Living a Life of PURPOSE

"Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time." - Marian Wright Edelman

"The purpose of life is a life of purpose." -Robert Byrne

"We are here on earth to do good for others. What the others are here for, I don't know."
- W. H. Auden

As we continue to talk about "PURPOSE" and, more specifically today, "Living a Life of PURPOSE" it is interesting to notice these quotes that have shed light on this very topic.

In a very general sense we are going to discuss the PURPOSE that each of us has in our lives - this is a common theme for each and every one of us. You likely can pick up on it already just from reading the quotes provided so far.

Regardless of who you are, where you live, what your economic situation is - we are all here for one general purpose: Doing good for others or, said in a different way - SERVICE!

Now, we will try to get a little more specific as far as determining our INDIVIDUAL purpose in life - but this is a MUST for our starting point!

Zig Ziglar said it this way: "If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want."

I emphasized that last part of his quote because it speaks to the topic at hand - notice what he says! You see, living a PURPOSEFUL life of SERVICE TO/FOR OTHERS is not exclusive of being a success - even a financial success - in our world today!

So, you see, it really DOESN'T matter who you are, where you live or how much money you do or don't have! We can ALL look around us and reach out to those around us and do SOMETHING for them to help them in some small (yet, likely bigger than we realize) way!

I really believe that, until we begin to understand this and even PRACTICE this in our own lives, we will NEVER discover our "specific" purpose for our lives. Why? Because, until we start understanding this basic principle we will continue to live a life focused only on ourselves.

Remember, you were put here for a PURPOSE! You were placed on this earth for a REASON! And, for each and every one of us, that general purpose and reason is to help EACH OTHER! Think about how POWERFUL that is when you really look at it closely.

Living a life focused on ourselves is not really living at all. Here's one final quote that emphasizes this truth:

A useless life is an early death. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

None of us wants to feel as if we are living a "useless life". We ALL want to know and feel that we have a PURPOSE and a REASON for being here. Open your eyes, look around you. See and live PURPOSE for your life!

And, as you do so...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

"Get High on Doing Good!"

Twelve "Do's and Don'ts" For Living a Positive Life

1. Make Enthusiasm A Daily Habit!
2. Don't Allow Negative People to Determine Your Self-Worth!
3. Get Into The Habit of Talking to Yourself Affirmatively!
4. Get Into the Habit of Talking to Others With an Affirmative, Positive Vocabulary!
5. Don't Be a Grudge Collector!
6. Think Positive & Pleasing Thoughts!
7. Don't Brag - Let Your Actions Speak For You!

8. Get High on Doing Good!

We've always heard, "It's more blessed to give than to receive" and, for most of us, if we heard this when we were kids, it didn't make any sense at all!

However, as we have grown and - hopefully - matured, we have come to know that this, indeed, is true. The joy of giving a gift to somone and seeing the smile on their face. The joy, as a parent, of giving your child a gift and seeing them get happy "all over". You just can't beat that!

Here's the thing - we don't have to wait for Christmas, birthdays or special occassions to do something nice for someone. The "gift" we give doesn't have to be wrapped up in a box with a bow, does it? Of course not!

As we get into the habit of being enthusiastic and excited about the new day before us, and as we talk to ourselves others in a positive and affirmative way we begin to open our eyes to the BEAUTIFUL part of the world around us.

You see, sometimes it's hard to get past all of the negativity that surrounds us. Sometimes we get bogged down in the nasty swampland of negativity and, because of that, it seems that this is all we can see.

But NOW... now that we are seeing the "positive" and "hopeful" side of life we can now lift our eyes and our heads above all of this negative nastiness and see the beauty of those around us!

Isn't that great?

And, once we are able to do so, we see opportunities that come before us each and every day for doing good for someone else.

Perhaps opening the door for someone or picking something up for someone that has dropped something.

Whatever it is - it is a way to help those around us also see the good this world has to offer!

On today's podcast I recommend doing this anonymously if at all possible and whenever possible. This takes away the temptation that we might have of wanting to receive attention for doing a good deed.

So, on this "Thankful Thursday" - be sure to thank those that are doing good things for you and in your life and then, as the movie title suggests, "Pay it Foward" by doing good in the lives of others.

Here's the promise: You'll be glad you did!

(By the way, will everyone appreciate it the way you hope they do? No. But do good ANYWAY!)

And, as you do so...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

I AM ABLE to Touch and Change Many Lives for the Better!

#3: "I AM ABLE to Touch and Change Many Lives for the Better!"

(Right off let me apologize for the way the format on this blog comes out so much of the time. I do it exactly the same way each day and, at times, there ARE separations between paragraphs as I have planned to have and, on other days, no separations at all. So, I apologize - I can't seem to figure out any way around this no matter how many times I try to edit it, etc.)

I hope you are enjoying the podcasts and blog entries on my daily affirmations. I also hope that you are using them, initially, to get yourself in the habit of affirming these truths in your own life. There is just something powerful about verbalizing these things and, again, according to what we read in Napoleon Hill's classic, "Think & Grow Rich" (available on my website for only the S/H charge) this is how our subconscious mind begins to accept these affirmations as TRUTH. Then, our subconscious mind feeds it back to us as truth even at those times when we may not necessarily feel that way. ISN'T THAT POWERFUL?

Why not try these for at least a week and then, if you find that some don't "fit" you, start adapting and "tweaking" them a little bit so that they DO fit you and your plans, goals and dreams.

If you notice, the second affirmation as well as today's affirmation both start out with the three words, "I AM ABLE..."

This is very important and is not by mistake!

So many times we have been told, "You can't" about things we may have as our goals and dreams by many people over the years. After a while, we begin to believe those voices and decide - before we even try - that we CAN'T do something.

Again, all of this ties in with the first affirmation, "I am somebody special!" THIS is what makes all of this special - YOU and the special person that YOU ARE! Because of the wonder of your being - you CAN accomplish great things and you CAN (and will) touch and change many lives during your life!

What does this mean?

Well, for some, it means touching lives on a grand scale! There are some of you that have such dreams and goals for your life and you need to understand - regardless of how large the dream - you ARE able to accomplish them and you ARE able to touch and change many lives for the better!

However, for the majority of us, our dreams and goals may not be as "grand" BUT this does not diminish the fact that we CAN touch and change many lives anyway. It will simply be done in a DIFFERENT way.

In today's podcast I talk about the ripples on a pond. We all know the concept, right? Do not lose the significance of this concept in your own life. You have the ability to touch many lives right from where you are!

Let's start with the basics. Your family. For example, how many lives will you touch through the lives of your children? You have no idea and, my guess is, if you had a way of truly knowing the number of people impacted in this way, you would be totally amazed! You love your child and treat them in a positive and loving way. You teach them how to be considerate of others and how to be kind in their dealings with others. Your child does this with their classmates at school and makes an impact on - let's say just for numbers sake - ten others. Those ten are impacted in such a way that they naturally treat others the same way. Let's say those ten impact ten others in the same way - we are already up to one hundred people. Get the picture?

On today's podcast I used a quote that my friend, Jim Ferguson sent to me in an e-mail. Here's what it said:

"Resolve to make at least one person happy every day,
then in ten years you will have made approximately
three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy,
or brightened up the equivalent of a small town
by your contribution to the fund of general enjoyment."
-- Sydney Smith

I mentioned that I don't truly believe we have it within our power to MAKE someone else happy, BUT we do have the ability to bring some happiness into the lives of others! Even just doing something that will bring a smile to the face of another will have a HUGE impact on many.

I would also suggest that the number given above - 3,650 - is not a true number of those that will be impacted. That number represents the impact ONLY IF the one impacted does not then, in turn, impact another. See what I mean? If each one of the people represented by this number were to impact only ONE other person each, then this number is DOUBLED to 7,300 only IF that "second layer" of impacted people do not continue the "ripple".

Think about that. One person per day, every day. Yes, this is ANOTHER way that you ARE ABLE to touch and change many lives for the better.

Look around you. It can - and SHOULD - begin today if it hasn't already.

Oh, and too, if you haven't ever watched the movie, "Pay It Forward" you need to be sure to see it. If you have, then you know what I'm talking about when I say to you...."Pay it Forward"!

Regardless of what our plans and goals are - we ALL have this great ability within us! It simply requires each of us to look outside of ourselves and see the opportunities that surround us each and every day.

Thank you for allowing me to touch your life today. Now, pass it on!

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike