THE SIMPLE LIFE

Don't you think the world went and got way too complicated? Just think about it.


Five or more days of the week we all have to work at a job that we may not particularly enjoy. We have to pay taxes, save for retirement, and abide by countless laws. Because of the way humanity has been structuring the world, we need to do this for our survival. The complication of the world has affected the things we most value, our freedom and overall happiness in life.

Everyday new fashion and technological advancements are introduced to us. They are then integrated into our lives and presented to us in a way that boosts our desire for them. Many people feel that as long as we are moving forward in technology it is a good thing, however, few ever question the necessity of these things in our lives.

If we have been living without many of these things for such a long time, why do we suddenly must have the latest item on the market?

Stuck in a state of materialism and consumerism, many people don't realize their desire for these things have been limiting their freedom. It takes money to obtain all the material things that we want, and so we have to give up much of our free time by working for someone to earn it.

The sad part about all of this is that we often spend most of our time trying to obtain and maintain these material things than we actually do enjoying them. We unconsciously become slaves to the very material objects we are striving to acquire. This leads to all sorts of unhappiness and stress that can shorten lives.


But what is the root cause of the materialism, consumerism and parasitism that is complicating our world? I believe it is the great desire for money and the practice of extreme capitalism. While money serves as a means of exchange, the increased want for it is what leads to the various methods humans have created for obtaining it.

This results to capitalizing on everything imaginable, including people's lives. These two elements have even complicated simple aspects of our lives such as love relationships. Nowadays you can't have romance without finance.

Now because our world has been complicated in so many ways, it is very difficult for a person to separate him or herself from it all if he or she wishes to do so. There are several basic physiological and safety needs that must be satisfied by having a home, food on your plate, and clothes on your back.

Due to the use of money and practice of capitalism these things are not easy to obtain and we are forced to participate in a system that has diminished our quality of life on several different planes. If humanity did not complicate the world so much, we would be able to live simpler lives filled with a greater level of happiness than we presently experience.

Time Is Priceless

Show of hands; which would you rather save – time
or money?

The majority of people in society at large will choose money.
But the truth is; how you spend your time is far more important than how you spend your money.
Lost money can be regained, but time, once it’s lost – it’s gone forever.
Money mistakes can be corrected; but time mistakes – apart from the grace of God – are made forever.
If you have a lot of money, but you have only two weeks to live, you are not a rich man.
But if you have time and no money, you can use your time to get money.
In fact, you can convert your time into just about anything you want.
God doesn’t really give us money – He gives us time and we convert it into money.
God doesn’t really give us friends – He gives us time and we convert it into friends.
God doesn’t really give us knowledge – He gives us time and we convert it into knowledge

What am I trying to say?

Your time is your most valuable resource; therefore you must guard it jealously
You must be wise and deliberate about how you use it
Look at Ephesians 5:15-17 again
15 Look carefully then how you walk! Watch your step. Use your head. Don’t live like ignorant people, but like wise people. Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people),
16 Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!


17 Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish , don’t lie carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.
Remember, every minute you live is an irreplaceable resource that is limited in supply.
Every minute you live is a gift from God; and you have the responsibility to maximise it.
Remember that life is short – no one has the luxury of living forever in this mortal state.
We are mortal and our life will eventually end.
And the more we appreciate the value of time, the wiser we become at using it.
If you want to know the value of . . .
One year . . . ask the student who failed the final exam
One month . . . ask the mother of a premature baby
One week . . . ask the editor of a weekly newspaper
One day . . . ask the daily wage earner who has six children
One hour . . . ask lovers who are waiting to meet
One minute . . . ask the passenger who missed the flight
One second . . . ask the person who survived the accident
One millisecond . . . ask the Olympic silver medallist

YOUR TIME IS PRECIOUS; YOUR TIME IS PRICELESS

Poet Carl Sandburg said; “Time is the most valuable coin in your life. You and you alone will determine how that coin will be spent. Be careful you do not let other people spend it for you”.
Now, because your time is precious; and it is limited in supply, you have to be very selective what you put in it.
And that brings me to the big issue of priorities.

PRIORITIES

Priority simply means determining what comes before what.
From the word ‘prior’ which means ‘before’.
It means in the use of my time, one comes before two and two comes before three . . . and so on.
It means, my daily activities are on a queue – I attend to the most important thing first; and then the next most important thing – and so on.
It means everything is not equally important to me.
Not everything requires equal time attention and energy.
You can’t give the same amount of time, attention or energy to everything or everyone.
Some things require five minutes – don’t give those things one hour.
Some things require one hour – don’t give those things five minutes.
Same with people.

How do you know which things or people require five minutes versus one hour?

Priorities
The things that are most important should never be at the mercy of the things that are least important.
So, because you cannot do everything, be everywhere or please everybody; you have to choose.
Chinese author, Lin Yutang said; “Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of the non-essentials.
Philosopher William James said; “The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook”.
How do you decide what to overlook?
Priorities

ESTABLISH YOUR PRIORITIES

Your priorities help you to determine how to spend your time
And the converse is true – the way you spend your time is a good indicator of your priorities
Have you ever found yourself thinking; “I need more time”?
Well, newsflash – you’re not going to get it!
No one gets more time
There are 24 hours in the day – that is 1,440 minutes – and everybody gets the same
The president doesn’t get more, the school janitor doesn’t get less.
So, what determines the value of our lives is the value of what we put into our time.
Since you cannot change time; you must change what you put in it.
If you want to change your life, you need to change your priorities.
If this year is going to be different from last year, then your priorities this year must be different from your priorities last year.

ESTABLISH YOUR PRIORITIES

And if you don’t establish your priorities, someone else will.
If you don’t decide how your day will be spent, someone else will.
Have you noticed that people who have nothing to do usually want to so it with you?
What are the benefits of establishing your priorities?
1. Priorities help you separate what is most important from what is least important.
2. Priorities liberate you from the tyranny of the urgent
Just because something is urgent doesn’t mean it is important
The simple question is: “What is the worst that will happen if I don’t attend to this thing?”
3. Priorities release you from the guilt of not doing everything
4. Priorities help you eliminate distractions
My Psychology professor used to say: “If you have two conflicting duties, one of them is not your duty”
And we added: “It is your pleasure”
5. Priorities help you obtain the highest return on the investment of your time
Any time you see people fulfil their dreams; any time you see people attain the highest level in their career, you can be sure that priorities have been very important to them

ESTABLISH YOUR PRIORITIES

Let me close by giving you a five step strategy for establishing your priorities

STEP 1: ARTICULATE THE GOALS

Three categories – yearly, weekly, daily
In order to do this, you need to create three lists
1. Write down the five most important things you want to achieve this year
It doesn’t have to be a permanent list - you can review it as the year unfolds, but start with a list
If you don’t have this first list, you have given your year the permission to unfold in a random fashion
My list for this year is to:
Practise the presence of God
Pursue wisdom
Promote my health
Produce extra wealth
Preach for transformation
2. Write down the five most important things you need to achieve this week
Now you may have more than five, but work from a list of five – the most important
Write down the five most important things you have to achieve today

STEP 2: ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

These answers will help you to determine what must be on your list and what number to assign to them
What are the four R’s
Reach, Required, Returns, Reward
1. Where do I want to reach?
This is the goal question
This year, this week, this day
2. What is required of me?
This is the duty question
This year, this week, today
What is required of me - as a spouse, as a parent, as an employee, as a team leader?
Remember, if you have two conflicting duties, one of them is not your duty
3. What will give me the greatest return?
This is the efficiency question
Very quickly you will find that some activities give you a greater return on the investment of your time and effort
Concentrate on those
This is also a way to determine your strengths
4. What will give me the greatest reward?
This is the fulfilment question
Reward of fulfilment, finances and favour

STEP 3: ASSIGN THE NUMBERS

Take a close look at your list of five and assign a priority number to each one
Which one must come first, second, third, fourth and fifth

STEP 4: ALLOCATE THE TIME

For example, for your yearly list, how many hours per week should you give to each item?
Same for your weekly and daily lists
But beyond allocating a timeframe for these, now allocate a specific time e.g. 8.00 to 9.00 p.m.

STEP 5: ADVANCE THE PROCESS

Take the first item on your daily list and start to work on it – and stay with it until it is completed
Then take the second item, then the third until all five are done
What if you only managed to finish item one?
No problem.

Then tomorrow, item two becomes your item one
Will this always happen the neat way you arranged it?
No – there will be interruptions and eventualities
But you will still achieve far more than if you did not establish your priorities
If you want to increase your focus this year, if you want to increase your productivity, if you want to become more effective, ESTABLISH YOUR PRIORITIES.

"VIRTUES THAT LEAD TO HAPPINESS"

---LOVE YOUR FAMILY
---SHOW GRATITUDE
---BE HUMBLE AND SHOW COMPASSION
---LOVE WHAT YOU DO
---BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
---SPEAK FAITH , SPEAK POSITIVELY
---LIVE WITH PASSION
---PURSUE KNOWLEDGE
---USE YOUR IMAGINATION
---SET REALISTIC GOALS
---TAKE ACTION
---COMMIT TO EXCELLENCE
---EMBRACE CHANGE
---FAIL FORWARD
---SEEK PEACE
---LIVE WITH INTEGRITY
---PERSEVERE

BUT SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS; AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU. MATTHEW6:33

"LIVE YOUR DREAM"

A dream won't do much for you until you do something for it. Yet the moment you begin to take action, that dream starts to become real.

It may very well take years to accomplish. Long before it is accomplished, though, it is adding value to your life.

For the value of your dream is not in possessing whatever it brings. The value is in reaching for it.

The value is in what you do to get yourself there. Because in that process, you fulfill your own unique destiny.

Right this very moment, you can reach out and touch the reality of your most treasured dream. That's because right this moment, you can act on that dream.

If you've been waiting, you've waited long enough. Today is the day to truly live your dream."LIVE YOUR DREAM" =)

International Model "Tommy Cupples"

Dreams become reality when you want, its up to you and nobody else to make those dreams come true, don't ever let someone tell you that you can't do something, instead let that push you harder to accomplish that dream.-Tommy Cupples

International Model "Vince Azzopardi"

Vince Azzopardi- im happy with my life, ive gone from a fat kid who was unpopular, living in Allenton without a penny to my name, to a international model living in milan working for armani... this status is a thanks to everyone who doubted me, as you spurred me on to succeed in my life.. the ones who supported me dont... need thanking, they already know i got mad love for them all....

Things We Can't Control

The idea of trusting the universe is a popular one these days, but many of us don’t know what this really means and we often have a hard time doing it. This is partly because the story of humankind is most often presented as a story about struggle, control, and survival, instead of one of trust and collaboration with the universe. Yet, in truth, we need to adhere to both ideas in this life.

On the one hand, there is much to be said about exerting control over our environment. We created shelter to protect ourselves from the elements. We hunted for animals and invented agriculture to feed ourselves. We built social infrastructures to protect ourselves and create community. This is how we survive and grow as a civilization. However, it is also clear that there are plenty of things that we cannot control, no matter how hard we try, and we often receive support from an unseen force – a universe that provides us with what we cannot provide for ourselves.

It is a good idea to take responsibility for the things in life that we can control or create. We work so we can feed, clothe, and shelter our loved ones and ourselves. We manifest our dreams and visions in physical form with hard work and forethought. But at a certain point, when have done all that we can, we must let go and allow the universe to take over. This requires trust.

It requires a trust that runs deeper than just expecting things to turn out the way we want them to. Sometimes they will, and sometimes they won’t. We develop equanimity and grace as we learn to trust that, with the guiding hand of the universe, life will unfold exactly the way it should. We are engaged in an ongoing relationship with a universe that responds to our thoughts and actions.