What is the meaning of faith?
In visiting other countries doing charitable there are always plenty of opportunities to see Gods work and better understand him. This was much the case when visiting Romania on behalf of the charity Cry in the Dark where, for one week at the end of August through the beginning of September, fourteen of us from Tenterden and the North-East of England faced up to “The Hard Hat Challenge”.
Our task was to help in the building of an extension to Casa Lumina, an orphanage for children with learning difficulties and life limiting illnesses situated in Comanesti. The extension will accommodate the growing needs of the children as they develop into adults.
The sheer fact that a Christian organisation such as Cry in the Dark has achieved so much is just one unbelievable testimony to Gods work.
Throughout our work we had many opportunities to interact with the orphans and it was remarkable, even emotional as to how much love they have and wanted to give. Alan Clover, who in his seventies, was the oldest member of our party had been to Casa Lumina before albeit some two years ago. Yet one of the girls remembered him from his previous visit and embraced him so lovingly. The tears of joy that welled up in him was quite infectious as many of us struggled not to weep alongside him. At the end of the week, Nicholas Cooper, a curate from St. Mildreds Church in Tenterden, offered a communion service on a makeshift alter created from one of the work benches. Two of the orphans attended this service with such quiet respect and dignity that we all felt humbled by their presence. Where we thought we would be ministering to them, in fact truthfully they were ministering to us.
On the Sunday of our week in Romania, we spent the morning in worship at the Biserica Sfanta Trieme Church, a free Christian church in the city of Bacau. This church is a modern, white walled building hidden away behind some houses in one of the back streets. The service was conducted from a stage on the first floor of the church which was back dropped by a magnificent wooden cross. A welcoming warmth and love from the entire Romanian congregation soothed any apprehensions that we may have been feeling.
Lyviu, an operational director for Cry in the Dark in Romania conducted the music and singing along with his wife Anna. The words to the songs were projected onto a screen on the stage, karaoke style, and I’m sure it was with some amusement that we British folk were trying to sing along evangelically in Romanian.
Pastor Marion gave the sermon. Fortunately we had a few very clever members of the congregation who thankfully translated for us. His subject was joy.
Joy comes in many forms. Entertainment gives us joy, so does our favourite football team when it is winning. Such joy is short lived (particularly if you support Gillingham) and we have to keep searching for it time and again. There is a longer lasting joy that comes from things like a loving relationship, marriage and family.
Once discovered though, the joy found through God is everlasting. In order to find this joy we have to repent of all our sins. Sin creates an enormous barrier between us and the joy of knowing God. Therefore we need to seek forgiveness and once given, the hurdles and barriers are removed and we can experience the joy given by God, forever.
During the blessing there were a couple of the congregation who cried. These were not tears of sadness but of gladness, realising that they had come to God and he had spoken to them. Indeed, as I found out later, there was one young, debonair looking lad who had not that long ago been out on the streets, getting into trouble, committing crime. This church had saved him and turned his life around.
Towards the end of the service Lyviu and Anna’s little boy - who must have been two or three years old – made an impromptu and unannounced appearance on the stage. His innocence of face and his unrestricted actions seemed to poignantly demonstrate the presence of joy without barriers.
There were three messages that I took away from this wonderful Sunday morning service.
1. Nicholas Cooper, the curate, offered a prayer which was translated for the benefit of the Romanian congregation. In it he pointed out that language and culture doesn’t have to be a wall built between us. The wooden cross mounted magnificently above the stage unites us all in one common good.
2. As was demonstrated so effectively throughout the service by Pastor Marion, the joy of God is eternal, once we have sought forgiveness from all our sins.
3. During the service some of the children sang a song with the self assurance that only children have. The motif on the tee-shirt of one of the little boys read “Pick noses, not fights”.
How fantastic is that?
Terry Norrington
www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
www.cryinthedark.org
Showing posts with label self help. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self help. Show all posts
Friday, 13 November 2009
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Give Thanks
What is the Meaning of Faith?
It’s that time of year again to give thanks. The church was full today as the people brought in their gifts of fresh fruit, vegetables, bread and many other types of food. Yes it was the harvest festival. Being also in conjunction with the family service my two boys took up our gifts of a packet of rice and biscuits. I’m sure someone somewhere in our community will be enjoying a chocolate digestive curry anytime soon.
It got me thinking though about how grateful we are for the good things we have in life. How many of us appreciate all the good we have in life and give thanks for that?
Do you see life as a glass half full or half empty? Do you see this world as being a wonderful place, a true gift from god, or somewhere filled with doom, fear and misery?
If you view the world as the latter you are likely not to see anything worth being thankful for. You cannot see passed the next day, never knowing where the next penny is coming from.
On the other hand, if the glass is half full, it is seen to be half filled with champagne. This in its self is worth being thankful for; a positive outlook on life. Despite all the doom and gloom that goes on you see and smell the roses, appreciate the food on the table, enjoy the company of good friends and family.
Even if finances are hard, having faith, trusting in god will see you through to the next day and the next harvest.
After the church service I took my wife and two boys over to my parents. Every two or three weeks we visit and they are generous enough to cook the Sunday lunch, again for which we are truly grateful. My father particularly is deeply interested in politics and will create heavy debates based upon his points of view.
Today he rambled on about the credit crunch and the financial mess that most parts of the world seem to be experiencing. He complained about the banks and bankers that reportedly have conjured up this situation. A downcast picture was painted which could very easily depress any of us. My stance however was to ask what he could do about the situation to make it better? The answer of course was nothing. Other than to vote for the other lot cometh the next general election and even then they probably won’t do any better.
Having now made him understand he could not personally do anything about the current circumstances I asked him why he was worrying about it? My point was that we all should be concerned with the things we can control and not the things we can’t. Given where we are we need to be looking at how we can progress forward, making the most of our lives and continue to grow and achieve our ambitions. It is so easy to fall into the negative trap of bad news that is constantly dished out by the media that focussing on the good becomes very difficult.
Life is full of wonderful things. Observe these and view these with gratitude.
Terry Norrington
www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
www.cryinthedark.org
It’s that time of year again to give thanks. The church was full today as the people brought in their gifts of fresh fruit, vegetables, bread and many other types of food. Yes it was the harvest festival. Being also in conjunction with the family service my two boys took up our gifts of a packet of rice and biscuits. I’m sure someone somewhere in our community will be enjoying a chocolate digestive curry anytime soon.
It got me thinking though about how grateful we are for the good things we have in life. How many of us appreciate all the good we have in life and give thanks for that?
Do you see life as a glass half full or half empty? Do you see this world as being a wonderful place, a true gift from god, or somewhere filled with doom, fear and misery?
If you view the world as the latter you are likely not to see anything worth being thankful for. You cannot see passed the next day, never knowing where the next penny is coming from.
On the other hand, if the glass is half full, it is seen to be half filled with champagne. This in its self is worth being thankful for; a positive outlook on life. Despite all the doom and gloom that goes on you see and smell the roses, appreciate the food on the table, enjoy the company of good friends and family.
Even if finances are hard, having faith, trusting in god will see you through to the next day and the next harvest.
After the church service I took my wife and two boys over to my parents. Every two or three weeks we visit and they are generous enough to cook the Sunday lunch, again for which we are truly grateful. My father particularly is deeply interested in politics and will create heavy debates based upon his points of view.
Today he rambled on about the credit crunch and the financial mess that most parts of the world seem to be experiencing. He complained about the banks and bankers that reportedly have conjured up this situation. A downcast picture was painted which could very easily depress any of us. My stance however was to ask what he could do about the situation to make it better? The answer of course was nothing. Other than to vote for the other lot cometh the next general election and even then they probably won’t do any better.
Having now made him understand he could not personally do anything about the current circumstances I asked him why he was worrying about it? My point was that we all should be concerned with the things we can control and not the things we can’t. Given where we are we need to be looking at how we can progress forward, making the most of our lives and continue to grow and achieve our ambitions. It is so easy to fall into the negative trap of bad news that is constantly dished out by the media that focussing on the good becomes very difficult.
Life is full of wonderful things. Observe these and view these with gratitude.
Terry Norrington
www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
www.cryinthedark.org
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Good News is Here to Stay
What is the meaning of faith?
I find myself getting more and more deeply into my faith. I have always believed in God and in dark times he has helped me through. But these days I am getting far more involved in the church, doing more charity work and studying faith and personal development with a great deal more intensity.
As I write my blogs I try hard to research faith and personal development thoroughly and also try to put into practice much of what I learn. It is a wonderful fact that there is so much in the way of resources out there for me to call upon.
Of course the internet is one of the largest of these resources. Although we have to be careful to disseminate between what is quality information and what is poor, we can all be guided into so many different directions. One such direction is towards Christian radio. Much of my day is spent travelling in the car and listening to the traditional news based radio programmes can be somewhat depressing. Granted, we need to be in touch with what goes on in the world, but do we need to be constantly bombarded with misery after misery?
Many TV programmes focus on portraying all that is bad in the world. For some reason production companies believe that people’s disasters make for entertainment. They assume that we wallow in other people’s misery. On news programmes, bad news is the only type of news that people are interested in. Even if there is good news, they will still hunt out the negative slant to the story.
The fact is there is so much that is beautiful in this world. Despite the world’s imperfections, there is so much joy we can obtain from this world. God has created so much abundance for us to enjoy if we choose to open our eyes, trust in God and grab those opportunities that he puts before us.
The vast majority of people in this world conduct their lives with good intent. Yes there are some little parts of our make-up that bring out the worst in us but these are well and truly over shadowed by everything that is good inside. Therefore we should be far more uplifted, far more entertained by all the good that happens in the world.
This is why it is so refreshing to come across media such as Christian radio and television. To hear some tremendous lectures, speeches, programmes and music lifts up the heart. There are quite a few out there that can be connected to via the internet. I am currently experimenting with a couple that are of interest to me which are primarily geographically relevant.
If every body was to search for good news perhaps our broadcasters would have to re-evaluate what constitutes news and entertainment. Perhaps then we can live in a world of happiness. The good news is that we don’t have to put up with bad news any longer.
How fantastic is that?
Terry Norrington
www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
www.cryinthedark.org.com
I find myself getting more and more deeply into my faith. I have always believed in God and in dark times he has helped me through. But these days I am getting far more involved in the church, doing more charity work and studying faith and personal development with a great deal more intensity.
As I write my blogs I try hard to research faith and personal development thoroughly and also try to put into practice much of what I learn. It is a wonderful fact that there is so much in the way of resources out there for me to call upon.
Of course the internet is one of the largest of these resources. Although we have to be careful to disseminate between what is quality information and what is poor, we can all be guided into so many different directions. One such direction is towards Christian radio. Much of my day is spent travelling in the car and listening to the traditional news based radio programmes can be somewhat depressing. Granted, we need to be in touch with what goes on in the world, but do we need to be constantly bombarded with misery after misery?
Many TV programmes focus on portraying all that is bad in the world. For some reason production companies believe that people’s disasters make for entertainment. They assume that we wallow in other people’s misery. On news programmes, bad news is the only type of news that people are interested in. Even if there is good news, they will still hunt out the negative slant to the story.
The fact is there is so much that is beautiful in this world. Despite the world’s imperfections, there is so much joy we can obtain from this world. God has created so much abundance for us to enjoy if we choose to open our eyes, trust in God and grab those opportunities that he puts before us.
The vast majority of people in this world conduct their lives with good intent. Yes there are some little parts of our make-up that bring out the worst in us but these are well and truly over shadowed by everything that is good inside. Therefore we should be far more uplifted, far more entertained by all the good that happens in the world.
This is why it is so refreshing to come across media such as Christian radio and television. To hear some tremendous lectures, speeches, programmes and music lifts up the heart. There are quite a few out there that can be connected to via the internet. I am currently experimenting with a couple that are of interest to me which are primarily geographically relevant.
If every body was to search for good news perhaps our broadcasters would have to re-evaluate what constitutes news and entertainment. Perhaps then we can live in a world of happiness. The good news is that we don’t have to put up with bad news any longer.
How fantastic is that?
Terry Norrington
www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
www.cryinthedark.org.com
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
The Wonderful World of Faith and Creativity
What is the meaning of faith?
Very often we can be bogged down with a problem and really struggle to find a solution. The creative juices fail to flow and we become totally frustrated at our total lack of creativity.
So do we resign ourselves to the fact that we are obviously not the creative sort?
Or can we train ourselves to think with creative spirit?
Firstly let’s define creativity. Creativity is the ability to solve problems with new methods to accomplish daily tasks. This can also lead to new insights and visions to help achieve goals and obtain success.
So is creativity inherited?
If we look at children at play we can see tremendous examples of creativity. They can take every day objects and create totally new games to play. The playground is full of wild imagination and creativity.
So where did we loose it all?
Routine
As we have seen, children have an inexhaustible ability for creativity. But as we get older life becomes full of instruction. Restrictions are placed upon us and we lose a lot of the ability to think for ourselves. Creativity flies out of the window. Systems and repetitiveness stifle creativity. Strict time tables, daily routines, working in closed areas and desk jobs all hamper our imaginations.
Free time
It is virtually impossible to avoid all routine but what we do need is to develop some free time. Put aside one day per week where nothing is planned. Just let the day unfold and “go with the flow”. Spend time going to places like the seaside or strolling through the woods; places of natural interest with open spaces. At work create a few minutes of free time. There are some people who spend their free time alone and then spend that time thinking of work. They even take that work to bed and dwell on work issues as they fall asleep. These people need to develop free time un-associated with work for the sake of creativity and also for the sake of their sanity.
Left brain – Right brain
Our brains are divided into two hemispheres- the left brain and the right brain. The left side deals with our logical and reasoning thought patterns. Our right side of the brain handles intuition and creativity. Much of our work life today asks us to use logic and reasoning and therefore our right side of the brain becomes somewhat redundant. Ideally we need to exercise both sides of the brain to get the most of our cerebral abilities.
How’s best to develop creative thinking?
1. Understand that there is no exact solution to a problem, but there will always be more than one solution to that problem.
2. Don’t give in to false beliefs. If we believe there is no solution to our problem then there won’t be. Have faith.
3. Never restrict or dismiss thoughts. Two silly thoughts may well lead to a third good thought.
4. Break away from routine when thinking of solutions. This allows for a better flow of creative thoughts.
5. Brainstorm. Ask others. Again two ideas that may seem ridiculous may lead to a third, sensible idea.
6. Take time occasionally to do something not done before.
7. Put aside some time as free time.
8. Spend time with creative people. Creativity is infectious and we may be pleasantly surprised as to how creative we really are when we compare ourselves to these people.
We needn’t be restricted to a path of logical thinking. We all have that wonderful ability to be creative. Breaking away from routine and giving ourselves time to think will stimulate creative thinking and then we will find that no problem will ever be without a solution.
How fantastic is that?
Terry Norrington
www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
www.cryinthedark.org
Very often we can be bogged down with a problem and really struggle to find a solution. The creative juices fail to flow and we become totally frustrated at our total lack of creativity.
So do we resign ourselves to the fact that we are obviously not the creative sort?
Or can we train ourselves to think with creative spirit?
Firstly let’s define creativity. Creativity is the ability to solve problems with new methods to accomplish daily tasks. This can also lead to new insights and visions to help achieve goals and obtain success.
So is creativity inherited?
If we look at children at play we can see tremendous examples of creativity. They can take every day objects and create totally new games to play. The playground is full of wild imagination and creativity.
So where did we loose it all?
Routine
As we have seen, children have an inexhaustible ability for creativity. But as we get older life becomes full of instruction. Restrictions are placed upon us and we lose a lot of the ability to think for ourselves. Creativity flies out of the window. Systems and repetitiveness stifle creativity. Strict time tables, daily routines, working in closed areas and desk jobs all hamper our imaginations.
Free time
It is virtually impossible to avoid all routine but what we do need is to develop some free time. Put aside one day per week where nothing is planned. Just let the day unfold and “go with the flow”. Spend time going to places like the seaside or strolling through the woods; places of natural interest with open spaces. At work create a few minutes of free time. There are some people who spend their free time alone and then spend that time thinking of work. They even take that work to bed and dwell on work issues as they fall asleep. These people need to develop free time un-associated with work for the sake of creativity and also for the sake of their sanity.
Left brain – Right brain
Our brains are divided into two hemispheres- the left brain and the right brain. The left side deals with our logical and reasoning thought patterns. Our right side of the brain handles intuition and creativity. Much of our work life today asks us to use logic and reasoning and therefore our right side of the brain becomes somewhat redundant. Ideally we need to exercise both sides of the brain to get the most of our cerebral abilities.
How’s best to develop creative thinking?
1. Understand that there is no exact solution to a problem, but there will always be more than one solution to that problem.
2. Don’t give in to false beliefs. If we believe there is no solution to our problem then there won’t be. Have faith.
3. Never restrict or dismiss thoughts. Two silly thoughts may well lead to a third good thought.
4. Break away from routine when thinking of solutions. This allows for a better flow of creative thoughts.
5. Brainstorm. Ask others. Again two ideas that may seem ridiculous may lead to a third, sensible idea.
6. Take time occasionally to do something not done before.
7. Put aside some time as free time.
8. Spend time with creative people. Creativity is infectious and we may be pleasantly surprised as to how creative we really are when we compare ourselves to these people.
We needn’t be restricted to a path of logical thinking. We all have that wonderful ability to be creative. Breaking away from routine and giving ourselves time to think will stimulate creative thinking and then we will find that no problem will ever be without a solution.
How fantastic is that?
Terry Norrington
www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
www.cryinthedark.org
Sunday, 25 October 2009
How to be Unsuccessful
What is the meaning of faith?
What do we want to be successful for?
Waking up in the morning feeling great, feeling in control, feeling victorious.
Who wants that?
It gives you energy, then that means you have to get involved with things to burn that energy off. It would mean we’d have to be constructive and make positive contributions to the world, have things in life we really want.
Is that really how we want our lives to be?
Do we rally want loads of friends, a happy family with laughing children around our feet?
Isn’t it better to have false beliefs?
At least with false beliefs we can limit our potential, limit our abilities. If we really can’t have happiness and success we can wallow in our misery, not have to live up to expectations, watching everybody else have what they want knowing we couldn’t possibly have that.
External influences. This is a great one. We can blame other things, other people for us not making our lives better. Yes, then that takes the pressure off and we can then live with our consciences because it wasn’t our fault. It wasn’t our fault the exam board set the exams so hard that we failed. Yeh, forget the fact we couldn’t be bothered to revise.
No perseverance.
How does the saying go?
“If at first you don’t succeed, give up”. Sounds like a good motto to live our lives by to me.
Why should we be bothered to exhaust all avenues to live our dream?
That sounds to much like hard work to me. If we fall over and hurt ourselves that’s a good enough reason to give up, isn’t it?
Be flexible?
Why?
If something doesn’t work, surely there isn’t another method to get the same result. That means being adaptable, having to think a little deeper, study a bit harder to find away around obstacles. We might have to start talking to people to see if they have solutions, and find out what they might think. We know what they will think. They will think we are stupid.
It isn’t worth it is it?
Then there’s the bit about planning, setting goals. Look, if we don’t plan to get ahead, well, somebody else will. If we don’t plan to get that highly paid job, somebody else will. If we don’t plan to get that fantastic house, somebody else will. We don’t want to set goals. That might put pressure on us to achieve them.
No it’s much better not to plan, isn’t it?
Self-confidence. Wow now, surely we’re better off being the shy one. All said and done, we’re protected if we live up to our belief that we cannot do it. Our feelings are protected. Let’s face it, if we start taking risks we’re only going to fail.
And then what will people think?
No, it’s much more comfortable to have no self-confidence. If we want self-confidence we need to practice all that self-confidence stuff, and we might feel inclined to get off our backsides and get on with things.
Besides we’re frightened. We’re frightened of stepping into the dark. We don’t know every step to take even if God is there to show us the way.
And what if we do become successful?
How do we handle success?
We’re only used to failure aren’t we chaps? ….. Chaps……Hello…..Where are you?
How fantastic is that?
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
http://www.cryinthedark.org
What do we want to be successful for?
Waking up in the morning feeling great, feeling in control, feeling victorious.
Who wants that?
It gives you energy, then that means you have to get involved with things to burn that energy off. It would mean we’d have to be constructive and make positive contributions to the world, have things in life we really want.
Is that really how we want our lives to be?
Do we rally want loads of friends, a happy family with laughing children around our feet?
Isn’t it better to have false beliefs?
At least with false beliefs we can limit our potential, limit our abilities. If we really can’t have happiness and success we can wallow in our misery, not have to live up to expectations, watching everybody else have what they want knowing we couldn’t possibly have that.
External influences. This is a great one. We can blame other things, other people for us not making our lives better. Yes, then that takes the pressure off and we can then live with our consciences because it wasn’t our fault. It wasn’t our fault the exam board set the exams so hard that we failed. Yeh, forget the fact we couldn’t be bothered to revise.
No perseverance.
How does the saying go?
“If at first you don’t succeed, give up”. Sounds like a good motto to live our lives by to me.
Why should we be bothered to exhaust all avenues to live our dream?
That sounds to much like hard work to me. If we fall over and hurt ourselves that’s a good enough reason to give up, isn’t it?
Be flexible?
Why?
If something doesn’t work, surely there isn’t another method to get the same result. That means being adaptable, having to think a little deeper, study a bit harder to find away around obstacles. We might have to start talking to people to see if they have solutions, and find out what they might think. We know what they will think. They will think we are stupid.
It isn’t worth it is it?
Then there’s the bit about planning, setting goals. Look, if we don’t plan to get ahead, well, somebody else will. If we don’t plan to get that highly paid job, somebody else will. If we don’t plan to get that fantastic house, somebody else will. We don’t want to set goals. That might put pressure on us to achieve them.
No it’s much better not to plan, isn’t it?
Self-confidence. Wow now, surely we’re better off being the shy one. All said and done, we’re protected if we live up to our belief that we cannot do it. Our feelings are protected. Let’s face it, if we start taking risks we’re only going to fail.
And then what will people think?
No, it’s much more comfortable to have no self-confidence. If we want self-confidence we need to practice all that self-confidence stuff, and we might feel inclined to get off our backsides and get on with things.
Besides we’re frightened. We’re frightened of stepping into the dark. We don’t know every step to take even if God is there to show us the way.
And what if we do become successful?
How do we handle success?
We’re only used to failure aren’t we chaps? ….. Chaps……Hello…..Where are you?
How fantastic is that?
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
http://www.cryinthedark.org
Friday, 10 April 2009
Meaning of Success
There seems to be some people who are blessed. They are vibrant and happy; the glowing companion linked to their arm and abundance seems to flow into their lives. So why does life always appear good for them yet for others misery seems to follow with every step they take?
I was with two colleagues today; Sid and Steve. Sid is happy go lucky, a colourful character who has experienced a lot of life’s ups and downs. He is a great example of the phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. He lives off of his wits and always seems to find that extra buck or two. Despite being obviously very street wise, he does attend church and appreciates a spiritual side within himself.
Steve is a worker. He does work hard yet always seems to be just keeping his head above the financial waters. Although he doesn’t constantly moan about his problems there are many hints and signs that he is tremendously concerned about his money situation.
We had two conversations of note during the course of the day; the first was when Steve stated that “I can’t see the point in religion. It only causes all the troubles in the world. It seems that people who don’t believe, like atheists, are the ones that are peaceful”.
The first thing that I pointed out was that the troubles are caused in the name of religion. It isn’t the religions themselves that cause the issues. Fundamentalists; people with such a deep beliefs in their teachings that they cannot accept other faiths, races and points of views seem to be at the heart of the troubles. The mainstream religions of this world have one common theme. They all believe in one creator. We may have differing guidelines on how to worship our creator and how to practice our religions but that one common link should be what binds us together and allow us to live in harmony with each other.
Secondly, I focussed on the Islamic faith. I don’t profess to know much about the religion but I hear many times that this is a very peaceful religion that denounces any form of violence. Any atrocity caused in the name of Islam is really so far removed from their teachings. Unfortunately within any race or creed; even amongst the atheists, there are good people and there are bad. It is a sign of the times that the world’s media only focuses on the bad.
It is an indication of Steve’s thought patterns that he had chosen to start a conversation on a real negative. This was even more noticeable with the statement he made later on in the day.
“I’ll be glad when this year is over”.
Considering that, at the time of writing we are only into the third week of January, this took Sid and me a little by surprise.
“Why’s that then?” I asked
He went on to point out that we were doing a horrible job (his words were a bit more flavoursome than that), and that the recession was really getting him down.
Admittedly the job wasn’t likely to be classified as our favourite, but I felt the need to express the notion that sometimes we need to experience the rough to truly enjoy the smooth.
With regards to the credit crunch I asked him
“What can you do about it?”
“Well nothing” he replied.
“Exactly” I countered. “So why keep thinking about it. Concentrate on what you can do to work around it”.
I then highlighted that the world is a beautiful place. Continuously seeing it as a dark, horribly place; one full of misery will lead to his world being one of misery. Conversely, choosing to see it for what it really is, a wonderful place full of abundance will mean a life that god wants us to experience, full of the abundances that he has put here for us to enjoy.
Undoubtedly there will be harder times than others. If we decide to see the world in its full glory, those harder times will be so much easier to handle, obstacles so much easier to overcome.
Sid pointed out that if we visualise life like a steeplechase race, we have hurdles to straddle. If we view the world with tremendous optimism and confidence we will jump the hurdles. If we see our planet as a world full of darkness we are going to clip those hurdles and fall over. Worst still, we will probably run straight into them.
Sid obviously had a better grasp on how to view his world and consequently experiences a lot more of the good that is out there.
We can all decide to see the world in a positive light; full of hope and optimism. It is our choice and we don’t have to let other people’s negativity cloud our vision. It doesn’t come easy, but catching ourselves thinking negative thoughts is a start. Substituting those thoughts with ones of vibrancy, abundance, happiness and tranquillity and then truly believing that we deserve these riches, will, eventually, develop us into those that have and not those that have not.
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index#terryn1
I was with two colleagues today; Sid and Steve. Sid is happy go lucky, a colourful character who has experienced a lot of life’s ups and downs. He is a great example of the phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. He lives off of his wits and always seems to find that extra buck or two. Despite being obviously very street wise, he does attend church and appreciates a spiritual side within himself.
Steve is a worker. He does work hard yet always seems to be just keeping his head above the financial waters. Although he doesn’t constantly moan about his problems there are many hints and signs that he is tremendously concerned about his money situation.
We had two conversations of note during the course of the day; the first was when Steve stated that “I can’t see the point in religion. It only causes all the troubles in the world. It seems that people who don’t believe, like atheists, are the ones that are peaceful”.
The first thing that I pointed out was that the troubles are caused in the name of religion. It isn’t the religions themselves that cause the issues. Fundamentalists; people with such a deep beliefs in their teachings that they cannot accept other faiths, races and points of views seem to be at the heart of the troubles. The mainstream religions of this world have one common theme. They all believe in one creator. We may have differing guidelines on how to worship our creator and how to practice our religions but that one common link should be what binds us together and allow us to live in harmony with each other.
Secondly, I focussed on the Islamic faith. I don’t profess to know much about the religion but I hear many times that this is a very peaceful religion that denounces any form of violence. Any atrocity caused in the name of Islam is really so far removed from their teachings. Unfortunately within any race or creed; even amongst the atheists, there are good people and there are bad. It is a sign of the times that the world’s media only focuses on the bad.
It is an indication of Steve’s thought patterns that he had chosen to start a conversation on a real negative. This was even more noticeable with the statement he made later on in the day.
“I’ll be glad when this year is over”.
Considering that, at the time of writing we are only into the third week of January, this took Sid and me a little by surprise.
“Why’s that then?” I asked
He went on to point out that we were doing a horrible job (his words were a bit more flavoursome than that), and that the recession was really getting him down.
Admittedly the job wasn’t likely to be classified as our favourite, but I felt the need to express the notion that sometimes we need to experience the rough to truly enjoy the smooth.
With regards to the credit crunch I asked him
“What can you do about it?”
“Well nothing” he replied.
“Exactly” I countered. “So why keep thinking about it. Concentrate on what you can do to work around it”.
I then highlighted that the world is a beautiful place. Continuously seeing it as a dark, horribly place; one full of misery will lead to his world being one of misery. Conversely, choosing to see it for what it really is, a wonderful place full of abundance will mean a life that god wants us to experience, full of the abundances that he has put here for us to enjoy.
Undoubtedly there will be harder times than others. If we decide to see the world in its full glory, those harder times will be so much easier to handle, obstacles so much easier to overcome.
Sid pointed out that if we visualise life like a steeplechase race, we have hurdles to straddle. If we view the world with tremendous optimism and confidence we will jump the hurdles. If we see our planet as a world full of darkness we are going to clip those hurdles and fall over. Worst still, we will probably run straight into them.
Sid obviously had a better grasp on how to view his world and consequently experiences a lot more of the good that is out there.
We can all decide to see the world in a positive light; full of hope and optimism. It is our choice and we don’t have to let other people’s negativity cloud our vision. It doesn’t come easy, but catching ourselves thinking negative thoughts is a start. Substituting those thoughts with ones of vibrancy, abundance, happiness and tranquillity and then truly believing that we deserve these riches, will, eventually, develop us into those that have and not those that have not.
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index#terryn1
Saturday, 21 February 2009
See How Easily you Can Enjoy Your Evening with Self Confidence
Do you know who you are?
This may sound like a really peculiar question, but are you truly the person that you portray to the rest of the world. When you are out with friends do you try to be the life and soul of the party, always cracking jokes and making people laugh, appearing to be have extreme self confidence.
Perhaps you always act like the supremely tough person with self confidence, hoping to make others respect you by allowing them to think that you are somebody not to be messed with.
But is this your true nature or are you attempting to portray a false image?
It is human nature to be liked by everybody else. Very few people like to be hated or have others think ill of them. We prefer to have others think highly of us and act in a way that is going to promote a positive image of ourselves. This gives us self confidence and self esteem albeit temporarily while our friends play along with our acting.
Once you are away from the crowd you probably start to ask questions of yourself.
Did you make a fool of yourself?
Did you go over the top and make comments that offended someone?
Was you really true to yourself?
Perhaps your self confidence and image of yourself isn’t yet as highly developed as you would like. If it was you would have the belief that you are a decent person and your friends will accept you for the way you are.
How often before meeting friends for the evening do you rehearse the things you are likely to say?
How many jokes do you practice in your head just so you can spread some hilarity amongst the crowd?
Do you go over the tough sounding sound bytes to make your acquaintances look up to you?
All this can be quite emotionally draining and does nothing for your self confidence especially if things don’t go according to plan. Your evening could be ruined all for the sake of impressing others.
You need to be yourself. Deep down you know you are a good person. Have the self confidence and belief in yourself to be yourself. Others will respect you for it. By going out in the evening with the only plan being to be yourself you may actually start to enjoy yourself. It’s surprising how spontaneity can give you the quick and funny one liners without having to rehearse any lines. Getting into debates can be very interesting without having to plan them or make them come up in conversation. Just let them happen. By the end of the evening your friends will have seen the real you and they will be the happier for it because they are likely to have been more relaxed in your company; not having had to compete to keep up with you. Your self confidence will have been boosted to.
O.K. you may naturally be the witty guy full of the wise cracks. You may well be the hard man with the self confidence to be able to handle yourself. That is perfectly fine if that is the real you. But you decide. If you act in a way that is done only to impress others then stop.
Who is the most important person for you to impress?
It’s yourself. And you can only do this if you are true to yourself. We cannot be everything to everybody.
So why even try?
Although you can try to influence what others think, you cannot control what others think. What you can control is what you think. Concentrate on yourself. Look at what your principles are; the principles by which you try to live your life. Have the self confidence and belief that these principles are good ones. By acting according to these principles others will see the real you and this is what will gain their respect most of all.
It is not being said here that you can’t have a laugh and a joke, but don’t go out of your way to force it to happen. Let it happen naturally with spontaneity. It is much more fun that way.
Living your life according to what you believe in should be practiced twenty four hours a day. It isn’t difficult because this is the way you are naturally. Going against your principles is where the hard work is.
Study your principles. Have the self confidence that these principles are good and then be yourself living as best as you can according to these principles.
This is who you really are.
How fantastic is that?
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
This may sound like a really peculiar question, but are you truly the person that you portray to the rest of the world. When you are out with friends do you try to be the life and soul of the party, always cracking jokes and making people laugh, appearing to be have extreme self confidence.
Perhaps you always act like the supremely tough person with self confidence, hoping to make others respect you by allowing them to think that you are somebody not to be messed with.
But is this your true nature or are you attempting to portray a false image?
It is human nature to be liked by everybody else. Very few people like to be hated or have others think ill of them. We prefer to have others think highly of us and act in a way that is going to promote a positive image of ourselves. This gives us self confidence and self esteem albeit temporarily while our friends play along with our acting.
Once you are away from the crowd you probably start to ask questions of yourself.
Did you make a fool of yourself?
Did you go over the top and make comments that offended someone?
Was you really true to yourself?
Perhaps your self confidence and image of yourself isn’t yet as highly developed as you would like. If it was you would have the belief that you are a decent person and your friends will accept you for the way you are.
How often before meeting friends for the evening do you rehearse the things you are likely to say?
How many jokes do you practice in your head just so you can spread some hilarity amongst the crowd?
Do you go over the tough sounding sound bytes to make your acquaintances look up to you?
All this can be quite emotionally draining and does nothing for your self confidence especially if things don’t go according to plan. Your evening could be ruined all for the sake of impressing others.
You need to be yourself. Deep down you know you are a good person. Have the self confidence and belief in yourself to be yourself. Others will respect you for it. By going out in the evening with the only plan being to be yourself you may actually start to enjoy yourself. It’s surprising how spontaneity can give you the quick and funny one liners without having to rehearse any lines. Getting into debates can be very interesting without having to plan them or make them come up in conversation. Just let them happen. By the end of the evening your friends will have seen the real you and they will be the happier for it because they are likely to have been more relaxed in your company; not having had to compete to keep up with you. Your self confidence will have been boosted to.
O.K. you may naturally be the witty guy full of the wise cracks. You may well be the hard man with the self confidence to be able to handle yourself. That is perfectly fine if that is the real you. But you decide. If you act in a way that is done only to impress others then stop.
Who is the most important person for you to impress?
It’s yourself. And you can only do this if you are true to yourself. We cannot be everything to everybody.
So why even try?
Although you can try to influence what others think, you cannot control what others think. What you can control is what you think. Concentrate on yourself. Look at what your principles are; the principles by which you try to live your life. Have the self confidence and belief that these principles are good ones. By acting according to these principles others will see the real you and this is what will gain their respect most of all.
It is not being said here that you can’t have a laugh and a joke, but don’t go out of your way to force it to happen. Let it happen naturally with spontaneity. It is much more fun that way.
Living your life according to what you believe in should be practiced twenty four hours a day. It isn’t difficult because this is the way you are naturally. Going against your principles is where the hard work is.
Study your principles. Have the self confidence that these principles are good and then be yourself living as best as you can according to these principles.
This is who you really are.
How fantastic is that?
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
Thursday, 19 February 2009
How You Can Walk Through a Storm with Hope and Optimism in Your Heart
There are many times when life gets us down. Life is hard, finances are tight or a relationship breaks up. We’ve all been there and we are left wondering where God was throughout these difficult times. Why did God not help us in our hour of need?
I find the verse “Footprints in the Sand” by Mary Stevenson such a poignant piece of work. For those that have never read it, I feel inspired to copy it for you here.
Footprints in the Sand
One night I had a dream.
I dreamed that I was walking along the beach with the Lord,
and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,
One belonged to me and the other to the lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.
This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it
“Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you would walk with me all the way,
but I noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why in my times when I needed you most,
you should leave me.”
The Lord replied “My precious, precious child,
I love you and would never, never leave you
during your times of trial and suffering.
When you saw only one set of footprints
it was then that I carried you.”
The truth is that God is always there by our sides and watches over us “for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health”. He is there for the good times as well as the bad. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, we come through it eventually and it is Gods guidance, his desire to carry us that brings us safely to the end of that particular journey in our lives.
Knowing that God holds our hands when we need him most helps us to walk through the storm with hope in our hearts believing that we will never walk alone.
We can always have motivation, inspiration, optimism, self confidence and self esteem when there is help by our sides.
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
I find the verse “Footprints in the Sand” by Mary Stevenson such a poignant piece of work. For those that have never read it, I feel inspired to copy it for you here.
Footprints in the Sand
One night I had a dream.
I dreamed that I was walking along the beach with the Lord,
and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,
One belonged to me and the other to the lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.
This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it
“Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you would walk with me all the way,
but I noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why in my times when I needed you most,
you should leave me.”
The Lord replied “My precious, precious child,
I love you and would never, never leave you
during your times of trial and suffering.
When you saw only one set of footprints
it was then that I carried you.”
The truth is that God is always there by our sides and watches over us “for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health”. He is there for the good times as well as the bad. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, we come through it eventually and it is Gods guidance, his desire to carry us that brings us safely to the end of that particular journey in our lives.
Knowing that God holds our hands when we need him most helps us to walk through the storm with hope in our hearts believing that we will never walk alone.
We can always have motivation, inspiration, optimism, self confidence and self esteem when there is help by our sides.
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Flippin' Heck That's a Big 'Un. What Is? Your Ego
Why is it that people start fights?
Possibly because of somebodys ego. That somebody will have probably thought that they didn’t get the respect that they deserved. This welled up anger inside them enough to thump the other person. Their ego provides the motivation for a fight.
Some people spend a good part of their lives in fights purely because others don’t have the same high regard for them as they have of themselves. Their ego is inflated, becoming so large it becomes fragile. Others around them cannot possibly keep providing the fuel to keep this ego so well inflated. http://www.2knowmyself.com/
Egos can also be deflated, particularly when a person believes that they aren’t as successful as they ought to be. This can bring on the onset of depression. We all have a sense of worthiness, even those who suffer from an inferiority complex. The problem comes when an ego is so great that life just becomes one of pain and mental suffering.
Why do some companies have such a tremendous desire to build huge, tall buildings?
Do they really use all that space in these skyscrapers?
Well some do, but others are built to satisfy the egos of the company directors. The skyscraper is a symbol of how demanding an ego can be. We all try, in our own way, to build skyscrapers. In a positive manner, some of us look to become leaders or build financial success which in turn boosts our self confidence and self esteem. On the negative front, a minority will cause wars and tremendous suffering, all in the name of power and a desire to boost an ego.
Unfortunately skyscrapers sometimes fail to get built or come crashing down. As was mentioned earlier, this failure can lead to depression. How deep and severe the depression can be equates to the difference between ambition driven by ego and the current level of achievement.
How many people remain in unhealthy relationships because of their ego?
They continue to put up a front, creating to the world an impression that life is perfectly rosy in their relationship. Despite the underlying unhappiness, these people refuse to remove themselves from the relationship because of what others might think of them. Frightened perhaps that others may not see them as being normal because they are not part of a couple.
So how do we let go of this gremlin called an ego?
Despite not trying to preach religion, a belief in God certainly can help. God ultimately controls everything and in a roundabout way that includes us. Yes we make choices, but it is God who provides these choices, those opportunities and the tools with which to use to reach our goals. Take away some of these tools and we wouldn’t be the person we are today.
God doesn’t just give us everything we desire directly; he doesn’t plant that tree in our gardens that money grows on (despite what my wife and kids might think). But he does give us the tools to create the things that we desire. He gives us our minds, produces opportunities and creates those chance meetings with people who provide us with knowledge and inspiration.
These tools are responsible for our current identity and achievements. If we find that our egos are as inflated as a hot air balloon, we shouldn’t knock ourselves for it; just ask God to provide the tools that we need to develop the motivation, optimism and self confidence to achieve our dreams.
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
Possibly because of somebodys ego. That somebody will have probably thought that they didn’t get the respect that they deserved. This welled up anger inside them enough to thump the other person. Their ego provides the motivation for a fight.
Some people spend a good part of their lives in fights purely because others don’t have the same high regard for them as they have of themselves. Their ego is inflated, becoming so large it becomes fragile. Others around them cannot possibly keep providing the fuel to keep this ego so well inflated. http://www.2knowmyself.com/
Egos can also be deflated, particularly when a person believes that they aren’t as successful as they ought to be. This can bring on the onset of depression. We all have a sense of worthiness, even those who suffer from an inferiority complex. The problem comes when an ego is so great that life just becomes one of pain and mental suffering.
Why do some companies have such a tremendous desire to build huge, tall buildings?
Do they really use all that space in these skyscrapers?
Well some do, but others are built to satisfy the egos of the company directors. The skyscraper is a symbol of how demanding an ego can be. We all try, in our own way, to build skyscrapers. In a positive manner, some of us look to become leaders or build financial success which in turn boosts our self confidence and self esteem. On the negative front, a minority will cause wars and tremendous suffering, all in the name of power and a desire to boost an ego.
Unfortunately skyscrapers sometimes fail to get built or come crashing down. As was mentioned earlier, this failure can lead to depression. How deep and severe the depression can be equates to the difference between ambition driven by ego and the current level of achievement.
How many people remain in unhealthy relationships because of their ego?
They continue to put up a front, creating to the world an impression that life is perfectly rosy in their relationship. Despite the underlying unhappiness, these people refuse to remove themselves from the relationship because of what others might think of them. Frightened perhaps that others may not see them as being normal because they are not part of a couple.
So how do we let go of this gremlin called an ego?
Despite not trying to preach religion, a belief in God certainly can help. God ultimately controls everything and in a roundabout way that includes us. Yes we make choices, but it is God who provides these choices, those opportunities and the tools with which to use to reach our goals. Take away some of these tools and we wouldn’t be the person we are today.
God doesn’t just give us everything we desire directly; he doesn’t plant that tree in our gardens that money grows on (despite what my wife and kids might think). But he does give us the tools to create the things that we desire. He gives us our minds, produces opportunities and creates those chance meetings with people who provide us with knowledge and inspiration.
These tools are responsible for our current identity and achievements. If we find that our egos are as inflated as a hot air balloon, we shouldn’t knock ourselves for it; just ask God to provide the tools that we need to develop the motivation, optimism and self confidence to achieve our dreams.
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
Sunday, 15 February 2009
How the Law of Attraction Can Create Great Wealth and Abundance
Jason was the bloke that everybody liked to criticise. He was naturally self confident, with plenty of self esteem and optimism. He had the gift of the gab and always had a gorgeous girl on his arm. A natural salesman he had great abundance in his life. When he went to the “bookies” he nearly always came out on top, with more money than he went in with. Yet everybody knocked him, trying to pick holes in every trait of his personality.
Why?
Envy probably. People just didn’t like to see someone having a quality of life that really they wanted for themselves. It was far easier to criticise than to create the self confidence and self esteem that Jason had. Fortunately, what people thought and said mattered not one jot to Jason. He was way to busy producing and enjoying the riches that he had discovered.
We can all enjoy abundance and great riches too. Just like Jason we need that self belief that we can have, and will have riches. That fantastic natural law of attraction will bring those riches to those who wholeheartedly believe they can have them. Just about every great, successful person has that self belief that firstly, they can achieve success, and secondly, that once they have it, they deserve their success and can keep it. Some of these people may not be aware of their self confidence; it is something they have inherited. But for many others they have removed the barrier of natural pessimism using self confidence techniques and creating tremendous self esteem to orchestrate their success. http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
If you naturally think the worst, think that if you prepare yourself for the worst, then you won’t be disappointed, then guess what? You will not be disappointed. The worst WILL indeed happen. That again is this Law of Attraction. To attract great abundance you must clearly visualise abundance. Visualise and dream of all the things you want in life. See them as a clear image in your mind. Believe you CAN have them and don’t allow this vision to fade. Allowing negative thoughts to crawl their way back in will only restrict the flow of riches to you. I know this is easier said than done but you must be alert to those old thoughts worming their way back into your subconscious mind.
When formulating positive images to improve self confidence and magnetically attract abundance, concentrate on yourself and everything you want to achieve. Refrain from visualising harm being inflicted onto others or imagining others failing. To create true richness, harmony needs to prevail between you and all people you encounter in life. With this type of attitude we can all live in a world where a spirit of co-operation exists, where each person is willing to help the next.
Willing ill on your neighbour very seldom hurts that neighbour. Instead you end up hurting yourself, draining energy from within with the bitter emotions that have built up inside. Be a “Jason”. Look to enrich your life and concern yourself with what you can do to improve your lot. Develop your self esteem, optimism, motivation and inspiration and help yourself to achieve great abundance and wealth.
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com/
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
Why?
Envy probably. People just didn’t like to see someone having a quality of life that really they wanted for themselves. It was far easier to criticise than to create the self confidence and self esteem that Jason had. Fortunately, what people thought and said mattered not one jot to Jason. He was way to busy producing and enjoying the riches that he had discovered.
We can all enjoy abundance and great riches too. Just like Jason we need that self belief that we can have, and will have riches. That fantastic natural law of attraction will bring those riches to those who wholeheartedly believe they can have them. Just about every great, successful person has that self belief that firstly, they can achieve success, and secondly, that once they have it, they deserve their success and can keep it. Some of these people may not be aware of their self confidence; it is something they have inherited. But for many others they have removed the barrier of natural pessimism using self confidence techniques and creating tremendous self esteem to orchestrate their success. http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
If you naturally think the worst, think that if you prepare yourself for the worst, then you won’t be disappointed, then guess what? You will not be disappointed. The worst WILL indeed happen. That again is this Law of Attraction. To attract great abundance you must clearly visualise abundance. Visualise and dream of all the things you want in life. See them as a clear image in your mind. Believe you CAN have them and don’t allow this vision to fade. Allowing negative thoughts to crawl their way back in will only restrict the flow of riches to you. I know this is easier said than done but you must be alert to those old thoughts worming their way back into your subconscious mind.
When formulating positive images to improve self confidence and magnetically attract abundance, concentrate on yourself and everything you want to achieve. Refrain from visualising harm being inflicted onto others or imagining others failing. To create true richness, harmony needs to prevail between you and all people you encounter in life. With this type of attitude we can all live in a world where a spirit of co-operation exists, where each person is willing to help the next.
Willing ill on your neighbour very seldom hurts that neighbour. Instead you end up hurting yourself, draining energy from within with the bitter emotions that have built up inside. Be a “Jason”. Look to enrich your life and concern yourself with what you can do to improve your lot. Develop your self esteem, optimism, motivation and inspiration and help yourself to achieve great abundance and wealth.
Terry Norrington
http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com/
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Become a Great Leader Using Your Optimism and Motivation
To be a leader requires many qualities and abilities; qualities such as self confidence, motivation, optimism and enthusiasm. Having charisma also helps particularly in line with the ability to be engaging. To help you team to focus on the goals or project and fully understand their roles is a necessity for any task to be truly successful.
As a commissioning engineer I have had to train many personnel on equipment before handing over for them to maintain. It is extremely rewarding when your audience have fully participated in the training programme and you can see that they have really appreciated the knowledge that has been passed to them.
Back in 2003 I had two visits to Nigeria to commission some water treatment equipment at a tobacco factory in the city of Ibadan. On the second visit, one of my remits was to perform the training not only on the plant that I had been commissioning but also on another companys system to. As I wasn’t overly familiar with this equipment, I felt very apprehensive about conducting the training.
The organisation that I had been sub-contracted to were Yugoslavian and the engineers that I had been reporting to had said
“Don’t worry, these Nigerians won’t ask any questions, the training will soon be over”
These Yugoslavian engineers were conducting some training of their own after my session was over. Tuesday afternoon at 1.00p.m. my time came to perform my training. Gathered around the plant were ten Nigerian guys that at first glance looked totally uninterested.
“Lets go for it” I thought and proceeded to introduce myself.
Now my style was to be light-hearted, not taking myself too seriously. I would obviously go systematically over the equipment but I would throw questions back at them to make sure that they were taking in the information that I was imparting. By the time I had finished talking about the system that I was less familiar with I really felt that I had gotten these Nigerian maintenance staff on my side. I had them then ask me questions and these questions were very intelligent ones. They were interested and I was pleased that my style seemed to be working.
I was becoming more at ease now and when I went on to explain about my “baby”; the piece of equipment that I had commissioned I was in my element. The enthusiasm flowed out and by the end of my training session all these Nigerian maintenance engineers were gathering around me to ask questions about me. I honestly felt that they had taken me to their hearts. It was 4.00p.m.; some three hours later. This had hardly been a short training course and my Yugoslavian friends had still to conduct their training.
In comparison their method was far more serious. They didn’t ask questions of the students and didn’t invite questions back. It was plain to see the Nigerian staff “switching off” and loosing interest. These people were bright, intelligent people who could very easily take in the lessons providing the training was interesting and engaging.
Despite my nervousness at the beginning, I had the self confidence and self belief to get me through the training and win these people over. With the qualities of enthusiasm and optimism I was able to find the ability to provide motivation and inspiration to these Nigerian people.
Terry Norrington
http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
http://www.getselfconfident.com
http://140020.successuniversity.com
As a commissioning engineer I have had to train many personnel on equipment before handing over for them to maintain. It is extremely rewarding when your audience have fully participated in the training programme and you can see that they have really appreciated the knowledge that has been passed to them.
Back in 2003 I had two visits to Nigeria to commission some water treatment equipment at a tobacco factory in the city of Ibadan. On the second visit, one of my remits was to perform the training not only on the plant that I had been commissioning but also on another companys system to. As I wasn’t overly familiar with this equipment, I felt very apprehensive about conducting the training.
The organisation that I had been sub-contracted to were Yugoslavian and the engineers that I had been reporting to had said
“Don’t worry, these Nigerians won’t ask any questions, the training will soon be over”
These Yugoslavian engineers were conducting some training of their own after my session was over. Tuesday afternoon at 1.00p.m. my time came to perform my training. Gathered around the plant were ten Nigerian guys that at first glance looked totally uninterested.
“Lets go for it” I thought and proceeded to introduce myself.
Now my style was to be light-hearted, not taking myself too seriously. I would obviously go systematically over the equipment but I would throw questions back at them to make sure that they were taking in the information that I was imparting. By the time I had finished talking about the system that I was less familiar with I really felt that I had gotten these Nigerian maintenance staff on my side. I had them then ask me questions and these questions were very intelligent ones. They were interested and I was pleased that my style seemed to be working.
I was becoming more at ease now and when I went on to explain about my “baby”; the piece of equipment that I had commissioned I was in my element. The enthusiasm flowed out and by the end of my training session all these Nigerian maintenance engineers were gathering around me to ask questions about me. I honestly felt that they had taken me to their hearts. It was 4.00p.m.; some three hours later. This had hardly been a short training course and my Yugoslavian friends had still to conduct their training.
In comparison their method was far more serious. They didn’t ask questions of the students and didn’t invite questions back. It was plain to see the Nigerian staff “switching off” and loosing interest. These people were bright, intelligent people who could very easily take in the lessons providing the training was interesting and engaging.
Despite my nervousness at the beginning, I had the self confidence and self belief to get me through the training and win these people over. With the qualities of enthusiasm and optimism I was able to find the ability to provide motivation and inspiration to these Nigerian people.
Terry Norrington
http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
http://www.getselfconfident.com
http://140020.successuniversity.com
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Through My Faith and Optimism, God Looked After Me
In 2003, working as a Water Treatment Engineer, I was asked if I fancied a trip to Nigeria to commission some equipment. Having a certain spirit of adventure and wanderlust, it took me about ……. ten seconds to make up my mind. I had never visited an African state before and experiencing a culture completely different to my own, at first, seemed daunting yet exciting. I have always had a good amount of self confidence in my ability to adapt and a belief that God would always look after me.
It took two trips in the end to commission the water treatment equipment which amounted to about fifteen days in all. During that time I can easily say that I had more experiences than in the rest of my life, but that said, I have never regretted making those visits to Nigeria as I have tremendous memories despite quite a few dubious moments.
One of these precarious moments involved the journey home at the end of my second visit. The water treatment equipment that I had been commissioning had been installed at a tobacco plant being constructed for British American Tobacco in Ibadan, approximately ninety minutes drive north-east of Lagos – Lagos being Nigeria’s largest and most populated city. The Lagos to Ibadan Highway was a dual carriageway that consisted of two stretches of tarmac that carved its way through the jungle. There were no road markings and road users drove on any part of the lane they fancied and the usual, almost obligatory driving at eighty m.p.h. was made even more hazardous by the numerous pot-holes in the road.
Gabriel was my driver – a well built Nigerian gentleman who seemed full of self confidence and very at ease with the world; until he got behind the wheel of a car.
The car he chauffeured me around in was a beige coloured Mercedes. The first time I had visited it had been relatively luxurious, but now it seemed to be in need of a good service. The engine sounded very rough, the radio didn’t work and neither did the air conditioning. It didn’t provide me with much optimism.
We left Ibadan with what we thought was plenty of time to spare to travel back to the airport at Lagos. The weather was extremely hot and humid and the non existent air conditioning made for a very uncomfortable journey. There were two sets of tolls between Ibadan and Lagos, the first being five or six miles outside of Ibadan. Just after the first set of booths we were beckoned to pull over at a police check point. There were many of these check points on the roads around the big cities. A policeman, dressed in his burgundy uniform looked at me and asked Gabriel,
“Is he French?”
Although I am not, Gabriels reply was.
“Yes”
“Move on” the policeman ordered and gestured for us to go. Gabriel obligingly drove on.
A few miles further down the road one of the tyres developed a puncture. Gabriel pulled the Mercedes onto the dusty roadside. We both got out of the car and Gabriel proceeded to swap over the wheel with the spare.
“No good” he proclaimed.
“You mean the spare’s got a flat as well?” I asked in amazement.
“Look after these” Gabriel said. I was dumbfounded as he shoved the keys to the car into my hand.
I was totally bemused as Gabriel wheeled the two flat tyres over to an old, beat up, yellow recovery truck parked some fifty yards behind us. I watched as they drove off down the road, leaving me to look after the car. I checked my mobile phone. Surprise, surprise there was no signal available for me to be able to phone anybody. My only choice was to sit and wait, praying for Gabriel’s return.
Sitting in the boot of the car was my suitcase crammed with my clothes, my tool bag and a rucksack storing my paperwork. I couldn’t have cared less about the suitcase and tools but I wanted to protect the paperwork which basically consisted of my flight ticket and my passport. I took the rucksack and positioned it in the foot well behind my seat. Then I locked the doors.
Whilst I was nervously waiting, suddenly from across the other side of the highway came a family of four Nigerian girls, with what I assume to be the mother at the head, going down in age through the daughters, with the youngest at the rear. She looked to be about eight years old. They were all dressed in colourful tops and sarongs and carried baskets on their heads. Patiently they waited for gaps in the fast moving traffic, before making their way across the road and disappearing down a track into the jungle.
Forty minutes later I was absolutely relieved to see Gabriel returning in the yellow recovery truck with one repaired tyre. He quickly fitted this and we sped off to find a ram shackled shed by the side of the road that was equipped with an air compressor. This apparently was the road side tyre repair service. The young man there repaired the second tyre. Now that I realised what they were I noted many of these sheds spread along the highway between Ibadan and Lagos.
“Great” I thought, “now let’s just get to the airport.”
The second set of toll booths were situated half way between Ibadan and Lagos. As we approached these the traffic came to a grinding halt. It took ages but when we finally reached the booths Gabriel asked the attendant why we were held-up.
“Highway robbery. Gun men just appeared from the trees, fired their guns at one of the cars and looted both the car and the people they had killed.”
Gabriel glanced over at me and said,
“Good job we had puncture”
Surely nothing else could go wrong between here and the airport.
It was June, the rainy season in Nigeria, and as we were closing in on Lagos, dark, heavy clouds loomed up in the sky. The thunderstorms in that part of the world were very spectacular and the continuous display of lightning was totally enthralling. The rain that came with it was spectacular to. With the failure of the air conditioning, the windows misted over rapidly. The windscreen wipers were going at full speed and, even with all the windows down, it was still difficult to get good view ahead. I was getting soaked through and yet Gabriel was still driving at eighty m.p.h. around the holes in the road. All I wanted now was to get to Lagos and off the dual carriageway so that we could experience some calm.
When we did finally leave the highway the scenery became one of poverty. Market stalls lined both sides of the road, selling a large variety of fruit and vegetables and yet surrounded by waste. The traffic slowed and people darted between the vehicles prompting the customary sound of car horns that seemed to fill the air in all built up areas. By now the progress of the traffic had become painfully slow. Eventually we could see why. A river of water cascaded across the road. The traffic was stop-start through the stream of water and I dreaded the point when we would be driving through. In the middle of the stream the dodgy sounding engine stalled. Amazingly Gabriel turned the ignition key and got the car started again. It stalled a second time but he managed to start it again. Suddenly I felt a wet sensation on my feet. As I looked down I was greeted with the sight of water flooding into the foot well. Quickly I raised my feet onto the seat. Then it dawned on me,
“My paperwork and my rucksack are behind my seat”
I grabbed the rucksack and despairingly rummaged through my paperwork for my passport and flight ticket.
Sopping wet.
Fortunately my ticket and passport weren’t seriously damaged and still legible. The rest of the journey to the airport was spent waving my papers in the air in a desperate attempt to dry them out.
What should have been an hour and a half journey took over five hours. Although it was fraught with much anxiety, I can honestly say that there was no point where I doubted my survival. My optimism, self confidence, and belief in God helped me see positively through each incident. There wasn’t a need to panic at any time. Experiences like these, difficult though they were, creates personal growth, making me a stronger person, knowing that I have the self confidence to see me through other obstacles and challenges that life may present.
For someone like me, brought up in a secure environment, experiences like these seem very dramatic. I would imagine that for the average Nigerian this would be commonplace. This provides Nigerian people with a deep hunger to improve their circumstances. There are opportunities for them, and I dream of returning one day to help them create the success that they so crave for. http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
Terry Norrington
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
http://www.getselfconfident.com
http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
It took two trips in the end to commission the water treatment equipment which amounted to about fifteen days in all. During that time I can easily say that I had more experiences than in the rest of my life, but that said, I have never regretted making those visits to Nigeria as I have tremendous memories despite quite a few dubious moments.
One of these precarious moments involved the journey home at the end of my second visit. The water treatment equipment that I had been commissioning had been installed at a tobacco plant being constructed for British American Tobacco in Ibadan, approximately ninety minutes drive north-east of Lagos – Lagos being Nigeria’s largest and most populated city. The Lagos to Ibadan Highway was a dual carriageway that consisted of two stretches of tarmac that carved its way through the jungle. There were no road markings and road users drove on any part of the lane they fancied and the usual, almost obligatory driving at eighty m.p.h. was made even more hazardous by the numerous pot-holes in the road.
Gabriel was my driver – a well built Nigerian gentleman who seemed full of self confidence and very at ease with the world; until he got behind the wheel of a car.
The car he chauffeured me around in was a beige coloured Mercedes. The first time I had visited it had been relatively luxurious, but now it seemed to be in need of a good service. The engine sounded very rough, the radio didn’t work and neither did the air conditioning. It didn’t provide me with much optimism.
We left Ibadan with what we thought was plenty of time to spare to travel back to the airport at Lagos. The weather was extremely hot and humid and the non existent air conditioning made for a very uncomfortable journey. There were two sets of tolls between Ibadan and Lagos, the first being five or six miles outside of Ibadan. Just after the first set of booths we were beckoned to pull over at a police check point. There were many of these check points on the roads around the big cities. A policeman, dressed in his burgundy uniform looked at me and asked Gabriel,
“Is he French?”
Although I am not, Gabriels reply was.
“Yes”
“Move on” the policeman ordered and gestured for us to go. Gabriel obligingly drove on.
A few miles further down the road one of the tyres developed a puncture. Gabriel pulled the Mercedes onto the dusty roadside. We both got out of the car and Gabriel proceeded to swap over the wheel with the spare.
“No good” he proclaimed.
“You mean the spare’s got a flat as well?” I asked in amazement.
“Look after these” Gabriel said. I was dumbfounded as he shoved the keys to the car into my hand.
I was totally bemused as Gabriel wheeled the two flat tyres over to an old, beat up, yellow recovery truck parked some fifty yards behind us. I watched as they drove off down the road, leaving me to look after the car. I checked my mobile phone. Surprise, surprise there was no signal available for me to be able to phone anybody. My only choice was to sit and wait, praying for Gabriel’s return.
Sitting in the boot of the car was my suitcase crammed with my clothes, my tool bag and a rucksack storing my paperwork. I couldn’t have cared less about the suitcase and tools but I wanted to protect the paperwork which basically consisted of my flight ticket and my passport. I took the rucksack and positioned it in the foot well behind my seat. Then I locked the doors.
Whilst I was nervously waiting, suddenly from across the other side of the highway came a family of four Nigerian girls, with what I assume to be the mother at the head, going down in age through the daughters, with the youngest at the rear. She looked to be about eight years old. They were all dressed in colourful tops and sarongs and carried baskets on their heads. Patiently they waited for gaps in the fast moving traffic, before making their way across the road and disappearing down a track into the jungle.
Forty minutes later I was absolutely relieved to see Gabriel returning in the yellow recovery truck with one repaired tyre. He quickly fitted this and we sped off to find a ram shackled shed by the side of the road that was equipped with an air compressor. This apparently was the road side tyre repair service. The young man there repaired the second tyre. Now that I realised what they were I noted many of these sheds spread along the highway between Ibadan and Lagos.
“Great” I thought, “now let’s just get to the airport.”
The second set of toll booths were situated half way between Ibadan and Lagos. As we approached these the traffic came to a grinding halt. It took ages but when we finally reached the booths Gabriel asked the attendant why we were held-up.
“Highway robbery. Gun men just appeared from the trees, fired their guns at one of the cars and looted both the car and the people they had killed.”
Gabriel glanced over at me and said,
“Good job we had puncture”
Surely nothing else could go wrong between here and the airport.
It was June, the rainy season in Nigeria, and as we were closing in on Lagos, dark, heavy clouds loomed up in the sky. The thunderstorms in that part of the world were very spectacular and the continuous display of lightning was totally enthralling. The rain that came with it was spectacular to. With the failure of the air conditioning, the windows misted over rapidly. The windscreen wipers were going at full speed and, even with all the windows down, it was still difficult to get good view ahead. I was getting soaked through and yet Gabriel was still driving at eighty m.p.h. around the holes in the road. All I wanted now was to get to Lagos and off the dual carriageway so that we could experience some calm.
When we did finally leave the highway the scenery became one of poverty. Market stalls lined both sides of the road, selling a large variety of fruit and vegetables and yet surrounded by waste. The traffic slowed and people darted between the vehicles prompting the customary sound of car horns that seemed to fill the air in all built up areas. By now the progress of the traffic had become painfully slow. Eventually we could see why. A river of water cascaded across the road. The traffic was stop-start through the stream of water and I dreaded the point when we would be driving through. In the middle of the stream the dodgy sounding engine stalled. Amazingly Gabriel turned the ignition key and got the car started again. It stalled a second time but he managed to start it again. Suddenly I felt a wet sensation on my feet. As I looked down I was greeted with the sight of water flooding into the foot well. Quickly I raised my feet onto the seat. Then it dawned on me,
“My paperwork and my rucksack are behind my seat”
I grabbed the rucksack and despairingly rummaged through my paperwork for my passport and flight ticket.
Sopping wet.
Fortunately my ticket and passport weren’t seriously damaged and still legible. The rest of the journey to the airport was spent waving my papers in the air in a desperate attempt to dry them out.
What should have been an hour and a half journey took over five hours. Although it was fraught with much anxiety, I can honestly say that there was no point where I doubted my survival. My optimism, self confidence, and belief in God helped me see positively through each incident. There wasn’t a need to panic at any time. Experiences like these, difficult though they were, creates personal growth, making me a stronger person, knowing that I have the self confidence to see me through other obstacles and challenges that life may present.
For someone like me, brought up in a secure environment, experiences like these seem very dramatic. I would imagine that for the average Nigerian this would be commonplace. This provides Nigerian people with a deep hunger to improve their circumstances. There are opportunities for them, and I dream of returning one day to help them create the success that they so crave for. http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
Terry Norrington
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
http://www.getselfconfident.com
http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
Sunday, 8 February 2009
Your Life is Filled with Great Hope and Optimism. Why Not Share it with the World.
One of the greatest attributes we can possess is optimism. Optimism provides hope and motivation, plus it is a great supporter of self esteem and self confidence. For those that have it, it can provide tremendous inspiration for those that recognise it.
If you are blessed with optimism or you have re-invented yourself to view life optimistically, there is no doubt that to secrete some of your optimism into others is a satisfying and rewarding thing to do. Helping somebody with a negative outlook on a particular subject by gently and patiently getting them to view the positive side can really set the heart aglow.
So how do you get somebody to re-frame their outlook?
www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
Firstly you must listen. Barging in with positive comments straight away will show a total lack of empathy. To be told right at the beginning “never mind, it could be worse” will make the recipient believe that his/her feelings are worthless and pointless and less likely to turn to you for advice in the future.
There is a place where “never mind, it could be worse” fits in but this is more appropriate when you are turning the situation around. You must also have examples as to how “it could be worse”
Try to show understanding about the persons feelings. A correctly placed “that must be really hard for you” will start to win you over. Don’t knock the persons point of view or fault them for feeling the way they do.
Explore the worst case scenario with them.
What is the worst that is likely to happen if the situation is indeed that bad?
It is going to be an extreme disaster zone if they are not going to be O.K. at the end of it.
Then explore some of the more positive aspects of the situation. With just a little prompting, the person is quite possibly going to suggest these to you. By doing this they are automatically developing a more positive mind set. They start to smile and you can see some sparkle and energy in their eyes.
www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
Sometimes, no matter how much you try to help somebody see things in a different and more positive light, that person doesn’t seem to be taking on board your words. As much as resilience is another admirable quality to have, there is no point in “flogging a dead horse”. Some people are content to wallow in their misery and negativity. If, after three attempts you haven’t been able to instil a bit of hope in that person, perhaps you need to leave this one alone. This may sound unkind but there is a distinct possibility that they will pass on their negative feelings to you and you end up loosing your motivation and inspiration.
Optimism and hope provides a great deal of motivation, inspiration, self esteem and self confidence. Share this with others and reap the rewards.
Terry Norrington
http://140020.successuniversity.com/new
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.com
www.2knowmyself.com
If you are blessed with optimism or you have re-invented yourself to view life optimistically, there is no doubt that to secrete some of your optimism into others is a satisfying and rewarding thing to do. Helping somebody with a negative outlook on a particular subject by gently and patiently getting them to view the positive side can really set the heart aglow.
So how do you get somebody to re-frame their outlook?
www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
Firstly you must listen. Barging in with positive comments straight away will show a total lack of empathy. To be told right at the beginning “never mind, it could be worse” will make the recipient believe that his/her feelings are worthless and pointless and less likely to turn to you for advice in the future.
There is a place where “never mind, it could be worse” fits in but this is more appropriate when you are turning the situation around. You must also have examples as to how “it could be worse”
Try to show understanding about the persons feelings. A correctly placed “that must be really hard for you” will start to win you over. Don’t knock the persons point of view or fault them for feeling the way they do.
Explore the worst case scenario with them.
What is the worst that is likely to happen if the situation is indeed that bad?
It is going to be an extreme disaster zone if they are not going to be O.K. at the end of it.
Then explore some of the more positive aspects of the situation. With just a little prompting, the person is quite possibly going to suggest these to you. By doing this they are automatically developing a more positive mind set. They start to smile and you can see some sparkle and energy in their eyes.
www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
Sometimes, no matter how much you try to help somebody see things in a different and more positive light, that person doesn’t seem to be taking on board your words. As much as resilience is another admirable quality to have, there is no point in “flogging a dead horse”. Some people are content to wallow in their misery and negativity. If, after three attempts you haven’t been able to instil a bit of hope in that person, perhaps you need to leave this one alone. This may sound unkind but there is a distinct possibility that they will pass on their negative feelings to you and you end up loosing your motivation and inspiration.
Optimism and hope provides a great deal of motivation, inspiration, self esteem and self confidence. Share this with others and reap the rewards.
Terry Norrington
http://140020.successuniversity.com/new
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.com
www.2knowmyself.com
Friday, 6 February 2009
Don't Re-Invent the Wheel, Re-Invent Yourself for Great Self Esteem
We all have an image of ourselves. If that image is a positive one, our self esteem will be good. We will have motivation to achieve, combined with optimism and hope for the future. Certainly the most successful people in life have a great, positive self image that attracts success. These men and women will hold themselves with confidence and poise, exuding a successful lifestyle.
For so many others, that image of themselves isn’t so good. They see themselves as being fat or unsuccessful, their vision being of a person with no confidence or deserving of no worth at all. These beliefs are embedded deep within their subconscious mind and it becomes so difficult to turn their lives around. Their self image is turned into a “self fulfilling prophecy” and they are then that fat person or the unsuccessful one.
The identity we create for ourselves come from three sources,
The experiences we have had in our lives and how we have perceived them.
Outside programming; in other words what people say or have said about us.
What we say and think about ourselves.
In order to change the circumstances, the individual must first want to change their situation. The desire to change must also be strong. Half hearted attempts at remodelling their lives will more than likely end up in failure. http://140020.successuniversity.com/new
The next step is to re-think the person they are. Re-invent themselves. One reason that so many diets fail is because the person sees themselves as being fat. They may well be carrying to much weight but having the self image of a fat person makes the subconscious mind do all it can to keep the body fat. The diet becomes extremely difficult to stick to and cravings for high calorie food are then hard to resist.
A self image of a slim person needs to be created in the mind for dieting to stand a better chance of being successful. Re-invent that self image. By making affirmations that they are slim and beautiful and acting likewise will get the subconscious mind working to create that desired shape, the body they so want.
It is exactly the same with abundance. An image of poverty and a life lacking success will bring exactly that; a lack of abundance and success. To alter the situation one most first re-invent themselves: change the self imagery to one of abundance and success which will develop a greater self esteem. http://140020.successuniversity.com/new
The story that people tell about themselves must change. It is all very well being self deprecating but if those words are being believed then the image one has of themselves will be poor. It doesn’t mean that people should start bragging and tell others that they are thin when they have obviously still got some weight to lose. But to themselves, the self talk must be positive and the story should be saying that they are already the person they want to be.
Being surrounded by people who can only criticise is the most demoralising of situations. Constructive criticism from informed people is obviously necessary for progress to be made but this needs to be outweighed by encouragement and praise for self image and self esteem to be boosted. For those that find themselves in the company of people who seem to always express negative opinions, the time has probably come to change the people they mix with. One must set the standards for outside programming, determining what level of criticism they can accept without affecting their positive self image.
For those that suffer a negative self image, re-inventing themselves will do amazing things for their self esteem, motivation, inspiration and self confidence.
Terry Norrington
http://140020.successuniversity.com/new
http://whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.com
www.2knowmyself.com
For so many others, that image of themselves isn’t so good. They see themselves as being fat or unsuccessful, their vision being of a person with no confidence or deserving of no worth at all. These beliefs are embedded deep within their subconscious mind and it becomes so difficult to turn their lives around. Their self image is turned into a “self fulfilling prophecy” and they are then that fat person or the unsuccessful one.
The identity we create for ourselves come from three sources,
The experiences we have had in our lives and how we have perceived them.
Outside programming; in other words what people say or have said about us.
What we say and think about ourselves.
In order to change the circumstances, the individual must first want to change their situation. The desire to change must also be strong. Half hearted attempts at remodelling their lives will more than likely end up in failure. http://140020.successuniversity.com/new
The next step is to re-think the person they are. Re-invent themselves. One reason that so many diets fail is because the person sees themselves as being fat. They may well be carrying to much weight but having the self image of a fat person makes the subconscious mind do all it can to keep the body fat. The diet becomes extremely difficult to stick to and cravings for high calorie food are then hard to resist.
A self image of a slim person needs to be created in the mind for dieting to stand a better chance of being successful. Re-invent that self image. By making affirmations that they are slim and beautiful and acting likewise will get the subconscious mind working to create that desired shape, the body they so want.
It is exactly the same with abundance. An image of poverty and a life lacking success will bring exactly that; a lack of abundance and success. To alter the situation one most first re-invent themselves: change the self imagery to one of abundance and success which will develop a greater self esteem. http://140020.successuniversity.com/new
The story that people tell about themselves must change. It is all very well being self deprecating but if those words are being believed then the image one has of themselves will be poor. It doesn’t mean that people should start bragging and tell others that they are thin when they have obviously still got some weight to lose. But to themselves, the self talk must be positive and the story should be saying that they are already the person they want to be.
Being surrounded by people who can only criticise is the most demoralising of situations. Constructive criticism from informed people is obviously necessary for progress to be made but this needs to be outweighed by encouragement and praise for self image and self esteem to be boosted. For those that find themselves in the company of people who seem to always express negative opinions, the time has probably come to change the people they mix with. One must set the standards for outside programming, determining what level of criticism they can accept without affecting their positive self image.
For those that suffer a negative self image, re-inventing themselves will do amazing things for their self esteem, motivation, inspiration and self confidence.
Terry Norrington
http://140020.successuniversity.com/new
http://whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.com
www.2knowmyself.com
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
How Powerful Hypnosis Can Greatly Improve Your Self Esteem and Optimism
Hypnosis is such a powerful method for improving self confidence, self image, motivation and optimism yet it is shrouded in myths, mystery and images of the occult.
So what is hypnosis?
Can we dispel some of the myths that surround it?
How can we use it to improve our lives?
Hypnosis is?
Hypnosis is a scientifically proven and powerfully effective technique that can help in cases as
changing behaviour
improving mental health
breaking bad habits
improving optimism, motivation and self esteem
setting goals
quitting smoking
losing weight.
The process involves getting the subject into a very relaxed state of relaxation. At this point the subconscious mind becomes extremely receptive to suggestions. As one of the functions of the subconscious mind is to control our beliefs and emotions, it can now be seen how beliefs and thoughts can easily be altered using hypnosis. This may at first appear to be a frightening prospect but as we shall demonstrate there shouldn’t be anything to fear. http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
So what are the myths?
The media are very hot on portraying subjects under the influence of hypnosis as being asleep. Many a stage act has produced people performing what seems like absurd routines.
On the contrary, hypnosis is an approved scientifically based method of therapy which is many centuries old. Under hypnosis the subject remains aware of his/her surroundings. The conscious mind becomes a little dormant and the subconscious mind takes more control but the subject cannot be forced to do or say anything that they do not want to. Such participants in any stage performance are likely to be very extrovert by nature and enjoy performing in public anyway.
Being under hypnosis is to be in a state of deep relaxation, receptive to suggestions yet still being aware of the surroundings. It’s like being half awake, that short period before falling asleep. It is sometimes referred to as “the trance state” where the conscious mind is slightly dormant so does not perform its normal function of filtering suggestions.
The conscious mind filters out what it does not like or will not accept. Tell somebody that is lacking in confidence that they are a confident person and their conscious mind will likely block that idea. Under hypnosis though, the conscious mind is less capable of blocking suggestions, so the suggestion of confidence now by-passes the conscious mind and sinks into the subconscious mind. Further repetition of this suggestion under hypnosis will deepen the belief.
Commercials on television have little effect on us unless they catch us in a state of deep relaxation. Sometimes if we are fully engrossed in a television programme the interruption of that programme can catch us in an almost hypnotic state. Subliminal advertising where messages were flashed onto the screen so quickly that the eye didn’t see it were very affective many decades ago. Despite the eye not catching it, the subconscious mind did and subsequently many people developed the desire to have that product. Needless to say, this practice has no been abolished on our T.V. sets now. http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
What can hypnosis do for us?
In the deep relaxed state where the subconscious mind is more in control, it becomes easier to program. Thus new beliefs can be installed and old ones strengthened. As the subconscious mind controls behaviour, so new patterns of behaviour can be installed.
Inferiority complexes can be removed, self images greatly improved and self confidence, motivation and optimism strongly boosted. All tremendous qualities to create success.
Terry Norrington
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
http://www.getselfconfident.com
http://www.2knowmyself.com
http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
So what is hypnosis?
Can we dispel some of the myths that surround it?
How can we use it to improve our lives?
Hypnosis is?
Hypnosis is a scientifically proven and powerfully effective technique that can help in cases as
changing behaviour
improving mental health
breaking bad habits
improving optimism, motivation and self esteem
setting goals
quitting smoking
losing weight.
The process involves getting the subject into a very relaxed state of relaxation. At this point the subconscious mind becomes extremely receptive to suggestions. As one of the functions of the subconscious mind is to control our beliefs and emotions, it can now be seen how beliefs and thoughts can easily be altered using hypnosis. This may at first appear to be a frightening prospect but as we shall demonstrate there shouldn’t be anything to fear. http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
So what are the myths?
The media are very hot on portraying subjects under the influence of hypnosis as being asleep. Many a stage act has produced people performing what seems like absurd routines.
On the contrary, hypnosis is an approved scientifically based method of therapy which is many centuries old. Under hypnosis the subject remains aware of his/her surroundings. The conscious mind becomes a little dormant and the subconscious mind takes more control but the subject cannot be forced to do or say anything that they do not want to. Such participants in any stage performance are likely to be very extrovert by nature and enjoy performing in public anyway.
Being under hypnosis is to be in a state of deep relaxation, receptive to suggestions yet still being aware of the surroundings. It’s like being half awake, that short period before falling asleep. It is sometimes referred to as “the trance state” where the conscious mind is slightly dormant so does not perform its normal function of filtering suggestions.
The conscious mind filters out what it does not like or will not accept. Tell somebody that is lacking in confidence that they are a confident person and their conscious mind will likely block that idea. Under hypnosis though, the conscious mind is less capable of blocking suggestions, so the suggestion of confidence now by-passes the conscious mind and sinks into the subconscious mind. Further repetition of this suggestion under hypnosis will deepen the belief.
Commercials on television have little effect on us unless they catch us in a state of deep relaxation. Sometimes if we are fully engrossed in a television programme the interruption of that programme can catch us in an almost hypnotic state. Subliminal advertising where messages were flashed onto the screen so quickly that the eye didn’t see it were very affective many decades ago. Despite the eye not catching it, the subconscious mind did and subsequently many people developed the desire to have that product. Needless to say, this practice has no been abolished on our T.V. sets now. http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
What can hypnosis do for us?
In the deep relaxed state where the subconscious mind is more in control, it becomes easier to program. Thus new beliefs can be installed and old ones strengthened. As the subconscious mind controls behaviour, so new patterns of behaviour can be installed.
Inferiority complexes can be removed, self images greatly improved and self confidence, motivation and optimism strongly boosted. All tremendous qualities to create success.
Terry Norrington
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
http://www.getselfconfident.com
http://www.2knowmyself.com
http://www.alleluiasuccessishere.com
Sunday, 1 February 2009
Get Rid of That Debilitating Inferiority Complex and Develop Great Self Esteem
There is nothing like an inferiority complex to destroy motivation, inspiration and self confidence. Self esteem can greatly be affected by feelings of inferiority too, so what is an inferiority complex and how do we overcome it?
The causes of inferiority complex.
Unfortunate or even catastrophic events of the past which have lead to you labelling yourself as inadequate or unworthy are the most common reasons that an inferiority complex has developed. Such events could be:-
Coming from a different race to your peers and being ridiculed for it.
Mocked by your teachers or peers by calling you lazy or stupid.
Being handicapped.
Feeling ugly compared to your peers.
Not being skilled at a popular sport.
Parents continuously putting you down.
Coming from a lower social level than your peers.
Sometimes it is very hard to get to the root cause of your inferiority complex. Childhood memories can be deeply locked away in the memory. Hypnosis is a very powerful way of unlocking from your subconscious mind, those hidden memories that may well be creating feelings of inferiority.
http://www.mckenna-direct.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=456791
You feel different from others which give feelings of being disadvantaged. If you aren’t particularly clever but had the fortune to be surrounded by encouraging teachers and loving parents you would have, more likely than not, grown up with no feelings of inferiority and a self esteem fully balanced.
Some people compensate for their inferiority complex by striving to achieve in other areas such as sport or their studies. Many high achievers can attribute their success to an inferiority complex which, to some degree, isn’t a bad thing.
Other people will mask their feelings of inferiority by acting superior to everybody else thus developing a superiority complex.
Overcoming an inferiority complex and low self esteem.
As mentioned earlier, the root cause of the inferiority complex needs to be discovered. Hypnosis may well help this process.
http://www.mckenna-direct.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=456791
Don’t associate your inferiority complex with current external conditions. Not achieving your grades, driving high performance cars or generally not being successful are current external factors. Inferiority comes from within. There are many people who spend their lives achieving great wealth and power and yet still never conquer those inferior feelings.
Self talk in the positive. By catching all those negative thoughts and comments and replacing them with positive ones about yourself, and then repeating this over and over again will eventually allow you to think positively automatically.
Remove those labels that you have allowed to develop through your lifes journey. Those labels such as “fool” or “idiot” that you some how associate with yourself need to be challenged and erased to greatly improve your self esteem and confidence.
The use of hypnosis under professional guidance is an extremely powerful tool to banish an inferiority complex. http://www.mckenna-direct.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=456791
Rebuild your self confidence. Remember you are not your behaviour or your looks. You don’t have to have everything in life or be perfect at everything to feel worthy.
Removing an inferiority complex will greatly improve self confidence, self esteem, motivation and inspiration whilst allowing you to live your life with tremendous optimism.
Terry Norrington
http://140020.successuniversity.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
http://www.mckenna-direct.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=456791
www.getselfconfident.com
www.2knowmyself.com
The causes of inferiority complex.
Unfortunate or even catastrophic events of the past which have lead to you labelling yourself as inadequate or unworthy are the most common reasons that an inferiority complex has developed. Such events could be:-
Coming from a different race to your peers and being ridiculed for it.
Mocked by your teachers or peers by calling you lazy or stupid.
Being handicapped.
Feeling ugly compared to your peers.
Not being skilled at a popular sport.
Parents continuously putting you down.
Coming from a lower social level than your peers.
Sometimes it is very hard to get to the root cause of your inferiority complex. Childhood memories can be deeply locked away in the memory. Hypnosis is a very powerful way of unlocking from your subconscious mind, those hidden memories that may well be creating feelings of inferiority.
http://www.mckenna-direct.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=456791
You feel different from others which give feelings of being disadvantaged. If you aren’t particularly clever but had the fortune to be surrounded by encouraging teachers and loving parents you would have, more likely than not, grown up with no feelings of inferiority and a self esteem fully balanced.
Some people compensate for their inferiority complex by striving to achieve in other areas such as sport or their studies. Many high achievers can attribute their success to an inferiority complex which, to some degree, isn’t a bad thing.
Other people will mask their feelings of inferiority by acting superior to everybody else thus developing a superiority complex.
Overcoming an inferiority complex and low self esteem.
As mentioned earlier, the root cause of the inferiority complex needs to be discovered. Hypnosis may well help this process.
http://www.mckenna-direct.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=456791
Don’t associate your inferiority complex with current external conditions. Not achieving your grades, driving high performance cars or generally not being successful are current external factors. Inferiority comes from within. There are many people who spend their lives achieving great wealth and power and yet still never conquer those inferior feelings.
Self talk in the positive. By catching all those negative thoughts and comments and replacing them with positive ones about yourself, and then repeating this over and over again will eventually allow you to think positively automatically.
Remove those labels that you have allowed to develop through your lifes journey. Those labels such as “fool” or “idiot” that you some how associate with yourself need to be challenged and erased to greatly improve your self esteem and confidence.
The use of hypnosis under professional guidance is an extremely powerful tool to banish an inferiority complex. http://www.mckenna-direct.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=456791
Rebuild your self confidence. Remember you are not your behaviour or your looks. You don’t have to have everything in life or be perfect at everything to feel worthy.
Removing an inferiority complex will greatly improve self confidence, self esteem, motivation and inspiration whilst allowing you to live your life with tremendous optimism.
Terry Norrington
http://140020.successuniversity.com
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index.htm#terryn1
http://www.mckenna-direct.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=456791
www.getselfconfident.com
www.2knowmyself.com
Friday, 23 January 2009
How to Find Motivation From the Most Dramatic Situations
Despite the severity of any given circumstance, finding the positive angle in these situations does wonders for our self confidence, creates tremendous self esteem and provides the necessary motivation for us to overcome the hurdle. This aids us in gaining control of the situation thus reducing stress and helping to form a sense of well-being.
How then are we able to take anything positive from a dire event?
There is a technique called “reframing”.
Try removing the frame from a much loved picture. Now place a completely different style of frame around that picture. Although the picture is still the same it appears different. Perhaps another part of the picture stands out more or maybe the mood created by the image changes in some way. Whatever it may be, it is not the same picture. The likelihood is that we will have created a greater appreciation of the original frame.
In any given situation, altering the frame of reference gives us a realisation of the negative aspects and armed with this new realisation, we are able build a more positive and confident attitude to a difficult problem.
There are two steps to reframing that we should follow if we want to view a negative circumstance with greater optimism.
Understand the original frame. Ask ourselves, how do we feel about the situation we find ourselves in? Are we angry or desperate, frustrated even? What do we feel like doing about the position we find ourselves in?
Create a new frame to find positive aspects of where we find ourselves so we can vastly improve our motivation and change the situation.
We can use the example of having missed the train. The negative stance would be something like,
“What an idiot I am. I should have walked faster then I wouldn’t have missed it. Now I’m going to be really late home”.
Reframing it to give the situation the positive view point could be,
“Hey ho, never mind. Now I’ve got time to buy the wife’s birthday card and then grab a coffee and chill out”.
Always try to look for the blessings in disguise and this will enhance our self esteem so much. The way of looking at the more dramatic circumstance of losing our jobs with more optimism maybe,
“Well at least I will have more time to spend with my family. I can even use the time to retrain for a different career”.
Concentrating on a solution rather than the problem is another terrific way of reframing a situation. Take the example of a roof leaking.
The negative stance is,
“My roof leaks, now I’m going to get water everywhere”.
“Replace the tile and the leak is mended”, is the positive view and is also finding the solution.
By saying,
“My job is really stressful, I don’t know how I’m going to get over all these problems”, is looking at the problem.
“My job is really interesting. Overcome all these problems and I can really prove my worth”, is trying to find solutions and really helps to provide the motivation to take on what has now become a challenge.
Using common phrases helps to create positive ness and confidence.
“It could be worse”.
“Everything happens for a reason”.
“It’s only money. Other people have far greater problems”.
These are typical illustrations of phrases that we can use to promote optimism in hard times.
To take something positive from traumatic events such as a life threatening illness or bereavement may seem like a tall order. But salvaging something positive from such difficult times creates the inspiration to carry on and get on with life. To see these events as being part of the bigger picture gives us a reason to move forward. Having a deep conviction in faith and religion, thus holding on to our spirituality can certainly be another reassuring quality that helps get us through the most trying of circumstances.
Reframing may not necessarily make every picture seem like an image of roses, but it will provide acceptance. It also helps us to learn from the most traumatic of experiences.
Optimism, self esteem, confidence, motivation and inspiration can certainly be drawn from viewing situations in a positive light.
Terry Norrington
www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.com
How then are we able to take anything positive from a dire event?
There is a technique called “reframing”.
Try removing the frame from a much loved picture. Now place a completely different style of frame around that picture. Although the picture is still the same it appears different. Perhaps another part of the picture stands out more or maybe the mood created by the image changes in some way. Whatever it may be, it is not the same picture. The likelihood is that we will have created a greater appreciation of the original frame.
In any given situation, altering the frame of reference gives us a realisation of the negative aspects and armed with this new realisation, we are able build a more positive and confident attitude to a difficult problem.
There are two steps to reframing that we should follow if we want to view a negative circumstance with greater optimism.
Understand the original frame. Ask ourselves, how do we feel about the situation we find ourselves in? Are we angry or desperate, frustrated even? What do we feel like doing about the position we find ourselves in?
Create a new frame to find positive aspects of where we find ourselves so we can vastly improve our motivation and change the situation.
We can use the example of having missed the train. The negative stance would be something like,
“What an idiot I am. I should have walked faster then I wouldn’t have missed it. Now I’m going to be really late home”.
Reframing it to give the situation the positive view point could be,
“Hey ho, never mind. Now I’ve got time to buy the wife’s birthday card and then grab a coffee and chill out”.
Always try to look for the blessings in disguise and this will enhance our self esteem so much. The way of looking at the more dramatic circumstance of losing our jobs with more optimism maybe,
“Well at least I will have more time to spend with my family. I can even use the time to retrain for a different career”.
Concentrating on a solution rather than the problem is another terrific way of reframing a situation. Take the example of a roof leaking.
The negative stance is,
“My roof leaks, now I’m going to get water everywhere”.
“Replace the tile and the leak is mended”, is the positive view and is also finding the solution.
By saying,
“My job is really stressful, I don’t know how I’m going to get over all these problems”, is looking at the problem.
“My job is really interesting. Overcome all these problems and I can really prove my worth”, is trying to find solutions and really helps to provide the motivation to take on what has now become a challenge.
Using common phrases helps to create positive ness and confidence.
“It could be worse”.
“Everything happens for a reason”.
“It’s only money. Other people have far greater problems”.
These are typical illustrations of phrases that we can use to promote optimism in hard times.
To take something positive from traumatic events such as a life threatening illness or bereavement may seem like a tall order. But salvaging something positive from such difficult times creates the inspiration to carry on and get on with life. To see these events as being part of the bigger picture gives us a reason to move forward. Having a deep conviction in faith and religion, thus holding on to our spirituality can certainly be another reassuring quality that helps get us through the most trying of circumstances.
Reframing may not necessarily make every picture seem like an image of roses, but it will provide acceptance. It also helps us to learn from the most traumatic of experiences.
Optimism, self esteem, confidence, motivation and inspiration can certainly be drawn from viewing situations in a positive light.
Terry Norrington
www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.com
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Greatly Improve Your Self Esteem Through Your Subconscious Mind
All our emotions such as optimism, self esteem, motivation, inspiration and confidence are triggered from our subconscious mind. This mysterious and magical part of the brain has so much effect on our everyday lives and yet we hardly know much about it and how it works.
So what is the subconscious mind and how does it affect us, our optimism and self confidence so much?
The subconscious mind could be viewed as the storage space for everything not currently taking space in the conscious mind. It stores memories, life experiences, skills, our belief system and all images ever seen.
When faced with any given situation, the subconscious mind triggers appropriate emotions based upon previous life experiences. Upon placing ourselves in danger, fear and anxiety kick in, triggered from the subconscious mind.
Learning to drive is a terrific example of learned skills being stored in the subconscious mind. When first learning to drive and confidence is in short supply, the conscious mind forces us to concentrate with every gear change, turn of the steering wheel and application of the brakes being a deliberate action. Once the driving test is out of the way these actions are passed from the conscious mind to the subconscious part of the brain and confidence and self esteem make driving an automatic process. The conscious mind is free to focus on other things. How many times have we driven from A to B and not been able to remember the journey?
Through the conscious mind we are able to control logic, thought and calculation. The subconscious mind however controls automatic, life sustaining processes such as the heart beat and breathing. Try concentrating for one minute on our breathing. This proves relatively easy as we control the depth and frequencies of each breath. Remove the focus and still we find that we breathe quite naturally.
When we learn a skill such as driving it is like programming a computer. Our subconscious mind is the computer and the driving skill is the software. Emotions are equally like software. If somebody shouts at us aggressively, our subconscious mind reaches for the anger software. Yet this particular computer can be reprogrammed to accept different software so long as the subconscious mind is still protecting our emotional well-being. In the face of aggressive action the subconscious can be programmed to respond calmly yet focussed in order to deal with the situation in the most rational manner possible.
Reprogramming the subconscious mind can be done through hypnosis and constant repetition without logic ever playing a part. Constant repetition of an argument can alter somebody’s point of view despite the absence of logic.
As the body defends against physical wounds and injuries, so the subconscious mind protects against emotional shocks and wounds. This ego defence mechanism protects emotional well-being and helps overcome emotional shocks.
In essence the conscious and subconscious minds work as a team. The conscious mind deals with current tasks and then assigns them to the subconscious mind. The subconscious on the other hand, sends feedback in the form of emotions to the conscious mind. Being aware of the link between conscious and subconscious mind can greatly improve skills and mastery of emotions.
Awareness of the function of the subconscious mind gives us the ability to master such emotions as optimism, self esteem, confidence, inspiration and motivation; all positive emotions that greatly improve the chances of success and happiness.
Terry Norrington
www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.com
So what is the subconscious mind and how does it affect us, our optimism and self confidence so much?
The subconscious mind could be viewed as the storage space for everything not currently taking space in the conscious mind. It stores memories, life experiences, skills, our belief system and all images ever seen.
When faced with any given situation, the subconscious mind triggers appropriate emotions based upon previous life experiences. Upon placing ourselves in danger, fear and anxiety kick in, triggered from the subconscious mind.
Learning to drive is a terrific example of learned skills being stored in the subconscious mind. When first learning to drive and confidence is in short supply, the conscious mind forces us to concentrate with every gear change, turn of the steering wheel and application of the brakes being a deliberate action. Once the driving test is out of the way these actions are passed from the conscious mind to the subconscious part of the brain and confidence and self esteem make driving an automatic process. The conscious mind is free to focus on other things. How many times have we driven from A to B and not been able to remember the journey?
Through the conscious mind we are able to control logic, thought and calculation. The subconscious mind however controls automatic, life sustaining processes such as the heart beat and breathing. Try concentrating for one minute on our breathing. This proves relatively easy as we control the depth and frequencies of each breath. Remove the focus and still we find that we breathe quite naturally.
When we learn a skill such as driving it is like programming a computer. Our subconscious mind is the computer and the driving skill is the software. Emotions are equally like software. If somebody shouts at us aggressively, our subconscious mind reaches for the anger software. Yet this particular computer can be reprogrammed to accept different software so long as the subconscious mind is still protecting our emotional well-being. In the face of aggressive action the subconscious can be programmed to respond calmly yet focussed in order to deal with the situation in the most rational manner possible.
Reprogramming the subconscious mind can be done through hypnosis and constant repetition without logic ever playing a part. Constant repetition of an argument can alter somebody’s point of view despite the absence of logic.
As the body defends against physical wounds and injuries, so the subconscious mind protects against emotional shocks and wounds. This ego defence mechanism protects emotional well-being and helps overcome emotional shocks.
In essence the conscious and subconscious minds work as a team. The conscious mind deals with current tasks and then assigns them to the subconscious mind. The subconscious on the other hand, sends feedback in the form of emotions to the conscious mind. Being aware of the link between conscious and subconscious mind can greatly improve skills and mastery of emotions.
Awareness of the function of the subconscious mind gives us the ability to master such emotions as optimism, self esteem, confidence, inspiration and motivation; all positive emotions that greatly improve the chances of success and happiness.
Terry Norrington
www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.com
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Get Out of the Rat Race. How Inspiration Can Give You the Life of Your Dreams
Does there seem to be a lack of inspiration and motivation in your life?
Is your self esteem suffering because you wonder if this is all there is to life?
Perhaps your self confidence is suffering as your daily life drags you from one task to another.
These questions and comments resonate amongst many millions of people the world over. You ask yourself,
“What is life about?”
Your confidence is shattered as you wake up early in the morning already feeling completely worn out, as the thought of another day of fighting your way to work immediately drains your energies. Rushing through one laborious task just to get to the next and then the next before making that arduous journey back home just in time to see the kids being snugly tucked up in bed.
“Is this all my life will ever consist of?” you keep asking yourself without really looking for a way out of this trap. Optimism and hope are feelings that are long gone as the demands of mortgages and bills are the only motivation for getting out of bed in the mornings.
This is the rat race, all these people’s lives being used as the wheels to drive industry and commerce forward to greater and greater profits, although at present, some of those wheels seem to be falling off.
Does life have to be like this?
Is there another way?
Well, yes there is. Life really can be so much better than hurrying from one job just to tackle the next. To be able to enjoy the experience of every moment, every task we do, is a truly rewarding goal to aim for. Admittedly it is unlikely to be achieved in its entirety as taking the rough with the smooth makes us appreciate the smooth so much more. But if we have the correct attitude then even the hard times will be viewed as a learning curve that is well worth the effort of working through. And to aim to get something from every moment gives our lives hope, inspiration and motivation.
“What is life if full of care, we take no time to stand and stare?”
This famous line is so true. There is so much around us that is so beautiful, yet we barely notice. God has created a world so full of abundance yet very few people appreciate it. Although this is the world of our creator, he has given it for all of us to enjoy. We all can have the lives that we want if we dream big and totally believe and have the confidence that we can achieve this.
Life is not a dress rehearsal. We only have one life on this earth (as far as we know) so why not make the most of it?
So many people have fear; the fear to dream and take action to achieve those dreams. It takes belief, self confidence and a great desire to go for those dreams.
That belief may be in your self; the total confidence that you have the ability to reach the pinnacle of your personal mountain. Others have the absolute faith that God will help create the lives that they want and deserve. With complete gratitude, they know that God will show them the way to experience all the abundance that he has placed on this earth.
Wherever the belief comes from lives can change dramatically for the better. It won’t happen over night. Packing in a job that pays the mortgage and the bills before creating a better path will be considered by most to be foolhardy; although some have taken that drastic action and gotten away with it. Having the self confidence or the belief that god will shine a light on the path to follow will eventually lead to the life that is dreamed of.
Belief, optimism, confidence, self esteem, inspiration and motivation are all positive qualities that will lead to a life of abundance.
Terry Norrington
www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.com
Is your self esteem suffering because you wonder if this is all there is to life?
Perhaps your self confidence is suffering as your daily life drags you from one task to another.
These questions and comments resonate amongst many millions of people the world over. You ask yourself,
“What is life about?”
Your confidence is shattered as you wake up early in the morning already feeling completely worn out, as the thought of another day of fighting your way to work immediately drains your energies. Rushing through one laborious task just to get to the next and then the next before making that arduous journey back home just in time to see the kids being snugly tucked up in bed.
“Is this all my life will ever consist of?” you keep asking yourself without really looking for a way out of this trap. Optimism and hope are feelings that are long gone as the demands of mortgages and bills are the only motivation for getting out of bed in the mornings.
This is the rat race, all these people’s lives being used as the wheels to drive industry and commerce forward to greater and greater profits, although at present, some of those wheels seem to be falling off.
Does life have to be like this?
Is there another way?
Well, yes there is. Life really can be so much better than hurrying from one job just to tackle the next. To be able to enjoy the experience of every moment, every task we do, is a truly rewarding goal to aim for. Admittedly it is unlikely to be achieved in its entirety as taking the rough with the smooth makes us appreciate the smooth so much more. But if we have the correct attitude then even the hard times will be viewed as a learning curve that is well worth the effort of working through. And to aim to get something from every moment gives our lives hope, inspiration and motivation.
“What is life if full of care, we take no time to stand and stare?”
This famous line is so true. There is so much around us that is so beautiful, yet we barely notice. God has created a world so full of abundance yet very few people appreciate it. Although this is the world of our creator, he has given it for all of us to enjoy. We all can have the lives that we want if we dream big and totally believe and have the confidence that we can achieve this.
Life is not a dress rehearsal. We only have one life on this earth (as far as we know) so why not make the most of it?
So many people have fear; the fear to dream and take action to achieve those dreams. It takes belief, self confidence and a great desire to go for those dreams.
That belief may be in your self; the total confidence that you have the ability to reach the pinnacle of your personal mountain. Others have the absolute faith that God will help create the lives that they want and deserve. With complete gratitude, they know that God will show them the way to experience all the abundance that he has placed on this earth.
Wherever the belief comes from lives can change dramatically for the better. It won’t happen over night. Packing in a job that pays the mortgage and the bills before creating a better path will be considered by most to be foolhardy; although some have taken that drastic action and gotten away with it. Having the self confidence or the belief that god will shine a light on the path to follow will eventually lead to the life that is dreamed of.
Belief, optimism, confidence, self esteem, inspiration and motivation are all positive qualities that will lead to a life of abundance.
Terry Norrington
www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.com
Friday, 16 January 2009
How to See The World in All It's Glory
There seems to be some people who are blessed. They are vibrant and happy; the glowing companion linked to their arm and abundance seems to flow into their lives. So why does life always appear good for them yet for others misery seems to follow with every step they take?
I was with two colleagues today; Sid and Steve. Sid is happy go lucky, a colourful character who has experienced a lot of life’s ups and downs. He is a great example of the phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. He lives off of his wits and always seems to find that extra buck or two. Despite being obviously very street wise, he does attend church and appreciates a spiritual side within himself.
Steve is a worker. He does work hard yet always seems to be just keeping his head above the financial waters. Although he doesn’t constantly moan about his problems there are many hints and signs that he is tremendously concerned about his money situation.
We had two conversations of note during the course of the day; the first was when Steve stated that “I can’t see the point in religion. It only causes all the troubles in the world. It seems that people who don’t believe, like atheists, are the ones that are peaceful”.
The first thing that I pointed out was that the troubles are caused in the name of religion. It isn’t the religions themselves that cause the issues. Fundamentalists; people with such a deep beliefs in their teachings that they cannot accept other faiths, races and points of views seem to be at the heart of the troubles. The mainstream religions of this world have one common theme. They all believe in one creator. We may have differing guidelines on how to worship our creator and how to practice our religions but that one common link should be what binds us together and allow us to live in harmony with each other.
Secondly, I focussed on the Islamic faith. I don’t profess to know much about the religion but I hear many times that this is a very peaceful religion that denounces any form of violence. Any atrocity caused in the name of Islam is really so far removed from their teachings. Unfortunately within any race or creed; even amongst the atheists, there are good people and there are bad. It is a sign of the times that the world’s media only focuses on the bad.
It is an indication of Steve’s thought patterns that he had chosen to start a conversation on a real negative. This was even more noticeable with the statement he made later on in the day.
“I’ll be glad when this year is over”.
Considering that, at the time of writing we are only into the third week of January, this took Sid and me a little by surprise.
“Why’s that then?” I asked
He went on to point out that we were doing a horrible job (his words were a bit more flavoursome than that), and that the recession was really getting him down.
Admittedly the job wasn’t likely to be classified as our favourite, but I felt the need to express the notion that sometimes we need to experience the rough to truly enjoy the smooth.
With regards to the credit crunch I asked him
“What can you do about it?”
“Well nothing” he replied.
“Exactly” I countered. “So why keep thinking about it. Concentrate on what you can do to work around it”.
I then highlighted that the world is a beautiful place. Continuously seeing it as a dark, horribly place; one full of misery will lead to his world being one of misery. Conversely, choosing to see it for what it really is, a wonderful place full of abundance will mean a life that god wants us to experience, full of the abundances that he has put here for us to enjoy.
Undoubtedly there will be harder times than others. If we decide to see the world in its full glory, those harder times will be so much easier to handle, obstacles so much easier to overcome.
Sid pointed out that if we visualise life like a steeplechase race, we have hurdles to straddle. If we view the world with tremendous optimism and confidence we will jump the hurdles. If we see our planet as a world full of darkness we are going to clip those hurdles and fall over. Worst still, we will probably run straight into them.
Sid obviously had a better grasp on how to view his world and consequently experiences a lot more of the good that is out there.
We can all decide to see the world in a positive light; full of hope and optimism. It is our choice and we don’t have to let other people’s negativity cloud our vision. It doesn’t come easy, but catching ourselves thinking negative thoughts is a start. Substituting those thoughts with ones of vibrancy, abundance, happiness and tranquillity and then truly believing that we deserve these riches, will, eventually, develop us into those that have and not those that have not.
Terry Norrington
www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.co.uk
I was with two colleagues today; Sid and Steve. Sid is happy go lucky, a colourful character who has experienced a lot of life’s ups and downs. He is a great example of the phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. He lives off of his wits and always seems to find that extra buck or two. Despite being obviously very street wise, he does attend church and appreciates a spiritual side within himself.
Steve is a worker. He does work hard yet always seems to be just keeping his head above the financial waters. Although he doesn’t constantly moan about his problems there are many hints and signs that he is tremendously concerned about his money situation.
We had two conversations of note during the course of the day; the first was when Steve stated that “I can’t see the point in religion. It only causes all the troubles in the world. It seems that people who don’t believe, like atheists, are the ones that are peaceful”.
The first thing that I pointed out was that the troubles are caused in the name of religion. It isn’t the religions themselves that cause the issues. Fundamentalists; people with such a deep beliefs in their teachings that they cannot accept other faiths, races and points of views seem to be at the heart of the troubles. The mainstream religions of this world have one common theme. They all believe in one creator. We may have differing guidelines on how to worship our creator and how to practice our religions but that one common link should be what binds us together and allow us to live in harmony with each other.
Secondly, I focussed on the Islamic faith. I don’t profess to know much about the religion but I hear many times that this is a very peaceful religion that denounces any form of violence. Any atrocity caused in the name of Islam is really so far removed from their teachings. Unfortunately within any race or creed; even amongst the atheists, there are good people and there are bad. It is a sign of the times that the world’s media only focuses on the bad.
It is an indication of Steve’s thought patterns that he had chosen to start a conversation on a real negative. This was even more noticeable with the statement he made later on in the day.
“I’ll be glad when this year is over”.
Considering that, at the time of writing we are only into the third week of January, this took Sid and me a little by surprise.
“Why’s that then?” I asked
He went on to point out that we were doing a horrible job (his words were a bit more flavoursome than that), and that the recession was really getting him down.
Admittedly the job wasn’t likely to be classified as our favourite, but I felt the need to express the notion that sometimes we need to experience the rough to truly enjoy the smooth.
With regards to the credit crunch I asked him
“What can you do about it?”
“Well nothing” he replied.
“Exactly” I countered. “So why keep thinking about it. Concentrate on what you can do to work around it”.
I then highlighted that the world is a beautiful place. Continuously seeing it as a dark, horribly place; one full of misery will lead to his world being one of misery. Conversely, choosing to see it for what it really is, a wonderful place full of abundance will mean a life that god wants us to experience, full of the abundances that he has put here for us to enjoy.
Undoubtedly there will be harder times than others. If we decide to see the world in its full glory, those harder times will be so much easier to handle, obstacles so much easier to overcome.
Sid pointed out that if we visualise life like a steeplechase race, we have hurdles to straddle. If we view the world with tremendous optimism and confidence we will jump the hurdles. If we see our planet as a world full of darkness we are going to clip those hurdles and fall over. Worst still, we will probably run straight into them.
Sid obviously had a better grasp on how to view his world and consequently experiences a lot more of the good that is out there.
We can all decide to see the world in a positive light; full of hope and optimism. It is our choice and we don’t have to let other people’s negativity cloud our vision. It doesn’t come easy, but catching ourselves thinking negative thoughts is a start. Substituting those thoughts with ones of vibrancy, abundance, happiness and tranquillity and then truly believing that we deserve these riches, will, eventually, develop us into those that have and not those that have not.
Terry Norrington
www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/index#terryn1
www.getselfconfident.co.uk
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