Pearls of Wisdom

DISCLAIMER: This page features a selection of my own writings I have collected over the years. You are welcome to share them as long as you include my name and a link to my blog. Enjoy.

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> People fall into two categories – gold and coal. To see the strength of their character you only need to put them through fire. Gold endures the flames to become a beautiful piece of jewelry. Coal burns fast and turns into ashes. Thus judge a person’s character not in moments of triumph, success and glory but in times of defeat, sorrow and loss.

> I keep watching and listening to “gurus” that teach how to sell, be successful, reach goals, become rich, etc. And troublesome pattern emerges – they all try to teach sheep how to be lions. Just follow their formula and anyone can do what they do. Really?!?!

Here is my “two cents” on selling and persuading anyone and anything. The root of successful selling is that intangible connection that is established between you and your prospect. Words DON’T sell. Body language DOES. The enthusiasm in your voice DOES. The sparkle in your eyes DOES.

So rather than learning a script, following a formula, pretending you are someone else, find instead something that you are truly passionate about and believe in to the core of your soul. Then selling would come naturally to you.

> Ever felt like an eagle who is trapped in a pigeons world and forced to conform to their simple—minded thinking and doing? Like your soul is yearning to soar up high in the sky but you are confined to a small space, only allowed to spread your wings and pretend your flying. You want to scream that you KNOW that you are different and they should accept and allow you to be. But they look at you like YOU are the crazy one that needs fixing. Yes, it’s excruciating frustrating to be an eagle in a pigeons world.

> Most parents spend all of their efforts in teaching their children how to be successful, how to achieve goals, how to be all they wish they could be. Not that there is anything wrong with wanting your child to make a great life for themselves, but how can you teach about success without teaching about failure? Would white exist without black? Would day begin without night’s end? Would rainbow form without rain first? Would spring come after winter? No, they cannot.

And thus, teaching your children how to respond to failure would be one of the SINGLE MOST CRUCIAL values you can instill in them. The more you shield them from failing the less likely they will be to succeeds in reaching their dreams. Failure is essential to our evolution as black, as night, as rain, as winter are to our existence. Teach your children to embrace and learn from it.

> Complacency and greatness cannot reside within the same realm. You cannot unleash the potential of your being by following the rules and fearing to break them. Sure, you will lose some friends, jobs and maybe even relationships. But in retrospective, you only lose that which was stopping you from being true to yourself and living the extraordinary life you deserve.

> To understand your actions first you must understand what inspires them. Digging deeper into your past and finding the silver lining that links all events in your life could be very painful and scary. Not everyone is emotionally mature to face the negative aspects of their life. Yet by refusing to see things for what they are, one only continues to attract more negative experiences. Pattern is only broken when recognition, self-forgiveness and commitment to change take place.

> Love is not what causes hurt. Fear is. Fear of commitment. Fear of being vulnerable. Fear of losing our freedom. It’s fear that pushes us toward bad decisions, negative behavior and self-destructive spiral. That’s how we end up hurting those that love us most. All their love cannot help eliminate the fear within. Only by facing our fears straight on we can begin to heal and embrace love again. It’s our choice to make.

> As I grow older one thing has become consistent – the more you value and respect yourself the more others will do the same. That is not to be confused with false confidence or else known as ego. Ego is loud and obnoxious. Genuine confidence is subtle but powerful!

> I love how the first thing out of my boys’ mouths this morning is “are you making pancakes?” Yes, my darlings, I am. That’s one of the blessings to be a mommy and have a family – you’ve got someone to cook for. 🙂

> If you want to succeed at something you need to learn the difference between negativity and constructive criticism. Not everyone is out there to put you down. There are people who actually care and want to help you. Don’t shut down because you don’t like what they have to say. You may be missing on some awesome free advice.

> There comes a time in your life when the quantity of friendships is replaced by the quality of a few. You no longer look for validation and acceptance but instead for appreciation and respect. Conversations are filled with the important things in your life not the small, petty talk about other people’s lives. You don’t hear the words but listen to the intention behind them. And you choose to be there not because you are expected to but because you care. True friendships may be formed in the best of times but their bond is sealed in the worst of times. 

> I am not bitter at people who do me wrong. I am grateful for having the ability to recognize their devious intentions and whisk them out of my life before they can do real damage. You can walk over me only IF I let you, which means I AM the one in control!

> Never allow negative people, relationships or jobs stifle your True Self. The moment you sense the downward spiral has started shut the door, unplug the power, turn off the lights and walk away from the source. Only then you can start to heal and gain perspective of what you do and don’t deserve.

> Jealousy is a self~inflicted state of mind. It’s pretty much you telling yourself that someone else is much better than you. By feeding that notion with negativity you actually fulfill your own insecurities. The only cure is to raise your self~esteem and do something positive instead.

> You invest in healthy eating and exercise not because you will never get sick. Flu, colds, viruses, bacterial infections are likely to strike you from time to time. But if your body has a solid immune system, none of those illnesses will survive for too long. They hate alkaline environment! Therefore, investing in healthy eating and exercise is investing in your immune system.

> Sorry to break this news to you but there is no quick fix to weight loss, health and wellness. Diet pills don’t work and most detox programs have temporary results. If you feel tired, heavy and depressed the chances are you need to adopt a new lifestyle not a mere diet plan. Losing weight should not be your main motivator. Gaining strength, flexibility, energy and vitality should be the goals. When mind, body and spirit are aligned your physical appearance will transform naturally.

> The most beautiful women in the world spend the majority of their time on eating well, exercising, and on career and spiritual advancement (beside raising a family, of course). They know true beauty comes from within and makeup/clothes only compliment that which money cannot buy.

> Never envy someone else’s fortune. You would never know what they have been through or whats awaiting them around the corner. Money and success are inaccurate indicators of happiness.

> You are not the voices in your head. You are the listener. Many times they are fueled by fear. And if you let fear dominate your actions then you are never acting from your true Self, the being of Love.

> One of the greatest revelations we learn through relationships is knowing the difference between issues that come from your partner and issues that you bring into the relationship. For most people blaming the problems on the other person is the easy and convenient thing to do. They no longer make you happy so why bother work it out. Call it quits and find someone new that will make you happy again.

If love only was that simple. The truth is that if you keep experiencing the same kind of challenges, situations and outcomes with all your relationships, it’s not the other person BUT YOU that may need to do some fixing. Until you start respecting yourself you will keep meeting people who disrespect you. Until you become confident in who you are you will keep meeting people who will try to modify you to their own liking. Until you start loving the beautiful person you are you will keep meeting people who will never truly love you.

> Great wisdom in relationships comes through experiencing ourselves through interactions with our partners. Each person we were romantically involved with taught us something we would have never known if our paths did not cross. We may lose a relationship but we should never lose the lessons from it.

> Don’t allow rejection, failure and disappointment define your opinion of who you are. Hear them but don’t believe them in your heart. See them but don’t replay them in your head. Use them as fuel to propel you to greatness. Let them fortify your will, strengthen your vision and polish your character. One day when you look back, you will know that without those lows you may have never realized how great you are capable of being.

> Measure the meaning of your life not by the money you made but by the lives you touched along the way. No matter how wealthy you are you won’t be able to take a penny with you when you are gone. What you can take, however, is knowing that giving meaning to other people’s lives gave a meaning to yours.

> The best thing to do when you feel stuck is to keep plugging away. It’s okay to feel depressed and unmotivated for a couple of days but then get up and start searching for options. Ten may not work but the eleventh may be the answer you’ve been looking for. And don’t be afraid to look at Plan B or C when plan A is not going as you expected. In a year from now, things may turn out better than you expected.

> I see people bouncing from diet to diet, trying anything under the sun in search of the “perfect” diet. Let me save you some wasted hours and heartache – diets DO NOT work! Adopting healthy habits DOES! Start by substituting bad ones with good ones such as drinking fresh green juice in the am rather than coffee, eating more kale chips rather than potato chips, taking a yoga class rather than watching another reality show. It’s when you fill your life with feel-good practices that you attain health and wellness.

> Any time you choose the road less traveled don’t expect to find a lot of tips, advice and ideas from others on how to travel it. The mistakes and failures will be inevitable. The uncertainty will always be in your shadow. Success will never be a promised thing. But if you can learn from the mistakes, overcome the failures, keep your faith in why you do what you do, and continue moving forward despite the knockdowns, the road will take you where you intend to go.

> I’ve come to the conclusion that wishing for a day without any negatives is impossible. But I wish for finding ways to focus on the positive and on giving gratitude. You cant stop bad energy from coming into your life. But you can control to what level it affects you.

> Don’t love money because money has no heart or soul. It doesn’t even exist if it wasn’t for the value we assign it. Love what money can do for others, how it can improve lives, how it can solve challenges, how it can serve the world in a positive way. It’s not money itself, but what money DOES that give it a “heart” and a “soul.”

> To change the world, you must first change yourself. The energy of your transformation will flow from you into the world around you, causing ripples of transformation in others.

> Money should never be the end goal. If it is, money will never bring you happiness and fulfillment. But if you use money as a tool to create larger things that help others and create a better world, then you shall be blessed with happiness and fulfillment every step along the way. Let money work to realize your vision rather than be the end of your vision.

> Your character is like a piece of steel. To shape it into a sword you need to expose it to heat and continuous hammering to become an indestructible weapon. Think of your mistakes, failures and turbulent times as the heat and hammering that ultimately shape your strong resilient character. Embrace them, not deny, because they are all part of who you are.

> It’s not important that everyone likes you. It’s more important that you like yourself. Feeling comfortable in your own skin, living your truth and holding high values should never be compromised for the sake of another person’s approval. And if you see yourself as an extraordinary human being, others will see it too.

> Everyone has an internal compass that guides us through life. But to access it you have to understand we are more than a physical body occupying space. The center of our existence is the Soul where knowledge and wisdom have accumulated through our various past lives. You may not be aware but there is a reason why you may be more attracted to certain people, jobs and experiences in this lifetime. Learn to “listen” to those impulses because they are telling you something important. They are your internal compass.

> The reason so many people fail short from achieving their goals and succeeding is because they have never mastered a vital skills set – the ability to deal with obstacles, rejection and disappointment. Spend some time studying successful people and you’ll see that their triumph was largely based on their extraordinary ability to learn from their mistakes and continue pushing forward. You would be surprised how much that ability has to do with how successful one becomes in life.

> All great ideas were born in the mind of a single person. They all began as non-material fleeting moments of inspiration and later transformed into tangible widely recognized and accepted parts of today’s world. Don’t let great ideas die because of self-limitations and doubts. An idea, powerful enough, will find its way to realization as long as you are 100% committed to bringing it to life.

> Be careful whose advice you take. If your intuition tells you something isn’t right, most likely it’s not the right advice for you. Learn to trust your inner compass an it will lead you to where you need to go.

> Never underestimate the power of the body to heal itself. All you need to do is provide the proper conditions.

> At some point, either people stop and change their lives or their lives stop and change them.

> If something around you makes you emotionally sick, it won’t be too long before it makes you physically sick. Our illnesses, many times, stem from emotional disturbances.
> There is no greater joy than to be of service to others. It’s our innate desire to be needed and appreciated and the best way to meet it is to help others.

> People say it’s hard to do the raw food diet. But let me ask you: if you grew up eating raw foods and were introduced to cooked foods, don’t you think you’d say that the cooked food diet is hard too? To eat raw meal is simple. To eat it cooked requires so much more preparation and skills. So you see, it’s not hard to eat raw; it’s hard to break the old unhealthy habits.

>Begin each day with positive intent, knowing that you are the initiator of all things that you want to come into your life. Before they appear, you have to believe in them with every cell in your body. Leave the rest to the Universe and God.

>The problem with our lives is in the assumption that more is better. But is more equal to a quality fulfilling life? Or is it just a way to distract us from what is truly important?

>When you think about food the rule should always be your mind controls your body; your body does not control your mind.

>I’m starting to think that I do not become something by seeking new experiences; it’s through new experiences that I chip away that I am not so who I AM will begin to shine from within.

>What keeps you away from living your dreams is not the limitations others have imposed on you but the perpetual doubts that you impose on yourself. There is no need for someone to tell you that you can’t do something when you think you can’t do it. The next time an opportunity arises, look in the mirror and ask, “Why not?”

>Know this, the biggest crimes against humanity have been perpetrated by those you trust the most. By not questioning you allowed them to succeed in their unscrupulous agendas. Look around and you will see the real terrorists are amongst us.

>What jail is to the physical body , fear is to the spiritual body. It imprisons the soul by building a web of lies that kill it slowly but surely. If you want to be free then face your fear and begin to question it.

>To succeed in anything first you have to envision yourself as if it has happened. Your future thoughts bring upon the present opportunities to get you there.

>If you think you will fail then why bother trying? A person who cannot believe his own success is doomed to fail before they even start.

>I’m dreaming of a world where the only motivational force will be love. Money, hate and greed will be things of the past. People will work jobs that compliment their passions not just pay the bills. Diseases will be cured by the power of the min d not of a drug. Organized religion will disintegrate and the goal will be to established one united, enlightened society.

>When faced with a tough decision never base it on fear. Base it on love and you will never regret anything that came from love.

>Nobody can offend you if you understand that what they project on you is what they carry within themselves.

>You can spend countless hours trying to change someone by telling them everything they do wrong. Or, you can transform someone overnight by encouraging them to focus on everything they do right.

>A fine line lays between being grateful for what you have and being complacent with what you have. Don’t confuse one with the other as they have totally opposite effects on your life.

>We look for ways to escape reality when the very life we live is nothing but an illusion. Maybe what we should look for are ways to escape the illusion.

>The major flaw of our system is that the greed of few affects the welfare of many. Let’s stop trying to fix it but destroy at its core.

>Pondering the thought how people you spent so little time with can leave such a big impression on your life.

>There are a lot of things in life that may make you angry but you have to pick your fights carefully. Some are just not worth your time and effort.

>Even with all the pain, negativity, violence, injustice and wars in the world, I still see plenty of joy, positivity, peace, equality and harmony. Good and evil are interdependent. You decide which side you want to give your attention to.

>The secret to immortality is not locked in a potion or magic but in what you choose to create out of love. Beethoven’s music, Da Vinci’s art, Shakespeare’s writings, Thomas Edison’s innovations and MLK’s “I have a dream speech” have outlived their creators’ physical lives yet turned them into immortal icons.

>The next time someone says something false about you the best way to piss them off is by ignoring them. They only do it to get your attention so don’t give them any. Watch how fast they disappear.

>When you spend your whole life pleasing others it sucks the pleasure out of your life.

>Changing your life is no different than cleaning out your closet. First you have to get rid of the old useless stuff so you can make room for the new.

>To some people even if the truth hit them in the head like a brick, they will still dismiss it as an unfortunate coincidence and continue on the same ol’ path. Wondering how many brick does it take to take someone of that path.

>To survive and to evolve are not the same. The former suggests getting over the hurdle. The latter, seeing beyond the hurdle.

>Intelligent debate is not based on proving your opponent wrong but in showing them how to see things through a different lens.

>Trust the message not the messenger. If the message speaks to your soul it matters not who it came from.

>If the saying “you are what you eat” is true, that explains why you get toxic vibes from some people.

>Fear is nothing but illusion created by the ego to preserve itself. Realize that you are not your ego but your soul, and all illusion will vanish.

>A real photographer is not the one who takes a good picture but the one who captures the pure emotion of its subjects and makes it timeless.

>If more people were truth seekers as opposed to truth ignorers, half of the world’s problems would be resolved within a year.

>Relationships that make you feel like you are walking on eggshells are toxic to our well being. Without open communication you have nothing but an illusion of a relationship.

>Somewhere along the way you realize that what makes you the happy are the simple moments of peace like the summer raindrops hitting my window now.

>I don’t believe in destiny cut in stone but in creation freed in the Universe. That’s what my life is. That’s what your life is too.

>Things in life are neither good nor bad. They just are. What makes them good or bad is our perception of reality. Thus nobody is complete right and nobody is completely wrong given their own vantage point.

>Some of the most religions people are the biggest hypocrites. Fortunately, our real God is not hypocrite like them. Question religion not God.

>Let’s redefine the Holy Trinity not as Father-Son-Holy Spirit but as Mind-Body-Soul. That’s who you’ve always been since God created you.

>Times of personal crisis are not curse but a gift from God because they force us to leave our comfort zone and discover who we really are.

>The truly wealthy men are not those with the fattest bank accounts but those with the highest degree of knowledge. Never stop educating yourself.

>If someone tells u there is no other way, don’t believe it. Finding another way is as simple as switching your viewing point.

>Don’t try to make difference on global scale. Start with one person and watch the ripple effect carry the energy throughout the Universe.

>The future looks uncertain yet I feel calm about it. I know we will be okay. Every single one of us will be okay. The fear is just an illusion.

>Those who have not received what they want from life have yet to learn one of the laws of the Universe – to receive you first must give.

>To achieve more success you should not only be persistent, but also grateful for what you already have in your life.

> In the garden of life you have flowers and you have weeds. If it wasn’t for the weeds, you may never realize just how beautiful the flowers are.

> Looking for the truth is like looking for your lost keys in your house. After searching everywhere you realize they were right in front of you all the time.