Balance

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends and spirit - and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends and spirit - are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same.

You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.' How?

*Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.

*Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.

*Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as they would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

*Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.

*Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

*Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us to each together.

*Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

*Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find time.

The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly;and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

*Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going.

*Don't forget, a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

*Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.

*Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.

*Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

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'Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and wrong... Because sometime in your life you will have been all of these.

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The essence of compassion.

'Our lives are not determined by what happens to us, but how we react to what happens; not by what life brings us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst...a spark that creates extraordinary results.'

Positive alternatives

Rather than being annoyed, be amused. Instead of getting angry, become curious. In place of envy, feel admiration. In place of worry, take action. In place of doubt, have faith.

Negative energy is just positive energy that's flowing in the opposite direction. There's no need to fight or run away from that negative energy. All you need to do is change its direction.

The more negative you are, the more positive you can be. An automobile that can travel 70 miles per hour to the east can also travel just as fast when going west. But first, someone must turn it around.

When you sense yourself becoming negative, stop and consider what it would mean to apply that negative energy in the opposite direction.

Turn your sadness into caring. Transform your complaints into useful suggestions. Change your bitterness into determination. The energy is already there. All you need to do is change its direction.

-- Ralph Marston