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The Final Chapter
KERRY GIRLING
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my first child; whoever he or she may
be. Even though, I haven’t had a chance to get to know you yet, I
am delighted to be able to bring you into this world of happiness.
I am confident you are going to make this earth a much better
place to live. Here’s to all of the great times ahead of us.
Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................... 1
The law of attraction ..................................................................... 24
Keys components of success ......................................................... 27
Materialism; the leader of your slavery ........................................ 30
Law and order ............................................................................... 49
A simpler life is the route to happiness ......................................... 63
Ridding yourself from any Self-defeating habits .......................... 66
Religion and Spirituality ............................................................... 73
Being grateful for life.................................................................... 78
Getting to know your self-worth ................................................... 81
A lesson on Belief and taking action ............................................ 86
Moving forward in life .................................................................. 89
Turning a page into a new chapter of your life ............................. 94
Beyond the final chapter ............................................................... 97
My next chapter .......................................................................... 105
Final words.................................................................................. 110
Afterward .................................................................................... 113
About the Author ........................................................................ 116
Kerry’s recent publications ......................................................... 117
The Final Chapter
1
Introduction
I'm sitting outside in the backyard of my home in Calgary, Alberta,
Canada, and my mind is totally blissful. It’s 1:59 pm on the last day
of August 2013. As I close my eyes, I take a deep breath. My mind
is filled with sweet nothing. Fresh air enters my lungs which
replenishes my mind and body. I am almost in a completely
enlightened state. As I open my eyes, I see the sight of the perfect
formation of clouds in the sky. It's almost as perfect as an artist’s
drawing. It reminded me of the introduction of The Simpson’s
cartoon. The weather couldn’t be more perfect. It is twenty-six
degrees outside. The radiant heat that surrounds me replenishes
me with vitamin D and shines a radiant aura around my body. It
makes me feel pure, energized and joyful. I am living fully in the
moment where not a single thought of my past or future subsides.
As I sit in the sleek nine dollar armchair that I bought from the
nearest Supermarket a few months ago, comfort is felt
throughout my entire body. Zero stress runs through my veins.I
feel quite youthful actually, which are the opposite feelings I had
before I found the answers to living a happy and fulfilling life. A
few bees fly through the air as the scent of warm and fresh
autumn air re-enters my lungs. I glance at my lawn that looks near
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perfect.For a moment, it reminds me of my thirteen-year career in
the lawn maintenance industry that I had enslaved my time and
efforts for the past thirteen years. This instantly sends anxiety
through my veins. Then a more powerful wave of thoughts
follows. My mind is filled with various images of my matched
thirteen-year career as a youth motivator; my passion. Images of
my speaking days magnify the genuine compassion I formed for
the youth and how I had motivated hundreds of thousands of kids
over the course of my career. All of these thoughts instantly
trumped any reoccurring thoughts of any distant negativity. These
accomplishments made me feel confident and grateful for my life
on this planet. It made me feel worthwhile as a person.
I can hear a Hawk cowling in the distance. I assume he’s trying to
claim his territory. Echoes of the vehicles driving down the road
remind me of the “real world”; the society outside of my own
backyard; the one that has become reality to most but so distant
to me over the past three years.
Thoughts of Calgary’s fast-paced and busy downtown
environment surface my mind. I imagine an assortment of
different cultured people walking to and from every destination,
in every direction; almost like they’re ants on an ant hill trying to
get ready for the winter at a very rapid pace. This thought brings
slight anxiety to my mind. I begin to imagine the tall construction
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of the radiant city center that can almost be seen from my
backyard. Even though, it looks beautiful at dusk and dawn; it
resembles the society that has raised thousands of corporate ants
who are desperately trying to get things accomplished at an
impossible pace. It’s almost as though they’re slaves of our
environment, working their asses off while starving themselves
from happiness.
My thoughts continued to elaborate on their common lifestyles.
Despite their ridiculous forty to sixty hour work weeks; their
commute to and from their homes each day adds another twenty-
four hours away from their families each week. In doing the math,
I realized that their time at work well exceeds their time spent
with the ones they love. They seem to understand the monetary
system the best because their accomplishments are generated
strictly for the cash, yet they succumb to materialism often
because their lives would seem bleak without it. In fact, these
people do whatever they can to make a dollar, and rarely get
excited about their life because their days bring the same boring
routine day after day. Their accomplishments are driven by
monetary successes rather than to fulfil their passions or for the
compassion of other people. To me, it all seems backward.
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As I continued to view Calgary’s busy downtown civilization from
the perspective of an ant farmer raising an ant colony, I saw many
similarities; yet, I also saw many differences between the lives of
ants and our lives as humans. Where the ants worked together in
rhythm to the vibrations of life; working each day to prepare for
the harsh winters; despite the obstacles they face each day, the
ants work together in synergy to overcome anything that stands
in their way. Their primary goal is to create optimal happiness for
their entire society; whereas, the human culture seems to work
against each other in a variety of ways. Their focus has become
greedy and their spirituality has become weakened. The ants
create an environment that’s empowering, forging compassion
everywhere they go; whereas, the humans continue to compete
with each other for their successes. This, in my opinion, creates a
much harsher climate to generate happiness.
In the pyramid of life; the people at the top or the masters of their
slavery are the only ones benefiting from their unhappiness. It
seems like the last thing on their mind is helping another person
succeed. I see ant-like people with an abundance of great
qualities; however, they're failing the most important laws in life;
to find their happiness and to be compassionate towards others.
Their careers seem much more important than maintaining
healthy relationships and their perspectives of happy lives reside
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in the commercials they see on their television sets rather than
seeing their children grow and succeed. On top of all of this, they
seem to only get excited about life on holidays and weekends, yet
barely any of them truly find happiness because they don't know
what it looks like or what it feels like; other than the illusion they
see through their friends, co-workers and their neighbor's eyes.
Most become addicted to materialism and having nice things,
mostly due to competition with other people; meanwhile, they’re
taxed to the nines and unable to leave anything to their children
because of the high price they pay for a decent lifestyle. They
rarely have fulfilling relationships because their time is mostly
spent towards their grueling jobs. They compete with each other
for higher rankings within their companies without realizing that
their career advancements only creates more responsibilities that
are even more taxing on their bodies and relationships. For these
people, life becomes a competition; they compete with their
friends for better jobs, better lifestyles and more luxuries, when,
in reality, the only people that benefit are their masters. It then
rubs off on their children, and they too will follow their footsteps
and enter the world of slavery. Despite their business
accomplishments; how much money they make, or how many
luxuries they gain in the process, they're all destined for the same
place in the end; six feet under the sod.
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As I sit and ponder these ideas, I realize that it’s no different for
any other citizen in our society, including myself. We're all trying
to gain things; better gadgets, bigger homes, better jobs, and we
all wish to bring better people into our lives. The truth is; we’re all
slaves of the environment; however, we're slaves of different
things for different reasons.
As I was enjoying a blissful afternoon in my backyard, a random
turn wheel of thoughts projected in my mind. Various random
images were rapidly being shown to me. It sorted through many
of my accomplishments. Some showed my most recent
achievements, while others were more distant, even as far back
as my early teenage years. As they rapidly displayed, I began to
realize how much I had grown as a person, as a friend, as a
brother and as a husband over the years. At that moment, I
frantically got up from my seat and ran inside my house.As I
entered, I leaped to the living room searching for the laptop. I
wanted to write my thoughts because I knew they were crucial for
my next book, the one you're holding. After locating it, I went
outside, sat in my favorite chair and began writing them down. I
labelled it The Final Chapter.
Distant happy memories of my childhood, mixed with my most
recent accomplishments surfaced within my mind. As I wrote each
experience down, my mind remembered specific emotions
The Final Chapter
7
relating to each experience.I didn't think too much about each
emotion. As each thought came, I just simply wrote them down,
although, soon my fingers could barely keep up with my energized
mind. After writing a few short stories, In order to keep up, I
started jotting them down in point form bullets to be reviewed at
a later date. Shortly into my writing session, an image of my very
first public speech projected.This experience struck me with more
meaning. It was an experience that made me feel passionate. It
actually started a roller coaster of feelings through my body. I
took the time to describe it with the perfect words. Here's the
story:
I'm thirteen years old and I'm standing in front of my 4-H team in
high school. Anxiety surfaces my body as I deliver the words to my
first public speech. As I wrote the experience, my mind fast
forwarded to the conclusion of the presentation.The audience
was rising to their feet for a standing ovation. At that moment, a
huge wave of courageous feelings overwhelmed me, similar to
what I remember of the actual experience. I realized it was the
first true accomplishment that I had ever achieved in my entire
life and it felt great. It was the first time I had achieved something
that truly made me feel worthy as an individual. In looking back, I
realize that I didn’t do it for the money or the fame, or even to
over-achieve another person. It was merely achieved for my
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passion to get my message out to my listeners and to inspire them
in a way they hadn’t experienced before. At that moment, my
mind transferred thoughts. In fact, my mind shifted thoughts
quite frequently. It continued displaying various images of my
past accomplishments. I could barely keep up with the
randomness. It was all quite confusing, but so satisfying at the
same time.
These thoughts allowed me to realize how far I’ve come as an
individual, especially during the past few years since writing The
First Chapter.Reliving the aggression, anger and anxiety in my
mind made me appreciate life a whole lot more. I had become
enlightened during the process and it made me grateful for my
past experiences. During that time I understood life a lot clearer.
The entire process allowed me to look at life from a completely
new perspective. In fact, I was able to see life through the eyes of
the religious, the scientific and the skeptics’ and choose my own
beliefs. After shifting my own beliefs and values,I was able to live
the lifestyle that I wanted. I eliminated the judgements that I
previously held towards others, and I mustered up compassion for
those that didn't even exist in my previous view of life. I
generated feelings and emotions for things that I didn't care
about before and I also eliminated any remaining hatred and
remorse towards any other living being. In fact, there isn’t one
The Final Chapter
9
person on the face of this planet that I host negative feelings
towards. That thought in itself is enlightening.
The turn wheel of thoughts dramatized the transformation of my
own body. It generated a rapid display of assorted experiences
from my life as early as I can remember and up until today’s date.
I wish to share with you want I've learned so you too can relieve
the negativity within you, which will instantly allow you to create
the ideal lifestyle full of abundant pleasures and happiness. I hope
that my views on life will help you understand your own lifestyle
from a healthier perspective. In addition, I hope it will help you
relieve any hatred, remorse, regret, jealousy, or any other
negative emotions that you've latched onto throughout your life.
Within this book, I will combine the powerful messages described
in my last three books of this series, and I will tie each message
with what I’ve learned since writing them.
The Final Chapterisfull of practical life knowledge that is pertinent
to creating happiness in abundance within all the major areas of
our lives – spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally. The
Final Chapter is the answer to all of the questions you have been
asking yourself about life.
As described in The First Chapter, I went through an incredible
life-changing experience that the term “rollercoaster” cannot
even justify the way I felt. Even though, at times, it was one of the
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10
most dreadful, powerless and emotional struggles I've ever gone
through; it was an eye-opening experience that left me feeling
pure, grateful, youthful, courageous and every other positive
emotion one can witness. It was a struggle that made me open my
eyes to reality. It demanded me to want more out of my own life
while purchasing less. I learned to look for the true joys of life;
family, friends and living life with passion and I released my
aggressive need for fame and materialism. The experience
allowed me to wake up and understand the importance of my
own existence, and I wish to share with you the valuable lessons
that I learned during the process.
Writing The First Chapter allowed me to move forward in a
positive direction with positive goals, values and beliefs. It
brought confidence and made me believe in myself again after
being defeated by a divorce and early life crisis. The Next Chapter
sparked shortly after. The lessons of this book taught me how to
find my happiness and gave me a direction to find it. While
jobless, without a dollar to my name and no savings in my bank
account, I looked at life through an entirely new perspective,
which allowed me to understand life a lot clearer. Within a short
period of time, I grew my business from zero to self-sustaining, I
built a solid group of great friends and I created positive values
and beliefs that have, since then, helped me create happiness in
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all areas of my life. I have also transformed a great friendship into
a powerful marriage, and I became enlightened in the process.
The Chapter of Enlightenment followed shortly after. It describes
the power of spirituality and delves into the illusion of happiness
through materialism. The Final Chapter ties in all the important
messages of each book, while generating the final message
needed for true enlightenment. It's the perfect blend of spiritual
and mental life knowledge that will help you end your own
slavery.
Within these pages, I wish to share with you my observations of
living a happy life. I've spent over thirteen years researching
people; their thoughts, emotions, and I've studied their actions
and motives. My research has led me to form an understanding of
the most common questions we ask ourselves; why was I given
life, and what am I supposed to do with it? Within these pages, I
wish to help you find your passions, and I wish to help you locate
the things that trigger happiness in your life. I am excited to bring
you on another journey through yet another chapter of life. Get
ready; it's going to be a roller coaster filled with emotions you
never knew you had. By the time you're done reading, you'll be
able to differentiate the common things that deprive us of true
happiness, which will allow you to eliminate the negativity within
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your own life and enable you to move towards a happier lifestyle.
The only slave you'll be in life is a slave to your own happiness.
My goal is to help you step outside the box in your life. It’s to
encourage alternate choices; possibly something that you never
even thought of before. It’s to help inspire you to create your own
way in life, rather than following where the crowd is going. It’s to
help you establish your beliefs and values, and it’s to help you
move towards a life that’s worth living. Its also geared to help you
find your passion and develop a game plan within your life. I also
wish to teach you how to generate the emotional stability to
make it all come true.Everything that you ever wanted to know
about life is all within these pages.
KG Productions – Calgary Alberta, Canada – 2013
www.kerrygirling.com
I smelled the aroma of fresh air as it passed. I took a deep breath
and absorbed as much of it as I could. For a brief moment, I
appreciated its satisfying purpose – to sustain our lives. Without
it, we wouldn't even experience life for a day or even a few hours.
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It seems like these days it’s the small things in life that I've
become grateful for.Moments later, I got distracted by a text
message from a friend of mine. After responding to his message, I
started scrolling through the news feed of my favorite social
media platform. Again, my mind was wandering different
directions. Within the various YouTube posts were pictures and
quotes mostly pertaining to peace. They all seemed to surround
the theme of war in Syria, explaining how the United States was
ready to invade their people.
It was only a few days ago that USA's government stated their
plans on creating further war in Syria due to their government’s
chemical warfare threats. To be honest; it was the recent
facebook posts that taught me most of what I know about
government politics. I was surprised about how little I knew about
it considering I had a full graduate certificate. Some of the posts
that I scrolled through depicted military action in the Middle East
which looked like a bunch of ants being bombed by their own
government; their own master. It was a shame knowing war,
bullying, terrorism and hate crimes were still a huge part of our
environment.
The negative images relating to the war in Syria seemed to bring
fear to the minds of my friends on FaceBook. In fact, their
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comments showed it. I have to be honest; reading their posts
actually brought a little anxiety to my own mind, but I didn’t allow
it to defeat my happy mindset.
Moments later, I came across a post that brought peace to my
mind. It stated; Calgary is the world’s fifth best city to live in. I was
enlightened to hear that the city I live in had such virtue. Instantly,
it changed my thoughts altogether. It went on to say that Calgary
is also one of the best cities to raise a family and one of the safest
of its kind. This immediately trumped the negative war posts that
I read earlier. Amongst the seven billion people on this planet, I
felt blessed to live in such a great place in the world. After flipping
through more random posts, I turned my cellular telephone off
because I didn't need the distraction. I placed it on the tabletop so
I could continue writing.
I sat for a few moments and all I could think of was the war in
Syria. For some reason, I too had succumbed to the negativity that
our media feeds us each day just like the rest. I actually forgot
most of what I learned in high school pertaining to Government
politics, mostly due to my lack of interest. Looking back, I had
grown and seen our leaders of the government continuously
falling short with their promises, only to realize that the entire
government was corrupt in some way. In fact, they continuously
raised taxes and made the price of living too high for average
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people to generate, which then led to defeated families and
dreams. We saw it recently with the fall of Detroit. In addition,
they glamorize the military, making them look powerful and
protective of their society, when, in actuality, they only create war
as leverage for their greed of money, not for the safety of their
own citizens. It never made sense to me. My thoughts of war
remained in my mind and it bothered me.
I wanted to eliminate my negative thoughts of war altogether, but
no matter what images I tried to replace them with, thoughts of
millions of citizens creating a war against each other made me
quite angry, all because of a few differentiating beliefs. In fact, it
was disappointing and shameful to watch a bunch of grown adults
fighting against their own people, all for the power to generate
more money for materialism. Unfortunately, this way of thinking
makes the entire system sound corrupt.
I used to have courage for the men that fought in a war. The
media always portrayed them as heroes and citizens with a lot of
pride for their countries; whereas, it’s actually quite the opposite.
After learning the politics behind war; the greed of money, the
fight over our earth’s most powerful resources, and also realizing
how many innocent people’s lives were affected by it, I started
generating rather negative feelings towards the situation
altogether. Now, I have a different perspective of our leaders; the
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ones that make the demands of war but don't show their faces,
the ones that are benefiting from murdering their own people and
the ones at the top of the pyramid; our masters.
My thoughts continued into a downward spiral of defeating
feelings and emotions. I thought of the post I saw recently about
Calgary being one of the top five places to live. For a moment, it
brought relief, knowing that I was in one of the safest places in
the universe; however, I soon pieced the two realities together. I
realized that the main reason why we're thriving as a community
in Calgary is only due to the fact that we're one of the largest
producers of oil in the world; the most powerful resource on the
planet. It reminded me of a similar post that I read a few weeks
ago that described "the fall of Detroit," which was once a thriving
community, much like Calgary during the initial years of the
automobile production era, until their commodity was no longer
needed and was produced elsewhere. In the end, the industry left
their community behind which soon led to their bankruptcy and
overall defeat. I then realized that this too could happen to
Calgary without the demand for oil. The truth is; we would just be
another regular community, far from being one of the best places
to live without the demand for it. In fact, if oil wasn’t such a hot
commodity and if the industry happened to collapse overnight,
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much like the automobile industry did in Detroit; our city too
would face bankruptcy and defeat. These thoughts reminded me
of the war in Syria and how it was being fought over oil. It was a
sad thought, so I forced the negative images out of my head
altogether.
As I learn to understand life a lot clearer, I realize that political
wars have also been brought into our own communities and
families. Separation and divorce are becoming household names
in most of our dwellings. In fact, many of the television shows that
we watch dramatize the harsh reality of the depletion of our
society. Our values have dropped an all-time low and our beliefs
are becoming a faded illusion. On top of all of this; the economic
crash has forced us to live in fear and horde our wealth, yet it
dramatizes the necessity for nice things through materialism. It
trails behind a very negative message. In the end, both parties
that are involved in these wars; no matter how big or small they
are, each of them is destroyed and defeated. Anyone can find
something positive to say about war and its importance, however,
this truth can be said about any negative event in our lives,
including death, drug abuse and divorce. The reality is; neither is
needed in our society to create peace and tranquility.
I look at war the same way that I look at gun control in the USA;
what the hell are they doing? And the government wonders why
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school shootings, hate crimes and abuse, in general, are at an all-
time high. These destructions are simply brought on by our
masters each step of the way. It’s all in the illusion of society. This
brings a whole new meaning to the terms“Lead by example.” Its
despicable leadership in my eyes and it only seems to be getting
far worse.
I’ve seen a dramatic change of course within our lives since I was
an early adolescent. My observations have served me lessons
which have taught me about other cultures, other people and
other religions. The city I live in happens to be the most culturally
diverse community in the world. One similarity between the
masses that I have found is greed. The greed for money far
surpasses the necessity for love in a relationship for average
everyday people. I’m talking about the type of greed that not only
tears apart families, but the type of greed that rips apart
countries, kills off its own people and will do whatever it can to
defeat anyone in its path; the type of greed that invades others
and brings war upon other people.I’ve noticed a significant
depletion within our morals over the years, and greed is the main
contributor. In reality; it’s really a sad sight.
This thought instantly sent a morbid image to my head. It was an
image of an ant farmer nuking his entire fleet of ants; killing them
off simply because he knew a better, more profitable way of
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putting his soil to use. It all seemed relevant to our modern
society.
My mind snapped back to reality; in a peaceful thoughtless
environment. I eliminated all forms of negativity and remained
seated in my backyard.As I looked around, I felt proud to live in a
nation that's built on friendly values; one that shies away from
war attacks. Heck, our military forces are minuscule compared to
some of the super-powered countries like the USA, China and
Russia; and we just happen to be as large of a nation as they are.
I found it interesting to see that people determine the strength
and power of a nation by the amount of military warfare they can
inflict upon other countries; whereas, all of the education I’ve
learned throughout my life have always taught me quite the
opposite lesson and values. Everywhere I looked, I saw war. It was
in the media each time a school shooting was present. It was in
the homophobic and abusive comments that I heard in the
hallways of schools I travelled to. It was in the in the statistics of
divorce and separation globally, especially in North America, and
now it’s on our television sets as they dramatize the world war in
Syria. It seemed like a backward society; one that led with
improper morals.
It may seem as though my perspectives of life are quite negative.
This accusation would be correct. Unfortunately, in order to
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maintain a healthy perspective of life, one must consider all of the
negative aspects and find positive reinforcements. My views
aren’t directly accusing one single person or religion, nor are they
directly focused on any specific culture, government or
community. As I’ve grown, travelled and become a working
citizen, I too have succumbed to my own slavery within my
environment, yet I’ve always tried to find the positive aspects of
each negative experience. It's the negative things in life that teach
us the lessons we need to learn to enable us to move onto the
next chapter of our lives, but it’s the fun times that make it
worthwhile. Learning to replace all forms of negativity with
positive reinforcements should be our primary goal in life. When
you’re happy and living in a positive state of mind, your
relationships thrive and everything around you feels a lot better.
Living in a negative state can cause quite the stir of emotions,
similar to the ones that you felt as you read the last couple of
paragraphs. Eliminating the negativity in your life will help you
pursue the important things in your life; like creating a healthy
family and spending time with the ones you care about. If you’re
unable to find the positives in a negative situation, much like the
war in Syria, you might as well just eliminate the thoughts
altogether, as they will continuously weigh in on your mind and
slowly deplete the positive aspects of your life.
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As I sat there, I enjoyed the scenery around me. It reminded me of
a technique that I practise and abide by every day – to live in the
moment and enjoy my surroundings wherever I am. With that
thought, instantly, my mind turned its thought mechanism off and
was now completely clear. I breathed in deeply and gasped for a
solid gulp of fresh air. As soon as I released it, my body was free of
any negative emotions. I sat there with a clear mindset. It felt
refreshing and peaceful. I sat there for three minutes just living in
the moment and enjoying the environment around me. I watched
the passing birds, and I listened to the leaves on the trees sailing
with the wind. The sounds of nature allowed me to relax and
appreciate life for what it is – a privilege.
During my pursuit of enlightenment over the years, I made a pact
with myself to thoroughly enjoy each moment of every day. This
means that no matter what I'm doing in life; whether I'm working
at a job, studying a boring class, or playing with my nieces and
nephews, I must try to live in the moment at least once. This has
allowed me to locate the enjoyable components to each situation
and has made me more compassionate to others. It's made me
see the good qualities in other people and it has enabled me to
find enjoyment even in the simplest things that seem boring and
negative. It was through these meditations that allowed me to
honor that commitment. Doing this provided me the patience to
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enjoy each experience. It provided pride during times of adversity
and failure.Through time, I eliminated all of the negative aspects
of my life altogether. When I was able to make the commitment, I
was able to move forward in a positive direction with a solid
balance between my time at work and time spent with friends
and family. It filled me with inner acceptance and happiness. This
is a simple trick that you can do to help you find your own
happiness. The first lesson that I have to offer is this; learn to live
in the moment.
“Live in the moment for at least three minutes with
everything you do; from relationships to real life in the
business world, do this and you'll immediately start living
a more enjoyable life. It may even help you find your
passion.”
I glanced at my watch; it read 2:37. It felt like I had been sitting
here all day because of the drastic emotional changes my body
went through, yet I had barely been sitting there for an hour. My
body was now in the warmth of August's last day of heat. The sun
projected directly on me as I sat there waiting for the next
writable thought. I felt grateful realizing that my decisions over
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the past three years were in direct reflection to my current
happiness. I must say; since I wrote The First Chapter, I've become
fully satisfied and content in my life.
Since writing The First Chapter, I've not only eliminated the anger,
hostility and aggression that I hosted towards my previous
marriage and business failures, however, I've gained a new
perspective on life; a perspective that's filled only with happiness
and success. In doing so, I've created an outer shell that expels
negativity and guards the happiness that I have formed. This has
allowed me to create a solid foundation of values and beliefs and
has made me see positives in every negative situation.
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The law of attraction
When I was younger I had an idea that my thoughts were
powerful; however, as a thirty-two-year-old adult, I realize the
magnitude of that statement can be multiplied by fifty. It’s true;
your thoughts do equal the future. What you think about today
will ultimately happen for you in the future. If you’re consistently
focusing on negative nasty thoughts throughout the day, that’s
what your evening will consist of – negative nastiness. It’s just the
way the environment works.
Everything created in our society was initially a thought. Whether
it’s the city you live in, the computer that you type on, the
sweater that you’re wearing, the car that you drive, or the house
that you live in; every man-made creation first started as a
thought. This also applies to the negative things that we’ve
created; war, hate crimes, terrorism, abuse or any other negative
act that one commits; it all started as a thought initially. On your
journey through life, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons
with your thoughts. The negativity may trigger negative actions.
Your thoughts are more powerful than you realize.
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“Be careful for what you think about; it may just come
true one day.”
~Unknown
We’ve witnessed it with our own eyes many times; we’ve seen so
many of our role models succeed throughout the years with a goal
they had in mind. Even though their accomplishments may have
seemed miraculous at first, it was merely achieved by the
thoughts the person had prior to the day of their
accomplishments, and how confident they were along the way. It
also has a lot to do with how much passion they had towards their
goal, and how connected they were to the environment around
them, but it all started as a thought.
When you use the power of your thoughts in synergy with the
force of your confidence, the environment around you will react
efficiently, helping you achieve your desires in life.You can create
extraordinary results in your own life if you use your thoughts and
confidence efficiently and ask for what you want.
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“If you don’t ask for what you want in life, you won’t
receive anything. Use the power of your thoughts to
generate what you’re looking for; freedom, happiness,
success …”
Your daily thoughts equal your future reality. This means; what
you think about today will become a reality tomorrow, or in the
distant future. I realize that my own mental transformation
happened because my actions were in direct line with the
thoughts that I projected. In other words; I received what I
thought about. I wanted positive change and that’s what I
received. The same laws apply to everyone else in society; what
you think about will ultimately come true for you whether it’s
positive or negative in nature.
Even though, there isn't a mathematical equation answering the
common question; how long until your dreams become a reality?
There are some key components that are needed to succeed.
Remember, everything first starts with a single thought.
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Keys components of success
There are a variety of characteristics that are pertinent to
generate success. Once the initial thought of success is rendered, I
believe, in order for it to be successful, the remainder is
determined by the amount of belief one has towards the desire,
mixed with the amount of motivation and confidence that’s
developed in the process. These, along with many other
important success driving characteristics are explained in The
Next Chapter in depth. I suggest the read for a full detailed
description.
There are many factors that determine the length of time it takes
for your dreams to become a reality. For example: one may need
to account for the negative karma one may adhere along the way.
Many believers, especially in the Buddhist culture believe that
Karma is directly related to one's actions. In short form; if one
does positive things, he will receive positive results and Karma in
the future; whereas, it's the opposite in effect if one does
negative things upon society. Keeping this into account, we need
to do positive things for our society before we can gain success.
This can directly reflect the amount of compassion you host
towards others. Doing something good for someone else in your
community will instantly bump your goals up to the front line. The
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more compassionate you are towards other people will determine
how much positive Karma you’ll receive. The amount of positive
Karma will justify how quick you’ll achieve something worthwhile.
I've learned this through experience.
The simple act of compassion is something that each of us can
gain to help generate success and a more enjoyable environment
to live in. In many overlooked ways, we're all connected to each
other. We all struggle with similar obstacles and we all we all
suffer in similar ways. Even though our lives may seem drastically
different, we all shed the same emotions and wish for the same
goals in life– to find happiness and to eliminate suffering. By being
compassionate to others in any way, you will overachieve the
ones that continue to create a war against the rest.
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“The simple act of compassion is something that each of
us can gain to help generate success and a more
enjoyable environment to live in.”
Kerry Girling
30
Materialism; the leader of your slavery
As my mind was drawn back into reality, I heard sounds of a lawn
mower coming from a neighbour’s yard. It reminded me again of
my career as a lawn boy. My emotions showed signs of unease as
I remembered all of the hours that I put into my career as a
professional in the industry.As my mind started calculating the
math behind the rudimentary equation of how much time I had
essentially wasted on making a dollar to get by in life, it sparked a
variety of emotions and further thoughts about the subject. In
fact, I started remembering all the various jobs I've worked at in
my life. As I added them in my head, it soon brought me to the
realization that I've worked twenty-two different jobs in twelve
different industries, and that's not including my number one
passion as a youth motivator. I was amazed at that number, and
couldn`t believe how many different roles I went through until I
was able to find my true happiness.
As I thought about all of the different roles I worked as an
employee, I realized that it was only my speaking career that
made me truly happy. In fact, most of the jobs I worked were
merely to pay the high cost of living. My efforts were generated
only for the money; whereas, my speaking career was achieved
strictly for the passion of being a positive role model and for the
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compassion of other people.With that thought, I realized; we as
slaves need to change our perspectives on the way we see money
and its importance. Most of us see it as a tool to gain materialism.
It’s actually one of the most common addictions globally. It leads
our beliefs in so many ways. We need to eliminate the aggressive
necessity for it in order to eliminate our slavery.
Materialism is a great word to describe how we become slaves of
the environment. Not only are we working our day jobs to
maintain the rising cost of living, we're also in a silent competition
between everyone else to achieve more of it. We work our asses
off to have bigger homes than our friends, and we starve
ourselves from happiness to purchase more goods than our
neighbors. In fact, we've even started competitions between our
own siblings. Our attachments to money and the role it plays in
our lives is a direct reflection of how much we succumb to
materialism. This stems from our early influences who taught us
our initial beliefs about money. You can curve your beliefs against
what you've already learned in the past and use it as leverage to
free yourself from being a slave to materialism.
The lawn mower was humming in my ear. Even though I generally
enjoy the sounds of a lonely mower on a sunny day, it distracted
me from my thoughts. I immediately shook my head from the
daze my mind was in and directed my attention to the outside
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world. The hum of the mower far surpassed any other noise. At
that moment, I challenged myself to find the mysterious outside
noises aside from the mower itself. At first, it seemed like an
impossible mission. The only thing I could hear was the loud
humming lawn mower, however, as I cleared the mechanism
inside my mind and eliminated the sounds of the mower, other
outside noises became present, like the sounds of the garbage
truck that emptied the neighbors garbage, or the sounds of the
passing jet overhead that was established immediately, or even
the sound of the UPS man hammering on the door two doors
down. I was amazed at how many different sounds were present
around me; all of which weren’t even a part of my reality
previously.
The same technique applies to anything in life. If you look for
something specific, you will find it, however, if you don't look for
anything, you'll only experience the same bland experiences that
your mind is trained to look for. Step outside the box and learn to
see life from a new perspective. You'll be amazed what type of
lifestyle you can form when you open your lens to life.Your mind
can be trained to filter out the things that aren’t important; like
the fight for materialism.
Each of us looks at life from an entirely different perspective. We
all see life through different lenses. It doesn't really matter how
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you say it; each of us is geared, wired and programmed to see the
environment differently. Generally, it’s our parents, friends,
family members and closest influences that shape our perceptive
lenses through life, however, whether we learned from them or
shaped our perspectives ourselves, we see life and everything
within it differently than anyone you know. The intriguing part is
that our perspectives are constantly changing with each step we
take in life. It's our experiences that shape our reality.
I was once again reminded of the last thirteen years of efforts that
I had put into the workforce. For thirteen years I starved myself
from happiness merely to pursue my own enslavement. This was
a powerful thought altogether. The years of employment robbed
me of my time that would've been spent with people that are
most important to me. It's these speculations that allowed me to
understand the nature of employment and the necessity for it in
our culture. Although I am grateful that I live in a prosperous
environment that allows various choices within the working
community; I see everyday people working at jobs they hate every
day, and I was one of them for thirteen years.
Unfortunately, our jobs, our employment and our working roles
stand in the way of fulfilling our true passions in life. Similar to the
technique I discussed earlier of eliminating the sound of the
lawnmower, the roles we play in life stand in our way and act as
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34
barriers between the important things in our lives, like spending
time with our children and loved ones. When you open your mind
to alternatives, they will soon present themselves. Learn to
eliminate the necessity of materialism and you’ll reap the true
fruits of life.
“Nobody wants to remember you as a person that spent
his time in the office. They want to remember you as the
person that spent time assisting their growth and
happiness.”
When the monetary system was introduced, the illusion of money
was created; the power it holds. Basically, it was the only way for
the people at the top of the pyramid (our masters) to get us to
work for them. Then they used other tactics like materialism to
generate the obsession for it, thus making their people more
proactive. It’s actually quite an interesting society. In my opinion,
money is an obsession that far too many people strive for with the
wrong intentions. Millions of human-like ants run their race for
fifty plus years, playing a game; a competition with others, in
pursuit of greater assets, larger buildings and more luxuries. This
all sounds like a game of monopoly; something I played as a child
The Final Chapter
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many times. As I perceive life through the eyes of an opponent in
the game of monopoly, I begin to realize that it’s all about the
person with most wealth.In this game, there are absolutely no
emotions, children, marriages or vacations in the realm, which
makes it a very lonely place. Taking this all into account, it’s easy
to say that nobody truly wants to live in that type of environment.
In reality, although money is important to generate a lifestyle, the
only thing that it actually generates is greed.
How valuable is money to you? How far will you go to grasp it?
How much time away from your family is acceptable for you to
earn it? These are all great questions to ask yourself while you're
in your pursuit of happiness. Sometimes we get caught in the
illusion of money; its value and what it does for us, and we lose
focus on the important things; like relationships and raising our
children. We forget the joys that come from seeing a smile on our
children’s faces.We forget to realize that happiness resides in the
time that we spend with our loved ones. It's these things that
create the true wealth in our lives.
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“The person that has the most wealth is not the one that
has the most assets, the biggest home or the most
luxuries; the wealthiest is the one that generates the
most compassion for other people, and the one that
helps create the most happiness for other people.”
Money doesn't offer lasting happiness. I can guarantee you this.
No millionaire has ever said that money is the root of their
happiness. If they have said this; they’ve forgotten about the
pleasures one receives when their children are born, or when
their son or daughter accomplishes something of value, perhaps
when their best friend asks them to be the best man or maid of
honor of their wedding. These are all great and simple pleasures
that far exceed what money can offer. In the end, although
money is important to live a fruitful lifestyle, we all have the
needs for friendships and non-materialistic happiness; something
that a typical game of monopoly cannot offer. Viewing life beyond
the eyes of a businessman is best suited for those that want
lasting happiness.
I've seen many of my own friends and family members; even
myself succumbing to materialism throughout the years,
however, when I finally understood the entire system behind my
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37
slavery, I saw the answers that I was looking for. Shortly after, I
was able to finally eliminate my own slavery once and for all. I
knew that I was only working for my master’s increased wealth,
rather than that of my own. Previously, all of my earnings were
being put into materialism and taxes. As I mentioned in The
Chapter of Enlightenment; materialism is only important to keep
the economy flowing. Our eyes see the illusion of happiness
through it, yet, it robs us every time of our innocence. It also
makes us greedier in the process. With more stores, more
materialistic stuff, more commercials and more ideas for useless
stuff, we'll continue to feed the economy and generate further
slavery for ourselves. It’s time to wake up, literally smell the roses
and take a walk, a distant walk away from your previous lifestyle
of consumerism. It’s time to tune your perspective on what truly
makes you happy. I guarantee the process will lead you to a
magnificent place. Materialism not only robs you of your
happiness, it does the opposite, pushes you off track and makes
you feel broken without it when you’re perfectly fine just the way
you are.
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38
“Only those that are greedy will allow money to lead
them to a destructive place. Unfortunately, this
statement rings true for most of the world’s population.”
Materialism not only makes us slave our hard-working efforts
even harder, it decreases the amount of time we can spend with
our families. In fact, seeing life through the eyes of a slave of the
environment made me want less of the materialistic stuff and a
lot more freedom to be with the ones I love. Eliminating the
shackles that forced me to work forty to sixty hours a week at a
job I grew to hate was enlightening. I realized that we generate
happiness through giving our time to the ones we love, not by
knowing how much we can spend at the store. Without fun family
experiences and time spent with our friends, we feel deprived of
happiness in many areas. When these components are fulfilled, it
makes us the best we can be, which allows us to treat others with
more respect and compassion. Compassion happens to be the
most important fundamental in the process of life. It’s the root of
all happiness, successes and greatness. Create more of it and
you’ll receive everything you’re looking for, guaranteed!
I was reminded of all of the different jobs, roles and commitments
I got myself into over the years. AlthoughI can surely tell you that
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there were many great lessons I learned in the process, I merely
lost myself, my friends and values in the process.Money became
the most important part of my life at one point. When this
happened, my passion and marriage faded. Unfortunately, money
can lead people to very destructive places. Fortunately, there’s an
answer to your happiness and it doesn’t include consumerism; it
resides within your own mind, and with the friends and family
members you’ve gained.
I felt a cool breeze of fresh air that woke me and sent chills down
my spine. I immediately got up from my seat and walked inside.
As I entered the house, I realized that I was hungry, so I fled for
the refrigerator. As I opened the refrigerator doors, I was looking
to find something quick to eat so I could get back to my writing.
As I glanced inside, I noticed three nicely stacked plastic
containers. I immediately grabbed them and read the small note
that was placed on top, "For my husband. I love you!" it said.
Instantly, happy feelings overwhelmed my body. I realized how
happy I truly was in life. The note made me realize how great of a
wife and best friend I married. It reminded me of the fun and
happy times we had spent in our short three-year relationship. It
also made me grateful for finding her and being a big part of her
life. As I basked in the glory of being in a near perfect relationship
with my recently wedded wife, Melanie, further thoughts of my
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40
not so distant past flashed in front of my eyes. It reminded me of
my previous marriage that lasted only a few weeks, a few years
ago, which was immediately followed by a divorce. That thought
instantly shook my balanced feeling of enlightenment.
As I look back, I realize that it had taken me over three years to
gain back my confidence after the divorce. At that point, even my
passions didn't seem interesting anymore. There was nothing that
satisfied me. In fact, I succumbed to materialism the most during
those days. I purchased as much as I possibly could, but no matter
how many times I swiped my debit card, the feelings of worthless
came to me over and over again. The process of writing my
thoughts in The First Chaptertrulyrelieved the tension that
weighed me down. I had gone from a shattered soul and depleted
mindset to a powerful living being, and I gained an entirely new
mindset in the process. It was an incredible experience that made
me grateful for the relationship that I’m currently in. The next
thought that ran through my mind allowed, even more, feelings of
gratefulness to enter my mind. I realised that if I hadn't have gone
through the negativity altogether, I wouldn't be the person I am
today. That thought brought a smile to my face.
The refrigerator started beeping loudly. It reminded me to eat, so
I grabbed the three Tupperware containers and started making
lunch. One was filled with greens for a salad. The other two
The Final Chapter
41
contained fruit, vegetables and a small snack. As I prepared my
quick lunch, I generated thoughts of pride, knowing I landed the
greatest friend in the process – Melanie.
While I ate my gourmet dinner, I realized how much healthier my
diet had become since my divorce. For about two years, my food
came in packaged wrappers, was filled with GMO products that
were high in sugar and usually came from fast-food chains, which
virtually made me sick each day. I didn’t care back then. It was
simple, tasted good and most times I wouldn’t even have to leave
my car to eat. At that moment, I poured a glass of water and
cheered myself to the healthy lifestyle choice that I had made.
After I ate my lunch I went back outside to finish the project. I felt
enlightened and replenished to continue writing.
As I sat outside, again, in my nine dollar armchair in the backyard,
an assortment of thoughts roamed my mind. I felt relieved having
such an incredible amount of free time which enabled me to get
this project completed. I felt satisfied writing the works to the last
book in the series; the one you're holding now. The First Chapter
allowed me to eliminate the hardship I had gone through in my
life; meanwhile, The Next Chapter enabled me to build upon
healthy values and created order and priorities in my world. The
Chapter of Enlightenment forged my spiritual values together
with my futuristic goals. It also enabled me to understand how to
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take the next steps in my life and how to eliminate the necessity
for materialism. It also taught me how to live in the moment.
Now, as I write the final steps to living a balanced and truly happy
lifestyle, it feels perfect fitting the final piece to the puzzle.
As I sat there, I pondered thoughts of a truly satisfying,
wholesome and perfect life; or at least what I can imagine what it
looks like from my own perspective. That thought instantly
generated feelings of compassion towards the life that I created
for myself over the past three years. It made me appreciate the
simplicity of it, yet it made me embrace feelings of joy knowing
that it was accomplished in my thirties and not prolonged till after
retirement, which is usually the case with most people. It felt
great having a clear direction of my life finally. Having concise
personal goals made me feel confident in myself, and it allowed
me to take my life less seriously, enjoy the small things more and
increase the spontaneity within it.
Unfortunately, this doesn't tell the same tale of every other
person's life on earth. The reality is; we all have different values,
differentiating priorities and completely different views of what
the perfect life entails. The perfect life is completely different for
everyone. In fact, happiness is different for me than it is for you or
any other living being on this planet. Our different perspective of
society tells a completely different story of what creates genuine
The Final Chapter
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happiness for you compared to another. For example: some
people live to work and their values surround the essence of
making money to generate materialism; so, doing anything to
fulfill their values of generating wealth will be their top priority.
These people will do almost anything to achieve their financial
goals. Building strong relationships or spending time with family
and friends is limited; whereas, for someone that is a passion
seeker; someone that thrives to accomplish goals for the mere
desire of achievement; they will also find the time to build strong
relationships with others because their perspectivesaren't limited
only to consumerism. They don't succumb to materialism because
their goals are aligned completely different than the person that
only has goals of generating an immense amount of financial
wealth. Finding a balance between all of our priorities is the key
to creating the perfect lifestyle.
Writing this series of motivational books has not only allowed me
to help those in need of a more fulfilling lifestyle; it's helped me in
immense ways that words cannot explain. Being able to see
changes within a friend or someone you care about is a wonderful
thing, however, seeing a positive change within yourself is even
more satisfying. Writing these books allowed me to generate the
confidence within myself to move forward in a positive direction.
It relieved me of any dissatisfaction with my life. It has enabled
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me to see the world as it is from an entirely new and enriched
perspective. It allowed me to learn the basics of creating happier
experiences in life. It made me become a better person inside,
and it made me realize the true importance of a fulfilling lifestyle–
one that breeds compassion for others and one that harnesses
happy relationships.
Becoming a better person has allowed me to become a better
friend, a better husband, son, brother and uncle. It has enabled
me to form values that are in line with my beliefs, and it made me
aware of my own characteristics. It allowed me to feel free and
confident with who I am and what I have become. It has enabled
me to realize the important things in life; the things that make
happiness run through my veins each day. It has made me grateful
for the people that I have brought into my life and all the small
things that further my happiness. I am confident that it will do the
same for you if you follow the techniques provided. My goal is to
help enrich your life with the necessities that build your ideal
happiness.
Each of us has the opportunity to truly enjoy our lives to the
fullest. Very few of us, however, actually get to experience the
joys that stare at us each day. Most of us are tangled up in the
everyday reality of "earning a living" and gathering as much
materialistic garbage as we can, without realizing the importance
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of our awakening on earth. These people continuously fail to see
the happiness that resides in the simplest things in their lives. It
resides in their conversations they have with their friends and in
the meetings they host with their families. These people will
eventually come to realize that their time has merely been
wasted. Their friendships have been neglected because of their
commitment to consumerism, yet they never seem to learn
themselves in the process because of their drastically changing
materialistic lifestyles. The trends of the media seem to reflect
their values. In the process, they lose their vision of what makes
them truly happy. They're ungrateful for the things they already
have; yet, their tainted perspective of the world makes them
starve more of what makes them so unhappy – materialism.
To most, happiness is an illusion that's hidden behind the laws of
consumerism. Unfortunately, our materialistic needs become
overwhelmed with more wants and necessities. The heightened
emotional high that a person gets upon swiping their credit card
fades only minutes after each purchase. Some become entirely
consumed by materialism that it becomes an addiction. Their
tainted vision of a happy life has diluted their values and drained
their imagination. It has weakened their passion for a life filled
with love and compassion. It has also made them very greedy for
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needless things and useless stuff. The illusion of happiness
consumes them and becomes their imagination.
The very first story I wrote in The First Chapter was about my
older brother and his obsession with materialism. It also
expressed his talents as a salesman and how he could always find
a way to take my money somehow, simply by selling me useless
things that I didn’t need. In fact, the majority of the stuff that he
pawned upon me were usually things that he had purchased and
already and became bored of. He was always quick to become
dissatisfied with his life. His dissatisfaction usually came when he
didn't have the latest version of the newest technology. I never
understood his addiction to materialism until recently. I think it
stemmed from my mother’s similar obsession with consumer
products. It seemed like they were only satisfied with their lives
when they had the latest gadgets. It was money that widened
their eyes and made them tick; however, the illusion of
consumerism tainted their perspective of happiness so drastically
that it got far worse throughout the years and well into
adulthood.
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“It takes a single thought to start the process to finding
true happiness. With persistence and determination,
you’ll gain life wisdom, spiritual growth and happiness in
abundance. Each of us has the ability to make this
happen.”
Looking at life from the perspective of an ant farmer with his
enormous ant hill, filled with eager ants that are raised to produce
better results; I realize that their life happens to be no different
than the people we see each day – you, me and everyone in our
society. Our brains have been literally brainwashed each day for
the past x amount of years through media and government
politics. They’ve tainted our perspectives and have driven us
further from true happiness. Looking at life from the ant’s
perspective; they have the same ability to create happiness as we
do. It just takes the willpower to change the direction of their
course. This theory pertains to everything in life. Whether you
want more freedom, more confidence, more respect, or more of
anything; changing the course of your current path in life will lead
to tremendous results. It only takes the first step.
There's no need to succumb to a materialistic lifestyle. The
tainted illusion of a better lifestyle purchased through
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materialistic items only guarantees a future of emptiness. True
happiness only resides in the experiences we live and within the
relationships that we fulfill. Even though materialism is a part of
most of our experiences in life, they aren't a necessity to living a
successful, joyous and prosperous life.
Each of us has different desires, although, in reality, they're all
quite the same in the spectrum of general consumerism. We all
want the same things; to find happiness and to eliminate suffering
as we know it. Materialism doesn't offer lasting happiness, nor
does it allow us to be free from suffering. Whether it's a nice boat,
a luxurious home, a shiny ring or the next version of the iPhone,
it’s all generated for the same purpose – to keep the economy
thriving. Through television and radio commercials, print
materials, billboards, advertisements and many other media
outlets, an illusion of happiness is created. This couldn’t be
further from reality.
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Law and order
At the core of each town and city lies a governing body of laws.
These laws are created to keep order in our communities. Within
their structure also lies a map of the society and what they (our
masters) feel is adequate for a "happy life." Their "rule book"
accents some of the benefits of being a slave; like getting the
occasional statutory holiday, and the enormous amount of wealth
they promise us through our pensions and tax contribution plans.
In fact, it seems quite intriguing knowing that I'd get a day off
here and there, especially if I'm spending over half of my life
working at a job that I despise. This law book also contains a
detailed description of a favorable lifestyle; one that they feel we
should all appeal to. The sad part about these laws is that beneath
their so-called, "good intentions," they fail to accent the illusion of
money; where it actually goes, and how much of it you will
actually receive in the end. Beyond their laws also contains a long
list of taxes that each of us is to pay, including when we get paid,
when we purchase our goods, when we drive our cars, when we
eat, even when we sleep. These taxes drain our bank accounts
and drain our confidence. They weaken our minds and make us
feel unworthy because, beyond them, the majority of us still
cannot manage to live a decent lifestyle. Their rule book likes to
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hide any alternatives to their methods. Things like investments,
media, careers and education are just a few examples of things
they control. What they don't tell us is that within their "society
laws," there are alternate ways of living life.
Each community, State, Province and Country has drafted their
own set of rules, in conjunction with the rule book I just
described. It's actually quite drastic seeing the differences
between each region. For example: certain countries have a rule
that one must serve in their military at a certain age, or another
region states that each person must work a certain type of job
and live a certain type of lifestyle in order to live in the
community. These are just a few examples of how they're
controlled by their masters.
This thought made me appreciate the nation that I live in. It
doesn't force its citizens to serve in the military or work certain
roles. Even though, as they drive the cost of living up each year
and charge us more for our own refined resources, we still have
ample opportunity to do the things we enjoy; like working at a
career that brings joy to our lives each day. Having this type of
freedom allows us the opportunity to choose the lifestyle that
suits us the best. For example: If you choose a career or a job
that’s dissatisfying, you have the opportunity to choose an
entirely new profession. The same goes with education. I’ve seen
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this countless amount of times with my friends and students that
I’ve spoken to throughout the years. If something doesn’t work
for you, always remember that you have unlimited opportunity to
thrive in a new environment.
Considering these factors that I've described, I suggest asking
yourself these questions; what is the ideal lifestyle for me? And,
what is the answer to my own happiness? There are literally
millions of human-like ants amongst us within every culture who
are running around day after day trying to achieve happiness.
Through their eyes, they see happiness residing only within the
purchases they make; meanwhile, they lose track of the true
beauties of life– to spend more time with their friends and family
members. You are in charge of your own destiny.
As I mentioned earlier, there are only two commonalities that we
all share are; each of us wants to achieve happiness, and neither
of us wants to suffer. This important detail was brought to me by
the Dalai Lama in his latest writings. It has served as a guideline to
answer the most common question that we all ask ourselves,
"what will make me happy?" This answer is different for
everyone, yet so many follow the lead of their friends and
neighbors ideal spectrum of happiness rather than creating their
own. The truth is; we all have the ability to locate the things that
make us most happy. Aside from materialism, if you were to look
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at your own life and ask yourself what would make you most
happy, I can guarantee more time spent at work and running
around like a human-like ant isn't the answer you're looking for.
Each of us has the ability to find our passion; the things that we
enjoy doing in life. Our passions are directly related to eternal
happiness. Unfortunately, many never take the time to explore
them. They let their passions waste away as they work at their
day jobs. Aside from passion, I believe the most important things
in life are our friendships and close family surroundings. Even
though there may be some joyful experiences every now and then
within the roles we play as employees, the truest happiness
comes after rush hour when you pull your car into the driveway
and see your children's smiling faces. It resides in your own home;
with the ones you love the most. Any materialistic purchase just
adds to the illusion of happiness that has been created by your
masters.
Many of the perspectives that I've gained in life are derived from
the North American new-age culture of society, from what I've
witnessed and experienced so far.Although, I understand that
other cultures, religions and ethnicities have to be accounted into
this equation. Over the past thirteen years, I've had the
opportunity to speak to hundreds of high schools. My
performances have surrounded the very subjects that I write
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about in this book. In fact, I've had the chance to listen to
thousands of troubled students over the years; students that are
fighting for a better living environment that's free from negativity
and harmless. These students come from every race, religion and
ethnic background. Their perspectives on life are completely
different than their classmates, yet, their wants are all the same –
to gain friends and be respected by their peers. In reality, teenage
needs are really quite simple. They desire compassion from other
people and demand respect from their opponents. If life's needs
after high school, in the “working world” were as simple as they
were in our adolescence, life would become simple, relaxing and
joyful. If all we needed was respectful coworkers and delightful
business partners, one would be free from any created illusion of
happiness and fully capable of generating their own happiness
without the necessity to succumb to materialism.
As we grow older, our needs become larger. Many of us become
quite greedy in the process. Our needs grow from the necessity of
simple rollerblades in our youth, and they expand to homes,
expensive jewelry, fast cars and extravagant lifestyles in
adulthood. Sometimes they grow to outrageous addictions that
defeat our minds. It isn't until one becomes aware of their own
addictions when they can make positive changes.Once their
addictions are known, it only takes a small step to realize the
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benefits of a more pure lifestyle; one that's free from
consumerism and unneeded habits.
It's a privilege to receive life on this planet. It's an honor to be one
of the select few that gets special treatment and extra added
benefits, like a home built with proper construction materials,
plumbing, power, clean drinking water, and a variety of other
resources that most don't get to experience. In this world of over
seven billion people, there are literally hundreds of millions of
people that don’t ever get to experience the things that we take
for granted every day. We all have certain luxuries (aside from
materialistic items) that make our lives more exciting. In fact, the
companies that distribute all this materialistic stuff, through their
commercials, they "guarantee" a better lifestyle upon purchasing
their products and services; they seem to trick us every time. We
fail to realize, over and over again that the illusion of happiness
resides only within our minds.
On your journey to happiness, succumbing to materialism is only
just the beginning. There are a variety of things that stand in our
way to achieving true lasting happiness. Unfortunately, very few
delve into their lives and treat every day like it’s their last. This
way of thinking would simplify things greatly; however, it isn't a
reality. So much can happen in a day, a week, a month, even a
year, yet so little happens in most of our lives because we're too
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scared to make a mistake, or we're too lazy to make a
commitment. It's almost as though people are scared to stand out
against the rest in order to live a better lifestyle; almost like
they've been trained to do the opposite of what’s truly important;
to find their happiness.
What I've observed from the ant-like human population in
downtown Calgary is this; these people create more hours at
work, deprive themselves of their families and generate more
responsibilities within their careers, merely to achieve more
taxable wealth and meaningless materialism. They’re actually
working against their own happiness. It doesn't make sense.
“In this world of over seven billion people, there are
literally hundreds of millions of people that don’t ever
get to experience the things that we take for granted
every day.”
As I sat in my backyard, my mind was racing with thoughts.
Throughout the day, the turn wheel had spun hundreds of
different memories of experiences from my past. In fact, an array
of experiences from my childhood reflected the lessons that I
learned on my path to happiness. I realized that it's the negative
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experiences that we live through that help direct us towards a
happier life. Without them, we wouldn't be able to differentiate
between happiness and suffering. The biggest mistakes that we
make teach us the biggest lessons in life. This thought made me
appreciate my own mistakes for what they were; life lessons.
It's important to view each experience you live through with open
mind. In reality, no experience is either positive or negative;
they're just experiences. It's our differentiating beliefs, values and
perspectives that determine whether an experience is either
positive or negative in nature. Finding the positives in every
situation is important to help increase our everyday happiness.
Happiness resides in all of the experiences we live through; both
positive and negative ones. Even the negative situations have
their benefits. The mere fact that a life lesson is guaranteed to be
provided within each happening that you go through is an
enlightening thought altogether. This means that happiness
resides in the conversations we have with our coworkers, it
resides in the traffic jams that we drive through each morning and
it also resides in the hardship that we live through. In fact, it
resides in every experience we live through. Unfortunately, very
few of us see it this way. They're determined that happiness
resides within the latest technology and within their bi-weekly
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paycheque. This way of thinking only leads to a depleted mindset
increases your stress and leads to more inner hardship.
It's taken me thirty-two years to generate my perspective on life.
It's constantly evolving. Thousands of conversations between
people of all ages, knowledge levels and religious backgrounds,
mixed with an immense amount of research, are all combined
into a belief system that is now my perspective on life. Even
though it took me thirty-two years to understand life, it was the
lessons I learned that made it worthwhile. Being able to find my
own inner happiness makes me feel confident. Having a direction
in my life is satisfying. I'm grateful for all of the experiences I've
gone through in my life, as each of them helped me to realize
what's truly important. The past thirty-two years has been a
wonderful spiritual trek. As I look back at some of my
accomplishments, I find the reason behind my existence on this
planet. It's geared to generate happiness for other people; the
same as it should be for everyone.
When I was a young boy, as far as I can remember, I didn't see life
from the same perspective as I do today. In fact, my views of the
world are constantly changing. Each experience that I've
witnessed has helped shape my inner beliefs and values. Some of
my initial childhood experiences made me see life as though it
was a challenging game of extreme pressures and responsibilities.
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I think that's the only similar observation that I still believe in
today. Many of my recent views of the world have allowed me to
appreciate what I have; meanwhile asking less from society.
Many of my views on life have been inspired by various religious
teachings; however, my intentions aren’t to sell any religious
beliefs upon you. In fact, I am neither religious nor atheist. I'm
spiritual, taught by various religions, cultures, ethnicities and
experiences. I've already expressed my views on religion quite
extensively in The Next Chapter, so I won't go into any great
depth, however, what I've learned through their teachings and
what I would like to share with you is this; harvesting positive
beliefs of any kind that helps inspire your goals is one of the key
fundamentals to finding happiness. Whether your beliefs are
taught in the school of your hometown, or if they were taught by
the pastor of your church down the street; our beliefs are
important. They direct our actions. Our actions are what define
the strength of our beliefs. It's all relevant in the game of life.
Each of us generates beliefs through various forms. Our friends
and closest relatives are generally our greatest influences. These
people are the ones we trust in. We believe nearly everything
they say. It's their beliefs that help shape ours. Even though a
belief may have been formed in the past, it doesn't take much to
replace it with another one. Taking a look at your own beliefs will
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help you determine where they have formed it in the first place.
By acknowledging a belief, you're accepting it which enables you
to determine if it is in line with your current values. Much like our
ever-changing beliefs; our values are changing just as rapidly as
our beliefs are. Sometimes we need a reality check to see if our
beliefs and values are in line with the image we perceive our
happiness to be.
I continued writing my thoughts. With each thought that came to
my mind, it sent warm feelings of accomplishment and
satisfaction. It was a wonderful feeling knowing that I had learned
so much about my own life this far. It made me understand the
power of my own knowledge. Most human-like ants, from my
observations, don't learn this much about themselves until well
after retirement. That thought woke me. It snapped me out of the
conscious daydream that I was in.
As I sat there, in the lonely silence of my backyard, not a sound
filtered through my ears. It was as though the world was on hold
for a moment. It was blissful having a thoughtless mind. I allowed
myself to live in the moment completely. There wasn’t' any noise
that could awake me. Even as the wind started to get heavier, I
didn't allow it to interfere with my meditation. It didn't take me
long to get into a completely enlightened state. My body was
completely relaxed and nothing troubled my mind. The hustle and
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bustle of Calgary streets were in my distant past. My feelings were
completely balanced. It was wonderful. I looked at the clouds
above me, and for a moment, I searched for random shapes in
their formations. For about five minutes I served my thoughtless
mind absolutely nothing. I allowed myself to fully unwind.
As I awoke from my relaxed meditation, I started noticing many
things that I normally take for granted. Things like; the various
breeds of bees flying through the air, the arrangement of assorted
flowers in my garden, and the grass that is near perfect – thanks
to my career in the lawn care industry. Everything looked near
perfect actually. At that moment, my mind got excited and started
racing again. It made me grateful for the other things that I
normally take for granted. Things like; friends and family support,
hobbies and working on my passions. The collaboration of
thoughts sent chilling yet satisfying feelings through my entire
body. It was delightful.
While I sat there, I became grateful for my actions in life. They
were the keys that led me to live my current lifestyle. In fact, my
actions were the reason why I was able to fulfill my passions and
complete this book. If I hadn't made the actions in the first place,
none of this would be real. I would've just been another "slave of
the environment," most likely running around like a chicken with
its head cut off, working at another job that I hated, but I
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remained seated in my backyard with a smile on my face. I
realized that I owe a lot of the credit to my confidence because if
it hadn't been there, I wouldn't have been able to take action in
the first place. I then realized that if it weren't for my personality
and health, I wouldn't have been able to fulfill any of my minds
obligations either. None of it would have been accomplished. It
was fascinating to see the many components of our lives that help
us create the ideal lifestyle.
There are literally thousands of components to our bodies.
Amongst them are various characteristics that enable us to live
quality lives. They allow us to achieve our goals, love another
person and find our happiness. Each of us has the necessary
components to achieve optimal happiness.
Regular slaves have yet to realize the true greatness of the
simplest things in life. The simplest pleasures don't require a mass
amount of energy from us, and they don't demand a lot of our
time away from your loved ones. In fact, it's quite the opposite.
They only demand the time you're willing to give them, they
require very little maintenance, and they are best experienced
with the ones you love. Real happiness is best described in the
same way. You don't need to slave yourself to the environment
any longer. Even though you may be used to working for a
company five to six days a week, nine am to five pm each day; you
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have the ability to create the ideal lifestyle by working fewer
hours each day. What does the ideal schedule look like to you? I
am asking you this and I’ll repeat again; what does the ideal
lifestyle look like to you? Remembering that everyone’s
perspective is different when it comes to happiness, by asking
yourself this question, your mind will work overtime trying to find
the right answer for you.
How many hours do you want to work each week? How many
hours do you want to spend with your children and the ones you
love? They say that time is valuable. It happens to be our greatest
asset. Well then, ask yourself this question, "how much is my time
worth?
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A simpler life is the route to happiness
Living a simpler life doesn’t mean getting rid of all the good stuff.
This isn't a dietary book telling you that you need to get rid of all
the best qualities that life offers, like my most favorites; pizza and
chocolate. Living a simpler life means; eliminating your excessive
needs for materialistic stuff. When you are able to do this, you
will instantly create a simpler life. Instantly, you'll be able to
transfer your necessity for consumer goods into more time with
your friends. You can literally transfer the image of exhausting
work and replace it with happy memories that are awaiting you.
I’m not talking about some random magic trick like you’ll see in
Vegas or middle school; I’m talking about a mental transformation
simply by wanting less.
Happiness found through materialism is an illusion you see every
day, through your friends and neighbors eyes. Without
materialism, the average family household would look; well, just
like the early nineteen twenties. It would be without televisions
and radios, automobiles and cellular telephones. In fact, from the
perspective of an Amish person, it seems quite perfect. Amish
people are amongst the happiest people in the world through
some perspectives. Our society; the one we live in today, has
literally brain-washed us to think that, "the person who consumes
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the most is the winner." This type of perspective leaves us feeling
weak, inadequate and believing that we aren't good people
because we don't have the latest gadgets and the nicest things.
This statement is quite far from reality.
“Happiness found through materialism is an illusion you
see every day, through your friends and neighbors eyes.”
As my mind snapped back to reality, I realized that I was sitting in
the exact same position that I had been for the past half hour. At
that moment, my mind reflected an experience that I lived many
years ago. It was the image of me on the farm when I was a
teenager.
I was seventeen years old and I was busy working in the fields on
the farm. As I walked through a lonely field in the wilderness,
there wasn’t anyone in sight; in fact, barely a vehicle drove
through the entire day. I was working for my stepfather, the
owner of the farm and it was Harvest season; the most important
time in a farmers career. He had hired me as his helping hand to
stack bales, round up cattle and pretty much anything that a
farmer does. This thought instantly brought the comparison
between my life lived as a hick in Central Saskatchewan and my
new-age life I had created in suburban Calgary. This reflection
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made me appreciate my youth and the experiences within it
because I knew that many of my views of life originated in those
years.
I imagined myself as a farmer; the type of person that my
stepfather was raising me for. It resembled a simpler life,
although, I'm sure this could be argued with actual farmers for
hours, so I won't go any further with this discussion, but, looking
at my life lived on the farm made me appreciate life from another
perspective – one that's far from the endless race of a downtown
city structure. It was yet another perspective that allowed me to
shift my beliefs of what the ideal lifestyle looks like.
“Creating a healthy perspective of life is an important
part in the realm of happiness; however, without the
desire for the right type of happiness, happiness doesn’t
exist.”
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Ridding yourself from any Self-defeating habits
Looking at life from all angles is important when selecting your
beliefs. The problem is; we don’t get to see all angles until we've
already lived the experience. There are many different factors
that come into play when this discussion arises. Religion,
education, friends and elders are just to name a few. All of these
components help shape our perspectives of the way we see life.
Even though, many of our beliefs were learned through our recent
experiences; it's the lessons we've learned in our childhood
experiences that are the most crucial to the development of our
minds. In fact, if you were to find a belief of yours, any belief. And,
if you were to analyze it in every realm, I can almost guarantee
that the belief was formed when you were a child and you have
held onto it until now. Our educators are more powerful than we
realize. Knowing this may suggest that somehow along the line we
perhaps have grasped onto a few negative beliefs. I would assume
so. Let me tell you; negative beliefs only encourage more
negativity. Teach yourself to let them go.
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Back in reality, I remained seated in my chair. My fingers typed
everything that came to my mind. At that moment, another
thought brought me back to my days as a teenager.I was in my
own high school gymnasium. Here's the story.
I was sitting amongst my friends in the bleachers of my high
school gymnasium. We were listening to a speech delivered by
the valedictorian. He was sharing his knowledge of what a happy
life looks like. It was interesting looking back at the views of a
grade twelve student. I couldn't ever imagine standing in his shoes
is what I thought. I couldn’t imagine stepping out of my comfort
zone, standing up in front of all those people. Looking at my views
back then; who would have known that public speaking later
would become my profession. I wouldn't have. Beyond the scary
thought of me standing in front of a hundred grade twelve
students, I listened to his words as they expressed enthusiasm for
a life filled with happiness. As I look back, I realize that, although,
his words were uplifting and enthusiastic; I didn’t have a clue
what I wanted to do when I graduated high school. And, I can
assume that most of my peers were in the same boat that I was
in. The main reason behind this was because we hadn't
experienced life on our own yet. There was so much out there
that we hadn't experienced, including a multitude of
responsibilities. During that time in my life, I was working my first
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job as a ranch hand after school hours during weekdays. Little did
I know that job was only the first of twenty-two that I've
experienced thus far. Back then, I had no idea that life contained
as many components as it does. I was used to kicking good times
with my friends in high school. I had no idea that my life
experiences after high school would lead to so many different
places. They simply don't teach this kind of stuff in their
curriculum.
Unfortunately, the human-like ant population suffers when it
comes to planning for the right type of lifestyle. Without life
experiences, it's quite difficult to determine which path in life to
take. There are an infinite amount of different paths one can take
in life. It usually depends on the opportunities that are presented,
mixed with the desire to make it happen. Most students, fresh out
of school are eager to apply their talents they learned in high
school. Many of them choose some form of post-secondary
education because it’s simply what they were told to do by their
parents. Let’s face it; most decent jobs require at least some form
of post-secondary education. Without it, we have to search within
the heap of unsatisfying employment options; whereas, others
start their slavery earlier and jump on the first job they find, truly
believing that it’s going to be their saving grace to a happier life.
There are, however, many additional components to choosing the
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right path that will bring you salvation. Life is filled with various
components that are essential to leading a positive lifestyle. These
are learned in our everyday experiences. Without learning these
important lessons, were basically meandering our way through
life with a blindfold on. This brings me back to the valedictorian
speech that I heard in my high school’s gymnasium in my youth.
Come to think of it, in hindsight, without going through my life
experiences, I wouldn't have this life knowledge to teach you. For
some, it takes virtually an entire lifetime to find their inner bliss;
their happiness. Meanwhile, for others, they find their passions
early in life and work with the grain of life producing daily results
to achieve greatness. Finding your passion is yet another
component of living your life with happiness in abundance. Life
experiences help us uncover them. It took me years to eliminate
the fear of public speaking, but I wouldn’t have found my passion
without making my first speech.
As we experience different lives as people, we're learning about
life at a different pace. You may notice someone in your life
whose personality never seems to grow. In fact, there are quite a
few people in my own life whom I wonder if they'll ever grow up.
Whether it's got to do with business relationships, personal
relationships or personal life, they seem to fall short on their
commitments. These are the ones that generally don't pay any
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attention when a lesson presents itself to them. Sometimes it
takes them many failures to finally learn a lesson. In fact, a person
can go most of their life doing something over and over again
without realizing that each time they do it, it sends them further
off their rightful path. For example: a smoker can be a smoker for
many years without giving up the habit. Even though some of
their friends have already died from cancer due to smoking, they
continue to spark up. It usually takes a personal awakening for
these people to eliminate their negative habits. My father is a
prime example of this. Habits can be quite difficult to get rid of,
but the time spent on eliminating them altogether will be the best
time you put towards your own personal wellbeing. I guarantee it.
As I discussed in depth in The Next Chapter, it's important to get
rid of all self-defeating habits as soon as you witness their
presence. These are labelled as anything that you do on a daily
basis that brings you off track in your life. When you glance at
your daily regime; your daily schedule, do you notice any habits
that take away from the quality of your life? Here are some
examples that'll give you an idea what I'm talking about: smoking
cigarettes, overeating, drug abuse, medication abuse, watching
too much television, playing too many video games, etc. Are there
any reciprocating habits that drag you down? Are there any habits
that are pushing you off course in your life? When you fulfill their
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constant desires do they make you feel bad, anxious or angry
about what you're doing? By this time, I probably sound like an
infomercial, but, I promise you; this is where it gets even better.
Wouldn't it be great if you could eliminate all of the self-defeating
habits in your life? Could you imagine the amount of free time,
energy and freedom you would receive when you finally rid
yourself of all of these habits? The mathematics is quite intense
when you actually get into it.
“Ridding yourself from any self-defeating habits will
instantly make the trek to your happiness a whole lot
easier.”
I took a deep breath and filtered fresh air through my lungs. I
couldn't believe that I had spent all morning and afternoon sitting
in my backyard. The sun shone down on me radiantly. It was like I
was on the beach at the lake, but not a soul was present. I
pondered thoughts of going for a walk, or even going to the
driving range down the street to hit a few golf balls, but I didn't
want any activities intruding on my meditation. It felt like another
perfect moment.
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It was enlightening looking back at many of my life experiences
and witnessing the lessons I've learned. My life has been quite a
trip thus far, although, for most of it, I didn't have any clear
direction. Even though I had accomplished many things in a
variety of different areas, I didn't understand the connection
between my values, beliefs and the actions I chose in life. I didn't
know that there was a calculated system to life that connected my
physical body to my spirituality.
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Religion and Spirituality
Religion is a difficult subject to discuss, primarily because
everyone has a different perspective on the subject. I understand
that religion is a huge component of many lives; whereas, I also
know a tremendous amount of people that have no specific
religious beliefs at all. Some people are spiritual. Our beliefs are
important for constant progression in our lives. Sometimes
religion and spirituality can help us get there quicker. I would like
to share with you my opinions on this topic:
For years I would dismiss religious thoughts and conversations
from my conscious altogether. I wanted nothing to do with it.
Every time I would listen in on a religious conversation between
others, it always ended with someone getting upset, even to the
point of losing friendships. As I grew older I kept seeing war on
the television, and I heard of a lot of religious racism on radio
programs– it all came down to religion and their beliefs. I never
understood how one belief could cause so many ruckuses over an
entire Nation. I’m not saying that every religion is bad, nor am I
saying that any religion is bad. I’m simply saying that there has
been a lot of turmoil in the past, and a lot of it has stemmed from
religion. There are however many great principles that religious
studies share. These components can help you achieve happiness,
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success and many other great opportunities if you use them
correctly.
As I look back at my life and the experiences within it, I realize
that a huge portion of my life was lived without a conscious
spiritual plan or specific beliefs. As I roam the experiences of my
past, many thoughts come to my mind that serves truth to that
statement. As I think about it, I ask myself the following question,
“Are religion and spirituality really that important in one’s life,
everyone’s life? I pondered my thoughts for a moment. Here is my
response:
I believe that religion and spirituality are very important in a
person’s lifestyle, especially if they take it seriously (but not too
seriously). It isn’t for everyone; however, for those that find it, if
used properly, they will excel in life further than those that don’t.
I believe that spirituality can bring empowerment to those that
listen to its life messages, and I believe that for those that want to
grasp onto it, they will understand life and the reason for their
existence a lot quicker. Although there are many different
religions and beliefs out there, there is most definitely one that
will fit your lifestyle if you’re ready for it.
For many years I didn’t follow any specific religion, and I still
don’t. I’m strictly spiritual, for now – until I find something that
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empowers me more than this current day. Heck, I might even
wake up one Saturday morning and change my beliefs altogether
after opening the door to a door to door salesman who sold me
his religion. My beliefs come from inspiration all over the place,
and from every walk of life. I learn little life messages from almost
everyone that I meet. I make a point to absorb as much
information from each person that empowers me. The best part
is; you never know who will be the next to inspire you.
Religion and spirituality are for those that find meaning for it in
their lives. I think that having a strong belief system is important
for one to maintain order within their lives. Our values are shaped
by our beliefs. Obviously, our beliefs are constantly changing with
the experiences that we go through. This means that spirituality
and religion are very important in the mix. I suggest researching a
variety of religious and spiritual outlets for when you're ready to
seek more out of your life. Viewing various perspectives on life is
essential to creating optimal happiness. Being open-minded will
help you in the process. When you're ready to find it, it just so
happens to be at your fingertips; only one click away. Does this
sound familiar?
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“I’m spiritual, although, I might even wake up one
Saturday morning and change my beliefs altogether
after opening the door to a door to door salesman who
sold me his religion.”
I snapped back to reality and realized that absolutely nothing had
changed. The only thing that changed was the direction of the
sun. As I sat there, I pondered my ideas. I once again was
reminded of our human slavery. Something triggered it in my
mind. In fact, I imagined thousands of human-like ants rifling
through the tall buildings of downtown. I saw thousands of tiny
little people fighting for their lives; fighting even for a small
chance of freedom. I then realized that they were all searching in
the wrong place. If happiness and freedom are what they were
looking for, then they should've been at home with their families
and spend time with the people they love; or they should have
been working on a project they enjoy; not overworking
themselves for the purposes of a bigger bank account. It’s all from
their perspective of the way they see life.
I like to view life through as many different perspectives as I
possibly can before I make a commitment towards one specific
belief. As mentioned; our life is very complex. Between
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relationships and business demands, there are multiple additional
stresses that we add to our lives. By eliminating these little
stresses; the happier we will become. Nobody needs to stress
themselves, working fifty, sixty or even seventy hour work weeks
to find happiness. No materialistic object is worth this amount of
time, energy and commitment. Finding joy in materialism every
now and then isn't a bad thing. It's okay to find enjoyment in the
latest technology and nice nick knack’s here and there, however,
succumbing to a habit or even creating an addiction or a lifestyle
surrounding materialism isn't going to help you find true lasting
happiness. It’s important to understand that happiness doesn’t
come from a store. It comes from the smiles of your offspring. It
comes from reliving your happy memories and by being with the
ones you love. It also comes from finding your own spirituality.
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Being grateful for life
Life is an interesting thing. We've all dealt with discouragement,
anxiety, ups and downs; some have even perhaps suffered the
loss of a loved one. These things leave us feeling defeated. It's
during these times when we're most susceptible to our feelings.
Sometimes we have to go through difficult times to understand
how far we've actually made it in life, and sometimes we must be
defeated to truly understand what we're grateful for.
Life for me, over the past four years, has been a difficult feat
altogether, almost like a roller-coaster full of emotions. I went
through a divorce, I suffered an early-life crisis and I lost myself
and my confidence in the process; however, I also learned
incredible life lessons during that time which enabled me to
become a more powerful person inside; spiritually, mentally and
physically.
In the initial stages during this part of my life, I basically stayed at
home and watched television. I've never watched so many re-
runs, and I can guarantee you that I've never played many video
games in my youth. While I stayed at home, I questioned myself
and I questioned life. I knew there was a lot more happiness out
there to be found. Although it tore me apart inside, it also built
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me back up to an even more powerful person. It made me
confident again and grateful for the experience.
I've always been a firm believer that, "everything happens for a
reason." It's true! Everything does happen for a reason. Whether
you like to believe it or not that's for you to decide, but for me,
every negative experience that I've lived has always been a
blessing in disguise, including my divorce.
While I went through this dreary moment in my life, after a few
months, I stopped feeling sorry for myself and I started delving
into my questions of life. I wanted answers. I wasn't going to allow
the situation to conquer me. In fact, I wanted to use it to my
advantage as leverage to move forward.The first thing that I did
was list all the things that I was grateful for in my life. Even
though, it was tough at first, within a few hours I had a three-page
list of things that I was grateful for outside of materialistic stuff.
Things like; living in a nice quiet community, encouraging friends
and supportive family members and the like. Eventually, it helped
me see a different perspective on my life altogether.It helped
build my confidence back up to a healthy state, and it made me
realize that there are other components to my happiness. Shortly
after, I was determined to accomplish things that I had previously
felt were impossible and goals that I had given up on. In the end,
it was a blessing in disguise. Now, after finding myself again, I've
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found my soul-mate; my best friend and I have begun to be
grateful for things that I used to take for granted; like my
relationships.
Going through any difficult time can be frustrating and
discouraging.When you’re able to realize the important things in
life and become grateful for the things you already have, like
friends, family, family support, laughter, inspiration, certain
materialistic items and many other things that we generally
overlook and take for granted; you'll refresh your mindset and re-
focus on your vision of true happiness. Dreams are made from
mistakes, goals are achieved through struggle, and your conscious
is determined by the thoughts you feed it. The next time you are
going through a difficult time, refresh your mind with something
positive and search for the things that you're grateful for in life. It
will make a World of difference.
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Getting to know your self-worth
Within my hundreds of talks to high schooled kids throughout the
years, I've grown an appreciation for teenagers. Even though I've
seen a reduction in their values, especially lately, the majority are
respectable, good-willed people that truly want futures filled with
happiness. The main issue that I've seen grown dramatically is
bullying and abuse.
“It doesn't matter what high school or junior high I was scheduled
to speak at, I always knew that bullying was an issue. In my
opinion, it’s most definitely the worst issue facing students
today.”
Bullying is an issue that we’ve been dealing with for Centuries. My
father, his father, even my great Grandfather was bullied. We’ve
all gone through it. Some experience it in school as a youthful
teenager, while others experience it at home in a nasty
relationship. Neither one of us is immune to it. It happens in the
workplace, it happens at soccer practice, and it also happens to
the people that you'd least expect. I've touched quite a bit on this
subject in The First Chapter, but I always make it a point to direct
a focus on this topic because it's an issue that everyone faces at
some point in their lives.
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Bullying is a term that is commonly misconceived. Although it's
generally a common term used on the playground at school, it's
something that every child and every adult will experience within
their lives. Bullying is much more than just a random playground
miss-hap, it’s something that tears apart a person’s confidence, it
rapes them of their courage and it leads to most illnesses and
crimes. Bullying is no different than assault or harassment.
I've seen it happen at schools, I've heard countless stories about
it, and I've even experienced it myself, many times. Bullying is like
a plague that keeps circulating, it generates quickly and it comes
with an incredible force that can set you back instantly. If a person
experiences too much of it, they’re at an even higher risk of
serious health problems. I've seen grown adults experience nasty
health problems all because of the guilt and shame they felt
through the years of being bullied. If nothing is done about it, an
even more serious risk of mental problems could be instilled in
each victim.
I've spoken to grown adults that have such a low self-confidence
because of the bullying they experienced as early as when they
were in middle school. Even though it’s been well over twenty
years since the experiences, it's affected them well into
adulthood. I've literally seen disasters that have taken place and
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experiences that have torn apart entire communities, all because
of bullying, abuse, assault, or whatever you want to call it.
In addition to all of the common side effects, bullying can be a
drastic influence on a person’s decisions and self-worth. As
mentioned, we all experience it, but very few of us do anything
about the damage that it has caused. Although bullying can have a
dramatic lasting effect on a person’s mindset for years, the
damage that was caused can be quickly eliminated.
As mentioned, bullying can have serious psychological effects on a
person. It can be detrimental to their plan or path in life and it can
eat away at a person for years. The feelings that you get after
being bullied consist of guilt, blame, anger, frustration, sadness
and a ton of other various emotions. If a person keeps their
saddened feelings within themselves for too long without tending
to their needs, the imagination within the person will start to fade
away slowly, along with other important pieces that help develop
proper brain-functioning. You can be proactive in eliminating
those feelings altogether if you wish to. You can get your life back
on track, no matter how harsh the experiences you've lived
through. By training your mindset to absorb only positive
comments and statements, you'll be well on your way to
achieving incredible happiness inside, while eliminating bullying in
your life altogether.
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Eliminating bullying and abuse within your life will drastically
increase your self-worth, it will help increase your confidence and
it will make you feel more important to society. Having a strong
level of confidence, along with a healthy self-worth will help you
overcome any negative situations in the future.
In talks with many adults over the years, I’ve asked a variety of
questions regarding their fears, their level of confidence and the
issues they faced while growing older, and the majority say the
same thing, "Bullying is the reason why I didn't pursue my
passions." This is a sad thought altogether. By increasing your self-
worth, you're changing the way you look at the World entirely. It
all starts with associating yourself with healthy relationships. Who
are the people that you associate with? Who are the friends you
hang around with? Who are your influences?Who are the people
you’re taking advice from? The people in your life will either make
you or break you. Are these people giving more than they’re
taking from you? Are they good-willed, positive people? Do they
drag you down and defeat your self-esteem? These questions
should trigger some important values within you to find the
people that are encouraging and compassionate.
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“Eliminating bullying of all kinds will
increase your self-worth and assist you
to a happier lifestyle.”
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A lesson on Belief and taking action
In talking about the law of attraction over the years, I’ve grown
new perceptions of how the World really works. I’ve continuously
studied different people, how they think, and how they react to
the environment around them. The conclusions that I’ve come
across, almost across the board, pertaining to their achievements
were all relating to taking action. Believing in the law of attraction
will ultimately help you excel towards your passions and desires;
however, if you do not take action when the environment hands
you an opportunity, then there’s no point in believing in the law
of attraction because it won’t fully work for you. If you don’t use
them together in synergy nothing will happen.
Belief and action are two important fundamentals that one must
instil in order to achieve success. Far too often, I’ve talked with
friends or close family members, and as they tell me their stories
of how they want to accomplish certain things, they continue to
tell me how lazy they are or make excuses as to why they don’t
take action when the environment responds. These types of
people never get to experience the fruits of life. They fail to
succumb to the treasures that lie not too far away from them; if
they were to reach a little further, perhaps step outside of their
comfort zone and grasp onto the opportunities the environment
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is providing for them. If they did this one simple task they would
embrace so many wonderful things, but they don’t, and that’s
why they just get by with mediocrity.
How do you react when the environment provides you with an
opportunity? What beliefs are you feeding your mind? Are your
thoughts dragging you down and making you lazy? What is your
inner voice responding?
For many years, I've been an avid believer and understood that
the voice within us is the answer to anything that we need to
know in life. There are many ways to describe the inner voice;
most see it referred to as your gut instinct or their “god within.”
Whatever you call it; listen to the rhythm of its guidance. It's
leading you to the rightful path in life.
All too often, we remain grounded in reality because of the
illusion of limitations. Previous limitations hold us back from
wanting more.This type of negative voice is created through our
everyday thoughts. Sometimes it competes with our inner
spiritual voices; the one that wants us to succeed. Being that
negativity runs within our everyday thoughts; it drags us down
and depletes us of our self-worth. We lose our imagination in the
process and forget what’s truly important. The negativity creates
so much noise that it drowns out the sound of our spiritual voice;
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the one that’s looking out for us, and the one that means us no
harm. Often times, we allow our negative voices to overrule any
realm of positivity in our lives. It’s important to realize that the
voice inside of you; your spiritual voice, isn't the enemy.
Whatever it's telling you, act upon it because when you do, I
guarantee that it will always lead to a happier place.
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Moving forward in life
Each of us has made mistakes. We've all committed impure acts in
our lives; towards other people and towards ourselves. It’s the
negativity that we've lived through that has allowed us to learn
and grow. Without the negativity come zero life lessons. Nothing
comes without some kind of fight, said one of my favorite artists.
There's nothing to be ashamed of when you make a mistake. A
mistake is the best way to move forward and learn. It's time to
look back and start appreciating your mistakes because, without
them, you wouldn't have learned what you know today. Each
mistake leads to a closed realm of success and happiness.
When you're ready to rid yourself of the remorse you currently
have for your past mistakes, you'll relinquish a part of you that
you never knew existed. Eliminating the negativity within my own
life changed everything. It allowed me to see life from an entirely
new perspective. When you're able to focus on the now, rather
than living in the future or the past, you'll gain an entirely new
perspective on life. This process will inspire you to move in a more
positive direction. This was the first step in my own journey to my
happiness. If you choose to take it yourself, I guarantee that you'll
never turn back.
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It’s no different than the way I can describe it from my own
backyard; life is relaxing, peaceful and joyous. The life that I see
today; although it’s gone through a variety of changes, I see
happiness around me everywhere I go. Even in the "outside
world," on the streets of Calgary and everywhere else.There lies a
realm of happiness everywhere; you just have to look for it.
There's nothing wrong with succumbing to the so-called "slavery"
that I speak of; although, I do suggest alternate methods to a
happier life. You can forge against the grain of society and create
the type of lifestyle that's ideal for you – the one that allows you
freedom from the rat race of society. Even though materialism
seems tempting every now and then, it's not going to lead you to
lasting happiness. You are the master of your own life path. What
does the ideal lifestyle look like to you? Who are the people that
you would like to spend your free time with? Can you imagine the
opportunity you will create when you limit your energy you put
into working as a slave and replace it with things you will actually
enjoy doing? Let me tell you; there's a whole lot more to life
that's outside of your office doors.
I'm not saying that you have to eliminate your career altogether;
obviously, we need our jobs for financial security; what I'm saying
is that you have complete control of the amount of time you
spend at work and away from your family. It all relies on the
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formation of your values, your daily beliefs and is determined by
how aggressive your need for materialism is. Keeping in mind that
materialism is just a tool to eliminate the boredom in our lives;
you can learn to control your cravings. We all have the
components within ourselves to create true lasting happiness.
Nobody wants to remember the amount of time you spent away
from the family when you pass away.It’s all up to you. It’s all
within your grasp. You just need to take the first step.
“When you're ready to rid yourself of the remorse
from your past mistakes, you'll relinquish a part
of you that you never knew existed.”
In my opinion, we’re all living on this planet to serve and protect
ourselves and those closest to us. We are here to make the World
a better place, by bettering the people within it. Although there
may be some negative experiences within our lives, for the
majority it can be positive. It’s important to follow the voice inside
your head; it only wants what’s best for you. It only wants to
make your life better, by helping you make better choices.
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Sometimes we get side-tracked and lose focus of our future
desires because of the negativity in our daily activities; things like
negative comments from others, or discouragement from family
and friends. These things deplete our minds and make it more
difficult to move forward. Despite the negativity that we may
experience, nothing good will come unless you make a stand for
yourself and take action.
Now that you already believe – you wouldn’t believe if you were
still reading this paragraph; take the time to think of all of the
current limitations that you face. Make a mental list of all the
things that separate you from your goals and passions. Jot down
everything that makes you feel scared, over-whelmed or self-
conscious towards that vision. Now take it all and delete it from
your mental hard drive. Seriously, delete it.
Once you’ve deleted it, or at least mentally blocked these
negative things from your mind, take some time to think about
your dream; the thing you want to possess. Visualize yourself
already becoming a part of the experience. Imagine it already
taking place for you. Imagine that everything I taught within this
book was one hundred percent true and foolproof. Imagine that
the environment provided everything that you asked for. Imagine
that you could have anything that you. Maybe it’s a business that
you wished you started when you were a teenager, or maybe it’s
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an image of you and your new fiancé signing the documents to
your new home. Whatever it is, take the time to explore every
aspect of it and take the first step to make it happen. The
environment will provide everything you need to become
successful. The first step is asking yourself what the ideal is.
Once you’ve concluded your visualization exercise, sit down and
take a deep breath because I am here to tell you that the vision
you were just experiencing is one hundred percent possible if you
simply take action and believe in it. Again, your thoughts are more
powerful than you may realize. In conjunction with taking action
and maintaining a solid belief system, you’ll be well on your way
to achieving optimal happiness.
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Turning a page into a new chapter of your life
As described in my last three books; replacing negative beliefs
with positive reassuring ones can be very beneficial to achieving
optimal happiness. It all starts with inspiration and the desire to
move forward. Positive actions will lead positive results. In fact,
the law of attraction has been used for centuries. What you think
of will become reality for you in the future. I have learned this
theory through trial and error and by living my everyday
experiences. Have you ever really paid attention to society in its
entirety? Everything that has been created in our lives was a
thought initially. From automobiles to homes, luxuries and
necessities, it all originated from a single thought. Everything that
we see outside of nature itself was generated by one single
thought. Your thoughts; although they may seem small and bleak,
they have the potential to create a revolution.
Often times, people feel insignificant in society because of their
own image of who they feel they’ve become. It's almost as though
they have a lack of confidence due to the weakened structure
they see themselves as in society. They feel incomplete because
they feel they don't have what others have. They constantly see
others and only see perfection when, in reality, everyone suffers
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from similar catastrophes. It may seem as though the other
millions of human-like ants that run around us in a frenzy each
day; they seem to shine with a positive aura, they seem to have
almost perfect complexions, doing things almost perfectly in our
eyes; in reality, they also make plenty of mistakes, they get
emotional and lose their tempers just like you and me. They’re as
vulnerable as you and I too during times of inadequacy. They also
want to live happy lives like you and I. In the end, we're all
searching for the same; we all want a happier life and neither of
us wants to suffer. Knowing this may help you understand and
appreciate the fact that everyone is faulty at times. Nobody is
perfect.
“How are you going to play your character in this
game of life?”
Our beliefs and values are fed to us by our parents and guardians
when we’re younger, and as we grow older they strengthen
unless they’re replaced with new ones. We also learn from our
closest influences, like; our friends, family members, teachers or
other mentors. Again, it’s important to shape your values and
beliefs around compassion for others. A selfish life leads to a
lonely one. Success to one person means something completely
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different to another. When you’re shaping your perspective of
what success looks like, keep in mind all of the characteristics
explained within these pages. They should help align your
purpose, your gratitude and your compassion for others.
For me, at this stage of my life, success means that I am
passionately working on something that I enjoy in business. It
means that I am constantly thriving for a better and more fulfilling
lifestyle for my family every day. It means that I am able to live in
the moment at least twice a day, and I’m able to spend time with
the ones that I love whenever I want. Doing something positive
for society is another characteristic. This is what true success
looks like to me.
Success for many is seeing a rising balance in their bank account,
while for others; success means having friends, a caring family or
a decent job. Everybody's different. We all harness qualities that
are unique to ourselves. The beliefs and values that we were
brought up believing have affected the way we look at life
entirely. With a slight shift in your perspective towards ideal
happiness, you can be content with what you already have, while
working towards things that provide lasting happiness. So, ask
that question to yourself, "What does success mean to me?"
Hopefully, it will encourage positive thought in your mind.
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Beyond the final chapter
Nobody knows what lies behind the doors of death; when our
days come to an end and when our suffering ends as we know it.
Even though, many will claim they understand the knowledge
behind the aftermath of our lives; the same goes for the people
that claim they know the answers to the creation of us. Nobody
knows the exact answers to some of the most frequently asked
question; how did we come to be? There are literally hundreds of
different alternatives to this question. It’s as adverse of a topic as
religion. It doesn't matter which beliefs you succumb to; it doesn't
even matter which religion you adhere to, or which spiritual path
you take in life, as long as you follow beliefs that are positive in
nature; ones that encourage you to be your best, and ones that
fulfil your needs of happiness. By doing this you will find the
answers that you're looking for. Having no beliefs at all equals
minimal growth; having a solid line of beliefs that will strengthen
over time will create everything that you're looking for in life.
Viewing life with an open mind will allow you to succumb only to
the pleasures of what lies directly in front of you. There is beauty
in everything that we experience; it only takes a bit of your
imagination to realize this. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing in
life; there’s always joy to be found in each situation. Whether
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you’re working at your day job, in busy rush hour traffic, or
running the busy rat race downtown, there are characteristics
that we can learn to appreciate in each experience that we live
through. For example: Try looking at the people that you come
across with compassion in some way; especially the ones you
don’t care much for. Try to see at least one good quality about
each person. After time, you will train your mind to accept only
the good qualities of those people. You will learn to appreciate
them in an entirely different way. This will allow you to minimize
stress while you’re at work; meanwhile, being able to find the joy
in your interactions. If you’re in busy rush hour traffic, or you’re
stressed to the nines at work, then take some time to live in the
moment a few times each day.
Meditate and slow the pace down a few notches. Relieving stress
is an extremely important component of living a happy life.
Meditation is the best way to relieve stresses of all kinds. Our
busy lifestyles and added materialistic wants have led to an
increased state of stress and unhappiness. The laws that govern
us demand us to work grueling jobs to maintain the increasing
price of life. By living in the moment, you’re able to find the bliss
in everything that you normally take for granted. These things
allow us to reflect upon ourselves so we can come to appreciate
our lives more. Take joy in watching the flow of the river streams
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in your community, take notice of the glowing flowers and the
trees of nature that reside in your own backyard. There’s true
beauty in the things that aren’t man-made. These can be noticed
when you’re ready to live in the moment. I suggest taking the
time each day to go for a peaceful walk outside or find a nice
quiet place to sit and read something inspirational; something
that will heighten your motivation and decrease your inner stress.
All in all; by relieving your stress, you’re freeing your mind to
focus on the important things in life.
“There is beauty in everything that we experience; it only
takes a bit of your imagination to realize this.”
You can turn the page into a new chapter of life if you're willing to
view life from a different perspective. There are an infinite
amount of different perspectives to look at life through. Even
though many of the factors that determine our beliefs are directly
related to the people you hang around with, you aren’t limited to
your own circle of friends. You can learn alternate perspectives of
life simply by reading books, or you can take a peek online. In fact,
anything that you want to know about in life is probably answered
for you on the internet. It only takes time and commitment to
finding the answer you are looking for. When you’re ready to
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learn, the teacher will be there. Everything will fall into place for
you when you’re ready to make it happen.
Once you have a vision of ideal happiness, it takes determination
to keep the process going; however, once you’ve found an ideal
set of beliefs to follow, your values will form to them
immediately. This will allow you to flourish in everything that you
do. By eliminating the negative beliefs you’ve brought forward
from your childhood and adolescence, and replacing them with
new positive ones; you will allow your character and personality
to shine. Remembering that positive thoughts equal positive
results, taking this into account when you’re making decisions to
move forward, this will allow your new beliefs to only succumb to
new positive actions, thus making you virtually immune to any
surrounding negativity.
Life works like a well-oiled machine. Only the squeaky wheel gets
the grease. As our busy lives continue, we forget to realize some
of the crucial components of living a successful life. Things like
proper health, spiritual practices, physical fitness and many other
things that we overlook when we’re busy working our days away.
We shouldn’t wait until a problem arises to realize that we need
to lead healthier lives or maintain spiritual practices. It’s all in the
realm of achieving greatness and true happiness. There are many
additional components on top of what I’ve discussed that are
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pertinent to living a quality life. Things like nutrition, living a
balanced lifestyle, experiencing certain things in moderation, and
having a true commitment to a daily physical workout regimen.
These are all things that are taught in other books. I recommend
that you explore these subjects when you’re ready for a healthier
dietary lifestyle. Again, it’s all within the choices you make in life.
This determines what you’ll achieve and what type of lifestyle
you’ll live in the future. By maintaining a proper balance within
your life, you’re well on your way to achieving greatness.
Each of us has the ability to uncover the true hidden talents that
we harness inside. These talents are waiting to be used. They are
waiting to become a part of your life. My favorite mentor told me
many times; when you work at something you love, you’ll never
work another day in your life because it won’t feel like work. This
statement rings true in so many ways that I’ve experienced. In
fact, through my twenty-two different roles of employment, plus
the thirteen years of business under my belt, I’ve come to realize
that there is no other way than working for myself. After
experiencing as many careers as I have, I’ve begun to respect my
talents for what they are, and I’ve grown to appreciate them.
They were what led me to happiness in my life. Without them, I
wouldn’t have been able to even come close to sharing my views
with you in this book. In fact, without my talents, I would just be
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another working ant running around like a chicken with its head
cut off without any passion.
The people that are truly happy in life are the ones that see their
talents and use them as an opportunity to do something they
love. When you find your talents, your first instinct will be to find
ways you can earn a living while pursuing them. When this
happens to you, I suggest you grasp onto your ideas and take
them to the most imaginable places. When you do, your life will
lead you on an amazing journey. You just have to take the first
step.
People that say “money is the root of all their happiness” are also
the ones that are dissatisfied with their relationships. These
people need nice materialistic things to cover up the fact that
they are truly lonely people inside. Again, happiness isn’t bought
from a store; it’s bought with the compassion that you give to
other people. It’s garnered in the time you spend with the ones
you love. It’s generated through the selfless acts that you commit
to your society. In fact, every time you commit a good deed or a
positive act upon society, your Karma meter will rise, which will
make your journey to happiness more attainable in a shorter
period of time. I recommend searching for happiness through the
conversations that you have with your friends and through the
time you spend with them. When you search for happiness
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through materialism and having nice things; you’re only depriving
yourself of a false reality. The illusion is that we need to have nice
things in order to maintain a happier life; whereas, it’s actually
quite the opposite. Happiness is only found within, nowhere else.
Each of us is unique in our own way. We want different things and
we seek different accomplishments. Being different is a privilege
that we all underestimate at points in our lives. Without our
uniqueness, we’re unable to provide anything different to our
society. Our uniqueness is what allows us to gain better jobs and
better friends into our lives. Unfortunately, many of us see our
uniqueness as a weakness.
The media has told us over the years that materialism is pertinent
to living a happy life; whereas, through the process, we’ve
forgotten to realize that behind all of the luxuries purchased, only
lies a long realm of unhappiness. If you’re able to look at people
for no more than what they are – a creation of matter, built with
the same molecular structure, and appreciate them for only the
good things they offer, you’ll be able to start living a happier life.
In reality, we’re no different than the swaying trees and the
beautiful flowers in the wilderness. Even though we’re built with
many differences, those differences allow us to live different lives;
the type of lives that are perfect in our own eyes. You have the
ability to turn the page in your life and move towards a new
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chapter. All of the characteristics are inside of you to make this
happen. It only takes belief, action and determination to complete
the cycle. The question is; are you ready to take on the challenge?
“People that say money is the root to all
happiness are also the ones that are dissatisfied
with their relationships. These people need nice
materialistic things to cover up the fact that they
are truly lonely people inside.”
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My next chapter
There were many obstacles on my path to finding happiness. In
fact, I’ve written an entire series of books relating to my own
transformation through overcoming the obstacles of my life. Each
book gave me a solid foundation to lean on within the process.
Often times, it became quite grueling. There were times when I
didn’t see any progression; whereas, there were many times
when I noticed a tremendous change in my psyche. The process
allowed me to free myself from living my life as a slave to the
environment. It gave me an opportunity to refresh myself on the
life that I had created, and it enabled me to make the necessary
changes needed to find true lasting happiness in abundance. Now,
as I sit in my lonely backyard, I see the potential within myself. I
went from being a broken and newly divorced individual who
hated the world and everything in it, to someone that’s caring,
compassionate and understands life through an entirely new
perspective.
That thought instantly sent a refreshing wave of enjoyment my
way. It’s relieving realizing that I had created a whole new life,
free to make my own decisions based on my new values and
beliefs. As I continued to sit there, I pondered a variety of
different lessons that I learned in the entire process. It was
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enlightening knowing that my persistence allowed me to generate
consistent positive changes which led to a more fulfilling lifestyle
altogether. It was nice knowing that my actions handled to my
business restart-up after it had tumbled down to nothing three
years ago. I briefly remembered the twenty-two jobs that I had
worked in the past and I was grateful that I didn’t have to work
another job again unless it was a job that fulfilled my passion.
I no longer succumb to the human-like ant society anymore. I
realize that life is far too short to live life as a slave to the
environment. When you think of it; our society believes that we
should work fifty to sixty years of our best years, working forty to
fifty hours each day, five to seven days a week, nine to five each
day. This is ridiculous. The truth is; the only way for our master’s
to put their slaves to work is to increase the cost of living or to
pressure them to succumb to one of the worst drugs of all –
materialism. Hmmm, this all sounds quite like reality.
For the last three years, I was dying to restart my business. I had
gone from a passionate youth motivational speaker, doing
something that I loved every day, to a human-like ant that
knocked door to door selling lawn care and cutting grass; doing
something anyone could do. When my business tanked I went
with it. Even though my experiences allowed me to become
humble in the process and appreciate my job for the simple
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reason that it paid my bills, I desperately wanted to get my
business back up and running. It wasn’t until now, until this
specific moment that I was able to free myself of knocking as a
slave for society and relinquish my passion again as a youth
motivator.
As I sat there, I pondered all the goals that I had created in the
process. In the midst of my transformation, I gathered research
and did whatever my passionate mind told me to. From writing
these books to producing video blogs and contacting schools
offering my services, I did it all. In fact, while I eliminated the
negativity from my lifestyle, my mind served me my passions
again. Even though the process for me took over three years to
establish, it was the small steps that I leaped each day that led to
my current happiness. I listened to everything that my mind asked
me. Each day, there were small tasks that it would tell me to
accomplish. Even though I questioned certain requests, I realized
that it was all simultaneously placed for my success in life. With
each task that I completed, I was able to move one step closer to
my happiness. In fact, with each task that I completed, an array of
joyous feelings came to me. It was refreshing and enabled me to
gain my confidence back.
As I continued writing my thoughts, my mind served me an array
of realizations. I realized that my own words served me the
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answers that I was looking for. Every book that I had written and
all of the projects that I worked on, over the past three years,
served me many learning experiences that I needed to move
forward. I realized that my hardship was needed for me to come
to these realizations. Without them, I wouldn’t have written this
book and I wouldn’t have been able to learn about life to the level
in which I have described.
From today on, I wish to fulfill my talents as a motivator, a
professional in the industry. My business plans are well on their
way. In fact, I’ve already booked my first few speeches, and I’ve
already launched a new product campaign to get my knowledge in
the hands of people that need it. I want my relationships to
flourish in business and my personal life. I want them to be filled
with happiness and excitement. In order to balance the two, I
understand that I will have to dedicate a certain amount of time
to fulfil both requests. Without a dedicated amount of quality
time spent with the ones we love, the appreciation fades, and
someday it may even drive the people that we love away. This is
why it’s important for me to serve my relationships as much (if
not more) than my business dealings. Keeping a balance will be
my aim. If I fall off track, I now understand the components to
maintaining a solid foundation during the troubling times, and
how to get back on track.
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As I move forward in life, I’m grateful for the life knowledge that
I’ve gained. I now know that I am a worthy individual, not because
of the amount of stuff I’ve gathered, or because of the wealth
that I’ve hoarded; because of the compassion I have for others,
and for the difference that I want to make in the lives of others. I
am excited to move forward with yet another chapter. Even
though I still have absolutely no idea what my future holds, I now
realize that I have the fundamentals to overcome any obstacle
that stands in my way. My thoughts are geared for positive
results.
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Final words
You too can eliminate the harsh negativity that I’ve explained and
moved onto the next chapter of your life. You can rid yourself of
any regret, remorse and dissatisfaction that is currently in your
lifestyle. Whether it’s an addiction to materialism, drugs or any
other self-defeating substance, you have the necessary tools
required to move forward away from it all. It’s all within your
thoughts, beliefs, values and the perspective you see life through.
The experiences that you’ve gone through are unique. They were
served to you simply for you to learn more about life and its
components. Again, without them, life would be very boring. It’s
time to take a look at all of your past mistakes and eliminate them
altogether from your conscience. They’ve been welling inside your
mind for far too long. As soon as you can relieve yourself from the
negative aspects of your past, the easier you’ll find the path to
happiness.
Belief is the key to the entire platform of life. Without it comes
zero rewards and a long line of unplanned obstacles. If you're
unsure of anything in your life, be aware that all of the answers
you're looking for are within the grasp of your own thoughts and
fingertips. Take the time to research your beliefs, and always be
consciously aware of what you're looking for in life. The answers
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seem to fall into the laps of people that work with the law of
attraction.
There was a time recently in my life when I was unsure about life;
its components and its importance. As I researched my questions,
I found the answers online, in books and a variety of other
knowledgeable outlets. Even though some of the answers took
quite a bit of researching before I was able to come up with a
solution, the majority of times the answers would come to me in
the most unusual ways. Sometimes I was able to grasp the
answers right out of thin air. My journey of research has led to
teaching me an array of fascinating beliefs. The perspective that I
used to see the world through, when I was younger is completely
different than I see it today. Today's perspective has built-in filters
that filter out all of the negativity. It's geared to accommodate the
needs of others and only sees the good characteristics of the
people that I come across.
As I sat there, my mind was peaceful and pleasant. In fact, it's the
same that it's been like this for the past few months. As my beliefs
strengthened so did my inner confidence. Everything in life seems
easier and more enjoyable. No longer am I led by negativity.
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“When you build yourself up; your beliefs,
values and perspectives of life, you'll be able
to strengthen your relationships and help
others find their happiness. We become
more compassionate to others when our
own lifestyles are running at optimal
efficiency.”
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Afterward
The next morning, as I got out of the shower and got ready for the
day, I noticed a pregnancy test sitting on the countertop. I also
heard Melanie giggling in the background. As I walked over to it, I
glanced at it and noticed that it was positive. At that moment,
Melanie came into the washroom; she smiled and gave me a big
hug. The words that came out of her mouth shortly after were
enlightening. “You’re going to be a father.”
This chapter of life has definitely been the most enlightening of
all. Even though there’s still quite a bit of life I have yet to learn
about, I’m excited about the life that awaits me, especially in
parenthood. I realize there's a whole new realm of possibilities
that are waiting to be fulfilled.
Success for me is completely different than the way I imagined it
when I was younger. I no longer do I see it through the eyes of
materialism, nor do I need fame or money to make me feel
confident. I have learned the steps to a truly successful and happy
lifestyle and they don’t include consumerism. They contain only
the characteristics that remain inside my mind. With the life
knowledge that I’ve learned in the past thirty-two years, it not
only brings satisfaction to me, but it also hosts an array of exciting
feelings. These feelings are surrounded by the thirst to know
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more about life. It gives me the commitment to move forward
towards a sustainable lifestyle that will allow me to achieve all of
my goals and fulfill the most important relationships in my life. It
guides me to fulfill only positive values and pushes me to do my
best.
The life that I’ve lived thus far has been filled with many ups and
downs. It was covered with a variety of learning lessons that has
helped forge my values and beliefs together. The variety of pros
and cons that I’ve dealt with has helped me gain a valuable
perspective on life and its importance. I am grateful not only for
the knowledge that I’ve learned; however, I’m grateful for the
opportunity to create an entirely new life; one that’s in line with
my values and beliefs; one that’s geared for my successes, and
one that’s committed to achieving greatness.
Even though I haven’t had a chance to fully let the pregnancy
settle within my mind, I am confident that I am ready for the
experience. I’ve been waiting a long time to experience an
opportunity as a father; however, I now know that I’m ready for
the commitment. It’s been enlightening witnessing my siblings
grow families of their own; it’s a privilege to be able to say the
same for myself and Melanie. I’m sure that there are going to be a
variety of ups and downs on my journey as a father, yet I am
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eager to take on the obstacles head-on, as I now know that it’s
the obstacles in life that allow us to learn valuable life lessons.
It’s been yet another wonderful experience with you in yet
another chapter of life. Even though, the title of this book is The
Final Chapter, I am confident you will see a lot more of my writing
in years to come. The title was merely an ending of my series of
motivational books, and to entice you to read it of course. I wish
you all the best with your creation of a happier life. Remember,
everything you need is all within you. There’s no need to look
elsewhere. I’m off to read some baby books
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About the Author
After writing a trilogy of self-help books pertaining to moving
forward in life, Kerry Girling was inspired to write The Final
Chapter. His goal is to share his words of wisdom to those that
want to be truly enlightened while tying together the important
life lessons within all of his three motivating books.
Starved for achievement in many realms, Kerry broke through his
own limitations early in life as he directed hundreds of public
speeches to troubled high schooled students. While fighting the
most common fear of public speaking, he discovered his own
passion for helping teenagers succeed. He has since then been
dedicated to inspiring youth of all ages to fulfil their dreams.
Kerry Girling is a man of many motivating words. He grew up in
central Canada, as a Metis, with the mindset believing that
anything is possible. While searching for his own passions in life,
he remained committed as a youth motivational speaker and
educational film producer to enhance the quality of lives of youth
across North America. Spoken to over one million students, in
over five hundred communities, on bullying, goal setting, finding
passion and other youth issues, his ultimate goal is to continue his
inspiration to teens and adults Worldwide.
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For further details, please visit –
www.themotivateexperience.com
Kerry’s recent publications
The past three years have been some of Kerry’s most difficult and
trying times. While going through a divorce and early life crisis, it
was through his own adversity that he enlisted himself on a
spiritual journey that has led him to a spectacular lifestyle full of
promising opportunities. During this time, he wrote an entire
series of motivational books focusing on the theme – Moving on
from what’s been holding you back. It has helped him in
tremendous ways to move forward in life in a positive direction,
and he wishes to share with you his wisdom to creating a fulfilling
lifestyle full of happiness in abundance. Here is a list of some of
his most recent publications to get you started.
The First Chapter
At the age of twenty eight, and the pinnacle of his career, Kerry
was faced with a life altering experience – an early life crisis. He
speaks in depth about the obstacles he faced that led to his
breaking point, while going through a divorce. Kerry brings you on
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a journey as he searches for his own forgiveness and acceptance
as he relives events of his past and shares his heartfelt memories.
Kerry shares how he has closed the first chapter within his own
life, and how he eliminated all crippling fears, disappointments,
failures and mistakes. By sharing his personal and professional life
stories with you – Kerry walks you through steps on how to
eliminate your own fears, so you can move onto the next chapter
of your own life.
The Next Chapter
After writing The First Chapter, while eliminating the harsh sadness, remorse and frustration from negative past experiences, Kerry chose a spiritual journey which led him into The Next Chapter of his life and has continuously led to happiness in all areas of life. He explains to you his secrets – the power of spirituality, the importance of the law of attraction and how you can use it in your life; he delves deep into the fundamentals of success, which include: Motivation, inspiration and taking action and he walks you through the characteristics of happiness and success.
Chapter of Enlightenment
Chapter of Enlightenment is an entirely different discussion. Kerry
walks you through some of the main overlooked characteristics of
our happiness which include spirituality, the law of attraction and
the most common addiction; materialism. He shares with you his
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perspectives on life to encourage you to find your own inner
happiness. This is a must read for those that wish for a lifestyle
that is surrounded by happiness in abundance in all areas;
spiritually, mentally and physically.
