Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Universal First Law of Success

The laws of success (happiness) are universal. 
The man named Honest Abe declared the First Law:

When I DO good,
I FEEL good.

When I do bad,
I feel bad.


We all know someone who is remarkably wealthy. Let's be careful to not confuse envy with admiration. Success isn't defined by what we have, it's defined by how we feel. 


Really think about what is being proposed here. I am declaring that by applying these two sentences correctly, any person can learn to experience life's greatest success: living at peace and happily each day intentionally and with affirmation.


With this quote, Abraham Lincoln describes honesty in it's purest, truest form. We live in a world filled with emotional constipation, far too frequent "small" deceptions and way too many anti-heroes while sirens repeat their well practiced song, Day is called night and night is called day. An example you ask? I asked two young men, which is worse, stealing $5 or $100. The first replied, "$100". The other said, "EHH! Wrong. They are the same." 


What would the world would be like if our families and businesses were honest enough to feel good and bad based on what they did that was helpful or hurtful! How would our lives improve if we reached this level of achievement and success before we die? 


I invite you to take a moment and ponder what this simple declaration implies....  We have a universal "happiness compass" built into our nature and souls. Sure that sounds a little corny, but it's still true. 


Living more like "Honest Abe" teaches here means some drinks won't be as sweet, some shows won't be as funny or may never be seen, some books will never be finished, some websites will go unvisited and more people will definitely know how we feel. And maybe, if we work at it long enough, someone might even be inspired to be a little better, a little more selfless because we first chose to learn how to be more self-honest and open, so that we both could win.

Side Note: Helen Keller lived with a lot of feeling: http://strongarmor.blogspot.com/2011/11/story-helen-keller-excerpt-from-place.html

Side Note 2: Sometimes to understand something we need to see it's opposite (quote from an unknown movie), "She is so dishonest, so tangled in her web of lies that if she is thirsty, she cannot ask for a glass water."  


Bryan Packham


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