QUOTES ON HOPE

Hope, deceitful as it is, serves at least to lead us to the end of our lives by an agreeable route. ~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

Once you choose hope, anything's possible. ~Christopher Reeve

Hope is the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity. ~Robert G. Ingersoll
Things which you do not hope happen more frequently than things which you do hope. ~Titus Maccius Plautus
Hope is some extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears, not to oust them. ~Vincent McNabbIn reality,
hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs man's torments. ~Friedrich Nietzsche,
Human, All Too Human, 1878When the world says, "Give up,"Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."~Author Unknown

Love floods us with hope. ~Jareb TeagueThere is nothing so well known as that we should not expect something for nothing - but we all do and call it Hope. ~Edgar Howe

HOPE IN THE MIDST OF DISPAIR.

Nigeria is among the 20 poorest nations in the world, as almost 66% of Nigerians live below the poverty line of one US dollar a day. Nigeria, a country of over 133 million people, has experienced severe hardship since the decline of the oil boom. The large scale unemployment and the desperation for survival among the populace have led to numerous vices. Despite huge resources and efforts directed at restoring progressive social norms, Nigeria is acclaimed to be the second most corrupt nation in the world. These factors and many others have affected the country’s overall prosperity, with a weakening currency and high inflation. Unemployment rates and poverty levels drastically worsen by the day. For the average Nigerian, diverse problems create a hopeless state of economic uncertainty. Companies are forced to downsize and retire their staff early. Plundering of the nation’s scarce resources and high capital flight to foreign banks continue to make our country an enigma before patriots of other nations, despite the war against corruption being waged by the federal government. Bringing it to the individual level, Nigerians, especially students, now have limited control over their destiny. Citizens in employment realize that, though they do not have any spare time for other important things in their lives, they are overworked and underpaid. Debts, bills and medical costs rob families of financial resources. Our purchasing power has fallen more than 14,000% since the time the Naira was at par with the dollar in the 70’s. From the above analysis, it is obvious that the entire situation in the country offers no bright future for the working class and the youth. The youths in general are pummeled with various criminal options calling for their attention, such as advanced fee fraud (419), internet fraud, etc. Many have lost their sense of destiny and are left in a state of utter despondency. As a result, the mindset of the youth can be depicted in the French saying ‘Que sera sera’ meaning ‘What will be, will be.’ There is no drive to excel, as many look for better opportunities outside Nigerian shores. Is there a way out of this hopeless situation? Can we wriggle out of this confusing state we find ourselves in? Is there any solution or have we gone beyond the state of redemption? Can anyone still find the drive within to succeed? Where can we find these answers? Do we wait for the government or can we find them within ourselves? Surely there is hope in the midst of despair.
These answers lie within you! They are in your mind. Whatever goals and dreams you can envision in your mind will materialize in your life. Think about that for a minute! Whatever you focus your mind and energies on will manifest itself into reality. You should learn to conceptualize your dreams, this way they will soon become real. Just like an artistic concept waiting to be created by the artist, so are your dreams waiting to materialize. It is time to brace yourself and redirect your focus from the dismal situation of the country.

HOW TO COPE WITH STRESS AND ANXIETY

It is common now for people to take over two hours every single day just travelling to and from work. Add this to the fact that the working hour is increasing, and the amount of time one has to be idle has decreased dramatically. In fact many people spend five out of seven days simply working and sleeping, with the remaining two used to carry out necessary chores such as washing and grocery shopping.
It is no coincidence that the western world is a more stressed and anxious place than it was fifty years ago. Casually ambling through a green village amongst friends has been replaced by pollution, cars, traffic jams, motorways and road rage. Taking time out from all of this should form an important part of a healthy LIFESTYLE.

REMEMBER!!! When the mind feels stressed and clogged with thoughts, the effects on the body can be adverse. Taking time out to do nothing can have wondrous health BENEFIT.

HOW TO COPE WITH STRESS BY DOING NOTHING

Before antibiotics became the favoured prescription of GPs, the most common thing one would hear from a doctor was the need to get plenty of rest. This was meant literally, with no activities recommended whatsoever. The health benefits of doing nothing when one is ill have always been apparent, yet the same principle is not as often applied to those who are not ill. With stress and depression being increasingly common in the UK today, perhaps it is time that the health benefits of taking some regular time out should be more widely publicised.
The current idea of taking a vacation from work is to take a holiday which involves doing activities constantly for a week. Consequently, the vacation often ends up being as stressful as the job that was left behind. Many people recall the feeling of being shattered by the time they have got back from their holiday, yet this surely defeats the purpose. In order to get the full health benefits of a vacation, it is paramount to do as little as possible and to use the time to relax mind and soul; to return home feeling rejuvinated.
Idleness is often frowned upon in modern society, yet it is an important part of human mental health. It allows people to gather thoughts, to gain perspective, and to relieve stress. A certain amount of being idle is essential to a happy, fulfilled life.

AGE, DREAMS AND ACHIEVING YOUR DREAM

The unborn baby is in a completely different world physically and psychologically to the adult, or even to the six-week old baby. Although we cannot be certain of what the unborn baby dreams, we can give an educated guess. The information behind the guess arises from the experience of people who undertake very deep psychological explorations into the unconscious using modern therapeutic techniques. In a sense they are like deep-sea divers who don special equipment to explore the depths of the unconscious. What they report is that their baby self, existing as it does without language or focused self-awareness, lives in a world of complete identification with the forces of life creating it. Toward the end of its life in the womb it begins to have a more focused sense of a relationship with another being – its mother. Before that there was no feeling of separation. Because it has not yet experienced vision, its dreams are long slow experiences of sensation, of feeling. One explorer of these deeps, attempting to put his experience into words expresses it as follows:

Unknown to myself I am the swimmer.Music I do not hear moves me toward the sea I do no know.For I am the music - Each movement a beat - Each swift turn a passage in the flow of life.I know not - Yet I am a swimmer in the river,Close to me as my own unknown, without boundary.I am the imperative - Survive!Fear is my being, reaching tendril fingersInto the great ocean toward which I swim -Immense beyond all my experience of fear,Older than I am I go fearfully fearlessTo the sea.

This sea toward which this little swimming life form is moving is birth. Frighten because it is a huge new world that it already senses ahead. Imperative because its whole urge is to live, to survive, and it must enter the ‘sea’ to continue living. This is because all things in existence change, and the little swimmer’s season of life in the womb will end. So not only is it dreaming about what it senses it is moving toward, but also it faces in dreams what its own inner changes are.

TIPS ON HOW TO LIVE YOUR DREAMS

There are many steps in realizing your dreams…
The first thing is to make a decision that you want to actualize that particular dream.

The next step is to write down in graphic detail what the outcome of the dream looks like. So you actually start with the end in mind. if your dream is to have a beautiful new home for you and your family – then write down what you imagine the home looking like, who will be living there, imagine walking through the home and the emotions that you feel, the things you hear, the smells. Write it all down like a little story as if you were there and living it. The main thing people have to keep in mind when they want to realize their dreams is That they have to take ACTION to realize their dreams – it is all very good and having a clear dream and then imagining it frequently, however when the opportunities arrive to allow them to access that dream then they need to take ACTION.
Many people don’t take action and are often surprised that their dreams and goals aren’t coming true – the first step is getting clear on the dream in your mind and the next step is getting in action in the world to ensure that your mental image collides with reality. Another piece of advice that helps me often when challenges arise – “Don’t give up before the miracle arrives”. Just keep taking the next obvious step and the next step and the next you will reach your dreams!!!!!!!!!

SET YOUR GOALS AND CELEBRATE!

Hey! you need to read this and practice. it did help me in an unquantifiable way.

Studies tell us that only 3% of people in the USA set goals, and they are among the wealthiest people in the nation! Worldwide the percentage is probably lower. Why so low? There are several reasons, but the one that concerns us the most at Ziglar Training Systems is lack of know-how. When we ask people why they don't set goals they often say, "I don't know how."Isn't that remarkable? We send children to school for 12 years in America before they graduate from high school. Many of them go on to trade schools, colleges and universities. We teach them many important disciplines including history, economics, literature, science, and so forth, but we miss one critically important skill: goal setting. We award them their degrees, pat them on their backs, and send them into the world full of wisdom, but ill-prepared, almost always, to design and pursue the lives they really want.And all that's required to change this deficiency is a single semester, even half a semester, devoted to teaching goal setting. It doesn't seem likely that we're going to change the American educational system any time soon, or the world's educational system, but that's not going to stop us from teaching you how to set goals.The letters and phone calls that we receive at Ziglar Training Systems are social proof that our goal setting programs work. We know that goal setting will help you change your life for the better, it will help you get what you really want from life. And when you do, that's reason for all of us to celebrate! So for the next several weeks we are going to help you set goals. Whether you're already a goal setter, you used to set goals and quit, or you've never set goals, these lessons will help you build a better life. They'll also help those you share them with, so don't be shy about forwarding this information!Lesson 1. Dream! Let your imagination run wild while you fill up a blank sheet of paper with everything you want to be, do or have. Many adults have lost their ability to dream and that's unfortunate. By dreaming you instill hope for your future, and with hope there's possibility. So your assignment this week is to dream. During this next week devote at least two private sessions to dreaming. We want you to create a Dream List filled with ideas. Your list should include at least 25 dreams about what you want to be, do or have.Lesson 2. After you complete your list, wait 24 to 48 hours and read each item on your list and answer the question: Why? If you can't verbalize in one sentence why you want to be, do or have this dream, then it's not a dream and it won' become a goal. Cross it off your list.Lesson 3: Ask the following five questions of every dream on the Dream List you created last week.1. Is it really MY goal? 2. Is it morally right and fair to everyone concerned? 3. Is it consistent with my other goals? 4. Can I emotionally commit myself to finish this goal? 5. Can I "see" myself reaching this goal? 6. You must answer "yes" to all five questions for each goal, or cross that goal off your list.Here are some points to ponder: Is it really MY goal or is it a goal someone else wants me to pursue? Is it the right thing to do? Will achieving this goal distract from achieving other goals? Goals are often difficult to achieve. Are you sure you can make the commitment to pursue this goal and see it through? If you can't "see" yourself reaching this goal, you probably won't.Take time during this week to think about the questions above and answer them. Once you're finished, your Dream List will probably be a bit shorter than when you started out. That's okay because you're now closer to identifying the goals that you really will pursue and can achieve.Lesson 4:Ask the following seven questions of every dream that remains on your Dream List (or goals list).Will reaching this goal . . .1. make me happier?2. make me healthier?3. make me more prosperous?4. win me more friends?5. give me peace of mind?6. make me more secure?7. improve my relationships with others?If you can't answer Yes to at least one of these questions for each goal, eliminate that goal from your list. Be sure to consider your family when you answer these questions. And do not confuse pleasure with happiness!Here we go with Lesson 5:After asking the questions posted in Lesson 4 you will have eliminated some of your goals. Actually, they were not goals, just thoughts or desires at this point, so you're better off without them.Separate your remaining list of goals into one of three categories: Short-range (one month or less to achieve this goal), Intermediate (one month to one year to achieve this goal), or Long-range (one year or more to achieve this goal).This lesson will help you quickly determine whether or not you have a balanced perspective between what needs to be done now, versus your dreams for the future.Remember: Some goals must be BIG to make you stretch and grow to your full potential. Some goals must be long-range to keep you on track and greatly reduce the possibility of short-range frustrations. Some goals must be small and daily to keep you disciplined. Some goals must be ongoing. Some goals (i.e., weight loss, sales success, education, etc.) may require analysis and consultation to determine where you are before you can set the goals. Most goals should be specific. A "nice home" is not as good as a "3,000 square-foot, Tudor- style home with four bedrooms, three full baths, and two living spaces."Here we go with the final lesson:After tracking your first few goals on the General Goals Procedure Chart you are likely to have many additional goals that remain to be charted. Take time now to chart those goals. If you need a copy of the chart, send a blank email to editor@zigziglar.com?Subject=GoalsChart. The word GoalsChart (as written) must be on the Subject line of your email!Be sure to work each goal through the process of the chart. Be selective. You may not be able to work on all of your goals at one time! Don,t over do it. If you only have time to complete one or two goals for the remainder of this year, don,t apologize. Do a little bit more than you can, but do not overextend your time to the point that you don,t complete any of your goals. Do not get frustrated by the process! Work the system and it will work for you. We can fill a book with the number of letters that Zig receives about the effectiveness of his simple goal-setting program. Trust the system.Once you have charted your goals and plotted the activities that you intend to do to fulfill your goals, pat yourself on the back! You have just spent more time planning your future than most of your friends, relatives or associates will ever invest! Good for you.