Most Potent Power

“He who has overcome hatred possesses one of the most potent powers on Earth.”

Youth, Love and Laziness

Young men love to feel their power. They flexed their muscles and oftentimes are sadistic. They love to shake the world around them and brag about their exploits.

I talked to a young man the other day. He shared and justified his behavior against other people. He said he was provoked and therefore lashed them out with his powerful, bone-deep maledictions.

I asked him if he was happy because he hurt other people. The answer was delayed, long and confused. I asked him again, ‘what is the harder thing to do, to hurt people or to make them feel good about themselves?”

Hurting others is easy: anyone can do that; dogs, bullies, terrorists, psychopaths, losers can do that. But to inspire people to feel good about themselves, the people around them, the world and life, you need more than muscles and a lashing tongue.

M. Scott Peck says, “the enemy of love is not hatred, it' is laziness.”  To hurt others is easy.  So, lazy people tend to hurt other people because they are lazy to process situations. Bad parents are actually lazy parents, they want easy solutions and therefore don’t want to impose discipline.

To love needs energy, thinking and action. To truly love needs a higher amount of maturity, for love is a decision and only mature people can make loving decisions….

The Enemy Within

I met Jams several months ago. Her skin was dry and was occasionally looking at blank spaces far and endless. When she opened her mouth to speak, all I heard was complaints about how life and everyone was unfair to her.

Jams claimed to be religious. So, I asked her straight: "for the last the last 3 days, can you recall all those things your shared with people? Were they glad that they talked to you? Did they become inspired or better persons? You claimed to be a prayerful person, but I don't feel the goodness of your God the way you talked about life." At that, tears fell down from her eyes.

Self-pity is the poison in disguise: some people love to cultivate the feeling of the illusion of pleasure of being cheated by anyone and of the world. Playing the victim is a sweet consolation of the losers.

Self-pity does not have a place in the heart of a mature person. It's an illusion lazy people want to keep in themselves to give them the power to justify why they don't forgive, why they don't love, why they don't succeed. It’s the enemy within.

Before we parted ways, I told her, “maybe you want to make a list of the blessings you have received…” With a smile and a hug, she said, “yes, and thank you.” I answered, ‘prego’ :)

Money for Love

In my rounds giving talks about investment, one of the things I fix is the audience’ mind set about money.

As we always hear, money is not evil. It only magnifies the person’s value. Money does not make a person greedy nor generous. It simply amplifies what’s really in the heart of the person. If the person is greedy, having more money makes him more greedy; on the other hand, if a person is generous, money makes him more generous and kind.

Money is essential for living, but it’s not everything. Money could not buy love, but it can get us closer to the one we love, it can make our unity more possible and enjoyable. So, if a person is genuinely generous the more he should have money to amplify his generosity.

Relationships don’t crumble down because of the lack of, or overabundance of money; relationships crumble down because the money issue amplifies a deeper reality, the true status that relationship.

Take what Khalil Gibran said about money: “Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who withholds it, and enlivens the other who turns it on his fellow man…”

Een mooie dag verder!  :)

Dutch Love Treat

One thing I love here in The Nederlands is that, most people speak English. We joined Theo and Ads at the table and had really interesting conversation. Afterwards I took charge of a business conference with their wives. The ladies appeared respected and loved by their husbands. At the end of the night, I knew I like better the way people live and relate here than in Italy.

I remember Eugene, a country manager from Malaysia said: “Do you know what is the secret of our happy marriage? My wife and I had an agreement: inside the house she is the queen and there’s no king. Whatever she says and does I accept and respect. But when we’re outside, I am the king and there’s no queen: no insults, no high pitch voice no frustrated gestures.”

Taking from this two scenarios, one thing is clear: deep respect for each other. Life may not be sunny all the time, but when two people decide to love each other, there’s no excuses for bad attitudes.

The Magic Called ‘Silence’

Men who learned to live peaceably with nagging wives understand well the power of silence. “I’m not worried if my wife started firing laments and complaints from the beginning of the day, I’m worried when she’s silent: it means she’s deeply hurt or in trouble.” Says, Andrew.

People use words to express their thoughts and feelings, but words are limited and ambiguous. We say something, and meaning another. They say something but we understood something else. Silence forces us to listen to things which could not be contained in words. It breaks eardrums and pierces even the stone-cold and confused hearts.

If a picture speaks a thousand words, silence speaks a million words.  Silence is the language of the wise only the wise can understand. It is the song only the courageous can sing. It’s the breeding place of forgiveness and the womb of profound love.

So, when all else fails, keep silence. It brings us to the presence of God. It  brings us to the heart of our existence. Silence brings us to the magic of life…

iVerse: Choose your world

Each of us has his own universe.
Your universe is your world created by you.
Meaning, you’re the director, you’re the creator,
you’re the boss of your experience.
So, however you experience today about anything
and everyone around you, you brought them into creation.
It’s you who decide the shape and the ambiance of your universe,
no one else…
It’s your iVerse…
Choose your world…