You might be somewhat amused by my misadventures on the link below. Among them are my first softball pitching experience, trying to bowl a 300 game, first chess tournament, first tennis match, and almost figuring out how to putt.

http://learnthehardway.blogspot.com

...and click on one of the Labels shown on the upper right.

We all think we would do things differently if we had our life to do over again. But guess what? Today is the first day of the rest of your life, so do something about it. It is never too late.

Life can be as much fun as you want it to be, make a wish list and go for it.

Too bogged down, too busy to think about it? Take time to appreciate the world's beauty, stop and smell the roses. Marvel at the many intricacies of nature.

Here is a way to make life better...both for you and for others

Words of wisdom from Zig Ziglar and Earl Nightingale -

You can get anything you want I life, all you have to do is help other people get what they want.

Think about it. What goes around, comes around.

People will feel obliged to be there for you, if you have been there for them before.

Don’t be like the man who said to the stove "Give me heat and then I will give you fuel". There is not going to be any heat until you provide the fuel.

Figure out who are the people who are in a position to help you the most, and figure out what you can do to please them, and always be quick to respond to any request from them.

The final 3 Traits from Think And Grow Rich are all related.


11. SUBCONSCIOUS MIND
Most people do not realize how powerful an ally or how powerful an enemy this can be. You cannot directly control the subconscious mind, but you can influence it over time by autosuggestion.
Plant only positive thoughts of faith and confidence. Follow hunches. Picture success scenarios. Use this to develop a 6th sense of advanced intuition.

12. THE BRAIN
Know when to use both the conscious part and the subconscious part...appreciate its potential and challenge it, stretch it. It has the power to bring you anything you wish, just use it properly. Treat it like a garden. It is your choice whether or not you want to cultivate beauty or let it go to weeds.

13. 6TH SENSE
This can only be used if the above 12 steps are already in place. This is the source of your flashes of inspiration and hunches. All creating starts with simple concepts. You cannot turn this on and off at will, but relaxing helps. This usually works better as you get older, probably because you have more experiences to draw from.

Trait #10 from Think And Grow Rich


ENTHUSIASM

If you desire something, don’t be passive about it.

If you don’t feel enthusiastic, ACT enthusiastic anyway until it becomes a habit.

Habits are not broken, they are replaced by other habits.

Logic will not change an emotion, but action will.

Trait #9 from Think and Grow Rich.

MASTERMIND GROUP

Nobody knows everything. Many heads are better than one.

Take part in group discussions to learn more. Have brainstorming sessions with rules that disallow criticism, because sometimes an idea comes out that sounds silly at first, but it triggers someone else to add to it and improve it.

Criticism might intimidate people from expressing what might have resulted in a really good new idea.

Pick your group members carefully. Avoid negative attitudes.

Trait #8 from Think And Grow Rich


PERSISTENCE

Cultivate a state of mind that builds the power of your will.

Persistence is the difference between success and failure. Is Babe Ruth known more for his large number of strikeouts, or his home runs? Is Thomas Edison known more for his thousands of failures or for his successes?

You can’t win a point in a tennis game unless you attempt to return every shot.

Refuse to fold. This requires the type of effort that separates the the men from the boys, or the women from the girls.

Have the courage to know what you want, and the desire to get it.

Good habits bring good results automatically.

A big shot is nothing more than a little shot who kept on shooting.

Trait #7 from Think And Grow Rich:


7. DECISION, Mastery of procrastination

Of the 30 main causes of failure, procrastination is number 1.

Be definite about your objectives, be determined to meet them on time, and be slow to change your mind.

Be careful who you confer with. Avoid getting opinions of those who are quick to criticize.

Trait #6 from "Think And Grow Rich". Read it morning and night for a week to ingrain it.


6. ORGANIZED PLANNING
Starts with desire, goes to imagination, then to general plans, and then to specific detailed step-by-step plans.
Join a group that shares your areas of interest to gain information.
Think of benefits you could offer in return for getting information.
Meet with knowledgeable people at least twice per week.
Maintain the harmony of your plans, do not allow them to become confused.
Each morning, know exactly what you will be doing that day and why.
Practice the 11 characteristics of success:
1. Unwavering courage
2. Self control
3. Justice
4. Definiteness of decision-making
5. Definiteness of Plan
6. Willingness to do more than asked to do
7. Pleasing personality
8. Sympathetic - empathetic
9. Master details
10. Assume responsibility
11. Cooperation

From Napoleon Hill's classic "Think and Grow Rich". Of the 13 Traits anyone can do, here are three that are related. Read these morning and night to ingrain the ideas.

3. AUTOSUGGESTION
When you want something badly enough, flashes of inspiration, or hunches, will come to you while you are thinking positively about your goals and objectives.
Write down these flashes as they occur, especially when performing the last sentence under Trait number 1. Go back and read it if you need to.

4. SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE
Organize all your ideas into a specific plan of action...who, what, when, where, how, and why.
Set aside some time each day to fill in answers to those 6 questions.
Take courses in your areas of interest and hobnob with people, students, teachers who have the type of knowledge you seek.

5. IMAGINATION
If you can imagine it, you can do it.
Read "Success through PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) by Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone.
Sometimes the imagination works best when it seems your opportunities are limited.

Here is Trait #2 from THINK AND GROW RICH by Napoleon Hill, who lists 13 traits of successful people.

THIS IS AN INSURANCE POLICY AGAINST FAILURE. IT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE. DON’T SEARCH FOR OPPORTUNITY IN THE DISTANCE, RECOGNIZE IT RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE.


Trait #2. FAITH

Acquire faith by repeated suggestion to yourself, such as "I know I have the ability to achieve, so I promise to try."

Spend 30 minutes each day concentrating on the type of person you want to be.

To develop confidence, re-live past successes (major and/or minor) for 10 minutes each day, and think how these might fit into your plans.

Develop a written description of your aim in life. The act of writing it down will crystallize your thoughts.

Involve yourself only in activities that are beneficial. The more time you spend watching shows or playing games, the less time you have to pursue goals. Be a participant in life, not just a spectator.

Cause others to be positively affected by you. Avoid negative thoughts, words, actions, situations.

Think And Grow Rich

"Rich" is a relative term. Does a person who has a lot of money feel "rich" if that person is not in good health? Would you trade good eyesight for a million dollars? Would you trade any other part of your body for a million dollars? If you have good health and a reasonable amount of happiness, then you are much more rich than a lot of other people who have money but also have health problems.

Treat your body as if you owned a million dollar racehorse. Would you keep that racehorse up late every night, make it smoke, drink alcohol, and pig out on junk food?

Anyway, let’s talk about money. What if someone told you how to get rich if you do exactly what it says, no excuses, no procrastination?

Here are some of the main points from THINK AND GROW RICH by Napoleon Hill, who lists 13 traits of successful people. Let’s look at them one at a time.

In summary: THIS IS AN INSURANCE POLICY AGAINST FAILURE. IT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE. DON’T SEARCH FOR OPPORTUNITY IN THE DISTANCE, RECOGNIZE IT RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE.

Here is trait #1 of 13

1. DESIRE
Determine the exact amount of money desired
Determine the services you will provide in return, in order to get this money.
Establish a date when this money is to be acquired.
Plan to begin at once, whether you think you are ready or not.
Review daily the amount of money you would like, the date you will get it, and what your services will be in return for this money.
Read this aloud twice daily, once in the morning and once in the evening.

Habit #7 – Sharpen the Saw

You could be a very hard worker, but you may be trying to cut down a tree using a dull saw. You are in a hurry, so there is no time to sharpen your saw. Meanwhile, somebody else is not working so hard, yet is able to cut down a tree in less time and with less effort than you can, because they took the time to sharpen their saw first.

Did you ever notice that many times you have your best ideas in the morning rather than the afternoon? That may be because in the morning your mind is fresh (sharpened) from a good night’s sleep, while in the afternoon your mind may be a bit cluttered (dulled) from all the things that have happened to you that day.

Over time, if you spend most of your time focusing on only one area of your life, your mind can become like a dull saw. To sharpen it, take more time for other areas of your life, whether they be physical, mental, spiritual, or recreational.

If you need more time in the physical area, take up a sports program, an exercise program, or bike riding, or jogging. What this can do for you is to flood your body’s system with endorphins, a body chemical which really makes you feel good. This also flushes blood through your brain at a faster rate, which helps you think more clearly.

If you need more time in the mental area, read more books and watch less TV, unless the TV shows are educational in nature. Libraries are full of things where you can learn something new every day, or learn a lot more about what you think you already know.

If you need more time in the spiritual area, find a quiet place where you can let your mind relax gradually. Picture a lake whose waves slowly get smaller and smaller until it is as smooth as glass. Then talk to your Creator, and thank Him for all the fantastic things that He has created, all the small details of plant life, animal life, human life, and any other area that could not have happened by accident.

If you can, take trips to see what other areas of the country are like. Sometimes you need to get away from it all, and when that’s over, you might find you appreciate how nice it is to be back home.

Give compliments to others as often as you can, because every time you do, you are sharpening their saws also.

Habit #6 - Synergize

Celebrate Our Differences

Should everyone feel the same way about things? No, of course not. We all have a free will to have our own opinions and make our own choices.

This is why "synergy" works. Synergy means a combination of ideas adds up to better ideas because many new and better ideas come from piggy-backing onto someone else’s ideas. In math terms, this can mean 1 + 1 is more than 2.

Differences can create opportunities for synergy (as long as they are positive, not negative), so we must not criticize our differences, instead we must value them and celebrate them. Life would be boring if everyone had the same opinion about everything.

Valuing differences does not mean we have to approve or agree with differences, but it does mean that we should respect differences and view them as opportunities for learning. The differing opinions of others and their viewpoints, perspectives, talents, and knowledge are valuable gifts for seeking solutions. These differences enable you to discover and produce things together that you would not have been able to do by yourself.

People’s differences can be appreciated much the same as the different colors of the fall season, each radiant and different, and all are beautiful creations from God.

Look at the different skills needed for a basketball team. Some players are small and can’t get rebounds but are very good dribblers, others are big and good at rebounding but can’t shoot or dribble. Others are in between, average at rebounding or dribbling, but are very good shooters. A good team needs all these skills. The same is true for other sports and other types of teams that have nothing to do with sports. Can a team of plumbers build a house, or do you also need electricians, carpenters, painters, and other types of skills? Look for the good in people and work together in a spirit of teamwork and cooperation.

The strength of any society is its diversity, or differences, of talents and knowledge. Accepting our differences and working together makes life most enjoyable and is the only path to peace.

Habit #5 – Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

Many times, people cannot understand why nobody seems to understand them. Also, they cannot understand why the opinions of other people are not the same as theirs. Meanwhile, those other people are saying the same thing about you.

We all live under different circumstances. Different things happen to different people all the time, and these things form our opinions in different directions, little by little.

It has been said not to judge other people until you have walked a mile in their shoes. If you could do that, you might find that if you were faced with the same circumstances that they were faced with, you might also have some of the same opinions they do.

For example, you might wonder why the new kid in school is so unsociable. Unless you try to understand, you might never know that the kid had just lost a family member in a car crash, or some other unfortunate event has affected them.

Emotions can be just like a bank account. The bank account gets stronger with deposits, and weaker by withdrawals. Whenever you say or do something nice for someone, you are making a deposit into their emotional bank account. If that account is strong enough, it will be able to survive a few of your mistakes (withdrawals), but if that account is weak, one more withdrawal might empty it. At that point you have lost a friend. Always think of ways to make everyone’s emotional bank account stronger and stronger, so it will be able to survive occasional withdrawals, because they will sometimes happen.

Nobody is perfect, everyone makes occasional mistakes. You can choose to look for the good in people, or look for the bad, because they are both there.

Give people a break. If you are always catching people doing something wrong, you may be making too many withdrawals. Instead catch them doing something right, and compliment them for it. That’s a deposit!

If you want to be understood, do you think your chances would be better with a person having a weak emotional bank account, or a person having a stronger one?

Think of receiving understanding from others, or respect, compliments, kindness, favors, etc. as golden eggs from a golden goose. If you do or say something harmful, you may be killing the goose, and that means you will not be getting any more of these golden eggs.

That is why you must be very careful about how you say things. Is it better to tell a person "you messed up" or "I see an opportunity for improvement"? Is it better to say "You look like the first day of spring", or "You look like the last day of a long hard winter"? How about "When I gaze into your eyes, the hands of time stand still", or "You’ve got a face that could stop a clock"?

Habit #4 – Think Win-Win

In the animal kingdom, when faced with a problem (stimulus), the reaction (response) is an immediate decision to "fight or flight". This is a win or lose situation. We humans have been blessed with a step in between stimulus and response, and this step allows us to more carefully choose our response.

We can choose to do what the animals do (fight or flight), or we can figure out a better solution that is good for everyone, so nobody loses.

Whenever we have a problem or disagreement, it does not always mean that somebody has to win and somebody has to lose. For example, if two kids cannot go out until certain chores are done, instead of arguing whose turn it is to do the chores, they do them together, they get the chores done sooner that way, and both kids are able to go out sooner. You help me and I’ll help you. We both win.

It has been said that you can get anything you want in life, all you have to do is to help enough other people get what they want. Always be willing to help others first, even when you expect nothing in return at the moment. This gains respect for you, and later on you may be surprised how well people will want to cooperate with you.

If a kid wants a bigger allowance and the parent says no, is it wise to fight or go away? How can this be a win-win for both sides? This is where negotiations come in. What if the kid offers to do extra chores in exchange for a bigger allowance? Depending on the value of those chores to the parent, the parent just might agree to that. The parent wins by getting extra help with chores, and the kid wins by getting the bigger allowance. Win-Win. Business contracts are handled in much the same way.

Sometimes we are not sure what’s the right thing to do. When this happens, use the WWJD approach (What Would Jesus Do?). That doesn’t mean you have to create a miracle, but you could think of ways that you could make the situation better. This usually means to seek a peaceful solution. Love God, Love Your Neighbor. From that perspective, solutions are often easier to find.

Habit #3 – Put First Things First

Everything you do in life is a choice. Every choice has its consequences. Some consequences are good, and some are bad.

You could choose to spend your time on important things or unimportant things. The consequences of each are either achieving your goals or not achieving them.

Picture a fishbowl that is half full of pebbles. You are told to add 3 large rocks and make them fit into the fishbowl. Depending on the size of the rocks, you may not be able to make them fit.
Consider the small pebbles to be all the unimportant things that you spend your time on, and the large rocks to be the really important things. That means if you spend your time first on all the unimportant things, your time will be used up, and you will have no time left over for the really important things.

Therefore, the correct approach is to empty the fishbowl, put the large rocks in first, and then pour the pebbles in, and you will probably see that they all fit.
It is very important to identify what are the large rocks in your life. If you take care of the large rocks first, there will be plenty of time left over for the pebbles.

A man named Wilfredo Pareto once wondered why certain people of equal ability produced such different results. His findings are now famous and are used all over the world, known as the "Pareto Principle", also called the "80/20 Rule".
Pareto found that the relationship between effort and results were not linear. In other words, 80% of all results come from a certain 20% of all efforts.

Therefore, perfectionists who insist on 100% results will have to give 80% more of their time to finish the final 20% of the results. This is not very efficient, and is also described in "The Law of Diminishing Returns", which says that once adequacy is achieved, the opportunity for further improvements may be there, but the benefit of further refinement is not always there. Those who ignore the 80/20 Rule are usually late getting things done, and they say there is never enough time to pursue more important goals.

In summary, the 80/20 Rule can allow you to do up to 5 times more things than the 100% rule, and all of them could be done with adequate results.

Another phrase that fits this concept is "Adequacy is sufficient, all else may be a poor use of time", another way of stating the law of diminishing returns, or extra effort with little extra benefit.

If you are not sure how important something is, ask yourself "What’s the worst thing that can happen if I do not do this?" If you cannot think of a good answer, it may not be worth doing. Instead, spend your time pursuing your most important goals.

Read this every day for a week, morning and night, to ingrain it.

Habit #2 – Begin With the End in Mind

The ultimate goal is to get to Heaven. During your journey, you might as well enjoy the thrills of achieving other goals as well. Make a wish list and call them goals, and picture them to be at the top of a staircase. It might help to use the Gap Analysis method as a guide (here is where you are against here is where you would like to be).

Staircasing your goals means to break them up into smaller steps. You can’t jump to the top of the stairs all at once, so just take one step at a time (each step is called an objective). Make a list of all the steps (objectives) you will need to take to reach your goal, and keep moving. Never let a day go by without making progress on at least one small step. Put time limits on completing each step. If you do not use time limits, procrastination will get in your way.

Learn a lesson from the ant. If the ant wants to get from point A to point B, you could toss several objects in its way, and it will go over, under, around, or through these objects to get to point B. Sometimes the only way you can stop it is to kill it. If you keep moving toward your goal, you will most certainly get there as long as you keep moving.

Don’t give up your goal just because you have a temporary setback, or obstacle. If you desire your goal badly enough, just be like the ant and figure out a way around the obstacle and keep moving.

(The Law Of The Farm): When is the right time to take actions? Sometimes it is a mistake to wait. Learn a lesson from the farmer. If you want good crops, in the spring you must prepare the soil and plant seeds. In the summer you must water, fertilize, and weed. In the fall you must harvest when the time is right to avoid rot. Each step cannot wait. If any of these steps are missed or late or done poorly, the farmer will not get a good crop, and the entire year is wasted.

The Law Of The Farm can also be applied to learning, or getting good grades. You cannot neglect studies all year, and then expect to learn or get good grades by "cramming" the night before a test.

Make your own "Mission Statement" which tells the world a little bit about what kind of person you are and how you want to live your life. Here are some ideas, and you can add your own.
I am going to try…
…to make the world a better place
…to be a friend to those who need one
…to spread happiness
…to promote peace
…to ease someone’s burden
…to learn something new every day
…to be a little bit better at something every day
…to be a little bit smarter every day
…to let other people go first or ahead of me
…to help someone every day
…to make someone smile every day
…to get to Heaven, and help others get there
At first you might not understand the value of a Mission Statement, but when things go wrong and you are not sure what to do, look at your Mission Statement, it may help you get back on track.

Not happy with your current life? Want to change it? Don’t know how? Here’s how.
Develop good habits and get rid of the old habits which hold you back. It will take some discipline on your part (explained at the end of this message), so your desire to change must be great enough to overcome those old habits.
Here is my interpretation of Stephen Covey’s masterpiece, 7 Habits Of Highly Successful People,
one habit at a time:

Habit #1 – Be Proactive (Jesus was very proactive, follow His example, WWJD)

Winners make things happen (proactive), losers let things happen (reactive).

Be a leader, or be led by others. Plan your time or others will plan it for you.

Be first to communicate with other people. Don’t wait for them to call you. Be polite to people, even if they are not polite to you. Give people a bargain, give them a little more than they expect.

Take chances. Get out of your "comfort zone". If you get too comfortable, you might stagnate, and life will become boring. Ships are safer in the harbor, but that’s not why they make ships. Airplanes are safer on the ground, but that’s not why they make airplanes.

Insanity is expecting things to change, while we continue to do things the same way all the time.
You cannot tell a stove to give you heat, and then you will give it fuel. There is not going to be any heat until you first provide the fuel.

You can get anything you want in life, all you have to do is to help enough other people to get what they want, because what goes around comes around.

Life is full of opportunities. Try them. Take risks. It is OK to fail. Thomas Edison failed over 1000 times in his experiments to create the first light bulb. Did he complain about each failure? No, instead he said "Good, now I know one more way that will not work".
Life is full of mistakes. It is OK to make mistakes, because mistakes can be the best teachers. Learn something from every mistake, and try not to repeat the same mistakes.

The biggest mistake you could ever make is to be too afraid to try new things, because you will be missing out on all the exciting things the world has to offer. Never be afraid to ask questions.
You can’t hit a home run if you never go up to bat. If a .300 hitter is considered good, then it is OK to fail 7 out of 10 times.

Never give up. A big shot is a little shot who kept on shooting. Babe Ruth struck out more times than any other player. Is he known as a failure, or a great player?

To live is to achieve, to learn, to love. Make yourself available as a friend to others, and you will find that the world enjoys having you. Some people may not appreciate you, but that just means they do not know you well enough yet.

Learn something new every day, even if it’s only a small thing. Never be afraid to ask questions.

Even if you are on the right track, you still might get run over unless you keep moving.
Use your time wisely, don’t waste it. Time marches on and waits for nobody. Each new day is a gift from God. Some people are not granted this gift; if you don’t believe that, read the obituaries.

God wants you to succeed. Honor Him by doing your best at all times.

It has been said that if you read the same thing for 21 straight days, it will be ingrained in you. Now I do not know where the 21 days came from, and you can do that if you want to, but I figure 7 days is good enough for what this blog is all about, so I plan to post the next 6 habits one per weekend. Make it a habit and give yourself reminders (now) to read this once in the morning when you get up, and once in the evening just before you go to bed, and you will be on your way to forming habits that lead to a better life.

Starting tomorrow, I will post only one time per week, and there will be a reason for this that could change your life for the better.

In the meantime, here is the last of the daily posts.

Copy and paste this link into your URL address box

http://www.ticz.com/homes/users/bob/The-Rope/The-Rope.htm

How important is it to be rich and famous? Can you name the last 5 people in any of these categories?
Heisman Trophy winners, Miss America winners, Nobel or Pulitzer prize winners, Oscar or Emmy winners for best actor and actress, Tony winners for any music category, World Series or Super Bowl or Stanley Cup winners, MVPs in any sport, or 5 wealthiest in the world?

The point is, even the best achievers are not remembered for very long. The applause dies down, awards tarnish. Personal achievements are forgotten. Certificates and other artifacts are buried with their owners.

The people who really make a long term difference in your lives are not the ones with the most money or fame. The most important people are the ones who care.
You can probably name at least 5 teachers who helped you the most in school, 5 other people who taught you something worthwhile, 5 people who helped you thru a difficult time, 5 people that you enjoy spending time with, 5 heroes who have inspired you, and 5 other people who made you feel appreciated and special.

Your chances of achieving any of the things on the first list are small. Even if you do achieve them, it is questionable how long they will be remembered, or if the world will be a better place because of them.

The second category is far easier to achieve, and it is more important, since these are the things that are guaranteed to make the world a better place.

The Blues

Everyone gets the Blues once in awhile. Life’s challenges can wear you down. Just don’t let them KEEP you down. Chill out by calming your mind for awhile and listen to some Blues music, it can soothe the soul.

Singin’ The Blues Too Long – by The Rascals

You’ve been singin’ the blues too long
Why don’t you try to find a different song.
You’re singin’ about the blues too long
Go out and get yourself a brand new song.
You know it’s time to make some changes
Changing all to right from wrong.

You’ve been lying awake all night
Trying to think what you should do.
You can’t sleep a wink at night,
Wondering just what you should do.
Wondering never solved a problem baby
Only you yourself can pull it through

You know it don’t take much
To kick yourself free
You’ve got to know where you’re going
And to trust in me.
Do all the things that you think are right
Let your love light up in the morning
In peace all thru the night

Singing the Blues too long
Come on, try this new song
Got no time?
I think it’s time you traveled on

How come you are singing the blues baby,
Don’t you see all the love and the peace
And the happiness going around
Time to make some changes
Changing all to right from wrong

You know it gets better every time you try
And once you’ve got it you can’t deny
No time to waste, no time for fakin’
And if you don’t think so, you don’t believe me baby
I want you to know that you’re mistaken

much of those blues around,
Got no time for being down.
And I think, I think I got the answer baby
I want you to

Get up in the morning
Look all around
See the love in the beautiful things that the Lord has put here
For us to groove on
It’s easy once you try baby
All you’ve got to do
Is look inside.
Oh yeah.

(from the album "Once Upon A Dream", the mournful tones of piano, horns and other instruments only add to the effect of the lyrics)

Tuesday after Easter

The Prayer of Saint Francis (do this and assure your spot in Heaven)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there’s sadness, joy.

O Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it is in dying that
We are born to eternal life

Monday after Easter

To those who followed these posts all during Lent and Holy Week, I hope this has been beneficial for you maybe like a mini-retreat or a Catholic refresher course. You can repeat this for Lent every year as long as this blog stays on line, just add it to your Favorites or Bookmarks and navigate back to the same links.

Several of the passages were from the remarkable little blue Pieta Prayer Booklet which contains several other amazing promises. I have a few extra copies for the first few people who ask, I can mail it to you. If I run out, you can order this booklet, call the MLOR Corporation at 616-731-4490.

This blog does not end here. More posts will appear in the days to come, so keep checking it periodically. The next post will be from someone who figured out the simplest explanation with specific examples on how to get to Heaven.

A Different Idea About Reincarnation

Is It Possible That We Have Lived Before and Will Live Again?
The Catholic Church teaches there is a place called Purgatory, for people who do not deserve to go to Hell, but serves as temporal punishment to be cleansed before they are allowed to go to Heaven. There is a lot of debate on what Purgatory is like, nobody really knows.

I am a Catholic and I must tell you the Church does not teach what I am about to say, this is only my idea to consider as a possibility, especially when you hear stories about people who claim they have lived in the past as a different person. Are they crazy, or are we right now living in a form of Purgatory without realizing it, and we have to keep going back until we get it right?
If that were the case, this might partially explain why the universe is so vast. It might also answer those who feel there is no God because God would not allow so much human pain and suffering. It might also explain why some people die prematurely and unfairly. It could be a way to get a pass, to pay your dues. We are just being tested. Do what you can to pass the test and find out.

If there is no Purgatory, we would have to be perfect to get to Heaven, and nobody is perfect, so good luck. If you think there is no afterlife at all, then life has no meaning whatsoever, there is no point in trying to be good. Just go break all the Commandments and have a good time. But if you do that, and there really happens to be a judgment day, you will have wished you listened when you had the chance. If you have that chance now, it is logical to take that chance and listen, because you are going to be dead a lot longer than you are going to be alive, and you get to choose where you want to spend all that time.

If you want to make the right choice, just figure out and understand what it takes to get there.

Joe DeLorenzo

This is a works in progress. Read the About Me section on why I am doing this.