Thought for the Day No.31

When was the last time you attended a Toastmasters club meeting as a guest?

Last wednesday evening, at a Toastmasters meeting during the session on impromptu speaking i.e. learning and practicising how to speak off the cuff without preparation in 2 minutes - the Toastmaster gave an interesting topic to the audience "What does RICH mean to you?"

Several people came forward and shared their responses to the topic.
Some of these were:
# "Having enough money to do what you want in life and give to your family and friends",

# "Enjoying abundance in daily living - money, friends, do the things you like, go anywhere you like anytime you like with whom you like"

# "Not forced to feel miserable to 'kowtow' to anyone or 'tahan' unfair treatment by
superiors and co-workers or customers or suppliers - for the sake of earning money"

# "Being wealthy in money, have lots of knowledge in many areas, filled with ideas for solving problems so that can contribute to improve the lives of the poor and neglected"

# "Not feeling deprived or worst than others just because I have less than them - whether in
terms of the size of the bank balance, size of the house or car, brand of the clothes, shoes,
watch, handbag,etc., holiday destinations, status and position in company or recognition
by family, friends and society"

# "Being balanced and fulfilled in the important areas of our lives - financially, mentally, family, socially and spiritually"

# "Always happy because have self-confidence, enough money, many friends and open mind to learn all the time"

As I sat there listening to all these wonderful perceptions of these people, I realised they were talking about outcomes that most people are pursuing in their lives - and yet, I wonder how many will reach the final destination of their choice? I guess here is the flaw of only setting goals or having dreams and not able or willing to pay the price.

And, the word RICH actually provides clues........
Resilience - being able to recover or bounce back - from a mistake, job loss, business loss,
wrong decisions or any setback - is vital towards increasing our chances of becoming
rich in whatever sense. More so now during this economic downturn or crisis, when
so many are losing jobs, homes, customers....consequently losing hope and feeling
helpless because of lack of Resilience. Remember, the journey towards our dreams
is not one straight smooth road - there are many potholes, bumps, sharp turnings,
steep uphill slopes and often dead ends,too - just keep going if you want to be there.

Intelligence - is our mental ability and capability to perform - our storehouse of knowledge,
ideas, emotions, analytical technology, decision processes, ...driving the way we
think , perceive, interprete and decide that influence how we feel - how are we
daily, weekly or monthly keeping all these up-to-date, keep "oiling" or "lubricating"
them as a mechanic would say. So they are always renewed, upbeat, alive, vibrant
and helpful towards achieving our dreams of becoming wealthy and having
abundance.

Creativity - being open, breaking barriers, limitless, colourful, ample choices, embracing change, dare to be different - all these are characteristics of being creative. Creativity
is a powerful enabler - it allows us to have options, fresh ideas, courage to change
and thus help us break free from the prison called "No Choice" way of living.
This also leads to the important thing called "taking responsibility to choose" -
actually there is no such thing as 'No Choice' - it's either we are afraid to choose or
we refuse to choose. To overcome fear - build up your "Intelligence" - and, bear
this in mind 'refusing to choose' is making a choice - so you pay the price,too.

Heart - take your hand and touch the left side of your chest - close your eyes and listen to
what your Heart is saying to you ....do you hear a whisper "I am alive" or "Thank
you for taking care of me for so long" or "Think before you leap" or "Be caring like
the way you care for me"
Whatever we do in life - particularly when doing something that will affect another
person's life or future - ask you heart first and if you hear "Yes, it's ok to do it" then
you can be certain you can sleep at night and most likely you have helped another
fellow human being to arrive nearer to her/his dream,too.

With the four pillars of RICH above, certainly we will be increasing our chances of realising our dreams - whatever yours maybe ........not just having more money but more joy and peace,too.
Praise the Lord!