This second chapter also was taken from speech in Stanford's Commencement ceremony which delivered by Oprah Winfrey.
Have a look..! and find something valuable ;)
FEELINGS, FAILURE & FINDING HAPPINESS
The world has many lessons to teach you. I consider the
world, this earth, to be like a school and our life the classrooms. And
sometimes here in this Planet Earth School the lesson often come dressed up as
detours or roadblocks. And sometimes as full-blown crises. And the secret I’ve
learned to getting ahead is being open to the lessons, lessons from the
grandest university of all, that is, the universe itself.
It’s being able to walk through life eager and open to
self-improvement and which is going to best help you evolve, because that’s
really why we’re here, to evolve as human beings. To grow into more of
ourselves, always moving to next level of understanding, the next level of
compassion and growth.
I believe that there’s a lesson in almost everything that
you do and every experience, and getting the lesson is how you move forward.
It’s how you enrich your spirit. And trust me, I know that inner wisdom is more
precious than wealth. The more you spend it, the more you gain.
The three lessons have had the greatest impact in my life
have to do with FEELINGS, FAILURE and FINDING HAPPINESS.
First lesson, Feelings;
“when you are doing the work you’re meant to do, it feels right and every day
is a bonus, regardless of what you’re getting paid”…
And how do you know when you are doing something right? How
do you know that?
It feels so. What I know is that feelings are really your
GPS system for life. When you are supposed to do something or not supposed to
do something, your emotional guidance system lets you know. The trick is to
learn to check your ego at the door and start checking your gut instead. Every
right decision I’ve made-every right decision I’ve ever made has come from my
gut. And every wrong decision I’ve ever made was a result of time not listening
to the greater voice of myself.
And when you do get still and let your internal motivation
be the driver, not only will your personal life improve, but you will gain a
competitive edge in the working world as well. Because, as Daniel Pink writes
in his best seller, “A whole New Mind”, we are entering a whole new age. And he
calls conceptual age, where traits that set people apart today are going to
come from our hearts-right brain- as well as our heads.
It’s no longer just the logical, linear, rules-based
thinking that matters, he says. It’s also empathy and joyfulness and purpose,
inner traits that have transcendent worth.
These qualities bloom when we’ re doing what we love, when
we’re involving the wholeness of ourselves in our work, both our expertise and
our emotion.
So, I say to you, forget about the fast lane. If you really
want to fly, just harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Every
body has one. Trust your heart and success will come to you.
So, how do you define success??
Money is pretty nice, but it’s not about money. I like money.
It’s good for buying things. But having a lot of money does not automatically
make you a successful person. What you want is money and meaning. You want your
work to be meaningful, because meaning is what brings the real richness to your
life. What you really want is to be surrounded by people you trust and treasure
and by people who cherish you. That’s when you’re really rich.
So, follow your feelings. If it feels right, move forward.
If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.
Now I want to talk about Failing because nobody’s journey is seamless or smooth. We all
stumble. If things go wrong, you hit a dead end- as you will –It’s just life’s
way of saying time to change course. So, ask every failure- this is what I do
with my failure, every crisis, every difficult time.
I say what is this here to teach me?
And as soon as you get the lesson, you get to move on. If
you really get the lesson, you pass and you don’t have to repeat the class. If
you don’t get the lesson, it shows up wearing another pair of pants – or skirt
– to give you some remedial work :D
And you must be able to ask the right question – NOT why is
this happening? BUT, what is this here to teach me?_ it puts you in the place
and space to get the lesson you need.
And the last, to Be
Happy, we have to live for present. You have to be in the moment. Whatever
has happened to you in your past has no power over this present moment. Because
life is now”….”Be apart of something. Don’t live yourself alone. So, in order
to be truly happy, you must live along with, and you have to stand for
something larger than yourself. Because life is reciprocal exchange. To move
forward you have to give back.
- To be Happy, You
have to Give Something Back-
If you are hurting, you need to
help somebody ease their hurt. If you are in pain, help somebody else’s pain.
And when you are in a mess, you get yourself out of the mess helping somebody
out of theirs. And in the process, you get to become a member of what I call
greatest fellowship of all, the sorority of compassion and the fraternity
service.
Helping others is the way we help
ourselves. And this wisdom is increasingly supported by scientific and
sociological research. It’s no longer just woo-woo soft-skills talk. There’s
actually a helper’s high, a spiritual surge you gain from serving others. So,
if you want to feel good, you have to go out and do some good J
If you choose to offer your
skills and talent in service, when you choose the paradigm of service, looking
at life through that paradigm, it turns everything you do from a job into a
gift.
Dr. King’s said, “Not everybody
can be famous, But everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by
service.”
“You don’t have to have a college
degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.
You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotele to serve. You don’t have to
know Einsten’s theory of relativity to serve. You only need a heat full of
grace and soul generated by love J
-Everything is Better
When You Share It-
Sources:
Oprah Winfre’s
speech at Stanford Commencement ceremony, Sunday, June 15, 2008
Stanford Report,
June 15, 2008
