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.