Beyond Positive Thinking Toward Positive Doing

Editor's Notes

• #4 If you want to change your circumstances, you must change your thinking. Our thoughts lead to words, our words lead to actions, our behaviours lead to habits and our habits form our character, and our character determines our destiny. And it all starts with thoughts.
• #5 The Budha, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Norman Vincent Peale – believed that you are what you allow inside your mind. It you think something hard enough and long enough, the universe will deliver it to you. Your success depends on many things, but mostly on yourself. The greatest discovery of my generation is that a person can alter his life by altering his attitude of mind. Positive thinking has changed millions of lives.
• #6 Origin uncertain but may have been cast in India. Plastered over with a thick coat of stucco inlaid with glass pieces to prevent being stolen by the Burmese invaders, before the destruction of the Ayuthaya kingdom in 1767. In 1801, Rama I ordered Budha statues from ruined temples from around the country to be brought to the new capital Bangkok. During King Rama III’s reign, the statue was installed, still coated in stucco. In 1935, the statue was moved to its new location and was kept in a tin shed. In 1954, a new viharan temple was built. During the final attempt to lift the statue from its pedestal, the ropes snapped and the statue fell hard to ground. Plaster coating chipped off and gold surfaced. Nine parts and a key to disassemble. 10 feet and 5.5 tons. The head part 99% pure gold.
• #7 The more and more you reject me, the more and more I become determined. As Mt Everest you cannot grow. But as a human being I keep growing. Sir Edmund Hillary
• #8 A young lady looked in the mirror one morning. She had three remaining hairs on her head, and being a positive soul, she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today.“ So she braided her three hairs, and she had a great day. Some days later, looking in the mirror one morning, she saw that she had only two hairs remaining. "Hmm, two hairs... I fancy a centre parting today." She duly parted her two hairs, and as ever, she had a great day. A week or so later, she saw that she had just one hair left on her head. "One hair huh...," she mused, "I know a pony-tail will be perfect." And again she had a great day. The next morning she looked in the mirror. She was completely bald. “ Finally bald huh," she said to herself, "How wonderful! I won't have to waste time doing my hair any more.” It is important for us to always think positive. One day a construction supervisor from 6th floor of building was calling a worker working on the ground floor. because of construction noise, the worker on ground floor did not hear his supervisor calling. then, to draw the attention of worker, the supervisor threw a 10 rupee note from up, which fell right in front of the worker. the worker picked up the 10 rupee note, put it in his pocket & continued with his work. again to draw the attention of worker, the supervisor now threw a 500 rupee note & the worker did the same, picked up the 500 rupee note, put it in his pocket & started doing his job. now to draw attention of the worker, the supervisor picked a small stone & threw it on worker. the stone hit exactly the worker on his head. this time the worker looked up & the supervisor communicated with the worker. this story is same as of our life. lord from up, wants to communicate with us, but we are busy doing our worldly jobs. then god give us small gifts & we just keep it without seeing from where we got it. then god gives us amounts (gifts) & we are the same. we just keep the gifts without seeing from where it came and & not even thanking god. we just say we are lucky.then when we are hit with a small stone, which we call 'problems', and then we look up & we communicate with god. so every time we get a gift, we should thank god immediately, and not wait till we are hit by a small stone, and then communicate with god....
• #10 Action alleviates anxiety. Little steps can bring big changes. People who feel good about themselves, produce good results, AND people who produce good results feel good about themselves. We can ACT our way into right thinking.
• #13 Power of Positive Thinking (human mind is an amazingly powerful computer) can transform our lives. But achieving what you want isn’t accomplished by sitting in your comfy chair and visualizing all day long, but neglecting to ACT. Cosmetics company founder and CEO Estée Lauder: “I didn’t get here by dreaming about it or thinking about it—I got here by doing it.” Author BJ Gallagher: You can actually change your thoughts and attitudes by taking positive ACTION! She calls it The Power of Positive DOING.
• #14 Neil Armstrong, he is the 1st person to set his foot in moon. But, do you know who was supposed to be the 1st person?  Many don't know... His name is Edwin C Aldrin...He was the pilot for the Apollo mission. He was working for the American Airforce. Moreover he had experience of space walking, hence selected as the pilot. Neil Armstrong worked for the American Navy. He was selected for his courage as co-pilot. When the Apollo mission landed on moon, they received a command from NASA, "pilot first". But Aldrin was hesitant, "what will happen", "will I get sucked in or will I burn out", etc. The hesitation was not for hours, but few seconds. In the meantime, NASA sent the next command, "co-pilot next". Within next second, Neil Armstrong put his foot on the moon & became part of world history. World history was changed in 1 second... Though Aldrin had the qualification and talent, because of hesitation, he is not recognised by many people. The world remembers only person who comes first...This is a good example of how people lose out because of hesitation & fear. Whenever you see the moon, remember this, a moment’s hesitation can stop us from our greatest victory.
• #15 Positive thinking and positive talking are only preparation to do something. They develop the determination and self-motivation to want to see your heart’s desire through to its end. Positive doing is taking active steps to see your dreams and prayers come true. Take the first step, persevere and proceed to your destination. Once upon a time, two young boys were playing on thin ice. As they were playing, one of them fell through that ice into the lake underneath. The other one tried hard and he couldn't reach his friend through that gap. So he walked up to a tree, pulled and broke a branch of enormous size. He came back and started beating the ice and he saved his friend. When the paramedics came and they were able to revive the kid, they were baffled and they couldn't understand how the friend broke an enormous sized branch and then beat the ice and saved his friend. They thought it was IMPOSSIBLE Then an old man who was standing there said, "I can tell you how he did it." They said, "How? How he did it." The old man said, "There was no one to tell him that he couldn't do it.".
• #16 Why Positive actions - to help others, to help the world and to help yourself. I sat with my friend in a well-known coffee shop in a neighbouring town of Venice (Italy), the city of lights and water. As we enjoyed our coffee, a man entered and sat at an empty table beside us. He called the waiter and placed his order saying, ‘Two cups of coffee, one of them there on the wall.’ We heard this order with rather interest and observed that he was served with one cup of coffee but he paid for two. As soon as he left, the waiter pasted a piece of paper on the wall saying ‘A Cup of Coffee’. While we were still there, two other men entered and ordered three cups of coffee, two on the table and one on the wall. They had the two cups of coffee but paid for three and left. This time also, the waiter did the same; he pasted a piece of paper on the wall saying, ‘A Cup of Coffee’. It was something unique and perplexing for us. We finished our coffee, paid the bill and left. After a few days, we had a chance to go to this coffee shop again. While we were enjoying our coffee, a man poorly dressed entered. As he seated himself, he looked at the wall and said, 'One cup of coffee from the wall'. The waiter served coffee to this man with the customary respect and dignity. The man had his coffee and left without paying. We were amazed to watch all this, as the waiter took off a piece of paper from the wall and threw it in the dust bin. Now it was no surprise for us – the matter was very clear. The great respect for the needy shown by the inhabitants of this town made our eyes well up in tears. Ponder upon the need of what this man wanted... He enters the coffee shop without having to lower his self-esteem… he has no need to ask for a free cup of coffee… without asking or knowing about the one who is giving this cup of coffee to him. He only looked at the wall, placed an order for himself, enjoyed his coffee and left. ... probably the most beautiful wall you may ever see anywhere....!!! Worth sharing......Its what makes us human...
• #18 Brian Tracy
• #19 Once upon a time, there was a beautiful Chinese princess who wanted to find a husband. She was very clear about the kind of husband she wanted. He must be kind, thoughtful, generous, patient and honest. The description was sent through the land. An evil, ugly criminal heard about the princess’s request. He thought this was too good an opportunity to miss, so he had a beautiful mask made of a face that was kind, thoughtful, generous, patient and honest. The evil criminal presented himself with the mask to the beautiful princess. When the princess met him, she was so enamoured she decided to become engaged to him and that they would marry in a year’s time. The evil criminal wore the mask and had to act as if he was kind, thoughtful, generous, patient and honest. When the year had passed, the criminal felt deeply ashamed and told the princess the truth about himself and what he had done. The princess was deeply distressed and ordered him to take off the mask, when the criminal took off the mask, he had a handsome kind face. The princess exclaimed, why have you gone to such trouble to disguise your face, when it is exactly the same as the mask?
• #20 Shiv Khera, An LIC Agent and renowned author in management trainer writes about his experience in Singapore : "Six years ago in Singapore I gave a taxi driver a business card to take me to a particular address. At the last point he circled round the building. His meter read 11$, but he took only 10. I said Henry, your meter reads 11$ how come you are taking only 10. He said Sir, I am a taxi driver, I am supposed to be bringing you straight to the destination. Since I did not know the last spot, I had to circle around the building. Had I brought you straight here, the meter would have read 10$. Why should you be paying for my ignorance ? He said Sir, legally, I can claim 11$ but Honestly and ethically I am entitled to only 10. He further added that Singapore is a tourist destination and many people come here for three or four days. After clearing the immigrations and customs, the first experience is always with the taxi driver and if that is not good, the balance three to four days are not pleasant either. He said Sir I am not a taxi driver, I am the Ambassador of Singapore without a diplomatic passport. In my opinion he probably did not go to school beyond the 8th grade, but to me he was a professional. To me his behaviour reflected pride in performance and character. That day I learnt that one needs more than professional qualification to be a professional. In one line be a "Professional with a human touch and Values " that makes all the more difference. Knowledge, skill, money, education, all come later. First comes Human Values, Honesty and Integrity Professionalism: It’s NOT the job you DO, It’s HOW you DO the job.”
• #23 George Bernard Shaw said, “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, they make them.”Well, it’s pretty apparent, isn’t it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn’t know where he’s going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry—his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing… he becomes nothing.How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I’ll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.Suppose a farmer has some land, and it’s good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn’t care. It’s up to the farmer to make the decision.We’re comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn’t care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn’t care what you plant.Now, let’s say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand—one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds—one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land…and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.As it’s written in the Bible, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”Remember the land doesn’t care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants—one corn, one poison.The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn’t care what we plant…success…or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal…or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant must return to us.You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.