while you're in the bathroom in the morning and before going to bed at night. To begin with say your affirmations to a mirror, say them with real feeling, smile at yourself as you say them. Have fun, enjoy the affirmations and know that the more feeling you put into them, the quicker you will see the results you desire. As Positive Affirmations become part of your daily routine begin saying them while waiting in a queue, as you walk to work, on the bus or even while you wait for the kettle to boil.

Okay, let’s move on to some examples. Some of these may strike a chord with you, other’s wont. That’s okay. Find the ones that work for you and ignore the others. Write your own, personalize and play with them. They are yours and only need to be ‘right’ for you. Here we go:

I choose to be happy

I love and approve of myself

I am a great parent

I take extremely good care of myself

My life gets better every day

Every day is filled with amazing opportunities

I choose to invest in my future

I believe in myself and in my dreams

If you have enjoyed reading about Positive Affirmations why not send me an email telling me about your experience with them – where you use them, how you use them. Let me know your favorites and, with your permission, I’ll share them with fellow readers. Thanks for reading, have a great day – I intend to!

Thanks Karen, for sharing these beautiful thoughts!

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Wishing you all a Very Great Day!

Smile and Be Happy Always,

Sujatha Das

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Copyright (C)1999 by Sujatha Das. All rights reserved. Feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone so long as the copyright notice and full information contacting the list owner is attached.