The Setting Sun

Have you ever noticed the difference between the rising sun and the setting sun? What I notice is a difference in light. Looking at the rising sun, the light is bright. It is full of life as it gently wakes the resting world. It comes in gradually until we can see everything that its light touches casting out the darkness of the night. It brings a newness to the day. It's a fresh start with a bright future.

But as the sun is ready to rest from the day, it gives us a measure of it's beauty and power. It shows us the trails left behind in the sky and clouds. It seems like it is giving us a reminder of its strength and gentleness. We wish the sky could stay like that forever, but we all know that the sun must go away. The colors will fade away, and the darkness will once again cover the earth. However, the true beauty is that we all know that it will come again. The sun will rise and bring its light again.

As a child is born into this world, a newness of light is brought with it. There is a bright future for the infant as it comes with a fresh start. However, we all know that one day it will have to set. It will have to leave. As it leaves we can see the legacy they left behind. The trails of colors left in the sky and the clouds are reminders of how important they are to us in our life. We wish they could stay longer, but they have to set. Their presence will be missed and it seems like darkness creeps in and overtakes our entire world. However, just as the sun sets and rises again, so will our loved ones set and rise again. A fresh start will be given to them and we can one day embrace their light again.

Jesus Christ's life is a perfect example of the setting sun. The sunset of His Atonement gave us a beautiful display of selflessness, love and sacrifice. He paid the price to save us from our sins and death. Just as the sun rises every morning, the Savior did too rise again. His Resurrection is a promise to all who have ever lived on the earth that ALL will rise again. A fresh start. A new life. A new light. The darkness will be temporary. The sorrow will soon be gone, and the light will be seen and its warmth felt again.

The Unknown Secret of Aladdin's Lamp

I'm sure that we all know the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp. I grew up watching the Disney film and as I understand the story, Aladdin finds a magic lamp and once he rubs it a genie appears granting him three wishes.

You might have played a game similar to this growing up. Simply, you are granted three wishes with the rule that you cannot wish for more wishes. I believe there are some rules that applied to Aladdin in the Disney movie as well. I don't recall them off the top of my head, so I might take a trip down memory lane.

Anyway, Aladdin only has three wishes. Just three! No more. No less. One, two and three. That's it.

Honestly, I think that's a little cheap. He almost dies trying to get the lamp and he is only granted three wishes!? C'mon, Walt!

What if he had one more wish? What if he had five wishes? Or even 10? Or even 100? Or a 1000!? I'd still be watching the movie if that were the case.

But no. There is a limitation. A rule. Somebody telling him that he cannot have more.

We are like Aladdin in that we each have a magical lamp to rub. The difference is (and this is the secret) there are no limitations. There are no rules. We can choose to have as many wishes as we want! Imagine that! Having unlimited wishes!

But there is a catch! That's right. There's always a catch. And here it is. You and only you are the limitation. You have set your own rules to have limited wishes. You are choosing to have limited wishes.

It's time to break the rules and break the limitations into unlimited wishes, unlimited abundance, and unlimited freedom. You are the genie.

Just be careful what you wish for...

The Key to Receive

In grade school we learn about all the ridiculous rules in the English language. The most common one that we learn is taught to us in an almost cute yet taunting way. It goes something like this,

"-i- before -e-, except after -c-"

But even then, there are still exceptions! For this example, the rule is sufficient.

There is something unique about the word receive. It is to obtain, and to gain. When I think of receive, I think of Christmas. Many gifts and presents are received during the Christmas Season. When a gift is received it makes one happy. They feel joy and gratitude. But the secret to receive is actually found in the word itself.

Remember the rule about "-i- before -e-, except after -c-" and let's put some meaning behind those letters. -i- is "I" or me. -e- is everyone else. -c- is  for Christ. Now look at the spelling.

R-E-C-E-I-V-E

Christ comes first, before everyone and everything, and everyone else comes before "I" or me. That is how we receive. We receive when we put Christ and others first, and ourselves last. Once we do so we can receive joy and gratitude.

The Power of One Thought

There is immense power in just one individual thought. Many religious and philosophical leaders from all over the world have stated this quote or some variant of it.

This statement is true. However, I think we underestimate the power of this quote.

Let's reverse engineer this quote with examples of successful people. The two that immediately come to mind are Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Two men that have influenced and changed the way we live in this world.

Their destiny and legacy can be traced back down to one simple thought. If either of them decided not to plant those thoughts about technology and computers, where would we be today? I'm sure that we would be living in a completely different world in which we live now.

Let's take another example from the opposite side of the spectrum. Adolf Hitler. We can look at the legacy or destiny from Hitler's life and it too can be traced back to one simple thought. The entire world was forever changed because of Hitler. For him, it all started with some simple thoughts.

The thoughts that we choose to entertain in our minds can and will lead us to our destinies. One of our greatest powers is our mind and the ability to choose our thoughts. Which ones will you plant to reap your destiny?

Commit to 1000

I have been learning through some of my mentors about commitment. I have learned one key formula to gauge your level of commitment in life.

Ask yourself these two questions,

"On a scale of 1-10, how willing am I to learn today?"

and

"On a scale of 1-10, how willing am I to change today?"

Take these two numbers and multiply them. This is the first part of the formula.

The second part is to ask yourself this question,

"On a scale of 1-10, what is my level of energy and enthusiasm?"

Take this number and multiply it to the first number and what did you get?

You may have received a score of 192 as I did. Six for my willingness to learn, with eight for my willingness to change, and four for my energy and enthusiasm. That's a really low score! There is some serious need for growth!

There is no legend or chart to show that 1-100 are the turtles of the world and 900-1000 are the hares. It doesn't work like that, because anything less than 1000 should be reconsidered. Progression depends on the willingness to learn and the willingness to change coupled with the highest level of energy and enthusiasm.

Life is more easy and fun when there is excitement and energy! The more excitement and energy, the deeper our progression and development. Choose to live at 1000 everyday and see greater success and growth.

Compliments that Complement

Almost every English speaker struggles with homonyms; words that sound exactly the same but have entirely different meanings. Examples such as "hear" and "here", or "there", "their", and "they're" have caused a lot of grief. But there is one unique pair of homonyms that work well together. This post might even help you remember the difference between the too... I mean two.

Compliment (with an i) is to praise someone. It is sincerely appreciating someone else for who they are, for what they have accomplished, or for what they are simply wearing.

Complement (with an e) is to complete. It is to simply bring into perfection or completion.

I love these two words because our compl-i-ments can compl-e-ment another human being. Or in other words,

I believe that the world is running dry on compliments. Instead it has taken the easier route to criticize. To degrade and demean the good and worship and praise the bad. Criticism only cripples. It never helps. It never completes, but always falls short.

Let's choose the higher road and use our thoughts and words to praise and appreciate, to complete and to perfect, and to uplift and inspire.

Leaving Emotional Baggage Behind

I heard a story recently about two monks that gave me a greater perspective on life. Monks have sworn a life of celibacy, to the extent that they do not even touch members of the opposite sex.

These two monks were walking down a road when they saw a woman crossing a muddy part of the street. The first monk quickly helps and carries the woman across the muddy part of the street. They continue on their journey.

This bugged and perplexed the second monk deeply. After five hours of confusion he turns to the first monk and asks, "Why did you pick up that woman, when you know we are forbidden in doing things like that?"

The first monk looks at his colleague and simply says, "I put her down five hours ago. Why are you still carrying her?"

We carry a lot of mental baggage. This is the culmination of being victimized, being used, and being hurt. Mental baggage can burden and depress us to the point of insufficient self-worth. It can slow down progression almost to a complete stop.

The solution and resolve is within ourselves to simply forgive. Yes, it is that simple and yes, it is that hard. Simple is harder than complex, but simple always works.

Have the determination to leave behind mental baggage that only limits your potential and progression.

Lesson from the Sun

I'm reading How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It is an absolute must read for any human that breathes. It has helped me become a better individual overall.

There is a fable between the sun and wind that Carnegie uses to illustrate a point about approaching people. It goes something like this.

The wind and sun were quarreling about who was stronger. The wind proclaimed that he was stronger and to demonstrate, he told the sun that he could knock off the jacket of that man walking along the path. The sun went behind some clouds and the wind began to blow. And as he blew the man only clutched his jacket even harder. The wind blew harder, but the man simply clutched his jacket even more. The wind finally gave up, and gently the sun came out from behind the clouds. He gave the man a soft smile and the man took off his jacket because of the warmth he felt. The sun looked at the wind and said,

Everyone has the desire to be appreciated and valued. Simply offering a gentle smile can warm the heart of any individual.

The Secret to Wealth

I firmly believe that there is one simple secret that will help anyone achieve greater wealth. Now, there is a difference between wealth and rich. Wealth encompasses a lot more than just money and richness. Wealth is living in abundance. It is living in happiness. It is living in joy. And there is one secret that I have found to help me achieve greater wealth.

It is so simple that anyone can start doing it today. The moment you finish reading this, try it out and you can see a difference.

The secret and key to wealth is gratitude, and that's it.

As we express gratitude for the things we have rather than the things we lack, we can immediately feel more wealthy. It's even enough to start with your body. Just the fact that you can get up every morning and get out of bed and breath air is a miracle. Watch this video to understand miracle and greatness of the human body.

It is simple, but it can be tough. Thomas S. Monson said, "...gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues."

Be grateful everyday and you can see an immediate abundance of wealth.

Goal-Setters vs. Goal-Achievers

We have too many experts in the world that are goal-setters. They know how to come up with something they passively want to accomplish and write it down on a piece of paper. That piece of paper becomes lost and forgotten as does the goal itself.

I believe the world needs expert goal-achievers. There are two key ingredients I believe that can help us become goal-achievers. I'll share these two elements with two questions.

1.  What is your level of commitment?
2.  What is your level of character?

Dive deep into your goal and answer these two questions:

• How bad do you want it?
• What are you willing to sacrifice? 

I heard someone say for the new year that their goal was "to hit the gym hard." Being the literal person that I am, I imagined them standing outside the gym, looking at the building, and putting all of their strength into their fist as they smashed it into the wall. Goal accomplished. Not really. 

When this person declared their goal, I couldn't feel their commitment, and I certainly couldn't see their willingness to sacrifice either. How bad do you want it and what are you willing to sacrifice?

I heard one of my mentors say that "Character is consistently overcoming challenges." Sacrifice is always required to overcome challenges. Therefore, character equals the willingness to sacrifice something less for something of greater value. 

Once again, how bad do you want it? What are you willing to sacrifice?