Blinking: Blink constantly to relax the eye. Blinking has to be soft and complete, not rapid, movement of the eyes. To relax your eyes, imagine you were using your eyelashes to gently open and close your eyes. Make sure your movements are slow, gentle, and complete.
Friday, September 20, 2024
Develop Good Visual Habits
Blinking: Blink constantly to relax the eye. Blinking has to be soft and complete, not rapid, movement of the eyes. To relax your eyes, imagine you were using your eyelashes to gently open and close your eyes. Make sure your movements are slow, gentle, and complete.
Thursday, September 19, 2024
The Paradoxes of Life
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
The Chinese Wisdom to Succeed
The Chinese Proverbs
"Do today's work, today." Traditional
"A kind man sees kindness, the wise man sees wisdom." Book of Changes
"Practice makes for true knowledge." Tuotuo
"Failure is the mother of success." Traditional
"Wanting to know everything is the worst of follies." Zhuang Zi
"To fare well, a man must trust in his feelings." Zhuang Zi
"Better to display your ugliness than to hide your ignorance." Traditional
To succeed, you must set your goals and then take your appropriate actions with no delay and no procrastination. Your knowledge must be focused, instead of diversified, while your emotions must be positive due to anticipated failures.
Stephen Lau
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Examples of How to Live Your Life
In your life, there're different ways of living, and here're two examples:
Living by Wants
Yes, in
life and living, there’re many wants, including the following: wanting alcohol
may result in AUD (Alcohol Use Disorder); wanting gambling can
happen to anyone from any walk of life, due to the fun that often turns into an
unhealthy obsession with many serious financial and relationship consequences;
wanting sex can lead to pornography, adultery, infidelity, and
extra-marital affairs; wanting money can cause greed and attachments to
material things; wanting hobbies can make life more interesting, such as
dancing, drawing, and singing; wanting sports can increase
physical and mental skills in competitive sports, such as football and soccer,
while wanting non-competitive sports, such as running and swimming, can be
exercises for physical health; wanting success in any endeavor, such as
careers and businesses, love and relationships, health and healing, can set
goals and objectives in life and living.
But
living by wants requires the means, that is, the money or the earnings
to make a living, without which it’s impossible to get the wants.
Unfortunately, many even without their means yet demand their wants, and thus
ending up in crimes, such as stealing and robbing.
Living by Personality
An ego
is self-identity. Many may have an inflated ego that gives them a
distinguished personality to live by. They believe they’re not only much better
but also totally different from others. Accordingly, others must succumb
to their demands and desires. They’ve become so self-centered that they’ll
continuously inflate their own ego with higher expectations while controlling
and demanding others to do what they want them to do for them.
An Illustration
Donald
Trump, with little discipline in childhood and
adolescence, came from a wealthy family with high expectations. He began
his own business in hotels and casinos. Unfortunately, he was labeled “public
laughingstock” due to his repeated business failures in several of his different
tumultuous business careers. But, with his self-inflated egoistic personality,
Donald Trump was still able to give the public “delusional” perception of his high-flying
success in real estate. He even started the Trump University, but that only ended
up in many lawsuits. The bankruptcy protection in the United States saved
Donald Trump from his own bankruptcy caused by all his business failures.
Donald Trump’s ego-self turned around sharply
and suddenly when he was elected the 45th President of the United
States. With that great boost to his already self-inflated ego, he thought he
could do just about anything to control everyone and everything around him. But
his inflated ego was severely compromised when he “unexpectedly” lost his
second-term presidency that led to many allegations of his conspiracy, insurrection, and plot to
illegally hold onto power to sustain his inflated ego.
On the other side of those with an inflated
ego are those living with a deflated ego. They often feel inadequate,
incompetent, insecure, and even unloved. Their perceived low self-esteem often
originates from an unhappy childhood with extremely critical and demanding
parents, as well as from their own ongoing life events, such as career and
relationship failures and problems.
An
illustration
Paris Hilton is
the great-granddaughter of the founder of the famous Hilton Hotels. Being given
the nickname of “Star” by her mother and grandmother, and growing up in fame
and prestige, she began her modeling career at any early age. Due to her own
demand for celebrity status and media attention, Paris also began her other
careers in books, music, and screen appearances. Her book “Confessions of An
Heiress” was on the New York Times’s
bestseller list; her role in the film “The House of Wax” earned her The Teen
Choices Award.
But Paris Hilton always
thought that she was “less successful” than others. Her “deflated ego” and her
envy of those who were “more successful” than she was led to her continual
pursuit in music and television shows, such as “The World According to Paris,”
and “Hollywood Love Story.” Feeling being a mediocre, she was always envious of
those who she thought were more successful than herself. Throughout her different
careers, she was haunted by the sin of pride and the sin of envy. The Guinness World Record in 2007 named Paris Hilton
“the most overrated celebrity.” According to the media, she was “the worst
actress of the decade.”
The Bottom Line
Living by faith, you live with
humility and not pride if you’ve an inflated ego; you live with simplicity to
give you confidence, hope, and strength if you’ve a deflated ego.
Living by faith, you believe that God has given you your true self
destined by Him to live a life of humility and simplicity.
Living By Faith shows you how
to live your life in this material world with real-life examples.
Stephen Lau
Monday, September 16, 2024
Anything Is Everything OR Nothing
Sunday, September 15, 2024
Believing in Yourself
Believing in yourself is self-efficacy. Believing in yourself is confidence in your own ability, knowing what you have to do to win or simply to get what you want in life.
In addition, you may also be comparing yourself with others. Remember, nobody is perfect. Others may also have their failures that you are unaware of. You see only their successes but not their failures. Surprisingly, seeing your own imperfections may be the pathway to future success.
Saturday, September 14, 2024
The Importance of Money Wisdom
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Friday, September 13, 2024
Living By Faith - A New Blog
THE NEW BLOG
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Losing Your Money
Making money is all about your being and your doing: being who you are and doing what you can with what you have.
Not knowing your true
self and not doing what you are supposed to do, and yet wanting your money, and
even lots of it, leads to your “money fantasies”, such as becoming a
professional gambler, lining up for hours to get your Power Ball, and even
engaging in burglary or bank robbery.
No matter what, you may lose your money at some point in your life, and that is a reality. Remember, the opposite of "gain" is "loss", and what goes up must also come down, and this is a universal truth.
LOSING
Even if your life is a bed of roses, it must also have some thorns to go with it. What goes up must also come down. Gains are followed by losses. That is the natural cycle of all things.
While pursuing your
careers, you might have encountered your discharge or unemployment, and while
making your money in your businesses or financial investments, you might also
have been overwhelmed by your money losses.
Freedom
Free yourself from “money miseries”—living from paycheck to paycheck; not making both ends meet; always seeing your lack and deprivation when compared with others.
Remember this: Even
wealthy celebrities went broke, and you are not alone. For example, Mike
Tyson, a boxing champion, earning over $300 million dollars, ended up in bankruptcy
in 2003; and Michael Jackson, a recording artist, dancer, singer, and
songwriter, earning over $500 million dollars, was heavily in debt when he died
in 2009.
So, fight the good
fight to recover, restore, and rejuvenate yourself from the bondage and
wreckage of losses.
Bondage
Money is emotional, especially when always feeling the lack of it. Yes, money can cause many mental problems, including depression.
With more
money, you can live rich. But even with less money, you can still
live richly, and free yourself from the bondage of lack.
But how to
live richly if you have less money? The answer is thrift, which is an
alternative lifestyle to consumerism, materialism, and over-consumption in this
material world you are living in.
Thrift may help you work less, and not more. Many people are not paying with their money; instead, they are paying with their time from their lives. Are you one of them? Are you doing two or more jobs just to earn that extra money to spend more?
Thrift may promote your positive consumption values. Are some or most of your purchases aimed at your instant gratification, or just enhancing your self-esteem, making you feel rich, such as wearing a designer’s dress?
Thrift may encourage your savings. It may give you
more space to save, thereby instrumental in protecting you from negative income
shocks, such as an unexpected unemployment.
Yes, living richly
with thrift may turn you from bondage to freedom.
FREEDOM with BONDAGE shows you how to free yourself from your bondage to the flesh that gives you the "freedom" to make the wrong choices and decisions in your everyday life.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Adultery in Marriage
INFIDELITY IN MARRIAGE
Tiger Woods, one of the world’s most famous and wealthiest golfers, was caught with his dark secrets of infidelities and lies in 2009. At first, he vehemently denied and even concealed them. But, eventually, he was more forthcoming and apologetic to his fans and his family at several press conferences:
The reality
King David’s adulteries
In spite of his efforts in seeking God’s wisdom, King David also demonstrated his darker side of the sin of lust.
One night, King David saw Bathsheba, the wife of one of King David’s generals, bathing on the rooftop. Succumbing to his own sin of lust, King David sent for Bathsheba, and committed adultery with her. To gratify his lust, King David even purposely sent the general to the war front to have him killed so that he could marry the general’s widow.
King David eventually married Bathsheba. Although penitent for his sins, God punished King David, and their firstborn son died.
King Solomon’s adulteries
King Solomon, the second son of King David, despite his profound human wisdom, violated God’s standards of sexual purity. His decision to disobey God and marry foreign women with their different gods led to his own idolatry. As a punishment for his sins, God divided Israel, and Solomon suffered bitterness and emptiness at the end of his life.
The difference between King David and King Solomon is that King David always lived in the presence of the Lord. So, King David always turned back to God with remorse and repentance, while King Solomon only distanced himself from God with no contrition and remorse.
So, living in the presence of the Lord always reminds you of your own accountability to Him, without which you will do anything and everything, thinking that you can get away with it.
The reality
Always live in the presence of the Shepherd. Always let the Shepherd guide you in the green pastures. Always let the Shepherd overcome your enemies of pride, lust, and deceit. Always let the Shepherd use His rod and staff not only to protect you but also to restrain and discipline you. Always let the Lord be your Shepherd throughout your marriage journey.
Adultery is a conscious and deliberate act to do just the opposite of what a marriage commitment requires. Adultery is prevalent because it has become the new “norm.” According to many, adultery is just a sin, not a crime, and everybody commits sins of some sort anyway. But adultery is a sin directly against God, who creates the marriage, joining the two as one. So, committing adultery is lack of accountability to God, and is unforgivable without judgment and repentance.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
You Just Don't Die!
Words of Wisdom to Live to 100 Years and Beyond
Life might not have been fair to you with happenings that might have been beyond your control. No matter what, life is not meant to be a punishment for you. If you just don’t die, you will have the wisdom to live it through.
“Life begets death; one is
inseparable from the other.
One is form; the other is formless.
Each gives way to the other.
One third of people focus on life, ignoring death.
One third of people focus on death, ignoring life.
One third of people think of neither, just
drifting along.
They all suffer in the end.
Trusting the Creator, we have no illusion about life
and death.
Holding nothing back from life, we are ready for
death,
just as a man ready for sleep after a good day’s
work.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 50)
“Abiding in the Creator, we do not fear death.
Following the conditioned mind, we fear everything.
Fear is a futile attempt to control things and
people.
Death is a natural destination of the Way.
Unnatural fear of death does more harm than good.
It is like trying to use
intricate tools of a master craftsman:
we end up hurting ourselves.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 74)
If you just don’t die, the wisdom in living the rest of your life is no more than . . .
Just like eating a meal
Living the rest of your
life is just like eating a meal.
Before your start your
meal, say your grace. (Just like being grateful and thankful that you just
don’t die and that you can still have this meal.)
Before you pick up your
food, take a minute or two to still your mind. There is no need to hurry;
you’ve all the time in the world to finish this meal. (Just like being
conscious of living in the now.)
There is no right or wrong
about eating the food in front of you—eating is just a process, a way of living
and surviving, just like breathing in and out. (Just like knowing that now you
don't need to eat to socialize, to relieve stress,
to satisfy your food cravings, or to make yourself feel better—you eat
simply because you just don’t die.)
Look at the food in front
of you. Notice the color, the smell, and the texture of the food. (Just like
being conscious of the people and the happenings around you.)
Now, begin
eating. No matter how small the bite of food you have, take at least two bites.
Take your first bite. Chew it very slowly but thoroughly,
noticing and enjoying your actual sensory experience of chewing and tasting.
Chew every morsel of food to explore the differences in their taste, texture,
and smell. (Just like enjoying whatever that is still available to you that you
still find enjoyable.)
Continue to
eat in silence without any distraction. (Just like you continue to live without
being distracted by what might happen tomorrow.)
Just like watching a suspense movie
Living in the last days is also like watching a suspense movie, full of unpredictable twists and turns: you don’t know how it would end until the very end; otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth watching. Don’t turn your head away, and don’t cover your eyes with your hands. Just watch and enjoy the movie!