Excerpts from a favorite book: Serenity, Stillness, Introspection

101 Ways to Transform Your Life by bestselling author, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, is a wonderful collection of "thoughts"- profound wisdom, wit and insight. Whether you choose to listen to one transforming thought a day or the entire audiocassette, it is sure to be a favorite!

Excerpts:

* Forgive Yourself for your transgressions. See that mistakes are lessons for you to transcend. Release yourself from the tyranny of self-recrimination. Make the decision to be free.

* Become aware that there are no accidents in our intelligent universe. Realize that everything that shows up in your life has something to teach you. Appreciate everyone and everything in your life.

1.Begin. You need to begin looking forward at who you are and why you are here instead of outward at the physical world or anything in it. This is your sacred quest.

2.Grow. Know that there is an invisible intelligence in everything. You have the power to make contact with this Divine Intelligence and create a life of bliss.

3.Draw your inner energy from the beauty that surrounds you. When you do so, this energy reception will become a source of strength and sustenance in your life.

4.Attempt to remove all enemies from your thoughts. The same intelligence that flows through you, flows through all human beings. When you know that, you are connected to all, you cannot fathom striking out at others, let alone feeling hatred for them.

5.Be peaceful, experience silence, meditate, and really listen to God. The result will be that you will find the solution to each of your problems within yourself -- be it related to relationships, finances, health, or self-image.

6.Keep in mind that grievances bring turmoil, while communication brings peace. If you are angry at someone in your life, work at communicating with that person about your aggrieved feelings -- no matter how difficult it may be.

7.Write down this ancient truth and reread it on a daily basis: When you seek happiness for yourself, it will always elude you. When you seek happiness for others, you will find it yourself.

8.Work at being content with who you are, rather than pleasing others by being inauthentic. Say to yourself, "I am what I am, and it is okay as long as I am not hurting anyone else in the process."

9.Relax about the future, and let it go. Instead, make an active commitment to enjoy this day a little more. It is very difficult to accomplish anything when you are stressed over the outcome. When you relax and get peaceful, you become inspired and efficient.

10.Let go of the concept that more is better. This idea keeps us exclusively in the physical domain. You can replace the more-is-better belief with an inner serenity that does not need "more" to be acceptable.

11.Forgive yourself for your transgressions. See that mistakes are lessons for you to transcend. Release yourself from the tyranny of self- recrimination. Make the decision to be free.

12.Entertain the thought that you remove habits from your life by coaxing them downstairs one step at a time. Try to catch individual toxic thoughts in the moment they are occurring, one moment at a time, one day at a time, and you will be able to achieve the transition from toxic to pure.

13.Be still and know. These four words will help you get past striving and help you get to know the bliss of being here now. When you allow yourself to be still, you will understand the futility of constant striving or chasing after more.

14.Get back to nature. Give yourself time in the woods, trekking in the mountains, walking in open meadows, or walking barefoot on the beach. When you take the time to drink in the beauty of the natural world, you will release your belief that things and accumulations are needed for you to feel complete.

15.Shed your faultfinding tendencies. Know that you are the creator of your life and that a loving presence is within you. Your ability to be self-reliant will overtake your habit of assigning blame.

16.Learn to allow others to work out their difficulties without feeling that you are the only one who can fix things. Your ego is pushing you to intervene, while your higher self wants you to experience peace and harmony. Choose the latter.

17.Put this affirmation in as many places as possible: In my world, nothing ever goes wrong. Look at it each day and let it remind you that everything that is happening to you is in divine order and comes with a lesson.

18.Be conscious of your thoughts, of the makeup of your internal dialogue. Know that any thoughts you repeat that are contrary to your divine eternal essence are keeping you from experiencing the joyous and complete life you deserve.

19.Lighten your material load, starting TODAY. As you do so, less energy is spent hoarding, insuring, moving, polishing, and so on. The less attached you are to your possessions, and the more you are able to share them with others unconditionally, the more peaceful your life will be.

20.Redirect your thought. If your first inclination is to have a judgmental thought about the physical appearance of someone, notice that you are doing so, and redirect your thought to consider the fullness of God within that person.

21.Make an attempt to shift your career objectives from self-absorption to a"calling." Use your talents and special interests to fulfil your service with your calling. Your life work will take on a dramatic shift toward abundance, and you will feel that you are "on purpose."

22.Make an attempt to tame your ego. By catching yourself when you persistently use the pronoun "I", you can make the decision to take the focus off of yourself. The more you cut back on "I", the more personal freedom you will experience.

23.Remember that you are not your country, your race, or your religion. You are an eternal spirit. Seeing yourself as a spiritual being without labels is a way to transform the world and reach a sacred place for all of humanity.

24.When you feel an inclination to blame someone else for your circumstances, take an instant to say a prayer of thanks for the lesson. The lesson is to become aware that you are the one experiencing the feeling.

25.If you are engaging in addictive behavior of any kind, the most effective way to rid yourself of the addiction is to go directly to your higher self and turn the problem over to God. That's right. Just turn it over. Surrender, knowing that the highest force in the universe is within you.

26.Spend a day silently reciting the word love whenever you encounter another human being. This practice has such a positive effect that you may choose to use it as a silent background mantra throughout your day.

27.Practice releasing the emotions of fear and guilt and replacing them with love, forgiveness, and kindness. If you are feeling guilty about your past conduct, remind yourself that you are inviting turmoil into your life. Release the guilt by forgiving yourself and vowing to avoid that kind of conduct in the future.

28.Being to change the vocabulary you use to describe yourself and your expectations. Instead of saying "Maybe," "If I'm lucky," "Perhaps," and "One never knows," use words and phrases such as "Absolutely," "Certainly," and "I know I can." When you use words that reflect an absence of doubt, you will conduct your life in the same way.

29.Judge not. If you see someone who is very different from you in physical appearance or in age or in economic status, use your mind to send them love rather than a judgmental thought.

30.Surrender. Accept the fact that your body will die and that you are eternal. Surrender to this fact when someone dies, and stop telling yourself that his or her death "shouldn't have happened" the way that it did. You can surrender and you can grieve.

31.Make a daily effort to look upon others without condemnation. Every judgment takes you away from your goal of peace. Keep in mind that you do not define anyone with your judgment; you only define yourself as someone who needs to judge.

32.Give yourself the gift of a silent retreat every day, even if it is only for a few moments. Go back to that key of HIGHER AWARENESS -- shutting down the inner dialogue -- and know that this is your ticket to peace.

33.Notice the acts of kindness that other people do, rather than their wrongdoing. We are all good, decent, loving souls, but we occasionally get lost. When you can focus on the good in another and hold that in your mind, you are acting from your higher self.

34.Remember that what you think about expands. Since you have the power to make your inner world work for you or against you, use it to create the images of bliss that you want to occur in your material world. Eventually, that inner bliss will be the blueprint that you consult as the architect of your everyday life.

35.When you have the choice to be right or to be kind, always choose being kind. Remember that you have that choice in all of your daily interactions.

36.Begin keeping track of the judgmental thoughts that you allow into your mind each day. Increasing your awareness of this judging habit will help you consult your loving presence as these judgmental attitudes surface.

37.Know that you are not your name, your occupation, or your Social Security number. You are eternally light and divine, regardless of what you have done or have failed to do, regardless of what family you lived in or what you may have been labeled. In the God Intelligence, you are holy, and you have a purpose for being here!

38.Look into a mirror and say out loud: "I love you, I value you, and I know that there is much more to you than what I see staring back at me." You will find yourself going beyond the physical you and removing many of your intrusive thoughts about defending yourself and attempting to prove your worth.

39.In the midst of a tumultuous meeting or a frantic encounter with your children, get up and excuse yourself for a moment. Give yourself five minutes to get centered, and ask God this question: "What is my purpose here, and how may I serve you in the midst of this confusion?"

40.Become aware that there are no accidents in our intelligent universe. Realize that everything that shows up in your life has something to teach you. Appreciate everyone and everything in your life.

41.Avoid exaggerating or changing facts for the purpose of impressing others. This quality may be cute in a child, but in an adult, it is a way of relying on the ego to keep illusions alive. Persisting in this practice will just keep you from knowing your higher self, which needs no exaggeration to feel important in the eyes of others.

42.Remember that your past must have taught you the wrong messages if these messages do not bring you peace and happiness. Do not be afraid to let go of those beliefs if they do not.

43.Keep a journal. In it, describe what offends you about other people. If you can be objective, you will find that what offends you is really a judgment about how others should be behaving. These judgments are that false idea of yourself, convincing you that the world ought to be as you are, rather than as it is.

44.If there is someone in your life whom you love, tell him or her how you feel, even if you are afraid to do so. By taking action against your fear of intimacy, you invite your higher self, your loving presence, to replace your ego's nonloving fear tactics.

45.You cannot have a better past, so abandon that idea right now. You did what you knew how to do, given the circumstances of your life. Instead of indulging in regrets, let your thoughts remain on love, and let your actions stem from that love.

46.Just be. Let go of all the beliefs that convince you of your inadequacies and shortcomings. Clean out that closet of worn-out loyalties to what you can and cannot do. Just open yourself up right in this moment. Just be.

47.Strength. Have conversations with God in private and important moments. During these conversations, instead of asking for special favors, affirm your willingness to use all of your inner strength to create solutions.

48.Practice giving without receiving. Send anonymous contributions or gifts. Pay the toll of the car behind you. A feeling of peace and contentedness will be your reward.

49.Spend special moments in awe of the miracle that life truly is. Awe is the loving appreciation for God's work and the presence of the Divine intelligence.

50.A budding tree. Appreciate the beauty around you: a soaring bird, a budding tree, a mother and her nursing infant, an elderly couple holding hands. Allow love to circulate from you to them, and feel it being returned. The more you practice receiving love from your surroundings, the more energized you will become.

51.Give more of yourself, and ask less in return. When serving others becomes a priority, you will start asking the universe, on a daily basis, "How may I serve?"

52.Know that you are an eternal and purposeful being. Be secure and serene, with no need for compliments or reassurances that you are in any way more special or distinct from others. We are all children of God. No favorites. No outcasts. All one.

53.Know that you don't really have to do "your best." Your best leaves no room for improvement. You are better off to simply do and enjoy and be willing to learn.

54.Be cognizant of the fact that everyone who comes into your life in any capacity is valuable. The petty tyrants are just as divine as those who provide you with encouragement and support. Those whom we judge to be unfortunate or evil can teach us our greatest lessons.

55.Try not to compare yourself to others as a measurement of your performance or feelings of success. If you do, you will have bought into the erroneous idea that God plays favorites and that you will in some way be better when you are ahead of someone else.

56.Practice generosity. People who give willingly of their possessions and their money are not doing it because they "have it to give." They are coming from a special heart space that is attracted to serving and sharing. We can all give something in the service of others and in service of our higher selves.

57.Free yourself from addictions -- that is, addiction to substances such as alcohol, drugs, sugar, and caffeine; or more abstract concepts such as approval, danger, and sexual conquest. All of this is just your ego at work. When you know that you have the presence of God within you, you will no longer be addicted to externals.

58.Allow your higher self to guide you when you have problems. Create a sentence that you repeat silently, such as: "Please decide for me. I leave it in your hands." This may seem like a cop-out, but I have found this technique helpful in many problem areas of my life.

59.Be aware that nothing will bring about an inner feeling of turmoil faster than allowing yourself to be seduced into fighting or arguing. You always have a choice -- to argue or not to argue, to confront or not to confront. Choose the peaceful approach.

60.Demonstrate tolerance and love by ignoring what may have transpired in the past. Avoid the inclination to make someone wrong by pointing out the fallacies of their point of view with examples from their past. Let go of the desire to win, and cultivate the desire to communicate.

61.Rather than continually making an issue of things with your immediate family and friends, try letting go of your ego investment in favor of a more peaceful point of view. You only need a few seconds to pause and know how much better peace feels.

62.Develop the ability to witness your thoughts by stepping back and watching them enter and exit your mind. Just observing the flow of thoughts will slow the mind down to the still point where you can experience God.

63.Develop the sense that anything that is destructive to one human is destructive to all. Know that the essence of life force that flows through you flows through everyone. That awareness will give you a loving energy that will help to bring all of us together.

64.Get a clear picture in your mind of something that you would like to see happen in your life: a job opportunity, a new love, quitting an addictive behavior, or whatever. Keep your inner focus on this picture and extend love outwardly with this picture in mind. The results will be worth your effort.

65.Be aware of your thoughts, and remind yourself that the simple act of thinking is evidence that there is an invisible energy that flows through you at all times.

66.Develop your inner faith. The kind of faith I am describing does not need a religious service or a holy book. It comes from having the direct, inner experience of God as a part of your higher self.

67.Try on the concept that beliefs restrict you, while knowing empowers you. A belief is merely a mental note attached to your lapel by your mommy. A knowing is etched into the cells of your being, and therefore lives within you with an absence of doubt.

68.Let go of any repetitious inner dialogue about the horrors and tragedies of the world. Know that everything that happens is perfect, even the parts that you dislike. All of your opinions about how things should take place are nothing more than notions you have of how God should be orchestrating this play.

69.Know that love is the least threatening experience there is. Love asks nothing and demands nothing. It calls for giving, sharing, and vulnerability, with God as your inner guide communicating infinite love.

70.Consider the possibility of totally eradicating your personal history from your consciousness, and simply living completely in the present moment. You will find a new freedom as you realize that you aren't relying on the way things used to be to define your life today.

71.Curb your need to be right. If you truly want to work on this area of restraining your ego, then simply respond to what someone has just said without offering an argument or a piece of advice. As you practice this technique, your ego will fade, and your relationships will improve.

72.Release everything that you have been told is impossible or unrealistic, and allow yourself the freedom to make your own contract with God about what is possible for you. Examine all of the doubts you have about miracles and miracle workers, and replace the doubt with openness

73.Slow yourself down with moments of contemplative silence. That is, do nothing. In these moments, appreciate your body and all of your physical universe. Notice the inner waves of pleasure that you experience.

74.Know that you are a soul with a body, rather than a body with a soul. Remember that your soul cannot be measured or observed with the tools that you use to view the material world.

75.Release the idea that a failed relationship makes you a failure. There are no failed relationships. Every person who enters and exits your life does so in a mutual sharing of life's divine lessons.

76.Make love the focus of your life. When this is the case, you will have no expectations about how others should respond to your acts of love. Your higher self invites you to serve and give without any anticipation of reward.

77.Simplify, simplify, simplify... your life! As you do so, you will discover that many items that you previously chased after, including money, will begin to show up in your life without your pursuing them. This is one of the great ironies in life: LESS IS MORE!

78.Take full responsibility for all the events in your life. When you blame something outside of yourself for the circumstances you are experiencing, you give control of your life to that outer phenomenon. When you release blame and go within, you will always find what you need.

79.Release your fear of disapproval. You do not need it. You are a Divine creation of God. When you know that you are on a spiritual mission, you become independent of the good opinion of others. Get on with your purpose.

80.Trust your intuition. Quietly affirm that you will define your own reality from now on, and that your definition will be based on your inner wisdom.

81.Stop paying so much attention to the superficial pursuits of your life. Learn to tune within and know higher levels of awareness. You need to become acquainted with this part of yourself and believe in the energy of the loving presence that is a part of you.

82.Release the false idea that you need to prove to anyone that you have acquired the necessary credentials to be considered a success. Success is not measured by externals: it comes from within.

83.Remind yourself that every negative thought you have about another is something you are thinking about yourself. Replace these negative thoughts with positive ones, and your self-esteem and self-worth will grow accordingly.

84.Do you doubt your ability to know God? If so, then know that if you are alive you have the life force of God within you. It is as simple as that --your aliveness confirms the existence of the highest awareness within yourself.

85.Drop the notion that you are what you do. Remember this: If you are what you do, then when you don't, you aren't.

86.When you find yourself troubled by anything, say out loud: "I am more than what bothers me." Just this simple statement affirming yourself as something more than a receptacle for troubles will keep you from allowing these troubles to run rampant in your daily life.

87.Remember that you are here on Earth for one purpose: To love and be loved. When you concentrate on this thought, everything in life seems to flow more easily.

88.Practice listening to others, while keeping the focus off of yourself. During conversations, concentrate on what the other person is saying and what they are feeling. Then, respond with a sentence that begins with 'you' instead of 'I'.

89.Remind yourself every day that the highest worship of God is service to mankind, and that it is through those acts that your spiritual quest will be realized. You do not need to convince others that you are divine. Do it in deed. Your inner awakening of joy and bliss will be enough reward.

90.Release your ego. Examine everything that offends you and see if you can get your ego out of the picture. When you are offended, you are actually thinking, "This is awful. How could God allow it?" Release your ego, then act upon that which you are for. There will be no need to fight.

91.Resist the need to boast about yourself. Strive to be interested, rather than interesting. Become the listener, the one who cares about the accomplishments and activities of others, and you will not need to distort your personal storyline.

92.Avoid dictating to those who are smaller, younger, or less educated. We are all at different stages on the spiritual path, but none of us is "better' than anyone else. We're just different.

93.Remind yourself that God created you in perfect love that is changeless and eternal. Your body is changing, as is your mind, so you are not that body or that mind. You were created as a spirit that is pure love. That is where you want to keep your attention focused.

94.Instead of cursing the past, bless it and forgive yourself entirely. When you know that all of those experiences were a part of the Divine design of your life, you can afford to forgive.

95.Remember that whatever you want to know or accomplish in your life is possible if you are truly ready to trust in your divine powers to manifest it. You will find that the appropriate teachers will appear for you, and that you will be guided in the right direction.

96.Try not to judge God. Know that hurricanes, tornadoes, crime, and poverty are as much a part of the Divine plan as are sunny days, calm seas, and compassion and prosperity. Your desire to improve conditions is also a part of the plan. So, concentrate on THAT rather than on why certain conditions seem "wrong."

97.Love is the best antidote to fear and doubt. Therefore, when you experience a moment of fear and doubt, give yourself a portion of mental love, and remind yourself that you are a holy creation.

98.Know that objects cannot give you freedom. They only demand more companions and further enslave you. The idea of purchasing freedom in any way is a false idea, and this false idea tells you to expect freedom when you achieve a certain level of financial accumulation.

99.Free yourself of prejudice. Prejudiced thinking comes from treating your mind like a rental space for the thoughts and beliefs of others. The antidote for toxic, prejudging thoughts is to suspend your ego and listen to your higher self. You will begin knowing that no one on this planet is superior or special in the eyes of God, just as no one is non-special.

100.Think globally rather than locally. People who look different, who speak a different language, who have different beliefs, are a part of US. We are all in NOW-HERE together. In the eyes of the loving presence, there are no favorites.

101.Adhere to the most important guideline ever passed on to us from the spiritual world: Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself. Make this a daily affirmation.

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