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[Guest guest]

A Special thanks from me to all of our vets who are serving our

country now and have served in the past.

The Bigger You

We each relate to the world from our own personal perspective. While

that is valuable in many ways, it can also be limiting. It is

ultimately self-defeating to think that you can advance your own self

interest at the expense of the bigger you -- your family, your

community, your world, the entire universe of which you are an

integral part.

Everyone you know, everything you know, is connected to you in some

way. Not by some mysterious cosmic force but by the simple, obvious

fact that they are a part of your world, of your experience.

The quality of your life depends on much more than the state of your

own personal body and surroundings. The quality of your life depends

on the quality of your world. It depends on your willingness to take

responsibility for that world. It depends on your ability to be a

positive influence in that world.

A big part of achieving success is simply paying attention. Life has

so very much to tell you when you take the time to listen.

The natural reaction to pain is to resent it and to get away from it

as quickly as possible. Yet when you pay close attention, there is

wisdom and value to be found in even the most painful, unpleasant

experiences.

As you go through each day, your mind is filled with all sorts of

things that you're thinking and saying to yourself. Choose to

regularly quiet those thoughts, to just listen, to look, to pay

attention.

Pay attention and you'll discover incredible opportunities in even the

most mundane circumstances. Pay attention to the way the world works

and you'll find powerful strategies for improving your own performance.

Growth and learning stop when you reach the point where you think you

know it all. However, you can choose to never reach that point.

You can choose to pay attention. And it can quickly bring great value,

wisdom and effectiveness into every corner of your life.

When there's an obstacle directly in front of you, it can appear

difficult, complicated and forbidding. Once you get past it though,

you may wonder why you ever hesitated to take it on.

Is there some challenge looming on your horizon that seems

insurmountable? The good news is that it is not nearly as difficult as

it first appears.

Yet the only way you'll know for sure is to step right up and meet it

face to face. Once you start to do that, you also start to grow

stronger, and as you do, the challenge becomes more manageable.

If you hide and cower in fear when confronted with a difficult

situation, your response only makes the situation even more difficult.

By making the choice to stride confidently forward, you raise yourself

to a higher level of performance.

As you work through the difficulties, your wisdom, strength and

effectiveness grow to meet the demands of the situation. And all the

time you'll be creating real, lasting value.

Though the challenge looks big and forbidding, remember that it's well

worth the effort to get to the other side. For when you get in the

habit of seeking and working through challenge, you can go anywhere

you choose.

Ralph Marston

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