51

The mind is its own place
and in itself,

can make a Heaven of Hell,
a Hell of Heaven.

- John Milton -

Milton highlights the beauty of the mind and its power in this quote.

The human body helps us to survive and the human mind helps us to live our life.

Our entire life is nothing but a response of our mind to the situations around us. And depending on how our mind responds, the happiness and peace in our life will be determined.

A little bit of control over the mind and the way it perceives things will go a long way in making our life peaceful.

If the mind perceives things wrong, then it can ruin a perfectly good life.

But, if it has the ability to be detached and not get affected by negative events, then it can remain calm and peaceful even in a bad situation.

So, learning to remain detached, and the ability to let go of negative things that affect us, will go a long way in gaining control over our mind.

With our mind under control and a positive outlook in life, we can lead a happy and peaceful life.

52

Transformation is a gradual process

- Source: Internet -

We should understand that time is needed to make a change in our life.

When we are making efforts to change ourselves to become a better person, we need to be patient to see the results.

We will be making efforts to quit habits, cultivate new habits and make new efforts. And it will not be easy to sustain the new habits, since the old habits die hard and they will try to come back into our lives.

We have to persevere and keep at it, in order to totally get rid of the old habits, and keep the new habits.

This will be very hard in the initial stages since we cannot sustain the efforts for a long time. We can make the efforts for one or two days and then the old habits will be back with a vengeance to reclaim you.

And sometimes we win, and sometimes they win. We should not give up even if we slip a few times.

We should keep up our efforts and show consistency for a significant period of time.

Then slowly we will begin to notice that the old habits are losing their hold on us. Now, it will be possible to get out of the old habits and cultivate new habits that can change our lives for the better.

53

Life is easier when you accept
the apology that you never received

- Robert Brault -

This is a golden quote which highlights the need to forgive people in order to lead a peaceful life.

Many a times, we come across people who hurt us or wrong us in some way, and it causes lot of anguish and sorrow. People may realise their mistakes later and apologize to us. And we accept their apology and forgive them, to make peace with them.

But, there will also be occasions when people do not apologize and think what they did was right. This may cause a lot of mental agony to us.

So, in order to retain our mental peace, we should forgive them also, even though they didn’t apologize. This will help us in forgetting the bitter memories, and make peace with ourselves.

54

Don't be afraid to fail
if you want to succeed

- Source: Internet -

Everyone wants to succeed in life and we make our best efforts in that direction. But ironically, success never happens in our very first try, and we invariably have to deal with failure in the initial phases.

We need to learn some important lessons from those failures, and then make more efforts towards success.

And once our efforts have reached a point of completion, we will be able to taste success. So, we should not be afraid of failures if we want to succeed in life. Failures teach us valuable lessons, which will be useful in our subsequent attempts and finally enable us to reach our goals.

55

Let food by thy medicine
and medicine by thy food

- Hippocrates -
Father of medicine

This is a quote which everyone in this world should read and follow in their life. This quote assumes great significance in today’s world which is plagued by diseases caused by the bad lifestyle adopted by people.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine highlights the importance of food in maintaining our health. Food is not only needed to keep us alive, it is also responsible for keeping us free from diseases. Most of the diseases we encounter are a result of incorrect food habits and excessive consumption of food.

Most of the diseases can be reversed simply by correcting our food habits. There is no need for separate medicines to heal diseases. The food we eat is capable of healing diseases. We should refrain from overindulgence and follow moderation in diet.

We should avoid harmful food and correct our eating habits. Our health will be greatly enhanced if we follow this simple but very effective guideline in our life.

56

Great men take time out to help others
even if they are themselves struggling

- Source: Internet -

The beauty of great men who help others even when they are personally struggling is highlighted here.

Most of us help others only after our comforts are taken care of, and after we ensure that our life is going on smoothly.

We will never think about helping others when we are facing hardships in life. We will be totally immersed in our own welfare and do the best to ensure our welfare.

Great men tend to help others even if they are personally going through a bad patch in life. They take time out to help others and they are even ready to face hardships that come their way on account of that.

They are the human beings who stand as testimony to the spirit of brotherhood, love and care that exists in all of us. They exhibit these qualities in all of their actions. And it is their actions that give us hope, that all is not lost for mankind and we can still be redeemed if we start caring for others.

57

At times,
our own light goes out,

and is rekindled by a
spark from another person.

- Albert Schweitzer -

Albert Schweitzer shows us that there will be occasions in our life when others inspire us and lift us when we start to lose hope.

Sometimes, the situations we face will be overwhelming and we will be completely swept over by them. We lose faith in ourselves and feel like giving up since we won’t have the strength to go on.

And in those kind of situations, we meet someone who will lift us up and convince us of our potential.

They will make us go on and continue our efforts. They infuse us with fresh energy and rekindle our enthusiasm. And with the inspiration they give, we can lift ourselves and make a spirited effort that leads us to our goal. We should be thankful to them who inspire us and help us to get our strength back.

There are moments in life when we are at the lowest point and a little bit of external help is needed to get us back on track.

And we should be grateful to those people who provide that little nudge at the right time.

58

New beginnings are often
disguised as painful endings

- Source: Internet -

We should realize that a lot of painful situations and endings in our life are actually new beginnings. Our life will not be a joy ride always. There will be occasions when we have to face sorrow and misery.

These ups and downs are inevitable and we have to deal with them bravely. We cannot control our life totally. A lot of our efforts may go in vain, failures can happen, friends can leave, relationships can falter and business can go down. A lot of things can end in our life causing a lot of losses and agony.

But, sometimes, these endings are actually setting us up for a much better option, and a new beginning which will completely turn our life around. We can realise that only when we look back in our life.

So, do not get disheartened by these painful endings. We get to learn a lot of life’s lessons from them. And they sometimes are actually new beginnings for a much better life.

59

Kites rise highest
against the wind not with it

- Winston Churchill -

The glory of the struggle we go through in our life is highlighted here. The struggles we face in our life bring out the best in us and help us to reach great heights.

If the going was easy, then, we will never scale great heights. But when the going gets tough, the tough in us gets going, and we begin to exhibit enormous strength in order to overcome the obstacles that come our way.

So, the struggles we go through in our life play a crucial role in helping us realise our true potential and strength.

They mould us into a stronger and a much better human being. They always bring out the best in us.

60

He who reigns within himself
and rules passions, desires
and fears is more than a king.

- John Milton -

Human beings are driven by emotions and desires. And we are all slaves to our emotions. Many a times, we find our emotions controlling our lives.

When we cannot control our emotions, it invariably leads to a path of self-destruction. We resort to wrong action and commit serious errors in life. That in turn, leads to consequences which destroy our life.

So, it is imperative to have self-control, so that we do not give in to negative emotions. The self-control we exercise will help us take the right path, and also to become better human beings.

So, everyone should strive hard to gain control over ourselves, so that we can live a righteous life. And that will lead to lasting happiness.

Preview 1

    

Preview 2

    

Preview 3

    

Preview 4

    

Preview 5

    

Preview 6

    

Preview 7

    

Preview 8