Author Archive

It seems to be a complete mystery. Something we cannot understand. And yet it happens every day all around us: People who used to love each other madly suddenly fall out of love, just like that.

What are the reasons?

Sarah’s Story:

Sarah and her boyfriend had been the perfect couple. It was as if they had waited for each other their whole lives. They had the same hobbies, the liked the same things, they considered each other to be soulmates.

This went on happily for two years – the perfect relationship, until her boyfriend suddenly started to pull back, to act strange and get distant. Eventually he broke up with her, and when she asked for the reason he simply replied that he didn’t love her any more.

Sound familiar? Has this also happened to you or someone around you?

A disappointment.

Isn’t true love meant to be forever?

Well, I cannot give you an answer to this one, but I can give you the advice that you need to examine your perception of “true love”. I can tell you: All that glistens is not gold.

A high expectation of true love, and an exaggerated romantic view of the ideal concept of love can disturb the view to having a fulfilling and healthy relationship.

A realistic view is vital. Click to continue »

This is the first article of hopefully many in the new category “Inspirational Stories”.

These stories all have in common that they are inspirational and uplifting, they give positive energy and imply a fundamental truth at the same time. They teach us lessons about life.

Today’s story is all about choices. The choices we have to make in life.

Many years ago I had to make a choice too. Whether I wanted to live or let my pain destroy me.

I chose life.

By Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!”

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?”

Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.”

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested.

“Yes it is,” Jerry said. ” Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life.”

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?”

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

“The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied. “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.”

“Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked. Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, ‘He’s a dead man.”

“I knew I needed to take action.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Bullets!’ Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

This article was found floating around on the Internet, unfortunately no further information is available about the author.

Many thanks to Occy for proposing this article.

There are certain videos that really can lift you up and give you hope, no matter from what problem you are suffering.

The problems we have always seem so big, so unsolvable. What can help us here is a change of perspective: Your problem is perhaps someone else’s dream.

“There is always someone else who is suffering more than you do”, people used to tell me. I’ve never understood that.

How can someone else’s problems give me comfort?

Truth is: they can’t.

What GIVES us comfort is how people courageously endured and overcame their problems that are so bigger than our own.

This is what gives us hope, this is what makes us look at OUR problems differently.

The following video is a perfect example.

Randy Pausch reprized his famous “Last Lecture” in the Oprah Show.

I’m sorry to say that Randy Pausch died yesterday.

Please take a few minutes and watch this video. You won’t regret it.

Here are a few inspirational sayings and quotes from this video you SHOULD remember and internalize:

“Life is about achieving childhood dreams”

“I don’t choose to be an object of pity”

“Experience is what you get, when you don’t get what you want”

“Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things”

“Never underestimate the importance of having fun”

“My parents taught me about the importance of people vs. things”

“Decide if you’re Tigger or Eeyore”

“Live with integrity”

“A good apology has three parts: 1. I’m sorry! 2. It was my fault! 3. How do I make it right?”

“Wait long enough and people WILL show you their good side. Be patient”

“Show gratitude”

“Don’t complain; just work harder”

“If you live your life the right way, the Karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you”

If you are interested in watching the complete “Last Lecture”, here it is:

Thank you Randy, your courage and positive view on the world will continue to inspire and help people throughout the planet.

You will be remembered.

In Memoriam: Randy Pausch (1960-2008)

Eddie Corbano

Let me tell you a little story.

Over 18 years ago there was this really great guy. We were good friends and spent most of our free time together. He was a super handsome guy – I mean not only handsome, he was some sort of a model.

He had this gift when it came to meeting girls. There really weren’t any who could resist him. I mean, they would keep approaching him and they all behaved like they were hypnotized.

No matter what place we went to, be it a club, a bar, a library, even at a gas-station, he always somehow managed to find the most stunning girl I had ever seen, and he always got their number. Every single time.

Amazing. Shocking.

Needless to say that it was fun sticking around with him, as I’d always profit from his pickups, (the girls had “friends”of course).

The question was: How did he do that?

I remember that I always thought, “No problem.  If I had his Brat-Pitt-meets-George-Clooney-face, I would be a lady-killer too”.

So I thought. Click to continue »

As you might know, overcoming a break up involves a roller coaster ride of emotions. One minute you feel great, the next you are in deep depression. To escape these downtimes is often a big challenge.

While there are different techniques that can help you avoid these moments, a lot of break up victims listen to break up songs to ease their pain. And it works: certain break up songs can help you to get over those hard moments.

I would like to warn you against making a big mistake in this situation. There is one very important premise you need to remember when listening to these songs: they have to be empowering, inspirational and they have to pick you up again.

There is a temptation to listen to those “heart-killing” break up songs, (you know what I mean).

Don’t do it!

I made that terrible mistake back then. I listened to those special break up songs that reminded me of her over and over for weeks. It not only delayed my healing process, I fell into a deep depression and wallowed in my own misery.

Don’t make that same mistake.

These kinds of break up songs can help you to cry out accrued emotions, but this will only work at the very beginning – the 1^st Phase. Later, they would likely throw you into the vicious cycle of your memories, from which it is very hard to escape. (Trust me – I know what I’m talking about). Click to continue »