How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood?  

Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day?  Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back on your heels.  However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly one can get back their focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson.  I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station.  We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.  My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us.  My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.  And I mean, he was friendly.  So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

"Many people are like garbage trucks.  They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.  As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it.  And if you let them, they'll dump it on you.

When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally.  You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.  You'll be happy you did."

So this was it: The "Law of the Garbage Truck."  I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me?  And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people:  at work, at home, on the streets?  It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do it anymore."

I began to see garbage trucks.  Like in the movie "The Sixth Sense," the little boy said, "I see Dead People."

Well, now "I see Garbage Trucks."  I see the load they're carrying.  I see them coming to drop it off.  And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field.  He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled.  He never dwelled on a hit.  Payton was ready to make the next play his best.  Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting.

Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses.
Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

What about you?  What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here's my bet.  You'll be happier.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so.  Love the people who treat you right.  Forget about the ones who don't.   Believe that everything happens for a reason.  If you get a chance, TAKE IT!
If it changes your life, LET IT!
Nobody said it would be easy...
They just promised it would be worth it!

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood?  

Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day?  Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back on your heels.  However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly one can get back their focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson.  I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station.  We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.  My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us.  My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.  And I mean, he was friendly.  So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

"Many people are like garbage trucks.  They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.  As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it.  And if you let them, they'll dump it on you.

When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally.  You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.  You'll be happy you did."

So this was it: The "Law of the Garbage Truck."  I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me?  And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people:  at work, at home, on the streets?  It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do it anymore."

I began to see garbage trucks.  Like in the movie "The Sixth Sense," the little boy said, "I see Dead People."

Well, now "I see Garbage Trucks."  I see the load they're carrying.  I see them coming to drop it off.  And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field.  He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled.  He never dwelled on a hit.  Payton was ready to make the next play his best.  Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting.

Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses.
Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

What about you?  What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here's my bet.  You'll be happier.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so.  Love the people who treat you right.  Forget about the ones who don't.   Believe that everything happens for a reason.  If you get a chance, TAKE IT!
If it changes your life, LET IT!
Nobody said it would be easy...
They just promised it would be worth it!

“You are dreaming of becoming one of the best. Train to achieve your goals. It’s gonna be hard. You will get hurt and there will be lost battles along the way but don’t give up and train hard. You will be tired and have to give everything but train harder. Success will come.”

Anger cannot be overcome by anger. If someone is angry with you, and you show anger in return, the result is a disaster. On the other hand, if you control your anger and show its opposite – love, compassion, tolerance and patience – not only will you remain peaceful, but the other person's anger will also diminish.

How the path was forged

One day, a calf needed to cross a virgin forest in order to return to its pasture. Being an irrational animal, it forged out a tortuous path full of bends, up and down hills.

The next day, a dog came by and used the same path to cross the forest. Next it was a sheep’s turn, the head of a flock which, upon finding the opening, led its companions through it.

Later, men began using the path: they bent down, deviating obstacles, complaining and cursing – and quite rightly so. But they did nothing to create a different route.

After so much use, in the end, the path became a trail along which poor animals toiled under heavy loads, being forced to go three hours to cover a distance which would normally take thirty minutes.

Many years passed and the trail became the main road of a village, and later the main avenue of a town. Everyone complained about the traffic, because the route it took was the worst possible one.

Meanwhile, the old and wise forest laughed, at seeing how men tend to blindly follow the way already open, without ever asking whether it really is the best choice.

"Death is secure, life is insecurity.
One who really wants to live has to live in danger, in constant danger.
One who wants to reach to the peaks has to take the risk of getting lost.
One who wants to climb the highest peaks has to take the risk of falling
from somewhere, slipping down" Osho

‎"When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around."

A wise Chinese master has this to say about the strategies of the warriors of light:

‘Convince your enemy that he will gain very little by attacking you; this will diminish his enthusiasm.’

‘Do not be ashamed to make a temporary withdrawal from the field if you see that your enemy is stronger than you; it is not winning or losing a single battle that matters.’

‘Even if you are very strong, never be ashamed to feign weakness; this will make your enemy act imprudently and attack too soon.’

‘Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.

‘To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

‘Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

‘You have to believe in yourself.'

Warrior of the light

All the roads in the world lead to the heart of the warriors of light.

They plunge unhesitatingly into the river of passions always flowing through their lives.

The warriors knows that they are free to choose their desires, and they make these decisions with courage, detachment and – sometimes – with just a touch of madness.

They embrace their passions and enjoy them intensely.

They know that there is no need to renounce the pleasures of conquest; they are part of life and bring joy to all those who participate in them.

But they never lose sight of those things that last or of the strong bonds that are forged over time.

A warrior of light can distinguish between the transient and the enduring.

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says "I'M POSSIBLE"!

If wealth is the secret to happiness, then the rich should be dancing on the street - but the poor kids do that.

If power ensures security, then officials should have walked unguarded - but only who live simply, walk unguarded.

"Live simple, walk humble & Love genuinely to have the best life."

"Meditation is not a solution of any problem in particular; it solves nothing. It simply helps you to get rid of the mind, the problem-creator. It simply helps you to slip out of the mind like a snake slips out of the old skin.  Once you know you are not the mind the great transcendence has happened. Suddenly all problems become insignificant; slowly, slowly they evaporate. You are left with a profound peace; a great silence prevails.  This silence is the solution. This peace is the answer, the answer of all answers." Osho

"It is through our basic relationships with God and others that we find the meaning of life and reach the fulfillment that God intends for us.

The fundamental problem of life is the problem of love. Without real love nothing else seems to make sense or to matter. We have a fundamental need to be loved, lovable, and loving. No fulfillment is possible without love. Love has the power to heal us, to renew us, to make us safe, to bring us deep joy, and to bring us closer to God and to each other. To think that we can exist apart from others and from the universe is an illusion. Love redefines our very existence in relationship to others, and brings about heaven on Earth.

One day we will realize that the things that cannot be counted or measured mean more in life than the things that can be counted. Why? Because they are the most real and the most valuable. This is what Antoine de Saint Exupery (1900-1944), the author of The Little Prince, meant when he wrote: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."

And when St. Paul was talking about faith, hope, and love, he indicated clearly which was preeminent: "...the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor 13:13). In that same epistle, he also wrote:

"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing (1 Cor 13:1-3).

Love is, indeed, the greatest power known to humankind. This tells us that, at the end of the day and of life, what we human beings really want is something that surpasses the desires for recognition, power, money, and things. What we really want is love. Love can heal and transform our lives. If we go to the ends of the earth and of ourselves to find this love, we will be rewarded with an understanding of the very reason we are here." - Jean Maalouf

Darwin's Perspective: With the daily pressure to perform, conform and succeed in life, it can seem a bit counter-intuitive to conclude that what really matters is love. After all, society regularly reinforces that money, class, career and power are worthwhile pursuits. And so too it would be counter-intuitive to conclude that society has it all wrong. Why would we have evolved the way we have? How could it be possible that God is present in our lives but that Humanity has steered off course?

As much as you might find fault in the world and not agree with where things are going, please resist the simple temptation to conclude that we're completely off course. Much like the events in your life point you towards your unique purpose, the state of our society is naturally the way it is. Our human condition is evolving and we are advancing to the conclusion of choosing love.

The world in which we live is full of chaos, dysfunction and negativity. There is no way to ignore the faults of our world. But this is merely the escalation of the human condition on a path to concluding that love is the better choice. It starts with you. In your heart, you will one day soon be presented with a tough choice to make. In your Mind, that voice in your head will tell you which choice to make. But tugging at you will be the aspirations of Spirit which will encourage you to choose the more loving option. This small moment in your life will be the catalyst of your awakening. In that moment, you will awaken to choice and choose love. In that moment, your connection to Spirit will strengthen and the bond shall grow from there. Your life will never be the same.

The same is the case for society. As more and more individuals awaken to this choice, more and more will choose love. As these numbers grow, this choice will spread and the path of love will become the majority. This is our divine destiny. The only unknown is when.

Upon looking back on the chain of events that changed everything, there will be a link that connects back to your choice. Your little choice is causal in the chain of events that will chart a new course for humankind. It would be a mistake to trivialize your role to play or the power of your choice. For without you, the chain remains broken and waits for another day.

‎"I've come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that's as unique as a fingerprint - and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you." -- Oprah Winfrey

What Are You & What You Want ?? - Bob Proctor

“It takes someone with a vision of the possibilities to attain new levels of experience. Someone with the courage to live his dreams.” – Les Brown

I have come home

"Intellect is thinking. And consciousness is discovered in a state of no-thinking, so — utter silence, that not even a single thought moves as a disturbance. In that silence you discover your very being — it is as vast as the sky. And to know it is really to know something worthwhile; otherwise all your knowledge is garbage. It may be useful, utilitarian, but it is not going to help you transform your being.It cannot bring you to a fulfillment, to contentment, to enlightenment,to a point where you can say, "I have come home." Osho

‎"If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right."

Follow your heart

"Look deep into your heart. Listen to the still small voice within. And remember one thing: life is fulfilled only through longings, never through ambitions. Life becomes blissful only through the heart, never through the mind. Mind creates science, the heart creates religion. Mind can give you better technology, better gadgets. The heart gives you the real, ultimate values: love, bliss, truth, freedom, awareness, God. And a life without these values is valueless."

"You go on dreaming, imagining beautiful things for the coming days, the future. But in moments when danger is imminent, then suddenly you become aware that there may be no future, no tomorrow, that this is the only moment you have got. So times of disaster are very revealing. They don´t bring anything new in the world; they simply make you aware of the world as it is. They wake you up. If you don´t understand this, you can go mad; if you understand this, you can become awakened."