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This is a great list and I know some of you are Oprah fans, so thought you would enjoy! The article is available here.

The Top 20 Things Oprah Knows for Sure
by Oprah Winfrey

Since the day the late Gene Siskel asked me, “What do you know for sure?” and I got all flustered and started stuttering and couldn’t come up with an answer, I’ve never stopped asking myself that question. And every month I must find yet another answer. Some months I feel I hardly know a thing, and I’m always pressed to make the deadline for this column. This time around, in honor of our tribute to the subject, I looked back and came up with my all-time top 20:

1. What you put out comes back all the time, no matter what. (This is my creed.)

2. You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script.

3. Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give it power.

4. When people show you who they are, believe them the first time. (A lesson from Maya Angelou.)

5. Worrying is wasted time. Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you.

6. What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for. You become what you believe.

7. If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, that will be enough. (From the German theologian and humanist Meister Eckhart.)

8. The happiness you feel is in direct proportion to the love you give.

9. Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction.

10. If you make a choice that goes against what everyone else thinks, the world will not fall apart.

11. Trust your instincts. Intuition doesn’t lie.

12. Love yourself and then learn to extend that love to others in every encounter.

13. Let passion drive your profession.

14. Find a way to get paid for doing what you love. Then every paycheck will be a bonus.

15. Love doesn’t hurt. It feels really good.

16. Every day brings a chance to start over.

17. Being a mother is the hardest job on earth. Women everywhere must declare it so.

18. Doubt means don’t. Don’t move. Don’t answer. Don’t rush forward.

19. When you don’t know what to do, get still. The answer will come.

20. “Trouble don’t last always.” (A line from a Negro spiritual, which calls to mind another favorite: This, too, shall pass.)

Nimit

Hope you are all well! I read this quote somewhere recently and I wanted to pass it on. I think it is a grand message especially for us younger class as we march on into our lives, careers and futures:

Money can buy you a bed, clock, book, position, medicine, blood and sex. But not sleep, time, knowledge, respect, health, life or love.

Nimit

ENLIGHTENED PERSPECTIVE: ENJOY

Please Read all the way to the bottom: If you will take the time to read these. I promise you’ll come away with an enlightened perspective. The subjects covered affect us all on a daily basis:

They’re written by Andy Rooney , a man who has the gift of saying so much with so few words.Enjoy…….

I’ve learned…. That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.

I’ve learned…. That when you’re in love, it shows.

I’ve learned…. That just one person saying to me, ‘You’ve made my day!’ makes my day.

I’ve learned…. That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.

I’ve learned…. That being kind is more important than being right.

I’ve learned…. That you should never say no to a gift from a child.

I’ve learned…. That I can always pray for someone when I don’t have the strength to help him in some other way.

I’ve learned…. That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.

I’ve learned…. That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.

I’ve learned…. That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.

I’ve learned…. That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.

I’ve learned…. That we should be glad God doesn’t give us everything we ask for.

I’ve learned… … That money doesn’t buy class.

I’ve learned…. That it’s those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.

I’ve learned… That under everyone’s hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.

I’ve learned…. That to ignore the facts does not change the facts.

I ‘ve learned…. That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.

I’ve learned…. That love, not time, heals all wounds.

I’ve learned…. That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.

I’ve learned… That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.

I’ve learned…… That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.

I’ve learned… That life is tough, but I’m tougher.

I’ve learned…. That opportunities are never lost, someone will take the ones you miss.

I’ve learned…. That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.

I’ve learned…. That I wish I could have told my Mom that I lov e her one more time before she passed away.

I’ve learned…. That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.

I’ve learned…. That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.

I’ve learned…. That when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you’re hooked for life.

I’ve learned…. That everyone wants to live on top of the m ountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.

I’ve learned…. That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

Put it in Practice

NAIL IN THE FENCE

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper.

His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.

It won’t matter how many times you say “I’m sorry”, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend a ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to us.

Please forgive me if I have ever left a hole.

An orange, liquid soap and a music concert…what do these three have in common? All three have taught me some lessons in life.

The Orange
I was sitting on our sofa in Owensboro eating fruit with the family. Watching my dad peel orange after orange, one fact became repeatedly clear: these oranges had a lot of seeds. Each slice that I popped into my mouth (sometimes 2 or 3 slices at a time), yielded a few seeds that were spit out in the seed bowl. Slice after slice, and orange after orange, we enjoyed the fruit and enjoyed the medavo. So where is the lesson?

Sometimes when evaluating new endeavors (for example big career moves), nothing seems to be without challenges. This shouldn’t stop us from making those bold choices anyway. We don’t not-eat the orange, just because we have to work to filter out the seeds.

The Liquid Soap
Shortly after I moved to California, I was out shopping to furnish my new apartment. I was in the soap aisle, and the question on my mind at the time was, “which liquid soap to buy?” There was the SoftSoap, Dial, etc etc. My friend who was shopping along with me, advised me to buy two instead of one because I will surely need another one soon anyway.

While pondering this choice (one or two), I noticed the “half-gallon” liquid soap refill containers. They were 3x the cost of one liquid soap container…but had much more than 3x the soap. I was contemplating buying the refill container…but my friend was advising me to just buy the normal two small containers, “How much soap are you going to use anyway?” I made the call and bought one normal size SoftSoap, and one refill container. It was an investment…and it cost a lot more than just buying one SoftSoap.

Last week, I refilled my SoftSoap container for the 4th time since that day. Every time I look at my SoftSoap in the bathroom now, it reminds me of a lesson: invest for profit in the long-term.

The Music Concert
A few weeks back, I went to a concert. I was with a friend. We were almost late, and had just arrived, rushing to get inside. It was too crowded outside to walk side by side–we were dodging people left and right to walk. He was leading and I was behind. I noticed that I was having a hard time keeping up with him, and was falling behind easily. He would make some maneuver which was the right move for where he was, but when I would try to follow the same thing, there may be someone in my way or the situation would be slightly different, and as a result I was lagging behind.

I decided to adopt a different strategy. Instead of following right behind him, I shifted a few feet to the right and started making my own way through the people. This turned out to be much more effective, and I was able advance through the crowd at the same pace as him! I just had to make all the maneuvers myself (essentially find my own way through).

So the lesson learned? No one person or role model can teach you “the” right way to live life nor is there a set “forumla” for success. It is important to find your own calling. We must be individuals first, and only then can a partnership work well.

I hope the lessons I shared from an orange, liquid soap and a concert proved somewhat insightful for you too

You may have read this quote before, but for those of you who haven’t take a look. It has started ringing more true to me lately than ever, so I thought I would share with you.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
fabulous, talented? Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of the Spirit. Your playing small
does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that
other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of the Spirit
that is within us. It is not just in some of us;
it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give others permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

-Marianne Williamson

This quote was used by Nelson Mandela during his 1994 inaugural speech.

As Jains/Vegetarians/non-drinkers/etc we often have to deal with people who dont understand us or refuse to. The insight steve pavlina offers on this is enlightening…our annoyance with “close-minded” people actually comes from our own fears. This is Anekantvad kind of thinking! Read on…

How can you intelligently deal with people who are close-minded, totally stubborn in their beliefs and unreceptive to new ideas? Perhaps you feel certain you’re right and they’re wrong, but you can’t seem to convince them to see things your way. And maybe you are in fact right, but that doesn’t prevent the other person from resorting to irrational arguments to keep from agreeing with you. What can you do in such situations?

I’d like you to consider this challenge from an angle you may not have considered.

When you encounter people who are very close-minded, you’ll often find yourself becoming resistant to the other person’s position. You think the problem lies with the other person, but if you define it that way, you’ll beat your head against the wall in frustration. The real source of your frustration is your own resistance, not the other person.

The lesson in such situations is to learn unconditional acceptance, which comes about when you begin asking questions like: Why do I feel such resistance towards close-minded people? Why do I feel the need to convince them of anything? Why do I have such a strong need to be right? What part of me is experiencing this resistance? Is it possible there’s any shred of truth in the other person’s position?

As you explore these questions, you’ll begin to uncover the part of yourself that is resisting what the other person represents to you. Then you can consciously decide if you wish to continue holding onto that resistance or let it go. The more you resist about the world, the more time you’ll spend defending your position.

Resistance comes from your ego. When your ego takes ownership of your ideas, it treats challenges to your ideas as a personal challenge, hence the need to defend yourself as if being attacked. But if you keep your ideas separate from your ego, you’ll feel no surge of resistance or defensiveness because there won’t be any attachment.

from Steve Pavlina’s article: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/11/dealing-with-close-mindedness/