The Value of Life

You are at your best when you're enjoying yourself. When you're enjoying yourself, all kinds of positive energy line up in your favor. You sincerely appreciate being alive, and that gratitude gives positive power to everything you do. You feel good, and that positive feeling allows you to see possibilities which would otherwise stay hidden.

So by all means enjoy yourself. But how can you enjoy yourself when you're doing something that's not so enjoyable?

First, realize that your idea of what is and what is not enjoyable is completely up to you. You can change it if it suits your purpose, and it always suits your purpose to enjoy yourself as much as possible, no matter what you're doing.

Beyond that, find something in whatever you're doing that you can sincerely enjoy. Enjoy the challenge. Enjoy the surroundings. Enjoy the people you're with. Enjoy the opportunity to learn. Enjoy thinking about the positive end result of whatever you're working to accomplish.

There's always a way to enjoy yourself. Find it, allow it, live it and yes, truly enjoy it. Feel great and your performance will soar. And that in itself can be quite enjoyable indeed.

Now is the time to follow your dreams. Now is the time to fulfill your possibilities. Life can be as full, rich and joyful and you're willing to make it. There's absolutely no reason to put it off until later. You'll only cheat yourself out of the golden days that can be yours.

Stop for a moment and consider your dreams, your hopes and your ambitions. They are yours for a reason. They are yours because you are in the best position to follow and fulfill them. They are yours because they will compel you to make a positive difference in your own special way.

Today is the time for action, for commitment, for living with purpose and positive direction. Today is an opportunity for you to be the best you can be by making progress toward your own special dreams. What are they? What can you do right now to move toward them? Consider how great that will make you feel, and how memorable it will make today.

Imagine yourself out on the open ocean in a very fast and powerful speedboat. Fifty miles away from you in one direction is an island. On that island is everything you could ever desire, the fulfillment of your most deeply held dreams. And all you need to do is get yourself there. It's just over the horizon. But which horizon?

The problem is that you have no compass, no GPS, no map, no radio, no telephone, no idea which direction it is to the island. In every other direction are thousands of miles of nothing but ocean. You look out in every direction and all you see are water and sky.

In less than two hours, you could be pulling up to the dock on your dream island. Yet if you go off in the wrong direction, you'll run out of fuel before you ever reach land.

Living without a well-defined set of goals, without knowing and understanding the purpose of your life, presents you with a similar dilemma. Your dreams are most certainly within your reach, yet to reach them you must know what and where and why they are. You must be able to set your course and maintain that course until you reach them. To get where you want to go, you need a map. Make the effort to make that map as detailed and as accurate as it can be, and then it's simply a matter of steadily following the course you've set.

Have you ever considered that perhaps your difficulties come to you precisely because you need them, because of what they can teach you, because of how they will compel you to grow? Imagine what would happen if you could look at your troubles not as some sort of cruel and random punishment, but rather as a potent form of empowerment.

Do you resent the difficulties in your own life? Why? What purpose does that resentment serve? There is nothing of value that it will bring you.

Resenting your troubles only makes them more troubling. It only brings you down even more. On the other hand, finding a way to appreciate those problems will help them become a positive force in your life.

Gratitude will move your life positively forward not only when you're grateful for your blessings but also when you're grateful for your troubles. Find a way to be genuinely thankful for it all, and the reality of your life will reflect that positive and empowering focus.

TUMOUR WEIGHING 5KG REMOVED

(January 7, 2008) On 24^th July 2007, Huang Chuncai, the China’s elephant man had his first operation to remove part of his crippling tumours drooping from his head and face at Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital, China. It was a complicated but successful operation. The wound from the operation healed well.

The Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital, after a thorough examination on Huang’s conditions, had decided to perform the second surgery on 7^th January, 2008 morning. The whole process of the operation which lasted four hours was witnessed by this reporter.

“After this operation, can you please bring me to tour Guangzhou and see the beautiful world around?” Huang asked this reporter before being wheeled into the operation theater. After receiving an affirmation, Huang happily closed his eyes while anesthetic was being administered.

The operation began at 8:30 a.m. Mdm. Ho Poh Hua, Huang’s mother and the rest of her family were waiting anxiously outside the operation theater. After a four hours operation, a massive tumour weighing 5kg was removed successfully. According to Dr. Niu Lizhi, the chief surgeon, the amount of blood lost during this operation was much more than that of the first operation when a tumour of 12.5 kg was removed. This was because the surface area of the wound resulting from the operation was twice as big.

According to the head of the hospital, Professor Xu Kecheng, the second operation incurred much greater risk than the first one as it covered a bigger surface area. Besides the challenge of stanching hemorrhaging, there were other challenges facing the medical team.

“The tumours have completely covered the ears. We have to take into consideration the reconstruction of his ears after the operation and we cannot seal them off completely as any secretion from the ears would back-flow into the brain and this would be fatal.” Professor Xu explained.

This reporter was made to understand that, after this operation, Huang would be able to walk properly and lead a normal life. But for him to have a face of a normal person, he would require no less than four plastic surgeries of the face.

Huang’s condition has been the focus of attention around the world. A reporter from the Reuters revealed that their news reports on Huang’s case received six hundred million hits, the highest hit for 2007. According to Professor Xu, a Medical Research Centre of the USA had specially set up a study on Huang’s neurofibromatosis and it’s hereditary. The centre would conduct detailed analysis of the blood from the Huang’s family for genetics and hereditability studies. The China National Genetic Engineering (Shanghai) Research Centre is responsible for the collection of genetic specimens at the national level, has also collected specimens for further studies purposes. These would help to build up a strong base for the early detection, diagnosis and treatments of the disease.

Professor Xu also disclosed that the managing director of the Shanghai Doer Management Group, Mr. Wilson Lim, who is a prominent businessman from Taiwan, and Madam Law Lee Poh, managing director of Excellence Medical Information Centre, Malaysia had shown great cares and concerns on Huang’s sickness, its treatments and progress. They had organized fund raising campaigns and collected donations of about RMB200000.00 Yuan. They had also promised to raise more funds for Huang’s future medical expenses.

It is understood that the September Film Production Company of England is now filming a documentary on Huang. Upon completion, the film will be broadcaster over various media in England. As the first media to report on Huang’s predicament that had caught the attention of the medical world, this paper had been invited to participate in the production of the film, too.

Are you afraid to fail, so afraid that you don't even make the attempt? When you think about it, that really makes no sense. By not even making an attempt, you are guaranteeing failure. So the fear of failure leads straight to certain failure.

Do you feel fear? Great! Examine that fear. Look for the message it is intended to convey. Fear can make you more aware. It can give you increased energy. It can prepare you to overcome difficult challenges. Fear can harness your resources like nothing else can.

Your fear is there to help you move effectively forward, not to hold you back. Let it teach you. Let it prepare you. Don't let it stop you. When fear is holding you back, look closely at that fear and you'll find a way to move forward.

The only lasting failure is the failure to act. If you do make the attempt and fail to get the desired result, learn from it and give it another go. You cannot fail when you continue to take action.

Would you think differently about your problems if they were not yours, but instead were being experienced by someone else? Consider for a moment the most difficult problem you currently face. Now, imagine that you're not the person experiencing the problem, that you're only an observer.

In such a situation, what advice would you give to the person experiencing the problem? Would you advise that person to become depressed? Of course not. Would you advise that person to run and hide from the problem? Certainly not! Would you advise that person to take positive, productive, sustained actions that will deal with the problem? Sure you would.

So, is that what you're doing? Are you following your own advice? Or have you allowed the problem to take over your thinking?

Your problems do not define you. You can detach yourself from them just as surely as if they were being experienced by someone else. Step back and look objectively at the challenges you face. Don't allow your problems to cloud your thinking just because you're the person who happens to be experiencing them. Think clearly, act decisively and keep moving yourself positively forward.