The Value of Life

Creativity does not get used up. In fact, the more you exercise your creativity, the more you have of it. Creativity feeds upon itself. What may at first seem like a small, insignificant idea, can grow into something substantial when you let the creativity continue to flow.

A magnificent painting begins with a single brush stroke, creatively applied. One creative act leads to another, and soon you have a masterpiece. We often imagine creativity as being on a grand scale, and yet it is in the grainy texture of life that true creativity occurs.

Anyone, anywhere can be creative. It's just a matter of opening the mind, stepping outside the comfortable box of your limitations, then putting into form and action the original thoughts which come to you.

Create, and then create again. Allow your creativity to build upon its own energy, into something of unique value and beauty.

Every day you change the world in some way. You cannot avoid doing it. After this day is over, the world will be a little bit different place because of what you have done. Will it be a better place, or worse, or just different? That depends on what you do.

Why should you care? Because you are a part of the world. The positive things you do, come back to you, as do the negative things. You cannot escape the consequences of your own thoughts and actions. So make them the best that you can.

You can change the world. You will change the world. You do change the world. You have the power and the ability to change it for the better, right this moment and every moment. As long as you're going to change the world, you might as well change it in a positive way.

You're changing the world. It's a big responsibility and a tremendous opportunity. Make the best of it, today and every day.

Anything you think to be "beneath" you will limit what you're able to achieve. The people who are truly the most accomplished are those who do not consider themselves to be better than anyone else. Humility is critical to success. Why? Because lasting success in this world depends on the support of other people. And humility is a sincere expression of respect for those around you.

If others are constantly subjected to your pride and arrogance, then any success you manage to accomplish will be short-lived. Meaningful achievement comes from raising people up, not from putting them down. Those who are consumed with being better than everyone else, never give themselves the opportunity to be the best they can be.

Self importance and arrogant behavior reflect underlying weakness, while true strength, confidence and effectiveness are evidenced by quiet humility. Be a part of the world, not apart from the world, and your success will have a strong, solid foundation.

Have you ever tried to locate something quickly in a cluttered room or on a cluttered desk? It is indeed frustrating to know that what you need is right in front of you and you're unable to get your hands on it.

The solution is to organize your things, devising a system for storing them and knowing where they are. That way you can quickly find what you need. Putting things away where you can find them does not prevent you from using or enjoying those things. Indeed, it enables you to use them much more effectively.

A similar benefit comes from focusing your efforts. Staying focused does not prevent you from doing anything. Rather, it enables you to do whatever you do more effectively. If you attempt to do everything at once, your efforts become cluttered and diluted. Without focus, the path to achievement can actually be blocked by your own ambition. With no focus, the more intensely you work the more frustrated you can become, because you're often working against yourself and wasting your own time.

Yet when you discipline yourself to focus on one thing, get it done, and then focus on the next task, you're actually able to get more accomplished. Make a point to focus your efforts, and bring more of your positive possibilities into reality.

For anything worth having, anything of value, there is a price to pay. If there were no price, there would be no value. The price is not arbitrarily imposed on the thing of value. The price is in fact a big part of what gives it the value.

If diamonds were scattered around on the ground everywhere, they would be worth no more than pieces of gravel. The rarity of diamonds, and the resulting price that must be paid to obtain them, are what make them so valuable.

Trying to obtain something of value without paying the price will only lead to frustration and disappointment. Much of the misery in the world today is the result of such misguided quests.

For anything of value, be willing to pay the price. Be grateful and enthusiastic about paying the price. Because without the price to pay, there is nothing of value.

More things can be accomplished more quickly in a situation where there is trust among everyone involved. Trust can often make the difference between success and failure.

Trust grows and thrives when there is a genuine commitment to truth. Truth is not always convenient or easy. It is often difficult and awkward. Yet truth is an absolute necessity for building trust, and without trust it is difficult to get anything accomplished.

Even liars demonstrate a respect for the truth, though sadly they also demonstrate an ignorance of how to attain it. A lie would have no purpose if there was no truth. Yet the real, lasting power of truth comes only from being truthful.

There are countless ways to evade the truth. They are all, in the end, a tragic waste of effort. Truth is just as essential to nourish the mind as is food to nourish the body. The more fully you live each moment in truth, the more powerful and effective those moments will be.

Do you have trouble taking the actions you know you need to be taking? Do you tend to put things off, and continue putting them off?

There's a way out, and it begins in your mind. When you're having trouble getting yourself to take action, focus your concentration on a time when you did take action, a time when you were able to move forward and get things done. At some time in your life you've had such an experience. Think back to it. Experience it again in your mind. Recall the things you did, the feelings you had, and the kinds of things you were thinking during that time.

How did you get moving before? What steps did you take? What thoughts did you think? How did it feel? You likely felt positive, successful and effective, and you can do so again. Recall that time vividly enough and you'll move yourself from a mental state of procrastination to a state in which you can get up immediately and start making things happen.

You've been effective before, and you can do it again right now. Get in touch with the best you can be, and put it to work for you today.