TIPS FOR GETTING MORE FROM LIFE

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TIPS FOR GETTING MORE FROM LIFE

LOVE: "....and love it is the best of them." It truly is the best life can

offer, but be glad and humble and grateful for whatever degree of it comes your

way. Take it willingly, accept its outcome whatever that is, but take it

lightly, too, not agonizing over-much over its mishaps, disappointments or

absence. Love is no one’s unwritten right: you may experience much or little of

it. Either way you will have learnt a lot about life.

FRIENDS: Keep your friend and tested friendship in constant repair for having a

friend invariably means being one, too. Rejoice in friendship and always be

prepared to put more into any friendship than you expect to take out. Remember,

too, that as one moves through life, one does grow out of some friendships,

which may weaken or wither. That must be expected, and in no way detracts from

friendship’s lasting joys. Always be ready to make a new friend, no matter what

your (or their) age.

OTHER PEOPLE: The world is full of them. Most of those you encounter you will

never really know, and many are ships in the night. But all have something to

tell or teach you, the power to influence or shape you in some tiny but lasting

way. So listen to them always, study them constantly (especially their motives

for doing things), try to love them as fellow members of the human race – but

don’t expect or even try to like them all. But do talk and listen to as many of

them as you can.

LIVE IN WONDER: Just that. Everything is wonderful it you view it aright.

Cultivate a sense of wonder every day, and never lose a sense of curiosity

about the world in which we live and the people in it, nor the purpose of both.

ENJOY NATURE: So many people do, of course so many others don’t. Don’t take

birds and trees and flowers and butterflies and the rest for granted. Each one

is a miraculous work of art, full of interest. Study them, learn them, learn

all you can about them. A love of nature is a joy of life that outlives most of

the others. When you’re too old for active sports or even arduous travel you can

still watch birds, identify trees, examine wildflowers, finding them all

absorbing.

READ: If you have something to read you never lonely, never idle, never bored.

Be discriminative and selective, of course, but read all you can of quality or

interest. No one person can know very much nowadays, can appreciate life in all

its varieties, understand what clever minds have said and thought and done,

without books. Television and conversation have their place, but books are more

staying, more nourishing food.

LEARN TO RELAX: The bustle and pressure of modern life for most of us makes a

mastery of the art of relaxation essential. Take time out of life whenever

possible; in that time you may really live, or at least come closure to the

meaning of life. Switch off, stand and stare, be still and quiet – these are

all valuable things.

LIVE NOW: Enjoy all your hopes, of course, and relish you happy memories; they

too can be cultivated to enrich life. But real life is now; the rest is

vanished or shrouded in unknowable mist. Live for the present, and in the

present relishing every moment. And if you want to do a thing-do it now.

PUT MORE INTO LIFE: Far, far too many people bemoaning that life isn’t offering

them much are simply not putting enough into it. The world owes no one a

living, so why should anyone expect to draw on the bank of life without making

any deposits there? Plunge in, give all you can, venture and try (and probably

surprise yourself), give out to others, have a go, don’t think too much of

yourself and ‘What’s in it for me?’ The more you put into life, the more life

will give you back-with interest. It’s as simple as that. Be happy.

(Courtesy: The Modern Practical Psychology, 23-08-2003)

 

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