How Much is Enough?

Once upon a time, a farmer discovered a magical spring.
The spring bursts countless gold coins.
The spring made the farmer rich, because new gold keeps coming out and only stops when the farmers says the word "enough."

The farmer is instantly shocked to see gold coins falling in front of his nose. He picked up a few buckets to collect the gold coins. After the buckets are full, he brought them into tiny huts to be stored there. Gold coins continue to burst while the farmer filled all the sacks, all the barrels, even houses. Still not enough! He digs a big hole to store the gold coins. Not enough, he lets the spring continue to burst until finally the farmer got buried by gold coins along with his greed because he can never say enough.

One of the most difficult words spoken by people is probably the word "enough".
When will we ever say enough? Almost all employees feel their salaries can not be equal with their hard work. Company directors feel that their company's revenue is still below target. The wife complained about her husband of being less concerned. While the husband believes his wife has lack of understanding. The children think their parents are stingy. Everything is not enough. Can we ever say enough?

Enough is not about how much. Self-satisfaction is a matter of the heart. Enough can only be said by people who can be grateful with what they have. Don't be afraid of saying enough. Saying enough does not mean we stop creating or trying. Don't define "enough" as a stagnant condition or I am satisfied. Saying enough makes us able to see what we have achieve, not what we haven't achieved. Do not let greed make it anymore difficult just to say enough. Learn to make do with what you have today, then you'll actually enjoy all that you have.

People in Life's Pressure

Life is not free from various pressures. In fact, life in this modern era serves a variety of risks. Until sociologist Ulrich Beck was named this contemporary era with the title of "risk society". Modern nature presents rapid changes and often surprising.

The pressure actually formed characters, and also determines how people will react in the situation. There are four types of people based on their personality, looked through their attitudes in facing life's pressures.

The first type, the type of brittle wood
Just a little pressure and this person's spirit breaks. People like this look good in their daily life. But the truth is, the heart is very fragile. These people often complains when trouble occurs.
Encountering each difficulty, they immediately complain, feel helpless, cry, ask for pity or help. These people need to have positive thinking and encouragement to face the realities of life.
Time magazine has presented the topic "Cocoon generation". Time has taken the example in Japan, where many people becomes very soft because they're not used to facing problems. Dealing with people like this, sometimes we must have the courage to push them. So they'll learn to face problems on their own. Position yourselves as their companions.

The second type, the type of steel plate
People of this type are usually able to survive the pressure at first. However, like iron, when the situation becomes more pressing and complex, they begin to bend and turns unstable. They are able to handle the pressure, but not in the continuous condition. Additional pressure makes them give up. Fortunately these types of people are still willing to try to survive before finally giving up. These kind of people are still not trained to face problems. But, if you really try, these people will be able to build a successful life.

The third type, the type of cotton
This type is quite flexible in the face of pressure. People like these can be flexible in pressure. Try pressing a loaf of cotton. It will follow the pressure that occurs. It is able to adjust when there is pressure. But, once the pressure lifts, it could quickly return to the original state. They soon forget about the past and return to the starting point.

The fourth type, the type of ping pong ball
This is the ideal and greatest type. Never present pressure on these people because the pressure will actually make them work harder, more motivated, and more creative. Consider the ping-pong ball. When pressed he bounces it up with even more power. I am reminded of the life story of the world motivator Anthony Robbins in one of his biography.
To motivate himself, he purposely buys a luxurious building while the money isn't adequate. But this is precisely the financial pressures that makes him more creative and financially challenged to reach the level he expects.

So, which type are you?

The 3 Trees

Once Upon A Time, there were 3 trees in the forest. One day, they tell each other about their hopes and dreams. The first tree said: "Someday I want to be a treasure chest. I will be filled with gold, silver and various precious stones and everyone will admire the beauty. "

Then the 2nd tree said: "One day I would become a large ship. I will carry kings & sail to the ends of the world. I will be a strong ship & secure everyone close to me. "

Then the 3rd tree told his dream: "I want to grow into the tallest tree ever seen. People would look at me and think how I was close to reaching Heaven and God. I will be the largest tree of all time & people will remember me. "

After several years praying that their dreams come true, a group of loggers chopped them down and took them elsewhere.
The first tree was brought to a carpenter. He was very happy because he knew he would have been made into a treasure chest. But, his prayer didn't become a reality because the carpenter made him into a box for fodder. He was put in a barn and each day, was filled with straw.
The second tree was brought to the shipyard. He thought that his prayer became true. But, he was made into a fishing boat. His dream of becoming a large ship to transport the kings has ended.
The third tree was cut into large pieces of wood and was left sitting in the dark. All their dreams didn't came true.
Year after year changed & the trees had forgotten their dreams. Then one day, a husband and wife arrived at the stables. The wife gave birth and put the baby in a box feeder made from the first tree. People came & worshiped the baby. Finally, the first tree knew that he was holding the greatest treasure of all time.
A few years later ... a group of men got into the custom-made fishing boats, made from the 2nd tree. In the middle of the lake, a major storm came.The second tree thought he was not strong enough to protect the people inside. But one man stood up and said to the storm: "Shut up! Calm down!" And the storm stopped. Then he knew that he had carried the King of kings.
Finally, someone came & took the 3rd tree. A man carried the tree, while people taunted him. The man was then nailed in this timber and died on it. The 3rd tree finally realized that he was so close to God because Lord Jesus was crucified with him.
When things are not the way you wanted, remember that God has a plan for you. If you believe in Him, He will give great blessings. The trees wished to get what they want, but not in a way they imagined.
The same goes for us, we are not aware what plan God has for us. We only know that His way is the best for us, forever.

Sorry it's a bit late, but Happy Easter...

True Strength

There is strength in love, and people who can give love is strong, because they can beat their desire for self-serving.

There is strength in laughter, and people who laughed with delight is strong, because they would never mourn with challenges and trials.

There is strength in peace, and people who are filled with peace and happiness is strong because they never waver, and are not easily swayed.

There is strength in generosity, and people who are generous is strong because they never held their mouth and hands from doing good for others.

There is strength in kindness, and people who are good is strong because they would always be able to do good to everyone.

There is strength in loyalty, and people who are faithful is strong because they can beat their personal passions and desires with their loyalty to God and others.

There is strength in gentleness, and people who are gentle is strong because they can refrain themselves from having revenge.

There is power in self-control, and people who can control themselves is strong because they can control all worldly desires.

That's where where all the True Strength is ...

Realize that you also have enough strength to overcome all your problems. No matter where, or how heavy and complicated it may be.

Step by Step with God

This is my step
Every step that I took,
I took with him
I will go through and
I won't stop
I won't go back
And I will keep walking
Until the finish
I won't give up
I won't fall down
I always believe in God
Because I have God
Who gave me strength
To keep walking until
The finish

Edwin
SMAK 5 Penabur, Jakarta

The True Peace

One day, The Emperor of Japan held a contest and would provide a reward to anyone who can paint about "peace". There are many artists that tried hard to win the race. The Emperor walked around to see the results of their work. Finally, there were only two paintings left that he really liked best. But the Emperor had to choose between the two. He inspected both paintings thoroughly.

The first painting depicted a calm lake. The Lake's surface is like a perfect mirror that reflects the peace of the mountains towering around it. Plastered on top, a blue sky with white clouds drifting. Everyone who sees this painting would have thought, this is the best picture about "peace".

The second painting describes the mountains. The mountains looked rough and bare. Above it, a dark and red sky that signifies a storm. On the side of the mountain there is a waterfall rushing and foaming. But it did not show calmness and peace. However, the Emperor saw something interesting. In the middle of the waterfall's noise, grows small bushes on the sidelines of a stone. In the bushes, lies a mother sparrow's nest & the eggs are laid and incubated.

"Which painting won the contest?", everyone wondered. Japan's Emperor chose the second picture. "Why?", everyone asked. The Emperor replied, "Because 'peace' does not mean you should be in place without any disturbance, trouble or worries. But 'peace' is a calm and peaceful heart, eventhough you are in the midst of the turmoil and remarkable chaos. A peace of heart is the true peace."

(Source: Hands of God)

3 Easy Ways to Overcome Shyness

There are some easy ways to overcome shyness even though it may feel impossible sometimes to beat the awful feelings that occur when you are being put on the spot or when you get tongue tied. Struggling with how to overcome shyness is often an uphill mental battle and more often than not it is actually a battle against your self. Shyness is typically caused by too much self awareness and self conscious.

To overcome shyness, you need to be able to relax in social situations and shift your focus from yourself and on to what is going on around you. In this article you will learn 3 very powerful but still easy ways to overcome shyness by relaxing socially and react to situations with excitement instead of fear.

1) Make an effort out of deliberately catch yourself when you are focusing negatively on yourself. This may be thoughts like worries about what others think about you, if what you said came across as stupid or if somebody thinks your clothes or haircut is bad. If you have any of these or other negative thoughts about yourself, tell yourself to stop those thoughts immediately.

Nothing good comes out of worrying and thinking about negative stuff will only hurt you more. The more you are able to catch yourself with thoughts like that, the more you are able to stop them. Eventually this process will become automatic and you will be less tense and therefore less shy.

2) Make it a daily task to greet or talk to a stranger. This is another one of the most effective and easy ways to overcome shyness. When you are standing in line in the grocery store or when you are in a coffee shop, just say hello to the guy standing behind you or to the waiter. It is however important that it is not too uncomfortable for you - a little bit of anxiety to test your limits is okay, but if you make it too hard for yourself, it may only hurt you instead of help you.

If you start doing this every single day, you will shortly notice that it gets easier to be around other people and to have a casual conversation without feeling shy.

3) Start using self hypnosis every day or even several times a day, to re-program your unconscious mind to stop focusing on the negative thoughts and learn how to keep your body and mind feeling relaxed in any social situation. Self hypnosis is probably the quickest of the 3 easy ways to overcome shyness and change the way you respond to other people.

The reason that self hypnosis is so powerful is because it takes you into a state of deep relaxation. When you are in that kind of relaxing state, it is easier for your sub-conscious mind to learn the new positive messages and thinking patterns that enables you to relax and feel good in social situations.

Visit Cure Shyness to get started using self hypnosis right now and learn more about how you can overcome shyness using this highly effective and extremely simple technique.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_C._Simmons

Ellen's Diary

Five years I'm married to Ellen, our days are filled with mismatches. We often fight over small things. Today is Ellen's birthday and we were fighting again because I slept late. Resentment made me not wish her happy birthday or kissed her forehead. This afternoon, three times Ellen had asked me to go home for dinner with me, but her request didn't bother me. I arrived home at midnight, and I saw Ellen fell asleep on the couch. I stopped in front of her. "She was beautiful," I told myself. I sighed and went into the room. On the dresser I saw Ellen's diary. The years she wrote her stories in that brown book and she never allowed me to open it.

I grabbed the brown book & I opened the pages at random.
February 14, 1996 - "Thank you God for everything, it means a lot to me. Vincent, the first and my last boyfriend."
Hmm ... I smiled, Ellen was so sure that I would be the companion of her life.
6 September 2001 - "I accidentally saw Vincent having dinner with another woman, laughing affectionately. Lord, I ask that Vincent won't move to another heart."
October 23, 2001 - "I found a letter of thanks for Vincent, the candle light dinner on the birthday of a woman named Jasmine. Who is she God? Open up my eyes to see what you want."
January 4, 2002 - "I was approached by the woman named Jasmine. She insulted me and said she is having an affair with Vincent. Lord, give me strength."
How could Ellen be strong? She never said anything or cry in front of me, knowing I had betrayed her. My breath stopped, I could not imagine Ellen's feelings.
February 14, 2003 - "Sunday is amazing, I had become Mrs. Vincent W. A. Thank God!"
7 April 2006 - "Vincent was mad at me, I was fast asleep when he got home, so he had to wait in front of the house for a while. I was tired from a day at the mall looking to buy a present for his birthday. God , give peace to Vincent so that he won't be angry with me again ... "
Tears of remorse did not stop flowing. Ellen tried to make me happy, but I scolded her.
15 November 2007 - "Vincent needs to put a coffee table in the living room, he loves to read in that room. Lord, help me save money so I could buy a table, a Christmas present for him."
Ellen had never told the table as a Christmas present and I scolded her again without ever giving him a chance to explain. I think I was no longer able to open the next sheet. I ran out of the room, kissed her forehead and woke up Ellen. "I'm sorry Ellen, I love you. Happy birthday," I said full of love.

Love is always able to teach us to make sacrifices for the happiness of a loved one.

(Source: Hands of God)

Rules of Motivation and Success

Motivation brings success and fortunes. Therefore we pay attention to motivation. If you are in a leadership role as a manager, chances are you are preoccupied with how to motivate others. We talk about motivation. We read about motivation. Most of us remember salient points about motivational theories.But are we motivated to do anything about it ? What can we do ? Can we motivate others ? No , we can not motivate others but we can create the conditions for others to motivate themselves

Seven Rules Of Motivation

1. Set a major goal, but follow a path. The path has mini goals that go in many directions. When you learn to succeed at mini goals, you will be motivated to challenge grand goals.

2. Finish what you start. A half finished project is of no use to anyone. Quitting is a habit. Develop the habit of finishing self-motivated projects.

3. Socialize with others of similar interest. Mutual support is motivating. We will develop the attitudes of our five bes t friends. If they are losers, we will be a loser. If they are winners, we will be a winner. To be a cowboy we must associate with cowboys.

4. Learn how to learn. Dependency on others for knowledge supports the habit of procrastination. Man has the ability to learn without instructors. In fact, when we learn the art of self-education we will find, if not create, opportunity to find success beyond our wildest dreams.

5. Harmonize natural talent with interest that motivates. Natural talent creates motivation, motivation creates persistence and persistence gets the job done.

6. Increase knowledge of subjects that inspires. The more we know about a subject, the more we want to learn about it. A self-propelled upward spiral develops.

7. Take risk. Failure and bouncing back are elements of motivation. Failure is a learning tool. No one has ever succeeded at anything worthwhile without a string of failures.

Motivation Lies With-in

The most important thing to keep in mind about motivation is that we cannot motivate others. Motivation comes from within-people motivate themselves. The only thing a supervisor, a manager, or anybody else can do is to create the conditions for people to motivate themselves

How To Motivate Ourself ?

Each of us have motivational hot spots. We need to keep this in mind while we try to create situations that motivate others. What motivates you or me may be different from what motivates someone else. Be careful. Don't force your motivation preferences on someone else. The safest way is to include all six motivational elements in your undertakings. That way you will connect with everyone's motivational hot spots.

Key to Happiness

Every person has there own way to keep themselves happy. But not all of those happiness are real. As some may come from bad habits. For example, teasing others or trash talking. Then how do we achieve true happiness? By earning through fun yet productive habits. What are these productive habits? I'll tell you some that "is" and "isn't".

Keys to Happiness
1. Reading
Many people doesn't enjoy reading much. But that can depend on what they're reading. In truth, I can get bored reading my school text books. When reading novels, I could get really excited or motivated. People's interest varies so find books with topics that you like.

Why does reading bring happiness? Because it allows your imagination to roam free. We illustrate what we read in our minds. Just like a theater, our very own mind theater. Our creativity will also develop from imagining. All we need to do is imagine what we read.

2. Socialize
Interact with other people. I can only imagine how lonely a life would be when lived alone. Make friends to share your happiness with. Try meeting new people, deepen your bonds with friends. Then you'll notice, how great it feels to share joy and sadness with other people.

3. Religion
Surely, not everyone believes in God. But, having to know someone is watching over you is a great feeling. God gives us faith, so we don't give up when things get tough.

I've heard once that an atheist Japanese businessman commited suicide after his company got bankrupt. What a sad thought, to end your life after experiencing failure. Giving up, in trade with life. I've always wondered if this is because he had no one else to turn to in his crisis.

It's up to you to believe in this keys. But before you decide, please give these keys a shot. At least try them then see, how truly happy you can be.

The Greatest Motivator

Have you ever heard of the greatest motivator?
Do you want to know him?
Want to get advice from him?
Don't be surprised, the greatest motivator doesn't say much. When you meet him, you have to talk more. What will the motivator do is just listen and show. You are never forced to hear him, but if you never ask him, you will not get anything.
Who is this greatest motivator?
His name is Failure.

Yes, failure is the greatest motivator. Many people have felt his touch. Many successful people have learned a lot from him.
Without meeting failure, Thomas Edison would not have created the light bulb and Colonel Sanders would be a retired soldier who will soon be forgotten.

Why can failure be the greatest motivator?
Because when someone meets failure, the only most logical thing to do is to get up. Do you know why motivational books or motivational seminars sell everywhere? Because lots of people fail. However, do you know why not all people who attended a seminar or read the books became successful? Because some of them has not experienced failure. And those who have not failed, which is still in the comfort zone, hasn't put their best ability.

On the other hand, there are people who actually fall deeper after consecutive failures. This goes back to each individual. This means that the choice to rise or sink remains in our hands. And if many people has successfully used the knowledge gained from failure, why haven't you?

(Source: Hands of God, Spirit Motivator)

The Victor

Poet: C.W. Longenecker

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t
If you like to win but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost.
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are.
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win the prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

(www.wow4u.com)

AQ 3 - LEAD

In my previous post about Adversity Quotinet, I've explained CORE. Which are keys in measuring our AQ. Now I'm going to explain about LEAD. Which are techniques of how to improve our AQ.

L - Listen
Hear your own response when experiencing CORE. Learn and improve yourselves from past mistakes. Strengthen your weaknesses so you can overcome the mistake.

E - Explore
Find out problems where you feel responsible, but able to improve. Prioritize on improving those, especially the more important factors.

A - Analyze
Analyze the problem to counter negative thoughts. We need to correct our way of thinking into something positive. Find possibilities and opportunities in these times so we can achieve a higher goal.

D - Do
You can't achieve anything without doing. Buy you can't do anything without listening, exploring, or analyzing the situation first. After you can optimize the entire LEAD, success will be in your grasp. Which also means that your AQ has improved.