to add your own advice,
please email me at: Cling2treeoflife@aol.com
and I will iy"h add it to this page! Thanks!
* * * *
* * * * *
Sizing up a Situation
Overcoming the Critical
Habit
* * * *
* * * * *
God's
Boxes
I have in my hands two boxes
which God gave me to hold
He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black,
And all your joys in the gold."
I heeded His words, and in the two boxes
Both my joys and sorrows I stored
But though the gold became heavier each day
The black was as light as before
With curiosity, I opened the black
I wanted to find out why
And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole
Which my sorrows had fallen out by.
I showed the hole to God, and mused aloud,
"I wonder where my sorrows could be."
He smiled a gentle smile at me.
"My child, they're all here with me." asked,
"God, why give me the boxes,
Why the gold, and the black with the hole?"
"My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings,
The black is for you to let go.
~Author
Unknown~
* * * *
* * * * *
Let
There Be Light!
There
was total darkness in the world until the Creator said, "Let there be
light." The Torah states this at the very beginning, said the Chofetz Chaim,
to tell us that even in the darkest periods of life, in a flash the Almighty can
create light. Repeating these words will bring much light into your life. Let
the image of serene light be a source of creating positive energy for you.
Visualize white light going from your head to your toes. Feel all your muscles
relaxing. Feel every cell in your body vibrating with healthy energy. Feel that
healthy energy cycling again and again. Let this empower you. (From Rabbi
Pliskin’s new book, Serenity, p.103, available from Artscroll.com)
* * * *
* * * * *
When
to Upgrade Your Level of Trust How can you tell when you need to upgrade your
level of emunah and bitochon? Your nervous system give you feedback. View
anxiety and nervousness as a message, "Time to elevate your level of emunah
and bitochon." Don't become upset about this. That's not very helpful.
Rather, be appreciative of the feedback. The message you are receiving is
immensely valuable. From Rabbi Pliskin’s new book,
Serenity, p.92, available from Artscroll.com)
*
* * * * * *
* *
7
HELPFUL TIPS to IMMEDIATELY INCREASE YOUR CONFIDENCE
–written by Kent Sayre
1.)
Ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Too often, we
place excess importance on potential problems. We all have a certain
amount of energy so let’s apply it to creating extraordinary relationships,
advancing our careers and meeting our goals INSTEAD of wasting that energy
worrying. Take action on what you have control over and minimize risks for
what you don’t. Then invest your energy wisely.
2.) In doing something for the first time, imagine that you
have already done it in the past. Close your eyes, then vividly imagine
you succeeding wildly at what you are really going to do for the first time.
The mind does NOT know the difference between something VIVIDLY imagined and
something real. Make it vivid by involving all 5 senses.
3.) Find someone who is already confident in that area and
copy them. Model as many of their behaviors, attitudes, values, and
beliefs for the context you want to be confident in as you can. How can
you do this? Talk with them if you have access to them. If you
don’t have access to them, get as much exposure to them as you can. This
could be talking to people who know the person and/or buying their products if
they have some.
4.) Use the “as-if” frame. I literally love this
frame of mind. If you were confident, how would you be acting? How
would you be moving? How would you be speaking? What would you be
thinking? What would you tell yourself inside? By asking yourself
these questions, you are literally forced to answer them by going into a
confident state. You will then be acting “as-if” you are confident.
Now just forget you are acting long enough and pretty soon you’ll develop it
into a habit.
5.) Go into the future and ask if what you’re faced with is
such a big deal. This might be a bit morbid and yet this works
tremendously well. Imagine yourself on your deathbed looking back over
your life. You are surrounded by your friends and family. You’re
reviewing your life. Is what you’re faced with now even going to pop up?
That’s highly unlikely. Keeping things in proper perspective really
diminishes fear.
6.) Remember that you lose out on 100% of the opportunities
that you never go for. To get what you want, ask for it. I fully
believe that if I ask enough people for whatever I want, I can get it.
This is not necessarily true and yet it’s a useful belief. As you think
about your goals and what you are striving for, how effective would it be for
you to believe that all the people out there want to help you if you only ask?
Whether that is true or not in the “real world” does not matter. If
you find that belief empowering, I invite you to adopt it as your own.
7.) Disarm the nagging, negative internal voice. That
negative internal voice can keep anyone stopped. To disarm the internal voice,
imagine a volume control and lower the volume. Or how about changing the
internal voice to Mickey Mouse? Do you think you could take Mickey Mouse
seriously if he were criticizing you? Change the voice to a clown voice.
The point is to disarm the voice by altering the way it nags at you. If I
hear my own voice nagging me, it stops me. If I hear a clown voice, I
laugh and continue onward.
* * * *
* * * * *
"Eagles
in a Storm"
Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it
breaks? The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to
come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up
and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring
above it. The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift
it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.
When the storms of life come upon us -and all of us will experience them -
we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief toward God. The
storms do not have to overcome us. We can allow God's power to lift us
above them. God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness,
tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives.
We can soar above the storm. Remember, it is not the burdens of life that
weigh us down, it is how we handle them.
*
* * * * * *
* *
The
carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough
first day on the job.
A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his
ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in
stony silence.
On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front
door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching tips of the branches with both
hands.
When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face
was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a
kiss.
Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the
better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having
troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, troubles don't belong in the
house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every
night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again."
"Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to
pick 'em up, there ain't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night
before."
*
* * * * * *
* *
