Preparation for a successful New Year

The New Year is not just a set of positive affirmations. Nor is the denial of reality, as you cannot drown your problems in a euphoria that lasts hours or up to a few days.

New Year is something SERIOUS, for which we need three keys to ensure its success: lots of creativity, meditation and humor. How to experience this?

Creativity will grant you novelty in life. Old formulas tend to give a lot of pain ... It is better to reinvent the self. Change your consciousness, use new attitudes, try a change in your way of seeing the world and of course, some physical changes are always beneficial. Do not forget that you have a potential MUCH bigger than what you do now - explore it without fear, with love towards yourself and enthusiasm to transform the life you lead.

Meditate and experience a new inner world, an infinite world that can never end. It is the experience of who you really are, in contrast to the experience of your current state. It is living this inner happiness in your being, which is there, waiting you to leave aside old habits of unhappiness and sadness. Meditate. Daily.

And do not forget that New Year is something serious, because your life is at stake. So never miss your good humor. No matter what happens, do not let the smile disappear from your heart and watch everything going on around you as a new opportunity, something wonderful. Through humor you have the unique chance to feel like a little child for whom the world is always open to give the best it has.

If you only work on these three keys in your life, you will see the overall success which will take shape before your eyes. A success that will not only make you feel full, it will inspire many other people too.

May you have an incredible New Year!

My MERRY CHRISTMAS to you...

One of the most special times of the year is its end. It seems that the entire population of the world (almost) begins to rethink their year, their life and existence, reviewing what has been accomplished and achieved, what was missing and what can be done for next year. But before that, we celebrate a very special date.

Although Christmas is Christian, its message has exceeded the barriers of religion and culture. It is a message of renewal, forgiveness and charity that cannot be ignored, but sometimes is confused with limited trade and mercy.

As it comes so close to the end of the year, allows us a deeper reflection, because as humans it is how we grow: we reflect, we expand our awareness and then share with others.

Want to give yourself a gift? Answer a few questions and apply their answers in your own life. If you want, send them to other people who can benefit from this reflection:

• How I have renewed my own self? Christmas means birth. The image of little baby Jesus born in a stable has a deep spiritual meaning: it is the highest and purest awareness born in a fallen world to help it to improve and transform. Do you let this new awareness that wants to stay afloat become part of your own life? It is an awareness that connects you directly with God and the divine we all have.
• To what extent have I forgiven? Many negative situations happen to us and hurt us. Forgiveness is the magic balm we have in our heart that allows us to move forward and enable others to keep on going. It is the ability to understand and find internal resources to grow, no matter the tragedy we have experienced. Also, the more we forgive, we will feel healthier inside.
• How much charity have I done this year? I think for some people that means to give someone a few cents, or maybe clothes that nobody else uses in the house ... Charity truly begins in the mind, where I understand my own treasures and decide to share with others. Charity can be in the form of a smile given to someone in a difficult time, a word of encouragement, something physical you value but you know it will be more useful to others, and mainly a genuine positive thinking towards the other.

May this Christmas be the time when your heart is satisfied and you can satisfy others' hearts!

The art of organizing (The 16 celestial arts)

On the 70's and 80's, the art of organization left some areas of human society and got into the mainstream of our own society. It became common - several agendas emerged, diaries, PDAs, etc.

However, what happened was the opposite of what should happen. As more means for self-organization started to be used, more organization was needed! So, more - new and sophisticated - gadgets came into existence. Result: more organization is needed.

A common person doesn't talk to his or her friends most of the time - no statistics here, but reality is that social interaction has decreased at least 80% in relation to the 60's. Sorry, no Facebook counting here... talking about REAL interaction, 3D, touching and feeling... After all, according to an old experiment, we humans need physical contact to grow and develop ourselves.

Also, tasks are not less and not better manageable because we have more instruments. Just look at a normal airport and you can see errors increasing at a fast pace - lost luggage, more time in queues than actual flying, etc.

Organizing yourself is not something you can assign to a machine. When you and I act, we use all our energies for that - time, money, intelligence, emotions, experience, desires, dreams, etc. How much of that you can really transfer to a Google Calendar?

Clarification: nothing wrong about using instruments. I use them. I just don't rely on them.

The art of organizing comes from another art... an old and almost lost art, the art of writing.

Writing is something different than typing, as the former is more art than mechanic, the basics of typing. So, just try to organize yourself by using your own hands.

For instance, I have an agenda of priorities. It is a basic text file, easy to manage. After putting into it all priorities I have, I start to write each one of them into a piece of paper. After that, I prioritize them.

The result is a very interesting sense of satisfaction when I see the pile of slips of paper disappearing around...

Start with a small to-do list. Perhaps a wish-to-do list. Experiment with yourself and you will see its impact in your organization process as a whole.

The art of keeping others happy and healthy (The 16 celestial arts)

A basic principle in life is that you cannot really change another person. But you can cooperate with their own change.

You can make someone superficially happy, if you give them a gift or you cook something nice for them. Economy works around happiness too: when people get some kind of happiness, they invest more of whatever they have into that; then people start to get unhappy, countries suffer as their investment leave to happier places.

But, to keep someone happy and healthy, thinking of healthy as a state of being, that is not so easy.

Yet, it is very easy. Just keep YOURSELF happy and healthy. It is a reality that you give whatever you have to others. So, if you have plenty of happiness that is what you are going to give them. If you yourself are feeling unhappy, that unhappiness will go towards them too.

Happiness is more than just smile or feeling good inside. It is a state where you feel all your needs are satisfied and the role you perform in this world is for enhancement, not for survival. It is that powerful feeling inside the heart that all is OK, all is good and all will always be good, no matter what.

Happiness is the best medicine as it relieves the mental stress and open new possibilities in life. When you tap into that deep resource we humans have, naturally you will give that to others.

The art of remaining happy and content (The 16 celestial arts)

Being happy is the aim of our lives. It does not matter how we try to accomplish that - by working 14 hours a day, moving to another country or even, paradoxically, starting a war - we all aim to be happy. Not only happy; happiness and contentment should be together.

If you see from this point of view, you will understand all social, technological and economic changes in the world today. Those changes indicate the lack of happiness and the attempt to get that.

It is not a small thing, happiness. A few countries are starting to give importance to it and, in this way; they try to value the most important reason why we work so much... But it is not an easy task.

And, what about you? Do you value happiness more than your job, your exercises and the party last night? Yes, you do all of that because you believe you can be happy and content, at least at some point of your life. However, many times we forget that on our way towards happiness.

It is important to remember, from time to time, the reasons behind the actions, words and thoughts. And, from time to time, the art of remaining happy and content will provide you with the capacity to reflect on your own self, and to understand what is happening to you. If necessary, you will feel the inner power to stir the boat of your life towards the right direction. Towards being fully happy and content.