How to feel great about yourself and be happy
How to have great relationships with others
How to make sure you love your work and career
How to have fun raising great kids
These are the most valuable things to learn in life...yet they are totally missing from our formal education.

The power of interpretation...
When my mother was five years old, she overheard her parents saying, "We wish our daughter was not born so early in our marriage."
One might thing that this would be a terrible thing for a young child to over hear, perhaps thinking, "My parents don't love me!"
But my mother's thought instead was, "I was so powerful I came when I wanted to!"
If you want to change you life, just change your interpretation. If my mother could create such an interpretation at five years old, you have the power to interpret anything in you life today in a way that serves you.

The cultures that we are born into (whether they be family, religious, or societal) are only the STARTING points for creating a great life.

Every morning I take a minute to say "hello" to my mother, my father, my grandmothers, and my grandfathers. I feel they are happy to hear my morning greetings.
I also say "hello" to my sister and brother (who are both still alive), as well as one other dead person whom I've never met (for example, Aristotle).
I don't ask them for anything. I just want to feel the delight of saying "hello." Even though my parents and grandparents (and Aristotle) are dead, they are just as much "alive" for me in my heart as when they inhabited their bodies. Saying "hello and thank you" to them every morning refreshes their presence in my heart.

I am five years old and I am pretending to be 73.

A famous dating/marriage website in China advertises "Get married and have a baby before your grandparents die. This is your duty as a good grandson or granddaughter."

One thing that many loving parents never think about the importance of giving to their kids is their own happiness.
In some ways, it's more important than anything else, if a parent can give their children the example of their own happiness (that is not dependent on their children's behavior). My mother gave me this...and for that I am eternally grateful.

A God who needs praise is like a parent who is insecure without their children's approval and appreciation.

We adults have more to learn from children than they have to learn from us.
Let us learn curiosity from children...
Let us learn innocence from children...
Let us learn how to enjoy the moment from children...
Let us learn self-expression, spontaneity, and authenticity from children...
Let us learn "letting go of the past" from children...
Let us learn passion from children...
Let us learn "not caring about mistakes" from children...
Let us learn creativity from children...

You'll have a life of freedom, peace, connection with others, ease, happiness, authenticity, self-expression, joy of learning, and playful growth when you...
give up blaming or trying to change others
give up blaming or trying to improve yourself
give up trying to prove anything
give up trying to defend yourself
give up trying to prove that you're okay
give up trying to avoid criticism or blame
give up trying to get the love or approval of others
give up thinking you should do something
give up thinking you shouldn't do something
give up getting into other people's business
give up getting into God's business
give up thinking that you shouldn't give up

Click here for quotes 141-150