I’ve got a whole load of important projects due real soon, and the pressure’s mounting. Been sleeping late, thinking, brooding and working on my projects. It took it’s toll on me. My world felt like it was constantly spinning.

Then I read this, the final part of one of my favorite essays, As a Man Thinketh by James Allen, and all became so much more still.

Peace, be still.

Serenity – As a Man Thinketh

Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.

A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought-evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought. As he develops a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect, he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.

The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others; and they, in turn, reverence his spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of him and rely upon him. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Even the ordinary trader will find his business prosperity increase as he develops a greater self-control and equanimity, for people will always prefer to deal with a man whose demeanor is strongly equable.

The strong calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm. Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet-tempered, balanced life? It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character which we call serenity is the last lesson culture; it is the flowering of life, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold – yea, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money-seeking looks in comparison with a serene life – a life that dwells in the ocean of Truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the Eternal Calm!

“How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin all that is sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy their poise of character, and make bad blood! It is a question whether the great majority of people do not ruin their lives and mar their happiness by lack of self-control. How few people we meet in life who are well-balanced, who have that exquisite poise which is characteristic of the finished character!”

Yes, humanity surges with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous with ungoverned grief, is blown about by anxiety and doubt. Only the wise man, only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds and the storms of the soul obey him.

Tempest-tossed souls, wherever ye may be, under whatsoever conditions ye may live, know this – in the ocean of life the isles of Blessedness are smiling, and sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming. Keep your hand firmly upon the helm of thought. In the bark of your soul reclines the commanding Master; He does but sleep; wake Him. Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power.

Say unto your heart, “Peace, be still!”

***

That exquisite poise of character which we call serenity is the last lesson culture; it is the flowering of life, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold – yea, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money-seeking looks in comparison with a serene life – a life that dwells in the ocean of Truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the Eternal Calm!

Peace, please be still!

Chasing shadows.

I read these few paragraphs off a beautiful blog I follow, Marc and Angel Hack Life, and these words really made a very strong impact on me.

Amazing how serendipity manages to creep in every facet of my life. It always feels like a miracle, when you really think about how everything falls into place, to make those words appear to me at that right moment, right place and right time.

Here’s the article, and along with it, my earnest wish that our light drowns out the shadows.

Every Light Cast A Shadow, Marc and Angel Hack Life

One of the greatest lessons we get to learn in life is that we are often attracted to a bright light in another person.  Initially, this light is all we see.  It’s so bright and beautiful.  But after awhile, as our eyes adjust, we notice that this light is accompanied by a shadow – and usually a fairly large one.

When we see this shadow, we have two choices: We can either shine our own light on the shadow or we can run from it and continue searching for a shadowless light.

If we decide to run from the shadow, we must also run from the light that created it.  And we soon find out that our light is the only light illuminating the space around us.  Then, at some point, as we look closer at our own light, we notice something out of the ordinary.  Our light is casting a shadow too.  And our shadow is a bigger and darker than some of the other shadows we’ve seen.

If, on the other hand, instead of running from the shadow, we decide to walk towards it, something amazing happens.  We inadvertently cast our own light on the shadow, and likewise, the light that created this shadow casts its light on ours.  Suddenly, both shadows begin to disappear.  Not completely, of course, but every the part of the two shadows that are touched by the other person’s light illuminate and disappear.

And as a result, we each find more of that bright beautiful light in the other person – which is precisely what we have been searching for all along.

Read the full post here.

Do what makes you happy!

I’ve realized that the days that I feel the most down are the days that I don’t really have anything to do or anyone to meet. Days like that can feel pretty darn depressing.

When I really thought about it, it occurred to me that most of what we call modern entertainment doesn’t really make you happy, but are just temporary distractions to life.

Really, just take a moment to think about it.

A movie in the cinema, partying the night away in a club, escaping the country for a holiday – yes these things can be fun, but it sometimes seems that we do these things as a form of escape from reality, and escape from our sometimes less than satisfying lives.

What really makes you happy? What are the keys to happiness then?

Victor Frankl wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning that:

“Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.”

And I think that’s a very big hint to that big secret. Happiness usually requires action of some kind. I’ve realised that I’m the most happy when I am working on something that is important to me, and close to my heart.

I’m happy when I feel that I’m going somewhere with my work and achieving my purpose in life.

I’m happy when I feel that what I’m doing is positively impacting others.

I’m happy when I’m achieving goals that are important to me.

I’m happy when I’m cultivating a successful relationship with someone dear to me.

But I’m definitely not happy sitting around and doing nothing. Some people may say that it’s the best thing ever to not have anything to do, but sloth is a very real sin. Possibly the worst sin that you can commit against yourself.

Finding true joy and happiness in your life will never be about inaction. Hopefully, you’ll find your calling in life – that something that makes you wake up early in the morning just because you can’t wait to continue working on it, that one project that you can’t stop thinking about.

Don’t settle and spend your life doing anything less than that.

The note.

As I strained my eyes to read the faint writing, I realized that it was a note that a friend wrote to me all the way back when I was still in lower secondary. It was a copy made with fax paper and it nearly was illegible. So I just typed it all out for memory’s sake.

What was written...

The note was titled “Difference between somebody you love & somebody you like“. It’s pretty cute, so here is that old, old note of mine.

Difference between somebody you love & somebody you like

It’s been so many, many years since I neatly folded this long note and put it in my wallet, but love’s still that magical adventure it always was. For that secondary school boy who folded that note so many years ago, love is still his life’s craziest, most mystical mystery.

Your ghosts still haunt me, mock me, as I seem to still get nowhere.

When will this karmic retribution end?

Please forgive me. I’m really trying to be a better person now.

Happiness is right in our hands.

Last night, after a long day of school, meetings and social gatherings, I stretched myself on my foldable mattress, closed my eyes and I realised that I laughed a lot through the span of the entire day. I laughed with my dear friends in class as we joked about everything from the weird noises our lecturer made periodically to our friend’s attempts at chatting up a girl in class; I laughed with my groupmates as we watched random YouTube videos in the student lounge while waiting for a meeting to start; I laughed with my friends over a barbeque and a nice supper session.

I once read somewhere that happiness isn’t measured by how much money you have in your bank account, or the number of lovers one had, but is measured by just how much one laughs. I also read somewhere that the average adult only laughs about 10 times every day! Maybe that explains why so many people seem dissatisfied and disgruntled with the lives they lead.

The Pursuit of Happyness

In our materialistic, modern society, it seems that people keep confusing worldly achievements with happiness. People keep telling themselves that they will be happy once they “get there” with that shiny new BMW, Armani suit, and hot trophy girlfriend on hand, but they don’t, because happiness is all in the state of mind.

You can have every single material achievement in the world but if you’re still uptight about life and feeling insecure about yourself, you’re not going to be happy. The important point that I want to make here is that happiness is all about improving one’s internal state of mind and if one’s worldly pursuits do not translate into positive personal development or the fulfillment of intimate, personal goals, that person is still going to feel unfulfilled and ungratified.

For me, I believe that happiness all begins with the intention to be happy. Once one is ready to actually be a happy and cheerful person, even the most mundane of things can make you laugh like crazy!

Do your part and make others laugh!

Laughter: Truly the best medicine

I seriously believe that this world could do with way more happiness and laughter, so if you are already in a happy and positive state of mind, do your civic duty and spread some laughter today! Meet up with your friends that matter and spend some time relating funny incidents that happened to you! Share that funny video that you found on YouTube! Playfully tease your friend about that one girl who has that monster crush on him! The possibilities are truly endless!

Making the people around you laugh truly is a priceless gift that I believe we owe to the people we love. So make the extra effort to give that gift of love to the people around you every single day! It doesn’t take much, but just know that every time you make someone laugh, you make that person’s life one laugh better, one bit brighter.

Love, love, love.

One thing that many people fail to realize is that love is very different from wealth – there’s just no point hoarding it, and you can never, ever give too much of it away.

But many people don’t see that and they just go through life treating love just like how old Scrooge treats his money, ending up leading miserable, sad lives.

And that’s just a big recipe for a being miserable and unfulfilled all your life.

Giving love out to the world is the best investment one can ever make – whenever you give out love willingly, without expecting any return from it – love miraculously boomerangs back and enriches your life in mysterious, magical ways.

What’s even more miraculous is that there’s a multiplier effect to love. You show another human being some love, and you make a deposit in that other person’s ‘love bank’. Feeling a little more loved and cared for, that person starts to feel a little better about his existence on earth and starts being more loving to the people around him.

This in turn results in multiple deposits being made into the ‘love banks’ of the people around him. People around him feel happier, more cheerful, and the woes and stresses of our hurried lifestyles seem all so much easier to bear.

And so, the virtuous cycle of love perpetuates, making the world a better place for all of us.

It may sound like a futile effort – to make the world better with love – but then again it really doesn’t take much effort to try. You’ll never ever run out of smiles or hugs to give out, but they mean the world to that someone out there that really needs them.

Dale Carnegie once wrote in his book “How To Stop Worrying and Start Living” that the one foolproof method of overcoming melancholy is to go out there and just do acts of kindness every single day.

No amount of material possessions, or worldly pleasures will make someone truly satisfied and happy, but love will.

Giving out more love only means that you’ll be receiving even more love back in return, making every moment you spent on this earth a worthwhile one.

So pass some love around today, as all of us can always do with just a little bit more.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.”

- The Bible, 1 Cor. 13:4–7, NIV