Paulo Coelho

And we forget that many people can not – simply can not – ask for help.

I’m not talking just about money: loneliness, often can be worse than hunger.

A man knocked at his Bedouin friend’s door to ask him a favor:

“I want you to lend me four thousand dinars because I have a debt to pay. Can you do that for me?”

The friend asked his wife to gather together everything they had of value, but even so it was not enough. They had to go out and borrow money from the neighbors until they managed to get the full amount.

When the man left, the woman noticed that her husband was crying.

“Why are you sad? Now that we’ve got ourselves in debt with our neighbors, are you afraid we won’t be able to repay them?”

“Nothing of the sort! I’m crying because he is someone I love so much, but even so I had no idea he was in need.

“I only remembered him when he had to knock on my door to ask me for a loan.”

Thesis Subject: Magic Realist Transformations in Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello and The Experimental Witch
Thesis Author: Meryem Riza-Ezel
Thesis File: Download

Terrible as it was, Viktor Frankl’s experience in Auschwitz reinforced what was already one of his key ideas.
Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning.

The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in his or her life. Frankl saw three possible sources for meaning:
a] in work (doing something significant)
b] in love (caring for another person)
c] and in courage during difficult times.

Suffering in and of itself is meaningless; we give our suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to it. At one point, Frankl writes that a person “may remain brave, dignified and unselfish, or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal.” He concedes that only a few prisoners of the Nazis were able to do the former, “but even one such example is sufficient proof that man’s inner strength may raise him above his outward fate.”

Finally, Frankl’s most enduring insight, one that I have called on often in my own life and in countless counseling situations: Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.

Viktor Frankl

The chains of rigor were so heavy throughout my youth that very quickly I started to doubt this religion that showed no mercy, only constraint and suffering.

I remember being obliged to attend mess and the constant threats of hell in the mouth of the priests. Everything was sin, everything was forbidden, joy was ruled out.

I think that my rebellion was what saved me: I doubted about Catholicism, and felt that I must try something new.
Later on, in my teenager years, I became a hippie.
During this time, I traveled a lot, met people of different backgrounds, and had learnt different paths to come closer to spirituality.
I started to see other paths and started to see that my own religion wasn’t restricted to the Jesuit perception.

After I did a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, I returned to the Catholic faith – just because it is in my blood, not because it is the best religion.

I don’t think you can put God in a church. God is everywhere. All religions have advantages and disadvantages.

Furthermore I don’t think love is at odds with Christianity. Jesus message was above all a message of love to humanity.

God is–as William Blake said–in a grain of sand and in a flower. This energy is everywhere.

In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals.

All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.

Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.

The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.

The best books… are those that tell you what you know already, but you forgot.

Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.

People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.

Big Brother is watching you.
 
 
__________________________

Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English writer and journalist. His most famous (and important) book is “1984”

I was strolling in the gardens of an insane asylum when I met a young man who was reading a philosophy book.

His behavior and his evident good health made him stand out from the other inmates.

I sat down beside him and asked:

‘What are you doing here?’

He looked at me, surprised. But seeing that I was not one of the doctors, he replied:

‘It’s very simple. My father, a brilliant lawyer, wanted me to be like him.
“My uncle, who owns a large emporium, hoped I would follow his example.
“My mother wanted me to be the image of her beloved father.
“My sister always set her husband before me as an example of the successful man.
“My brother tried to train me up to be a fine athlete like himself.

“And the same thing happened at school, with the piano teacher and the English teacher – they were all convinced and determined that they were the best possible example to follow.
“None of them looked at me as one should look at a man, but as if they were looking in a mirror.

“So I decided to enter this asylum. At least here I can be myself.’

When I was active on Myspace (I am not anymore), “Fly me to the moon” (Frank Sinatra) was deleted from my profile.
So who deleted the song? The answer is simple: greed and ignorance.
Greed that does not understand that this world has changed. Ignorance that thinks that, if the music is available for free, people are not going to buy the CD.

A] some will say :
you are rich enough to afford having your texts here for free.
It is true that I am rich (as were Frank Sinatra, and his heirs), but this is not the point. The point is that we want to first and foremost SHARE something. If you go to most of the pages, what will you see? Fantastic pictures, great blogs, amazing photos. For free. My texts are for free here. And you can reproduce them anywhere provided that you name the author.

B] The industry will say:
artists cannot survive without being paid.
But the industry is thinking on the opposite direction of our reality today. I follow Hilal on Twitter (even if she tweets once a year…). Hilal is from Turkey, but lives in Russia (and she is the main character in ALEPH). She first read a pirate edition of “The Alchemist”. Hilal download the text, read it, decided to buy the book. Up to today, I have over 12.000.000 hard copies sold in Russia, and counting.

C] I also decided to create “The Pirate Coelho”, an non-official fan page that allows people to download the full texts in different languages. I am selling more books now than ever. (Where is it? Well, not difficult to find…)

D] How did all these social communities start?
At first it was just wanting to chat with another person. But chatting isn’t enough – we have to share the music, the book or the film that we love. When there was no law against it, this information was exchanged freely. Finally, when the entertainment industry caught on, the repression began.

E] Art is not an orange.
If you buy an orange and eat it, you have to buy another one, and then it makes sense that oranges should not be given for free, because the consumer consumes the product. Art is about beauty. Music is about beauty. If I visit a page and I like the music, I am sure I will buy the CD, because I want to know more about the work of the artist.

F] A woman went to a market and saw two jars.
She asked the vendor for the price:: “ten coins”, he answered.
The woman was surprised: “but one of these jars has been painted by an artist!”
The vendor replied: ” I am selling jars. Beauty has no price.”
 

Once upon a time, there was a man who had been the soul of kindness all his life.
When he died, everyone assumed that he would go straight to Heaven, for the only possible place for a good man like him was Paradise.
The man wasn’t particularly bothered about going to Heaven, but that was where he went.

Now in those days, service in heaven was not all that it might be.
The reception desk was extremely inefficient, and the angel who received him gave only a cursory glance through the index cards before her and when she couldn’t find the man’s name, she sent him straight to Hell.

And in Hell no one asks to check your badge or your invitation, for anyone who turns up is invited in. The man entered and stayed.

Some days later, Lucifer stormed up to the gates of Heaven to demand an explanation from St Peter.

“What you’re doing is pure terrorism!” he said. “You sent that man down into Hell, and he’s completely undermining me! Right from the start, there he was listening to people, looking them in the eye, talking to them.
“And now everyone’s sharing their feelings and hugging and kissing. That’s not the sort of thing I want in Hell! Please, let him into Heaven!’

When Ramesh had finished telling the story, he looked at me fondly and said:
 
‘Live your life with so much love in your heart that if, by mistake, you were sent to Hell, the Devil himself would deliver you up to Paradise.’
 
 

“I am a daisy in a field of daisies,” thought the flower. “Amidst others, it is impossible to notice my beauty.”

An angel heard what she was thinking and commented:

– But you are so pretty!

– I want to be the only one!

In order not to hear any complaints, the angel carried her off to a city square.

Some days later, the mayor went there with a gardener to make some changes to the square.

– There is nothing of interest here. Dig up the earth and plant geraniums.

– Hold on a minute! – cried out the daisy. – You’ll kill me if you do that!

– If there were some others like you, we could make some nice decoration – answered the mayor. – But there are no daisies to be found around here, and you on your own do not make a garden.

Then he tore the flower from the ground.

by Susie Moore (you can read the full post HERE)

1) There has never been a better time in history to live an extraordinary, unlimited life.

2) Don’t listen to others when it comes to making big decisions. Your inner voice has the answers.

3) How good you look is a reflection of how good you feel inside. The woman who taught me this is the incredible Rupa Mehta, founder of Nalini Method, here in New York!

4) We’re all connected. As Mark Nepo says, “being human is looking so deeply into the other person that you recognize yourself.”

5) Life is better when you’re in it (not on the sidelines, watching).

6) Take your desires seriously. They’re all you’ve got. Deepak Chopra teaches, “Inherent in every desire is the mechanics for its fulfillment.”

7) You don’t have to work in a corporate job. It’s not safe anyway, despite what they tell you. There’s much more fun and money to be had if you can handle a little uncertainty (warning — most people would choose misery over uncertainty, but you don’t have to be one of them). Doing work that you truly love is the best gift you will ever give yourself.

8) Laugh often. People who laugh vs. get offended or get upset over small stuff have way healthier lives.

9) Ask for a raise when you feel it’s due. Always. It adds up to more than you believe.

10) Kindness counts above all else. It does not matter how good looking, educated or interesting someone is. It all means nothing without kindness.

11) Worry less. As happiness researcher Shawn Achor says, “Adversities, no matter what they are, simply don’t hit us as hard as we think they will. Our fear of consequences is always worse than the consequences themselves.”

12) Visualize! Picture your ideal life daily and consistently take small steps towards your vision. Each small step adds up to a life.

13) Always be de-cluttering! Closets, paperwork, unsupportive friends, apps, inboxes. Simplicity is heaven.

14) It’s never about where you start. I come from a small town, a broken home, an alcoholic father and no money. If you hate your situation, I guarantee you that you can change it. Your current circumstances are always temporary (both good and bad).

15) Qualifications mean less than you think. Knowledge is only potential power. Doing/creating/building is what counts (and it’s where you gain the real knowledge).

16) The best way to do it is to do it. Take risks. You’ll be dead soon. As my friend Sean Behr says, “don’t die wondering.”

17) Read like a maniac — biographies especially. All mistakes that can be made and lessons that can be learned have already been experienced by someone else. Reading is like a Cheater’s Guide to navigating your life.

18) The biggest regrets come from pleasing other people. A Buddhist monk said if you meditated for 20 years the final message you would arrive at is, “Be yourself.”

19) Live where you want to live. Despite what you might think — you are NOT stuck! If your dream is to live in London, Paris, San Francisco — go!

20) Love yourself. Especially when you don’t “deserve” it.

21) Forgive others no matter what they did to you. This is like inner-peace on a platter. BUT you don’t have to be friends with people who’ve hurt you.

22) Success isn’t passive. Elizabeth Gilbert nailed it when she said, “Participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings.”

23) Talk to new people. All opportunities come from the people you meet. It’s humans who make things happen, nothing else.

24) Time cures heartbreak. Nothing else. As Regina Brett says, “Give time time.”

25) It’s OK if people don’t like you. Truly. I love what Paulo Coelho says, “Haters are confused admirers who cannot understand why everyone loves you.”

26) Say no and don’t feel guilty about it. Martha Beck put it best, “When it comes to saying yes or no to something or someone, choose the answer that feels like freedom.”

27) No one is ever ready. Just begin, baby!

28) Focus on your strengths, always. Crafting your strengths will get you much further than improving your weaker areas. Let your strengths shine and don’t apologize for them!

29) Everyone is scared.

30) “No-one knows what they’re doing either.“As Ricky Gervais says. We are all just doing our best as we go along. Let this make you feel free, liberated and tolerant of all others who are just doing their best, too.

31) Love is stronger than death. When we lose our loved ones all that’s lost is their physical form.

32) You are going to be OK.

(the story below was a comment in “The fisherman and the businessman” by Benseddik. I liked it so much that I decided to post it in the main page)

A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.
“Daddy, may I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.
“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?
“That’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.

“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.
“If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.”
“Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?”

The father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. I work long, hard hours everyday and don’t have time for such childish games.”
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy’s questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00, and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.
“Are you asleep son?” he asked.
“No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here’s that $10.00 you asked for.”
The little boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank you daddy!” he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills.
The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.

“Why did you want more money if you already had some?” the father grumbled.
“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.

“Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?”

By Ryan Covel

On finding your Personal Legend:When we’re young we dream of becoming astronauts, professional athletes, actors and writers, captains and firefighters, but as we grow older, and move through the education system and society, it’s continually suggested that we ‘think more reasonably’ and consider things such as job-security – like how Paulo’s parents suggested he become an engineer. As Paulo shows us though, sometimes it’s best we don’t listen to the voices of suppression, and continue to dream big throughout our whole life.

On fate and freewill: Many times when an event occurs in our lives, whether good or bad, we will tell ourselves, “it was fate”. We like to give the universe its power and convince ourselves that we have no control over what happens – but we do. The world’s biggest lie is when we, or others, tell ourselves that we don’t have control over our lives. We do. We are each in full control of our individual lives – and until we stop believing in that lie, we won’t be able to reach our full potential; our Personal Legend.

On life: The hardest part of any goal worth achieving comes in the moments when you think it has become an impossible task, but in reality, you are so close to achieving whatever it is that you have asked the universe for. It’s about persevering those tough moments, and continuing your journey, that will help you realize your dreams. As Paulo says,

“It is said that the darkest hour of night came just before the dawn.”