H.I.F. Biber, Passacaglia for Violin Solo on Baroque Violin

7 Life Changing Lessons You Can Learn from Mark Twain

7 Life Changing Lessons You Can Learn from Mark Twain: "
in 1871, Mark Twain was born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri, U.S. He was a writer, and lecturer. He was called the “greatest American humorist of his age.” He wrote the now classic novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

He wrote some great stuff that is still read by millions today. He also had some great quotes that continue to live on because of the wisdom in them. Mark Twain was a funny, witty, and wise guy. I hope the below quotes will astonish, enlighten, and amuse you.

1. 'I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.'

   
   
   We walk around all our lives thinking about things that will never happen. We worry, dread, and fear what hasn’t happened and what probably never will.
   
   Our minds are out of control. Our heads are filled with negative thoughts that have no bearing in reality, even if we think they do.
   
   Eliminating bad thoughts is possible, through methods such as EFT and The Work. It’s not easy, but worth it.

The things we believe

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he’ll have to touch it to be sure.
— Murphy’s Law

Less is More

Fear less, hope more
Eat less, chew more
Whine less, breathe more
Talk less, say more
Love more, and all good things will be yours.
— Swedish Proverb

Success

You Have a Disease. Here’s the Cure.

I have a disease. No, not life threatening, luckily; but one that does hinder my ability to be both productive and well-rounded. And you know what? It’s quite possible that you have it too. Disagree with me? Well sure you do, but admitting you have a problem is the first step!

It’s not like we’re content with monthly publications any longer.

The disease I’m referring to is one that I’ve spoken about numerous times in recent years: the “always on” effect. Particularly as web developers, we’re consumed by media and gadgets. You finish up a day of coding, and how do you prop up your feet to relax? Probably with a visit to Engadget to catch up on the “news.” But who’s to blame you? It’s not like we’re content with monthly publications any longer. Heck, we’re not even content with weekly, or even daily news! You — and by “you,” I mean “I” — probably check in on the site, or one of its siblings (Mashable, TechCrunch, etc.) twice a day. It’s admittedly a waste of time, yet we don’t stop.

At first, in the late nineties, all was well. How amazing that we have access to up-to-the-minute news at all times?

Sure, we had to dial in, and pray that the phone didn’t ring, but, even so, the accessibility of endless information was well worth the effort.

But then, this developing illness became a bit more extreme with the introduction of a new generation of smart phones with non-kill-the-person-sitting-next-to-you-while-waiting-for-the-page-to-load browsers! This introduced a whole new level of availability. Not content to access the web only via a wired desktop computer, we can now do so on the go (some taking the “on the go” idea a bit too far…think Tweeting while driving).


So what’s wrong with reading gadget sites twice a day? Well certainly there’s nothing inherently wrong with doing just that, but it’s rarely “just that.” In fact, it’s a symptom of a much bigger problem: information/media/gadget overload. Combine your daily workload with web browsing, social media and RSS feeds, and you get a lot of eye strain.

We all know that feeling; it’s the evening, and you find that, for the last twenty minutes or so, you’ve been mindlessly browsing the web, accomplishing absolutely nothing. During the course of that twenty minutes, it’s likely that you visited more than one site multiple times! Because hey, the refresh button could reveal all sorts of new information.

What’s your reality?

What you believe and focus on becomes your reality. If you go out looking for trouble, you’ll find it. If you focus on happiness, it will appear. Once you decide what you’re looking for, your brain will go to work to find it and make it your reality.

— Michael McMillan