[CAPTAINZING2000]

1. BE QUIET. At least once a day, sit down.

There is a source within each one of us called the
spirit or soul. It is a crime to disturb the inner
peace. This peace is our power to create
positive things in our life.

Try speaking softly and slowly than your usual way.
Speaking this way is more powerful because it attracts
the peace in others. Just be aware of your words.
Savor their energy and rhythm.

2. LET GO. Don't hold on to anything with your hand or
with your mind.

Many think that doing this means losing. If you don't
release the old, you can't get anything new. This
requires detachment. Letting go means moderating
excessive attachment to material possessions, to
emotions, or to the status quo or comfort zones in our
lives.

3. LET IT BE. We are great fixers of other people's
lives.

We're trying to write somebody else's script. We are
absent from our own lives because we're busy living
the life of others. Acceptance and contentment are the
first steps to healthy relationships. An example is
our appreciation of the moon, which is beyond change.
We never dream of wanting to change or influence it,
nor have we the slightest remorse that the same face
of the moon is always turned toward us: We have no
need to see the dark side. Extend this deep feeling of
acceptance to the people we meet.

4. LISTEN IN. Use your intuition, the inner tutor and
the voice of wisdom.

Because we have held on to our false beliefs for so
long, we ignore and distrust our inner voice and tell
it to shut up. The process of enlightenment is the
process of learning to trust that inner voice once
again.

Example is the conscience as intuition at work. When
we misbehave, the voice of conscience alerts us to our
mistake. We may shun that voice, engaging in reason as
the ally of ego to justify our deeds. Yet the
troubling intuitive disapproval of conscience will go
on to make its rebukes. We can either suppress the
advice or repair the wrong.

5. WAKE UP. Habits are programmed by our external
conditioning.

Write your own habits then decide which ones to strike
out and replace them with virtues. Visualize the
virtue you want to create and empower that image. For
example, if you want to develop patience, visualize
yourself as a patient person. Watch, feel and manifest
patience in every action you do until it becomes your
behavior. Waking up is to consciously choose your
behavior and thereby create the personality
(character) you want. Never believe anyone who says,
"You can never change."

6. KNOW YOURSELF. Look behind the "I want" attitude,
those desires that make us need things that are not
necessary.

The truth is, happiness is a choice, not a chore; a
decision to bring out from the self. Affirm that you
are happiness, a source of happiness.

7. PASS IT ON. Take one idea from this article then
pass it on to another.

You empower yourself and the other as you share this
truth. This is also giving value to the time you spent
reading this. Life is like a river,
constantly flowing. The highest purpose of rivers is
to nourish plants and people who are fellow travelers
in the journey of life. Our highest purpose is to
nourish others. Like the river, the greatest gift one
can give is wisdom. Through this, you empower yourself
as well as others.