The Holy Grail of Life

Yes there are a million of other self-help, motivational, and success blogs and web pages out there. Yes, this another one of them, with one big exception. That exception is that these are no-nonsense, handed down from my grandfather who immigrated from Germany over 80 years ago and have been in my family ever since. I will not bore you of the details, but my family, over my generations, has for the most part been been one of the happiest and most successful in Southern history, in my personal opinion. Do not take these for granted whatever you do. I want to share them because I love helping people live their life to the maximum and learn to make the most of their lives with everybody else as a society.

1. Wake up happy and goto bed happy. Nothing will do more for your day than to greet and say goodbye to it with a smile on your face. It goes farther than you could possibly imagine when it’s authentic.
2. Do not allow trivial annoyances to take your mind. Laugh at the neighbor who is too loud instead of being confrontational, take it in stride when somebody cuts you off in traffic, don’t let work bog you down before you go in or after you leave-think of it as a neccessity of life, even if you don’t love it, which is true for most people.
3. Spend as much time with family and close friends as you possibly can. Take pictures with them-have a camera ready in your pocket when you are out with friends or family. Savor all the fond memories. Taking pictures lets you relive them for as long as you want to.
4. Tell them you love them every single time you get a chance. We are only here on Earth a very short time.
5. Cogito ergo sum, which is Latin and means you essentially have to live for the day-not yesterday, not tomorrow….but now. You have to live in it.
6. Get as much education as possible. Knowledge is truly power as the old cliche goes. Pick one thing to study and totally master it. Specialize in what you love to do, not only what is going to bring in big dollars. A job that pays 100 grand a year that you truly hate and despise will make you richer in the physical form, but so much poorer in every other way. Do what you love, even if it means a paycut. You will be grateful in the end, trust me on this.
7. Choose your friends very carefully. Many of them are only your friend for the matter of convenience, even without your knowledge of it or your denial of it. True friends are the ones who will take your phone call at 3 in the morning to come help you fix a flat tire. That simple.
8. I have found that meditation is an invaluable tool for relaxation and concentration. There are many forms of meditation, but the key to me is finding an extremely quiet spot, sitting in an upright chair, comfortable, but not make-you-go-to sleep comfortable. Close your eyes and feel it in your blood how you are going to continue to grow as an individual, and as a member of society at the same time. I also use soothing music sometimes, which is more useful if you are a little more stressed than normal.
9. If you do not remember anything else in your life, remember that all life is a journey, and that true success is not a destination-it is a never-ending journey.