AUGUST

SUCCESS DEPENDS ON USING NOT OPPOSING.
(c) Mentor Max

The world is primarily constituted on the basis of harmony.
Everything works in cooperation with something else.

Personal relationships are the fertile soil
from which all advancement, all success,
all achievement in real life grows.

Put yourself in another's place.
Only then will you know why they think and do certain things.
Once you understand how quickly people will grant your requests
when those requests appeal to their self-interest,
you can have practically anything you go after.

It's through cooperation, not conflict,
that you'll achieve your greatest success.

"Today is a new day. You will get out of it just what you put into it.....

If you have made mistakes, even serious mistakes, there is always another chance for you. And supposing you have tried and failed again and again, you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down."

-- Mary Pickford,
1893-1979, Canadian-born American Actress

Release

When you release your desire for something, your unhappiness goes.

When you release the concern about what somebody else thinks about something, your concern about it goes.

As you realize that you can't handle other people's lives,
your worry about them goes.

And when you realize that you can handle your life, your
happiness increases.

- John-Roger
(From: Loving Each Day, Volume 1)

Love Much

"The important thing is not to think much,
but to love much; and so, do
that which best stirs you to love."

- Saint Teresa of Avila

IMPERTURBABILITY

I think Charles Allen said it first. "When faced
with problems which threaten to steal your
peace of mind, learn the meaning of
the word imperturbability.

I heard of two artists who were asked to illustrate
peace. Each was assigned the task of depicting
a peaceful scene on canvas.

The first artist drew a beautiful picture of a
countryside on a warm, spring day. A soft sun
illumines green grass and bathes a
picturesque farm-house and grazing cattle in its
warmth. A farmer walks contentedly behind
strong plow horses pre-paring his field
for spring planting. The picture is one of beauty
and quiet tranquility.

The other artist took a different approach. He drew
a majestic, rugged cliff. Gnarled trees, twisted by years of
violent winds,jut from the craggy mountainside.
Dark clouds hang low and fierce
while jagged streaks of lightening slash across an
angry sky. The picture is one of violence, chaos and rage.

But as one looks closely, something else becomes
visible. There in one of the crevices of the
rocky mountain, tucked back just
out of reach of the wind and rain -- a nest with two
small birds. Apparently unconcerned about
the impending storm, they appear
calm, cozy and peaceful as they patiently wait for
the turbulence to pass.

And isn't that the way it so often is? We may want
to be surrounded by peace, but storms rage.
Problems and pressures without threaten
to steal peace of mind within.

The answer is imperturbability: inner peace that
doesn't leave when circumstances change.
It's a peace that is greater than the
problems of life, built on assurance that the
tempest will finally pass, that we will survive
the storm, that we may grow
stronger because of it and, in the meantime, we will
not endure it alone.

Imperturbability -- it's the result of a peace that
passes understanding. For serenity is not
freedom from the storm, but
peace amid the storm.

Unknown

Be Happy

Have the self-confidence to say no
when it is necessary
and the strength to stand alone.
Give yourself the approval
to love and respect everything
that you are and will become..
Reap the fruits of your talents,
walk with pride down the road of life,
be humble in your successes,
and share the praises of joy with others.
Most of all, be happy.
For when you are happy,
you have the key that will open
all of the world's doors to you

Jackie Olson

Forgiveness

We're here with what we've got, with what we know, with what we've got to work with, and there's no need to blame
anybody, including our parents. What's amazing is, none of
us had perfect parents. And none of our parents had perfect
children.

- John-Roger
(From:  Forgiveness, The Key to the Kingdom)

May You ...

May every day of your life bring you
fresh hopes for tomorrow - because hope
gives all of us our reason for trying.

May each new day bring a feeling of
excitement, joy, and a wonderful sense of
expectation. Expect the best, and you'll get it.

May you find peace in simple things,
because those are the ones that will always be there.

May you remember the good times and
forget the sorrow and pain, for the good times
will remind you of how special your life has been.

May you always feel secure and loved,
and know you are the best.

May you experience all the good things
in life - the happiness of realizing your dreams,
the joy of feeling worthwhile, and the satisfaction
of knowing you've succeeded.

May you find warmth in others,
expressions of love and kindness, smiles that
encourage you, and friends who are loyal and honest.

May you realize the importance of
patience and accept others for what they are.
With understanding and love, you'll find the good
in every heart.

May you have faith in others and the
ability to be vulnerable. Open your heart and really
share the miracle of love and intimacy.

Above all, may you be happy with yourself.

- Regina Hill

Let Go

If you want to move past whatever situation you are in,
simply let go, and then direct yourself into the kind of
situation you would like.

If you want more admiration, make sure that the things you
are doing are admirable to the people you are around.  If
you do not know what those things are, then ask.  If you do
not want to do what they say, go find people who are
admiring what you want to be doing.  If that means that you
need to change and you do not want to change, then you had
better get busy being happy in the situation you are in.

- John Morton
(From: The Blessings Already Are)

THE NEW DAY
(Author Unknown)

I am the New Day.

I am an unspoiled page in your book of time.

I am your next chance at the art of living.

I am your opportunity to practice what you have learned about life.

All that you sought in the past and failed to find is hidden in me; I am waiting for you to search it out again and with more determination.

All the good that you tried to do for others and didn't achieve is mine to grant providing you have fewer selfish and conflicting desires.

In me lies the potential of all that you dreamed but didn't dare to do, all that you hoped but did not perform. All you hoped for but did not yet experience - these dreams slumber lightly, waiting to be awakened by the touch of an enduring purpose.

I am your opportunity, "Behold, I make all things new."

I am the New Day.

Meaning of Life

" Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible."

-- Viktor Frankl

Expectations

As you create expectations of people or situations, as you
create opinions of what should or should not be taking place
with yourself and others, you create your dilemmas.

- John-Roger
(From: Loving Each Day, Volume 1)

Precious Time

Are you starting to see how precious is the time you've
already had?

And how much more precious is the time that remains to you?


Keeping death in mind is not being morbid.  It's being
aware, as a Spiritual Warrior, that you do not have time to
waste.

- John-Roger
(From: Spiritual Warrior, The Art of Spiritual Living)

Connect

I'm asking that you go to the place that responds when you
hold a child, the place that awakens when you help someone
just for the pleasure of doing it. 

Connect with the sacred energy that comes alive when you
express loving.

- John-Roger

Betterment

There is always something in any situation that can be used
for betterment. 

- John Morton
(From: The Blessings Already Are)

Forgiveness

We need to come again to that place where we say to others,
"I am taking total responsibility for myself and for my
relationship with you and with anyone else inside of me.  I
do not blame you anymore for just being who you are because,
truly, you are perfect.  You don't have to change, and if
you would like to change, that will be okay."

- John-Roger
(From:  Forgiveness, The Key to the Kingdom)

Look for the beautiful

If you look for what is beautiful in everything that
happens, you'll find the secret of the great spiritual
Masters, which is that everything is in its right and proper
place, even if you cannot see it yet.

- John-Roger
(From: The Path to Mastership)

The ultimate is what we're dealing with.

Along the way toward the ultimate, you can have a lot of
people, a lot of things, a lot of experiences, a lot of
laughs, a lot of jokes, a lot of illnesses, a lot of
happiness.  The Bible talks about how there's a season for
this and a season for that, and you just participate in what
season you care to and allow other people to participate the
same way.

In that you'll find freedom.  In the Spirit you'll find
liberation.  And if that's all going to happen, we might
just as well laugh and live in grace.

- John-Roger

Love

Love is a cohesive power that brings everything together.

Love has the potential to change it all into positive action
and positive flow of Spirit.

- John-Roger
(From: The Way Out Book)

Understanding

Be kind. Everyone you meet is
fighting a hard battle.

Let us be slower to condemn and quicker
to forgive. If we knew the other fellow's
troubles, we might hesitate to criticize.
We might admire his courage for carrying on.

Go beyond yourself and reach out to
other people with a sincere love, respect,
caring and understanding of their needs.

The more we know , the better we forgive;
Whoever feels deeply, feels for all who live..

Unknown

Unconditional Loving

You are in this world to learn the highest form of
communication, which is unconditional loving under all
circumstances.

Part of that process includes learning how to create wisely
in order to bring about completion. In other words, don't
start anything you can't finish in loving.

- John-Roger
(From: Relationships: Love, Marriage and Spirit)

Experiences

Regardless of the nature of each experience, always let it
pass.

It may surprise you to learn that people hang on to
experiences by trying to analyze or understand.

That just keeps the condition around by feeding it with your
attention and energy.  Just let it go.

- John Morton
(From: The Blessings Already Are)

When I am anxious it is because I am living in
the future. When I am depressed it is because I
am living in the past.

Like many words of wisdom, the truth behind
this thought is a lot easier to agree with than it
is to live with. The everyday reality is that we
do tend to be anxious when we're trying to be
responsible for all the projects on our list. It's
easy to go too farto worry about bills that
aren't due yet, events planned for months in
the future, disasters that may or may not
happen.

And it's easy to spend too much time
rummaging around in the closet of our
memories. Opportunities lost years ago,
promising relationships that almost (but
didn't) work out, real or imagined rejections
these can all be dragged out of the closet and
made to dance on the stage of our
consciousness.

What about right now? Is the sun shining
today? Are we healthy? Are we free to move
around and shake things up?

My healthy choice today is to live these
twenty-four hours, thinking of this day as
having bright potential untarnished by
yesterday.


 From the book
"Days of Healing, Days of Joy" by
Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty

YOU HAVE UNLIMITED CHOICES
(c) Mentor Max

You don't have to buy from anyone.
You don't have to work at any particular job.
You don't have to participate in any given relationship.
You can choose.

You steer the course you choose in the direction
of where you want to be today, tomorrow,
or in a distant time to come.
You hold the tiller.

You can decide to alter the course of your life at any time.
No one can ever take that away from you.
You can decide what you want and go after it.

It's always your next move.

SAND OR STONE?
(Author Unknown)

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. In a specific point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one, who got slapped, was hurt, but without anything to say, he wrote in the sand:
"TODAY, MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE".

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who got slapped and hurt started drowning, and the other friend saved him. When he recovered from the fright, he wrote on a stone:
"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE".

The friend who saved and slapped his best friend, asked him, "Why, after I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on a stone?"

The other friend, smiling, replied, "When a friend hurts us, we should write it down in the sand, where the winds of forgiveness get in charge of erasing it away, and when something great happens, we should engrave it in the stone of the memory of the heart, where no wind can erase it"

Dreams

"The only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking."

-- Robert Schuller, American Minister (Crystal Cathedral),
Author, Social Leader

Mistakes

"A life spent making mistakes is
not only more honorable but more
useful than a life spent doing nothing."

- George Bernard Shaw

For the highest good

To send love and Light, all you have to say is, "I ask the
Light to go for the highest good."

Then if it's going to go, it will go.  And if it's not going
to go, and you try to force it by projecting really hard, it
may just come back at you really hard and be more than you
might want to handle.

It's easy, again, just to say, "For the highest good," and
let it go.

- John-Roger
(From: Psychic Protection)

Commitment

Commitment really means that you both go for 100 percent loving. 

Don't expect perfection because it may not be available, and
the paradox is that you still go for it.  The best you'll
end up with is excellence, and excellence in loving is
almost totally fulfilling.

- John-Roger
(From: Relationships: Love, Marriage and Spirit)

Negative Conditions

Negative conditions are there on purpose, and with learning
and growth they serve a purpose that is divine.

- John Morton
(From: The Blessings Already Are)