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"Yea, though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, I will fear no evil."

The journey each of us walks is not always a meadow full of flowers.
Sometimes it is a journey up a mountain, loose rocks and steep inclines.

We so often lose sight of the beautiful scenery because of our attempts to hold on.
We have to struggle with many things in this world that makes us feel alone.

Arthritis grips us tight and wrenches pain from within. Diabetes cuts our feelings ulcerates our skin. Cancer files away at the cells of our body and leaves us weak. Blindness takes away our vision and paints our world black. Mental disabilities hold our thoughts and leave us in a lonely room. Cruelty of others cuts our hearts and leaves us empty.

We were born to celebrate, to reach up and believe. We were born to rejoice, to lift our hands to life. We were born to sing, to paint rainbows with our voice. We were born to love, to hold the hands of gentleness.
We were born to share, to be a blessing to those around us.

Reach up, my friend, and believe for that is God's dream. Lift your hands, my friend, and live for that is God's purpose. Paint your world, my friend, with songs for that is God's compassion. Hold on, my friend, with gentleness for that is God's love.
Bless those around you, my friend, for you are God's gift.

No less than a flower planted by angels and nurtured by the hands of God
--Author Unknown

Following is a list of tips, bits of advice, and wise sayings or excerpts, including fragments of spiritual knowledge, spiritual laws, and laws of fate. They present a checkered mixture and are meant as reminders to help you create a full and active life. That's what this varied mixture of suggestions is supposed to do: Keep alive the knowledge and awareness of your own truth, and the ever-present, all-encompassing confidence that a wonderful being who loves life is either slumbering inside of you or is all awake.
It doesn't matter if you cannot yet see this clearly and accept it.

As a reminder: Researchers have found that it is impossible to have negative thoughts when you are relaxed;
and no baby is born into this world stressed, trying to be cool, or with low self-esteem.
Your natural state is joy, love, and abundance in everything.
Everything else is artificial and an error.

Here they are, the tips for everyday life. Some of them may "talk" to you more than others. Enjoy the ones that work for you!

There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.

                                        -- Buddha

Our true business is to be happy.

                                        -- Dalai Lama

Death is an optical illusion.

                                        -- Albert Einstein

It is better to light the smallest light than to moan about the general darkness.

                                        -- Confucius

Truth has to be repeated time and again, as also the errors of the world are preached time and again, in fact, not by one or two, but by the masses.
                    -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A problem means FOR YOU, as, were it against you, it would be called a contra-blem.

                                        -- Dieter Horner

Fears and anxieties make sense only if you believe that something outside of yourself is creating your reality.
Without this conviction fear does not make any sense.

                                        -- Bodo Deletz

Those who always assume the worst from life are critical in a stupid way.
Those who always assume the best from life are naive in an intelligent way.

Many problems are in fact only missed moments of happiness.

What makes you happier: To deal with what you want and to increase it, or to deal with what you do not want and to fight against it?

It's your choice and your free will to decide whether a rainy day is a good day or a bad day. Rain in itself is actually as beautiful as anything else. It is fresh, it cleans the air, it gives a lush hue to nature, and it is ideal for a comfortable bath in the bathtub.

When you increase the quality of your life, life will increase the quantity of the quality!

Follow your sense of well being. When you do not feel well with an idea, then you have not yet discovered the truth.

From the small moments of happiness you can train not to miss the big ones!

It is good to practice being happy daily, otherwise you might faint from fright with "too much luck at once,"
and only wake up when the opportunity has passed.

A problem without a solution cannot exist, just as a medal with but one side cannot exist, because then it would be a medal no more.

When you focus too much on problems you become blind to the beautiful moments of life.
The Divine will is always that which wants me to make my life a paradise on Earth.
When I, by virtue of my own free will, decide to be a wet blanket, then I have to play this role alone without help from "above."

Those who have too much fear of bad things, miss the good ones. Those who have too much fear of death, miss life.

Those who, daily, grab at the little chances and opportunities also seize the spontaneous big ones unflappably and unhesitatingly. But those who have never trained and were only waiting for the one big chance will become nervous and stand under pressure to perform, and won't know what to do when the big chance occurs. Too soon it is gone.

A big chance in life is like crossing a small ocean. After you have done it, it might well be that your horizon will have changed completely and many things are different. Therefore, you should have learned before how to swim, to ride a boat, or to sail. Even when you have crossed many oceans you will find out that thereby you do not become a different person, you only receive different opportunities.
But to seize them on either side of the ocean is still up to you.

Life magnifies everything you do: When you enjoy the small good things in life, life will ensure that you also thrive on a larger scale.
But when you moan, grumble, sleep through, and ignore the little wonders of life, Life will provide that on a large scale, as well,
and you will have enough reason to moan and grumble.

If you do a good job (on a small scale), then life also will do its job well (on a large scale),
as life sees your "guidelines" as an expression of what you want and follows your will 'obediently!"

The difference between a "big" and a "small" miracle exists only in your mind,
as does the difference between a small and a big cosmic order.

When someone living in the desert sees snow for the first time, it is a big miracle for him.
He hears the snow, he feels it, he tastes it, and he perceives it with all his senses.
When someone living in the mountains sees snow, he does not even perceive it, as for him, it is something quite ordinary.
Make it an exercise to perceive things with all your senses, as if you were seeing them for the first time.

It is totally unnecessary to solve problems and difficulties of all sorts alone.
When you are in contact with your inner voice (not always, but increasingly often),
the entirety of the universal wisdom will always stand by you with a helping hand.

When you are looking for new ideas do not ask your mind, ask your heart and your sense of wellbeing.

When difficult conversations lie ahead, do not discuss with your intellect, but with your heart,
and believe that there is always a solution that makes everybody content.

You can be lazy in an intelligent or in a stupid way.
The stupid lazybones cause themselves more trouble, while the intelligent lazybones increase their efficiency, and so have less work.

It is also silly to do everything alone and to be too lazy to cultivate your contact wit;lh the inner voice. This only causes more trouble.

It is intelligent to always be nice to your inner voice, because then you can be creative together with the universe. This is true efficiency.

(Of course, you may also be diligent, but, unfortunately, I do not know much about that.)

Love for the entirety of creation is the key to becoming yourself a fully aware creator,
as love provides that we stop creating undesirable things unconsciously.

Each person has the individual prerequisites for a happy and satisfying life, provided that he knows himself as completely as possible. How happy would a sheep be, going to a school for wolves and trying to become a good wolf, or vice versa?

Thoughts and feelings are like little viruses:
They multiply with enormous speed, still, you may decide whether it will become a good-mood virus or a grumble grouse one.

Each thought is a trigger. You decide whether you want to trigger good things or bad.

The most intelligent thing you can do is to appreciate everything, no matter how bad it is. It won't take long before life will give up.
It will adapt to your mind and will only deliver good things. This is so because you design your reality with your free will.
You design reality by what you think about it, and you have the free will to think whatever you want.

This is no far-out, esoteric philosophy, but also modern quantum physics. Man creates reality through expectation.
Expect things to be bad, and they will be bad and will become even worse.
Expect things to be good, and they will be good and will become even better.
If you don't believe me, then test this on your fellow human beings.
On one day expect the worst of everybody, on the next day, the best. On which day are people nicer?

Love all "stupid" persons (always on second rank after yourself), and they will become nicer and nicer.

Love all difficult situations, and they will become easier and easier.

What you secretly fear is the first thing to come. So be clever and always expect the best.
When something does not work, always conclude from this that the next opportunity will be better.

That which you can order innocently, as guilelessly as a child, works like an express order with the universe. It will come immediately.

Reality exists only in the eye of the beholder. How do I manage to love everything the way it is? Very simply! You care for the small things in life -- What do I want to wear today? Whom do I want to meet? What do I want to think about the other person; how do I want to treat her? What do I want to see, hear, read, taste, feel? Where do I want to go? Which sort of tea do I want to drink?
On which seat do I want to sit? -- and life and the universe will care for the whole picture
(optimal job, health, friends, partner; abundance in all areas of life).

When you provide a blissful and comfortable life in respect to the minor areas of life, then life will regulate the big things accordingly, and with the same basic feeling for example, nice and comfortable, if this is your guideline within the small things.

The difference between small and big orders exists only in our minds. Life doesn't care whether we order a spontaneous healing as it happens in Lourdes quite often (as of today, 2,000 medically accepted, miraculous healings have happened there, and the number still increases), or a free parking lot in the city. The difference exists only within ourselves.

For a first step toward "creatively designing one's own life with universal help," it is totally sufficient to be merely open for the possibility. The more you trust in this over time, the faster your wishes will come true.

It is a good trick to start every morning with thoughts of gratefulness. Even if, on the first day, you cannot think of more than: "I am grateful that the sun has risen again and that there is still enough air to breathe," you will notice that the list of things for which you can be grateful will, wondrously, become longer and longer every morning. Those who have made the universe their business partner and their best friend and coach, save a lot of time, trouble, expense, and effort.
You can deal with more things in less time and gain more free time, more sense of achievement, and a better mood.

Too much brooding and too much knowledge hinder the decision-making process. This is also what an article from a German women's magazine says about some research by the Max Planck Institute for Education Research in Berlin. According to the report, among the 1,600 persons tested, those who had only trusted in their intuition had, in general, all achieved better results, even in their choice of stocks. So be clever and trust your intuition. When you further tell your mind that via its logic-orientated brain-half it can only perceive seven impressions per second, while intuition via its image-oriented rain-half can pick up 10,000 impressions in the same time, then even the most critical mind will find it logical and reasonable to "shut-up" more often and let intuition go first.
Intuition just has access to a far bigger database than the mind has.

The cosmic ordering service loves enthusiastic customers and sends many extra "free gifts" (nice, additional surprise deliveries) after them as an award, because nature is interested in happy people as they care more for nature and do not destroy her. This is like a "miles and more" discount. Depending on what "conditions" you have arranged for with the cosmic ordering service, there will be an extra delivery with every tenth order! (The "conditions" are only subject to your free will and that which you choose to believe in.)
Clear intentions will bring clear (delivery) results.

When you are still thinking about your "big intentions" you can use the time to clearly formulate the "small ones."
For example: Every day I want to have at least one nice conversation, be glad one time, to have laughed one time, etc.

Practice makes perfect, and some time in the future, your "big intentions" will become clearer. No baby is born at his wits' end, cool, or having an inferiority complex. Your natural state is joy, love, and abundance in every respect. Everything else is artificial and an error.

Do you know who you are? Remember: Being at the end of one's tether, being cool and distant, having an inferiority complex: This cannot really be you, so who are you at the core of your being?
Every human being's soul is beautiful, but to show this beauty outwardly you must first have found it within you.

You could possibly have saved much time and effort in many areas of your life, for quite a long while,
had you only communicated more often, and sooner, with your inner voice and the universe.

We do not have to have reached enlightenment to improve our lives,
we need only to really and sincerely get on our way with body, mind, and spirit, and then life will come to meet us.

Do you realize that researchers know that scientists at universities influence the results of their experiments through their preconceptions and expectations? For this reason most experiments are computer controlled, as the computer does not have any expectations. These scientists have neither worked with autosuggestion nor do they meditate at length to "learn" how to manipulate results. On the contrary: They do not do anything, and yet cannot prevent it from happening.

Accordingly, it is not an acquired capacity to influence reality with one's own expectations, but an innate human characteristic. And this applies also to you. When you expect not to have any influence on your reality,
then reality is so nice as to present itself so that it looks as though you do, in fact, have no influence upon it.

When somebody is rejoicing and is deeply touched by something, we should participate in this joy -- although that is often dismissed as sentimental -- as intensely as possible.
When we begin to feel this joy at the view of any daisy, then we will notice with astonishment how things that we wish for
just fall at our feet more and more often, and faster and faster.

Thoughts of joy and love toward things result in faster deliveries of all my wishes and conscious orders, while doubtful thoughts or anger (no matter about what or about whom) provide that even more reasons for doubt and anger will occur in my life.
Every thought and every feeling multiplies itself.

What do you, in fact, expect? Do you know the prevailing result of the thoughts that you think per day? What are your prevailing expectations? Nobody is thinking only positively or only negatively. But what are you thinking? Do you think, for two-thirds of the day, that you do not have any effect on reality anyway; or do you think, for two-thirds of the day that, in the end, most things will happen the way you want them to? Or is your perception at least two-thirds neutral, and you think that this is, after all, possible and you are open for anything? When you are not sure about this, keep a thought-diary and write down every hour for two weeks what you have just been thinking. Be honest with yourself and make a note of everything. After these two weeks, you will know what your true expectations are.

You do not believe that your thoughts have the ability to create your own reality? But you would like to believe it, as you see that it is a reasonable assumption? Then please be kind to yourself and feed your mind daily with information -- from books, conversations, lectures -- that shows that man can indeed have some effect through his expectations, and that it is stupid to expect other than the best from life! Make a list of all your positive experiences,
and of all those tiny coincidences that give you further reason for the assumption that you do have an effect on your reality.

If your cosmic ordering does not yet work properly, although it is inevitable that every one really has an effect on their reality through their expectations, then this only proves one thing: that you are not yet nice enough toward yourself!
When you feel better about and better understand yourself, and know your deepest needs and your deepest sources of joy, then you will also feel and perceive your inner voice more clearly,
and it will guide you increasingly often to the right place at the right time to receive the deliveries your cosmic orders from the universe!

Everything that you reject and condemn will get in the way of your "express deliveries."
On the other hand, love toward all things makes them come true much faster. Maybe it is helpful for you to know that you do not have to reject and condemn everything that you do not want in order to live.
To the contrary: The less you condemn these things, or persons, the less you will have to face them when they do not suit you.

If I want to go to Rome, I first have to know where I am right now to know how I might get there.
Do I need a boat next because I am standing at a river's edge, or do I need a cable railway next
because I am standing at the foot of a mountain?

When I want to become rich, happy, etc., it is equally useful to know where I am, how I am, and what could be my next step.
As soon as I am on my way in the right direction, the "street signs" will come toward me on their own.

At the beginning of our journeys toward gaining self-knowledge, we often assume that a horrible monster lives in the depth of our souls. But as soon as we begin to discover the truth in the minor things of our everyday lives (for example: Do I prefer to drink green or black tea today?), we find out that the dreadful monster has only been a terribly scared pussycat that nobody has caressed for quite a long time.

Each person's soul is whole, like that of a newborn baby. Equally, the sky behind the clouds is always blue (the clouds stand for everything from little problems to big neuroses). If you think negatively of yourself and your abilities, then you see yourself too superfluously. Because of all the clouds, you do not see the blue sky of your soul anymore. Be ensured that it is there, nonetheless.

When somebody does something stupid it is only because he cannot think of something better in that moment.
You should not take the shortcomings of others too personally, but take care of your own abilities instead.

There is no reason to make more effort than you enjoy.

Straining retards the self-discovery process. Having fun accelerates it!
There are many therapeutic approaches that see this differently, but you should decide for yourself.

Do you think it would be sensible to assume and believe the opposite of that which you want to have?
Is it not much wiser to always expect the best?

Only rarely is a situation in itself the problem. Mostly the real problem is how we think about the situation.

One person can be totally happy about the same external circumstances that make another person totally unhappy.
Only by making this clear to yourself will many problems disappear into thin air,
and uncounted moments of happiness will not pass you by.

When you see that the full responsibility for your problems lies within yourself, it is quite easy to solve them.

Problems are not there to be discussed, but to be solved.

When you are in a hurry, you are not open for creative impulses. Therefore, hurry and frantic pace never really save time.

Someone who moves through life totally relaxed, from his own inner core, will have enough time for all intuitive impulses.

It is wise to learn to discern an inner sense of wellbeing, which is derived from your soul, from that which comes from superfluous contentment. I might, for example, be superfluously content because I have taken revenge for something or I might feel truly good, from the bottom of my heart, because I have found a solution from which everybody profits and which also strengthens my self-esteem.

Somebody who knows that his true aim in life is only to be happy is able to give preference to wisdom
and does not need to insist on ignorance.

Bad mood on a rainy day?
Maybe your inner voice prescribes you peppermint tea with raspberry ice cream against inner chaos. So what? This is great advice!
I would accept it immediately as, this way, nothing can go wrong.

You may go on a holiday trip halfway around the world , but if you do not really feel well at heart, nowhere else will you recover.

Considering all the suffering on Earth, many people ask themselves time and again what this God in heaven actually is doing, except for having siesta. Others believe that he has given each of us the power to avoid all of this suffering.
But we often use our free will to not use this power.

The main difference between an unconscious and a conscious person is that the unconscious one mostly reacts automatically, while the conscious one has the freedom to react consciously, according to his decision in any given moment. This is a difference like that between a remote-controlled toy and the person operating the remote control. The person in control has the impression that he, himself, has all the power in life, while the other will think that he is subject to given circumstances and to fate.
The only reason for the latter lies within the automatic reactions that resu lt from too little awareness of the present.

Energy follows attention. Notice the beauty and it will multiply. Notice all the situations where you managed to finish something especially good and easy and they will multiply. Notice and acknowledge when something comes easily to you: When you want butter, and somebody puts it in front of you; when the phone rings, and you know who it is before you have even picked up. When you acknowledge and appreciate such things happening, they will happen more often in all areas of life.
Everything that a person sends out in words or through deeds will come back to him. He will receive what he has given.

If you wish for something without worrying about it, it will come immediately.

Rejection suppresses all creativity. If you really want to do something good for the world, then focus your perception on the beauty.
This will increase your creativity and also your desire to experience the beauty more often.
It will be much easier for you to get rid of problems and you will have fun doing it.

You are never really happy because you have solved a problem, but because you have focused your perception on the feeling of being happy. This you can do always .

People believe they must direct their perception onto the ugly in order to get rid of it, while they actually want to experience only the beautiful. That way they almost never come to experience the good feelings, as they are, instead, too busy fighting back with their negative feelings. People experience positive feelings only when they do not find any further reason to perceive the negative.
If people were not so diligently seeking the source of their unhappiness and fighting against it, they would automatically be happy.

Love does not need to be evoked. It just is and can be perceived.
But this only works when your perception is, in fact, focused on this feeling. Through your fears you focus your perception automatically on everything that might go wrong. You will always have the feelings that you direct your perception toward.

Deep within us, we feel the urge for love and of living but we are always firmly convinced that we can get this joy of living only from outside. This conviction creates all of our problems in life. Would we recognize that real love and JOY of living are only to be found inside, we would have no problems.

This list could go on and on. Read one piece of advice every day before you go to sleep and your vibrations will remain at a high frequency and clarity. The higher the frequency of your vibrations, the better you can manifest what you want in life, and the more successful your cosmic ordering practice will become. Good luck and much success!

This article is excerpted from The Cosmic Ordering Service ©2001, by Barbel Mohr.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Hampton Roads.http://www.hrpub.com

Barbel Mohr was born in Bonn, Germany. She has worked as a photographer, editor, magazine designer, video producer, author, presents "How to Have More Fun in Your Daily Life" workshops, and publishes her own German online-magazine. From 1998 to 2001, she published four German self-help books -- including the best-selling Bestellungen beim Universum, translated into several languages and a German audio edition -- which combined have more than half a million copies in print.
The author maintains a website, and the homepage, translated into English, can be accessed at www.baerbelmohr.de

It's nearly 5 p.m. and like clockwork, Mozez and Argyle are spread across John La Croix's desk at a law firm. "They know when it's time to go home," says La Croix, who has brought the litter mates to work ever since they were frisky kittens. Argyle the cat makes himself comfortable on John La Croix's desk at a law office in Boulder, Colo. Studies show that having pets at work lowers stress levels. La Croix isn't the only animal shuttle at Withers, Seidman & Rice. Three dogs, two more cats and two birds share the office.

Pets at work appears to be a welcome trend in many cities. "A lot of people have been telling me they bring their animals to work," says Jan McHugh, executive director of the local humane society. The trend is most noticeable in the high-tech industry, where dogs have become part of a casual-office culture. Recent studies show what high-tech industry leaders have been saying for years: Having pets at work lowers stress levels and makes employees more productive.

"Having the animals around makes the office more homey and comfortable," says Janet McLachlan, a paralegal who says a 12-year-old pit bull named Sophie was the reason she took the job with Withers, Seidman & Rice. "Being a law office, there's a lot of stress and deadlines, and having animals around allows you to take a break, pet them and that makes you feel better."

Pets in the workplace isn't a new concept, but it's unusual when the animals outnumber the people, as they do at the cozy, two-story law firm. Most of the office animals belong to Mary Lee Withers and her husband, attorney Ed Withers, and all were rescued from a hard life of abuse and neglect. Sophie was the first animal to come to work. Then came Libby, a 14-year-old sheep dog mix, who Mary felt was too old to be outside in the winter's cold. Then came Finley, a 2-year-old mixed breed showing chow features. The newest addition is Emmy Lou, a skittish longhair black cat who slowly is becoming socialized.

The pets obviously benefit from the arrangement, but so do the attorneys and their clients. "I'm not a big animal lover and I usually don't like cats," says Bill Alexander, a client of the law firm. "But when I go in to sign papers, the animals have a calming effect and I always feel a helluva lot better than when I came in." The enjoyment and relaxation that clients, attorneys and staff experience mirrors scientific studies of the physiological and mental health benefits of having animals around.

Tips for allowing pets at work:
* Poll employees before adding a new policy.
* Appoint someone to keep a daily "attendance" sheet of office animals.
* Have a written pet policy.
* List animals (i.e. insects) that aren't welcome in the office.
* Require employees to document their pet's health status.
* Have guidelines for unacceptable behaviors and consequences.
* Designate an outdoor area for walking dogs.
* Accommodate employees who have allergies with a pet-free work area.

The American Heart Association recently highlighted a study that suggests pets can significantly reduce high blood pressure associated with highly demanding careers.

~Julie Marshall, Scripps Howard News Service