It's a Wonderful, Magical World

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="040f0f21egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="041203c0.jpg" border=0 width="32" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Magic of Reading</B></FONT><B>      |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Magic of Reading"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03ff2f02egerdp.jpg"> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14">    <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14">  <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14">    <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="34fadd00.gif" border=0 width="173" height="208" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="042f0f03.jpg"> <div> <I>It's a Wonderful, Magical World</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>"We become what we think about all day long," said Ralph Waldo Emerson.  However, If you think about yourself all day long you don't become yourself, you become neurotic, says Dr. Davis.   Spend your time immersed in quality, healthy activities--and quit thinking about yourself!   Be an observer.  </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>It's a Wonderful, Magical <IMG SRC="40422160.jpg" border=0 width="290" height="278" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="13" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>World</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I get angry and saddened when I hear of otherwise healthy young people committing suicide or doing something really stupid that causes them permanent injury or death.  In fact, I believe taking risks with one's health and well-being in any way is just plain dumb.  Life is long, don't do something ridiculous at age 15 or 20 that you will have to live with in misery for fifty or more years. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>We live in a wonderful, magical world and it is in our power to appreciate this fully every day for years and decades on end.  If you want to be depressed, suicidal, and in grave danger of physical and mental destruction, I can tell you how to achieve this sad mental state.  If you want to be free from destructive emotions, I can tell you how to achieve that state, also.  The recipe for suicide and other self-destructive behavior is to continually think about and focus on yourself.  The recipe for adding magic to your life is to focus outward.  Open your eyes.  Quit thinking about yourself.  Observe the wonders all around you.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The process:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>1.  Decide not to think about yourself for one day.  Look at the world as if your eyes were camera lens.  See details.  See color.  See light and shadow.  When looking at other people, notice what they wear, how they talk, what color eyes they have, how they respond to situations around them.  Don't see people only in relation to yourself (how they effect you, what they might say and do to help or hurt you).  Look at them.  Listen to them.  Observe them.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>It is okay to observe yourself and what is going on with you, but don't emotionalize and internalize things.  As an observer you should be free from fear, doubt and anguish.  This brings incredible freedom and power.  Try sometime just stepping back in your mind and watching what is going on with you.  This is entirely different from thinking about yourself or worrying.  It is an incredibly enpowering process.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>2.  Continue step one until you have wonderful experiences every day.  There should be at least several times each day when you stop and just observe.  Times when you get all wrapped up in watching two ants tugging on a dead beetle, or two people engaged in an interesting conversation.  Or, watch yourself as you deal with a problem or an unexpected situation.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>3.  Further enhance your experiences by noticing pleasing sounds, smells, tastes, and things to touch.  Senses are the way we experience the universe, and each one of yours can be of priceless joy to you.   This is not to suggest that you use alcohol or drugs to alter consciousness.   Innocent beer, portrayed on TV as the secret to social ease, fun, success with the opposite sex, is the gateway, in my opinion, to myriad personal problems.   How many young lives are ended each year from drunk driving?  How many young beer drinkers become problem drinkers and alcholics?   Just leave it alone and save yourself, potentially, a lifetime of regret.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>4.  Enjoy your new habit of sensing, of seeing, of experiencing, of being here now.  Do it often.  Notice the value it adds to your life.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Note:  In the past several days I have had many experiences that prove the worth of this technique to me.  Walking in a park, I stopped at a lake and witnessed a remarkable collection of tiny animals gliding across the top of the water.  Before daylight one morning I watched a variety of lights from my front porch, two of which I never identified.  I observed for twenty minutes seven or eight sea gulls fighting over what turned out to be a non-edible hull of a shrimp.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>If you would like to transform the quality of your life, become an observer.  If you would like to revolutionize the quality of your contact with other people, aim to keep the focus off you and on them.  Say things that make others respond positively.  Watch the effect your words have on others and be amazed.</B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>End</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>There's a book </B><B>with a ridiculous title </B><B>that I treasure when it comes to understanding, appreciating and using the concept of detachment.  The 1967 book by Vernon Howard is called </B><I><B>The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power</B></I><B>.   You likely could find a hardback copy on Ebay or Amazon. </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id127.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ben Franklin University"><U><B>Ben Franklin University</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>