The fourth lesson I have learnt, is the importance of humility. Sometimes, when you get so much in life, you really start wondering, whether you deserve all of it. We have so much to be grateful for. Our parents, our teachers and our seniors, have done so much for us, that we can never repay them. Many people focus on the shortcomings, because obviously, no one can be perfect. But it is important to first acknowledge, what we have received. Nothing in life is permanent, but when a relationship ends, rather than becoming bitter, we must learn to savor the memory, of the good things, while they lasted.
The sixth lesson I have learnt is, never give up in the face of adversity. It comes on you, suddenly without warning.. Always keep in mind, that it is only the test of fire, that makes fine steel. A friend of mine shared this incident with me. His eight-year old daughter was struggling away at a jigsaw puzzle. She kept at it for hours but could not succeed. Finally, it went beyond her bedtime. My friend told her, "Look, why don't you just give up? I don't think you will complete it tonight. Look at it another day." The daughter looked with a strange look in her eyes, "But, dad, why should I give up? All the pieces are there! I have just got to put them together!" If we persevere long enough, we can put any problem into its perspective.
The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our strengths. There is an imaginary story of a rabbit. The rabbit was enrolled in a rabbit school. Like all rabbits, it could hop very well but could not swim. At the end of the year, the rabbit got high marks in hopping but failed in swimming. The parents were concerned. They said, 'Forget about hopping. You are, anyway good at it. Concentrate on swimming.' They sent the rabbit for tuitions in swimming. And guess what happened? The rabbit forgot how to hop! As for swimming, have you ever seen a rabbit swim? While it is important for us to know what we are not good at, we must also cherish what is good in us. That is because it is only our strengths that can give us the energy to correct our weaknesses.
Smile more and stop complaining! It might be hard at the beginning but it will get easier. Your smile will be a facilitator between you and many nice people who will be just like you - smart, enthusiastic and positive. Often people are complaining that there are not reasons to smile. Not necessary true. How about beauty of life, having a family or beautiful children!
Don't oversleep. It might sounds out of order but it is not. People who oversleep are more likely to have depression. This not necessarily means that everyone who oversleeps has a problem. You just make sure that your sleep is between 7 and 9 hours. Oversleeping will make you miss a lot of life - like brisk morning jog or reading the morning paper on your back porch. And your newly positive nature doesn't want to miss anything from the joys of life!
Change the way you talk. That is very critical to your success but doesn't require more than simple repetition. Instead of I'll fail, I don't know or that's impossible use words like I can do it, I can learn or why not - only the sky is the limit! The newly positive attitude will help you at work too - if you manager ask you - the person with "I can attitude" and a person who used to be like you - unsure and unwilling, who do you think is going to land a promotion faster?
Stop digging into your past and blame yourself for old mistakes. Admit it - there is not much you can do about the past. You will only heart yourself and make yourself depressed. You might not be very desirable company either. Try to think positively and make yourself aware that you are in control of your present and your future - how amazing is that?
Think of the lessons you learnt. Every time you go thru hard time or some sad situation, outline all the lessons you learnt and ask yourself would you learn that if you didn't overcome that obstacle. For example, getting broke and starting all over is not the end of the world - it leads to many positive things like learning to manage better your money or knowing who your real friends are!