Positive Life Attitudes

The art of living well is to develop positive life attitudes for positive living. To live well for the rest of your life, you need to know how to develop your positive life attitudes.

An attitude is no more than a thought powered by words and images. In life, every thought counts because your whole being is composed of thoughts. Research studies have indicated the importance of mind power: thoughts can even turn on or turn off a particular gene responsible for a particular disease or disorder; that is to say, your thoughts impact your health, and everything else in your life.

The art of living well is to utilize mind power to develop positive life attitudes for positive living. The key to dynamic living is having positive life attitudes, which can bring about physical and mental transformation, as well as emotional and spiritual unfolding.

There are seven positive life attitudes in the art of living well:

(1) Develop a positive attitude of change. Do not resist change because everything in life is changing. You cannot stay exactly where you are, even though it may be your comfort zone. Nothing is set in stone; life offers only few absolutes. A change may be positive or negative. The key to the art of living well is to embrace any change as it comes along, instead of resisting it.

.(2) Develop a positive attitude of imitating the habits and behaviors of role models. Choose the ones you admire, and learn from them.

(3) Develop a positive attitude of seeing your future self in your mind’s eye. A picture is worth a thousand words. If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. Harness the power of visualization to make it more “real” to you., and this gives you incentive to pursue your life goals.

(4) Develop a positive attitude of being in control. A positive attitude stems from an internal focus of control, which means you always act instead of reacting, and you are always the master of a situation, instead of the victim.

(5) Develop a positive attitude of doing the best you can do, and leaving the rest to God. A positive attitude focuses on the process and not the outcome of any endeavor you are undertaking.

(6) Develop a positive attitude of passion—passion for life, and enthusiasm for whatever you do, however insignificant it may seem. If you choose to do anything, however insignificant it may be, you do it well. Just as Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’”

(7) Develop a positive attitude of choice. Life is full of choices in matters of work, relationships, or how you feel about yourself. You cannot control what people do to you or the circumstances you may find yourself in, but you can choose to react differently or to have different perspectives.

Developing positive life attitudes holds the key to the art of living well.

Instant Positive Attitude gives you strategies to adjust your attitude for massive success in life.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© Stephen Lau

Letting Go Is the Way to Go

“Letting go is emptying the mundane,

to be filled with heavenly grace.

Blessed is he who has an empty mind.

He will be filled with knowledge and wisdom from the Creator.

Blessed is he who has no attachment to worldly things.

He will be compensated with heavenly riches.

Blessed is he who has no ego-self.

He will be rewarded with humility to connect with the Creator.

Blessed is he who has no judgment of self and others.

He will find contentment and empathy in everyone.

Letting go of everything is the Way to the Creator.”

(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 9)

 

“Not of the world” means letting go of all mundane matters in the physical world.

Attachment only reinforces your identification with the world, while detachment empties your mind of its invisible control and manipulation. Letting go is the beginning of humility.

With humility, comes enlightenment, and letting go becomes simple and spontaneous.

Stephen Lau        

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

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Be Grateful for Everything

Reconnect your soul or spirit to gratitude. If you are grateful to the Creator for what you have, you may look at the behavior of another individual with more tolerance, or even with a totally different perspective.

Blessings in life, such as the gift of life, are generally overlooked or even taken for granted. For example, if someone takes advantage of you, do not become angry immediately; instead, be grateful that you are the victim instead of being the person who victimizes others.

Gratitude enables you to develop the mindset for a positive outlook toward your soul. Smile more often. Keep complaints about people, things, and life in general only to yourself—unless voicing them will help bring about positive changes in others or in society.

Gratitude helps you see the good in others, letting you give them the benefit of the doubt. Try to remember that all people are created in the image of God. Focus on the individual as a person, rather than on the behavior or belief of that individual, which may not be appealing or pleasing to you.

Always be grateful that you have been given the opportunity to become either a teacher or a student in whatever circumstance you may find yourself in, and turn it into a miracle of life.

An illustration

At the end of 2007, John Kralik, an attorney who owned a law firm, experienced debts and disasters in both his life and career.

One day, after a walk in the mountains, Kralik became enlightened: as his 2008 New Year’s resolution, he decided to write a thank-you note a day for the rest of the year to everyone he knew.

Kralik’s  2008 “gratitude project”  had changed  his life completely. Instead of his feeling of discontent regarding his lack, and his envy of those who had what he did not have, he had learned to be grateful for his law firm, his practice, his friends, and his family, despite the many disasters and drawbacks he had previously experienced. Kralik’s gratitude began to change every aspect of his life. His relationships with his family, his friends, and his staff improved significantly; his law firm avoided bankruptcy, and turned around completely.

Gratitude is something that you get more only by giving it away more. Expression of gratitude generates happiness that overcomes the unhappy feelings of lack.

Are you grateful for what you have, and not getting what you rightly deserve?

AS IF EVERYTHING IS A MIRACLE

BE A BETTER AND A HAPPIER YOU WITH TAO WISDOM

THE HAPPINESS WISDOM

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Be Your True Self

Knowing your true self can also make you re-assess your strengths and weaknesses, which may help you along your journey.

With acute body awareness and mind focus, you begin to train yourself to pay greater attention to what is happening in your body, in your mind, as well as in your perceptions of others and of the world around you. In other words, it is your deliberate and purposeful intention to bring more being into your own life experiences. According to research studies, mindfulness of your being is instrumental in helping you cope with your everyday problems, look after your physical health, let go of your undesirable patterns of thinking and behavior, and relate to others with better understanding and greater compassion.  In other words, awareness and focus may bring about the miracle of being, which is now your new perception of your true self—who you really are, and not what you wish you were. Your new being is the outcome of your becoming from where you were.

An Illustration of Becoming

There was ancient Chinese fable of a stonecutter who worked so hard cutting stones that he often felt stressed and depressed.

One day, while standing behind a huge stone where he was cutting his stones, he looked up at the sky, and saw the beautiful sun. Then, he wished he were the sun that could give warmth and sunshine to everyone on earth. A fairy came to him and granted him his wish, so he became the sun.

For a while, he was happy and contented. Then, one day, a big cloud came over, blocked out everything from his view, and he could not even see what was below. He became distressed, and wished he were the cloud, instead of the sun. Again, the fairy came to his rescue, and granted him his wish. He became the cloud, and began drifting and floating happily and peacefully in the sky.

After a while, a strong wind came and scattered the cloud in many different directions. Now, he wished he were the strong wind that could blow away anything and everything that stood in his way. Again, the fairy made his wish come true: he became the strong wind, blowing here and there. For a while, he was happy and contented.

Then, one day, he found that he could not blow away the big stone behind which he used to cut stones in the past. Worse, he was stuck there at the big stone, and going nowhere at all.

Now, finally, he realized that was where he belonged, and where he was supposed to be.

He made his one last wish to become the stonecutter that he used to be. The fairy granted him his last wish, and now he was contented to be the stonecutter again.

The moral of the fable: comparison and contrast between the self and others is often a stumbling block to self-contentment, without which there is no self-discovery, which is the ultimate enlightenment. Self-acceptance is self-love—accepting yourself as who you are in spite of all your shortcomings and imperfections, without comparing and contrasting with others. Letting go of your ego-self is detaching yourself from all your attachments that may ultimately become the sources of your miseries and sufferings in your life.

Remember, all human attachments come in the form of many different stressors in life, and are often the stumbling blocks in the human quest for true human wisdom because they create many delusions and illusions for the thinking mind.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

The Law of Attraction

“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”  - Napoleon Hill

The wisdom is that an adversity may be a blessing in disguise. Worse, if one dwells on the adversity, one may attract more adversities.

The Law of Attraction is about energy attraction: positive energies attracting positive energies, and the same for negative energies. This revolutionary concept has been exponentially popularized by the film "The Secret" as well as by the bestseller book and other related publications across the Internet.

Is the Law of Attraction a myth of the mind or a reality in real life? Can the Law of Attraction really help your healing from rsdiseases and disorders?

Say, when an individual is diagnosed with cancer, that individual often becomes obsessed with anxiety about its treatment options as well as the prognosis of the disease. Obsession with cancer may internalize it into self-doubt and even fear. If an individual is preoccupied with the thought that breast cancer runs in the family, that individual may have predominant thoughts of cancer. Even "positive" thoughts, such as "I am not going to get breast cancer like my mother, my grandmother, or my sister" will only attract negative energy into that individual's life, because the mind only sees the word "cancer" and the "cancer fear" and nothing else. Just as a person buying a lottery ticket will not be attracting energy of abundance, because the mind is focusing on the lack rather than on the abundance, and thus attracting negative and not positive energy.

Once you have decided on what you want: a clean bill of health, you proceed to changing your thoughts and feelings. This may not happen right away, it may take time and effort to shift your thoughts, language, and emotions. Develop positive affirmations and self-suggestions to help you day in and day out. Keep the end in mind, that is, the core values in your life. Live everyday of your life in alignment with what you believe in Hold in your mind the ideal of the condition you wish to realize, the ideal reality you want to experience. The affirmation "I am whole and healthy .....I am loving and compassionate.....I am strong and powerful" holds the key to attaining natural health wisdom.

Abundance in natural health will not come to you out of the sky; neither will it drop into your lap. You must focus on the Law of Attraction and how you will bring this law to attract positive health energies. Make a powerful statement of intent to regain your natural health at all costs. Hold in mind the ideal condition you desire. Use a powerful affirmation and mental imagery to affirm it as an already existing fact until it is absorbed by your subconscious mind to give you the internal life energy.

Congratulations. You've Got Cancer: Learn how to use your mind to overcome the anxiety of a cancer diagnosis. Empower your mind to cope with cancer.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

                                       

Brain Food

As you age, you mind also ages. Your body needs nutrients, so does your mind. Your mind is not very different from your body. The only difference is that you can see your body, but you cannot see your mind.

The physical conditions of your nervous and immune systems can influence your mental health; likewise, the state of your mental health can directly affect your physical well-being. Your body does not function independently of your mind. Therefore, mental health is critical to your overall physical well-being; it is the foundation of being younger for longer.

Your body changes with aging; your organs and body systems become limited in their normal functioning. However, such limitations generally result from disease, not aging; for example, confusion and disorientation are not the normal consequences of aging; they are more disease-related.

Depression not only can slow down an individual but also make that individual look and feel older. Dr. Harry Prosen, M.D. says, “Some people who are chronically depressed can look very old and have stooped shoulders, furrowed lines around the eyes, and all the other things that make a person looked aged I’ve seen some depressed people who look like they’re in their sixties when they’re actually 35 or 40.” The reason is that depression causes decreased muscle tone, contributing to sad facial expressions and poor posture, such as stooped shoulders.

In addition, depression reduces the immune cell activity, leading to a lowered immune response. According to Dr. George Kaplan, an epidemiologist, depression can cause coronary heart disease due to the buildup of fatty deposits in artery walls. Rheumatoid arthritis is also another disease that may be triggered by depression.

Furthermore, depression may cause memory loss, which may affect your mental health. Memory problems often interfere with your daily living, causing frustration and undermining self-confidence. Remember, as you continue to age, depression and memory loss may become more prevalent, and your body’s capability to manufacture and absorb vitamins may also deteriorate. Therefore, it is important to supplement any deficiency.

Your diet may play an important role in your mental health: what you put into your mouth affects your mind as much as it does your body.

The important minerals

Magnesium

According to Dr. James D. Gordon of Georgetown University School of Medicine, depression could be due to problems in the thyroid. Nutrient deficiency, such as magnesium deficiency, could be a result of thyroid dysfunction.

Magnesium is a youth-preserving mineral. As you age, your magnesium level declines due to poor absorption and inadequate diet.

Magnesium is responsible for neurotransmission abnormalities, in addition to its implications in diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, and thyroid dysfunction.

Magnesium is found in whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. An anti-depression healthy diet should be rich in magnesium.

If necessary, take a magnesium supplement of 200-300 mg to remedy your nutrient deficiency.

Calcium

Calcium is an important component of a diet for a healthy mind. According to a study, depressed individuals with suicidal inclination show lower levels of calcium and magnesium.

Many Americans are short of meeting the recommended calcium intake. To help solve the calcium crisis, an array of calcium-fortified foods and beverages flood the consumer market, from juices, drinks, cereals, snacks to dairy foods. However, use of calcium-fortified foods is not the same as a healthy diet with foods that are naturally rich in calcium. Exceeding the safety limit of “tolerable upper intake level” of 2,500 mg calcium per day may have negative effects on other nutrients, such as iron, zinc, and magnesium.

Omega 3 fatty acids

Omega 3 fatty acids are an essential ingredient in brain structure and functioning: about 30 to 35 percent of your brain is made up omega 3 fatty acids. Research has shown that nutrient deficiency of omega 3 fatty acids contributes to de-stabilizing moods in bipolar depression.

Salmon and sardines are particularly rich in omega 3 fatty acids. Include them in your healthy diet.

Always buy “fresh wild salmon” not their “farm-raised” counterparts. According to several studies, concentrations of several cancer-causing substances are high enough to suggest that consumers should consider restricting their consumption of farm-raised salmon. A healthy diet should avoid farm-raised fish as much as possible.

Not all fish are created equal. Sardines are made from many different species of fish. Sardines are particularly rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, which help fight depression, breast cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease. Due to their small size, the mercury content in sardines is negligible, as compared to other larger predatory fish such as shark, swordfish, and king mackerel. Make sure that your sardines are free of additives or preservatives. Kosher certification is always a good stamp of approval, as it means that the product meets stringent quality requirements. Include sardines in your healthy diet.

BRAIN DIET

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Walking to De-Stress

To be diagnosed with an autoimmune diseases is not only devastating but also stressful, especially if the doctor tells you that there is no cure, except controlling the disease symptoms with steroid medications.

The first and foremost thing to do is to de-stress yourself so that you will have clarity of mind to deal with the health issue and its related implications in your life.

Walk to de-stress as if everything is a miracle. Yes, walking can de-stress you, provided you are mindful of how you walk.

Walking is one of the most common exercises because it is simple and easy to do—you just walk. You may walk to your workplace or any destination, or you simply walk as a physical exercise. But walking is more than a physical activity that promotes your physical health; walking can enhance your mind power to help you cope with your everyday stress—if you have the know-how.

Most of us just walk with our feet, but without fully utilizing the exercise of walking to benefit the mind, because walking is so automatic and mechanical that we no longer pay any attention to our walking. In other words, we don’t concentrate when we are walking or doing the exercise of walking. We are so caught up with our destination—such as attending a meeting, or going shopping—that we have no awareness of the process of walking. Many of us have put our feet on automatic pilot, and we just walk like robots.

The human brain is the hardware of your whole being. Your brain is responsible for your stress. It is all in your mind. You are what you think, and you have become what you think—or the realities you have created for yourself. Stress is all in your perceptions; what is stress to you may not be stress to others. Therefore, manage your stress through you mind. You control your own thinking, and your brain creates your own world: how you live your life, and how happy you are, and how you see your everyday stress. And you are responsible for how you feel—even the stresses in life.

This is what happens when stress occurs. You have a thought (usually a negative one) about the stressful event or situation. Your thought sends electrical signals to your brain, which releases chemicals, and you become aware of your own thinking. No matter what you think, your thought is real to you, and must be treated as real. The goal is not to discard that thought or to distract yourself from that thought, but to change your perception of that thought.

So, how to walk to de-stress?

When walking, first and foremost, pay attention to your breaths: your breathing in and breathing out, as well as the intensity of your breaths. Next, pay attention to the sensations of your body, such as the feelings of your soles and toes as your shoes touch the ground. Also, pay attention to the shifting of your body weight as you move from your right foot to the left foot. Just be mindful of what is happening to your body as you are walking. The objective of mindfulness walking is to stop your thinking mind for deep relaxation to de-stress yourself. It is like walking meditation

To be able to change that thought, you must be aware of your body's reactions to the chemicals released by your brain as that thought occurs. For example, notice how your muscles tense up when you are distressed.

The next step is to talk back to that negative thought. Change your thought, and do not believe it. Learn how to train your mind to change your thought, and accordingly change your feeling about that thought. Reinforce your changed feeling by talking back to that thought which gives you the stress. Always use positive affirmations.

Next time, when you are confronted by a stressful situation, think "STOP!" Take a deep breath. Do some mental reflection, such as asking yourself why you think you are distressed. Acknowledge any feeling of anxiety, and become aware of the subtle changes in your physical body. Talk back to any negative thought responsible for creating the stress. The final step is to take appropriate action. Make a list of possible solutions to the problem. If it requires tackling the problem immediately, take the action at once: procrastination only aggravates the situation. But defer taking action if you are able to deal with it more effectively later on. Relax, such as taking a deep meditation, or doing something enjoyable to calm yourself.

Use your mind to manage your daily stress. Your brain is like your body muscle: you need to exercise it to improve your memory, enhance your cognitive power, and increase your IQ. 

All in all, use meditation to give clarity of mind, and use mindfulness to enhance your walking exercise/

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Hep Your Depression with TAO Wisdom

Can TAO help your depression?

TAO is neither a religion nor a philosophy.

TAO is simply a way of life about the Way of life, that is, a general way of thinking about everything in life. It is a pathless path of humanity to live as if everything is a miracle.

TAO is the Way through anything and everything in life in order to fully experience them and live in balance and harmony. TAO is not about avoiding or getting out of anything unhappy and undesirable in everyday life, such as depression; rather, it is about going through depression by experiencing every aspect of it in order to become enlightened, if possible, with the profound human wisdom to continue living in peace and harmony in a world of depression.

TAO is looking at life not as a series of both happy and unhappy episodes, but simply as a journey of self-discovery and self-awakening to the real meaning of life existence. You are defined not by your words and thoughts, but by the ways you act and react, as well as the impact you may have on others around you. You exist not because you are simply here; you are here in this world to love and to learn how to live, as well as to help one another do the same.

TAO is formless, shapeless, and inexplicable in words; after all, it had existed long before there were even words. TAO is infinite human wisdom, which is a pathless path to the infinity and the origin of all things.

TAO is not about making your life any easier; it is about acceptance of all aspects of your humanity that need to be fully experienced, embraced, and then to be let go of in order to become wholesome at other times of your life and living—that is the essence of TAO wisdom, which is true enlightenment of the human mind.

Living in a world of depression, you might want every-thing your way or no way. But TAO is the Way through your depression, enabling you to understand how and why you might have your depression in the first place.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Mindfulness Is Everything in Life

Mindfulness is everything in life, in particular, the true pathway to true human happiness.

Why?

If we look back in anger, we may have regret and remorse; if we look forward with hope and expectation, we may develop anxiety and disappointment. 

Mindfulness is staying with the present moment; after all, the “present” is the only reality because the past was gone, and the future is yet to come. The now is a gift, and that’s why it is called “present.”

We are living in a world of technology with many attachments and distractions that cultivate a compulsive mind.

What is a compulsive mind?

A compulsive mind is unable to slow down, because it is forever focusing on what to do next.  If you’re texting while driving, or talking on the phone while walking—you definitely have a compulsive mind. Even if you’re walking to a supermarket, and your mind is all about what to buy, instead of observing what is around you—you don’t have mindfulness.

Mindfulness relaxes the mind first, and then the body. Relaxation avoids stress and enhances concentration. All in all, mindfulness holds the key to good health and get well-being of an individual—the groundwork of human happiness. That said, mindfulness is easier said than done; you need mindfulness resources to help you get your mindfulness.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

The Wisdom of Letting Go

TheWisdom of Letting Go

The pursuit of human happiness is forever elusive and evasive. Why? It requires human wisdom to ask the right questions, and spiritual wisdom to seek self-enlightening answers to the questions asked throughout our life journey.

Human wisdom comes from the mind: an empty mindset with reverse thinking; mindfulness living in the present with no expectation and no picking; and spontaneity with understanding of the natural cycle of all things, that is, what goes up must also come down. The ancient Tao wisdom from China may enhance human wisdom.

With human wisdom, one may see the wisdom of letting go of all attachments in the material world. Attachments are the raw materials with which we often create the self-delusive realities of the ego-self. Letting go of the ego and all its attachments may let us see the true nature of everything: who we really are, not who we wish we were, and what we really need, not what we desire.

The ego is the human flaw that not only undermines the natural human wisdom but also distorts the lens through which we see the world around us. Therefore, we need spiritual wisdom to complement the inadequate human wisdom, to guide the soul on our life journey. Spiritual wisdom can only be attained through trust and obedience to the Creator, which is letting go to let God.

The above is what this book THE WISDOM OF LETTING GO is all about.

If this book is right for you, you can get it from AMAZON. Click here  to get your copy.

NO EGO NO STRESS

Stephen Lau     

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

The Paradox of TAO Wisdom

The Tao wisdom of Tao Te Ching is paradoxical and even contradictory: it requires the reversal of the common or conventional thinking process in order to truly appreciate and comprehend what Lao Tzu was saying.

To illustrate, according to Tao wisdom, we think with our hearts and only feel with our minds, while in conventional wisdom, we use our minds to think, to reason, and to judge by using our common logic. In Tao, we let the mind do its natural function of feeling and observing, instead of thinking. More specifically, the main function of the human mind is to observe the thoughts in the thinking mind but without any judgment or interference. The Chinese for “I think” is literally “my heart thinks.” (我心想) For centuries, the Chinese have been inculcated with the concept that the heart, and not the mind, is responsible for the ultimate thinking process. However, that is not to contradict the Western concept that the mind thinks. In Tao wisdom, however, “thinking with the heart” figuratively means consciously slowing down the thinking mind, and thereby letting the mind observe the rambling thoughts, instead of having the mind being controlled and overwhelmed by those distracting thoughts. Simply put, the mind mainly feels and observes; it does little thinking and judging in deference to the heart.

To further illustrate the above point, the human mind is like a car, just an instrument of the human brain. The driver is the heart that controls the steering. The car only observes and feels, just as the body does through its five senses. The car does not control its speed or its direction, but the driver does. It is, therefore, important that the car does not exceed the speed limit, because if it goes too fast, it cannot properly observe the surrounding environment with its details, and thus endangering the driver. Similarly, it is also important for the human mind to purposely slow down, so that the individual or the driver can see clearly where he or she is going. Tao wisdom focuses on slowing down the thinking mind, letting it become only the non-judgmental observer so that the heart can make the intelligent choices and decisions in life. According to Lao Tzu, true wisdom is total mental awareness—awareness of what is happening around us, awareness of the nature of things; true wisdom is not based on any human concept, let alone the pre-conditioning of the human mind. That is the reason why it cannot be expressed in words; it has to be experienced and self-intuited by each and every individual. There is no blueprint for all.

Indeed, the Tao wisdom expressed in Tao Te Ching is filled with many paradoxes and contradictory expressions, for example:

 “The more we look, the less we see.

The more we hear, the less we listen.

The more we crave, the crazier we become.”

(Chapter 12, Tao Te Ching)

THE COMPLETE TAO TE CHING IN PLAIN ENGLISH

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

The Wisdom in Aging

There is much wisdom in aging. Wisdom may not make you live longer, but it may make you live better as you age. Aging is difficult to define, but you will know it when you see it or experience it yourself. In brief, aging is a steady decline in health, which is instrumental in shortening lifespan; and the aging process is the duration during which such changes occur. Aging occurs throughout most of lifespan. Such a process is an accumulation of changes, which may be subtle or even drastic, that progressively lead to disease, degeneration, and, ultimately, death.

Whether you like it or not, your biological clock is ticking, and this will happen to various systems in your body: your heart will pump less blood, with your arteries becoming stiffer and less flexible, resulting in high blood pressure; with less oxygen and nutrients from the heart, your lungs will become less efficient in distributing oxygen to different organs and membranes of your body; your brain size will gradually reduce by approximately 10 percent between the age of 30 and 70, often resulting in loss of short-term memory; your bone mass will reduce, making it more brittle and fragile; your body size will shrink with your loss of muscle mass.

Wisdom may slow down your biological clock, although your mortality has been pre-programmed into your biological organisms and you body cells by your genes. Yes, you can still slow down the speed of aging—if you have wisdom to live your life. Tao wisdom may play a pivotal role in how you age, as well as the speed of your aging process.

Tao wisdom—the ancient wisdom of Lao Tzu, the author of the Chinese classic “Tao Te Ching” on human wisdom—may show you how to live a stress-free life with no expectation, no over-doing, focusing on the present moment, instead of the past or the future. More importantly, Tao wisdom helps you let go of control of the self, others, as well as the world around; what goes up must also come down, and everything follows a natural cycle.

Living with Tao wisdom is anti-aging. Live your life as if everything is a miracle.

THE TAO OF LIVING LONGER

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Mind Wellness Wisdom

The mind plays a pivotal role in wellness wisdom of the body, the mind, and the soul; as a matter of fact, it balances and connects the body and soul. To enhance you mind wellness wisdom, you need a reverse mindset.

What is reverse mindset? And why is it essential to human wisdom?

Lao Tzu, the author of Tao Te Ching, an ancient Chinese classic on human wisdom, advocated reverse mindset for human wisdom. His wisdom was profound, and his Tao Te Ching has become one of the most translated and extensively read books in world literature.

Descartes, the great philosopher, once said: "I think, therefore I am." Indeed, human wisdom comes from the mind—that is, how we think, because our thoughts determine who we are and what we do. Wisdom has to do with mental perceptions of what we experience, as well as with our interpretations of those perceptions.

But our thoughts may deceive us; that is, they may mislead us and do not tell us the absolute truths. Therefore, true human wisdom is the capability to separate the truths from the half-truths or the myths. To see through the deception or illusion created by our minds, we need wisdom or clarity of mind. According to Lao Tzu:

"We need a still and composed mind

to see things with greater clarity.

Because trouble begins in the mind."

Lance Armstrong, the dishonored athlete, is a classic example of having the wrong mindset of success is due to effort. Armstrong , as an aspiring athlete, created an ego-self that craved for satisfaction. To meet his own expectations as well as those of others, including his coach, he manipulated the doping program in order to excel and surpass others. He got what he wanted through "over-doing" but with an ultimate price -- losing everything, including what he thought he had gained. Armstrong's mindset is a conventional one for success: "over-doing" or "do more and get more" Mind wellness wisdom is to reverse that mindset.

The unconventional wisdom, according to Lao Tzu, is to have no separate-self. With no ego, you have no expectations; you do what you need to do, without undue efforts, you live in the present, enjoying every moment of it while you wait patiently for things to turn out naturally or the way they are supposed to. Without over-doing, everything will settle into its perfect place. That is the wisdom of "under-doing" -- or mind wellness wisdom mindset.

For more information, visit my website: Wisdom in Living.

Stephen Lau 

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Take A Role Model And Be Happy

Ann Russell Miller was a celebrated socialite from San Francisco, also known as Sister Mary Joseph. She, who had ten children and nineteen grandchildren, had grown up in luxury and privilege, and had been living a life of incredible wealth. Instead of shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, and decorating herself with jewelry from Tiffany, she suddenly and surprisingly decided to give up everything, and became a nun devoted to living in poverty for the rest of her life.

That unbelievable event happened more than two decades ago, and was then widely reported in the media across the country. Why did she make such a drastic and incredible change in her life? She said she had a calling, a true vocation that was hard to understand for the general public, even for the close members of her family.

Ann Russell Miller just wanted to live a simple lifestyle, deleting all the trimmings of life and living, as well as all the attachments that she wanted to let go ot.

Do you have a lot of attachments to the material world you are living in right now? Take a look at your garage and basement. If they are packed full and loaded with many disposables, then probably you still have many attachments you are unwilling to let go of. Attachments are clutters that bring memories you are unwilling to let go of—memories that are reminiscent of your past accomplishments.

If you wish to be happy, just live a simple lifestyle.  

Epicurus, the famous Greek philosopher, had this advice on how to lead a happy life: avoiding luxuries, and living simply. The explanation is that luxurious living may make you into a “needy” person whose happiness always depends on things that are impermanent and easily lost. When they are lost —because nothing is permanent—you naturally become unhappy and even depressed.

THE HAPPINESS WISDOM
MY WAY! NO WAY! TAO IS THE WAY!

Stephen Lau      

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Simplicity to Increase Mind Power

Living a simple lifestyle is the key to stress relief to preventing disease and  prolonging longevity. Simplicity is a way to increase your mind power.

In this day and age, living in this complex world of technology is not easy: The complexity of this world has taken a toll on the human mind, creating undue stress, as well as many emotional, mental, personal, and psychological attachments in the material world. For these reasons, profound human wisdom in living is essential to overcoming stress and letting go of all attachments. Simplicity is the first step towards detachment, which holds the key to unlocking the door to happiness. Live a simple lifestyle, deleting all the trimmings of life and living, as well as all the attachments that may have a negative impact on your mind.

Epicurus, the Greek philosopher, had this advice on how to lead a pleasant life: avoiding luxuries, and living simply. The explanation is that luxurious living may make you into a “needy” person whose happiness always depends on things that are impermanent and easily lost.

The late Robert Kennedy once said: “Sometimes I think that the only people in this country who worry more about money than the poor are the very wealthy. They worry about losing it, they worry about how it is invested, they worry about the effect it’s going to have. And as the zeroes increase, the dilemmas get bigger.” 

The bottom line: live a simple stress-free lifestyle to help you let go of all the trimmings of life.  A stress-free lifestyle goes a long way to helping your attaining longevity. 

A classic example is Ann Russell Miller, a celebrated socialite from San Francisco, also known as Sister Mary Joseph, She, who had ten children and nineteen grand-children, had grown up in luxury and privilege, and had been living a life of incredible wealth. Instead of shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, and decorating herself with jewelry from Tiffany, she suddenly decided to give up everything, and became a nun devoted to living in poverty for the rest of her life. That unbelievable event happened more than two decades ago, and was then widely reported in the media across the country. Why did she make such a drastic and incredible change in her life? She said she had a calling, a true vocation that was hard to understand for the general public, even for the close members of her family.

"YOU JUST DON’T DIE!” 

This 154-page book is about how to live your life as if everything is a miracle if you just don’t die as you continue with you life journey with the many changes and challenges confronting you, including your loss of vision.

Human existence is meaningless without life purpose and human happiness. The pursuit of longevity has been going on since time immemorial. Consciousness holds the key to the success of this pursuit. Consciousness of living is wisdom of the mind to understand the self, others, as well as how and why certain things happen. Wisdom in living enables one to complete the rest of one's life journey and reaching the destination.

To live to 100 and beyond—if you just don’t die—you must ask questions about life; after all, living is about asking questions and seeking answers to the questions asked, and thereby instrumental in providing wisdom or a blueprint to continue the rest of your life journey.

The objective of this 154-page book is neither to convince you to crave longevity, nor to show you how to live to one hundred and beyond. It simply presents you with the consciousness of living the rest of your years—if you just don’t die!

Click here to get your copy.

THE TAO OF LIVING LONGER

Stephen Lau

Copyright © Stephen Lau