A Warm Welcome To The 'Balance in Life' Electronic Newsletter

Hi, I'm Martin, and I'm very happy to be sharing a little more about life in this free monthly newsletter.

Life is very precious as we all know. And it is a noble aim to get the most out of it. Each month you will find new content here - not seen elsewhere first.

There will be a mixture of material for us all to get our teeth into. To help move our lives along if we so wish. To think about life if that is what we want to do. Or to just ponder and wonder about life's rich tapestry, and what it has to offer us.

December 2008 Contents

So what do we have in store this month in this edition of 'Balance in Life'?

So let us get started on this months edition . . .

On a Lighter Note

Following on from the Lighter Note page on the website I thought I would provide just a few more quotes here each month.

Another chance to smile, to ponder, to think, to . . .

A man may be so much of everything, that he is nothing of anything. Samual Johnson

The difference between truth and cant often lies in the lips that give forth the words. George Gissing

All truth is simple, is that not a compound lie. Friedrich Nietzsche

Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set. Francis Bacon

The agitator seizes the word. The artist is seized by it. Karl Kraus

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Supplementary Article


These articles will be in a lighter vein than the main article. Let me know what you think.

We need initiate change on the inside to really change on the outside

In life are we on the inside looking out, or the outside looking in? What do you think?

When we look, when we feel, when we see, when we hear, when we touch - what is it that does it all? Our eyes, our heart, our eyes, our ears, our fingers - and in that order, as in the previous sentence. Or are they acting as our 'go-between'. Are they acting as the link between us and that which we see, feel or touch?

Is the beauty in the eye of the beholder, in that we like and view things differently? And we differ in what we class as beautiful - to us. Or is beauty in the subject itself?

If we change what is that changes? And which part of us makes the change?

Are we in charge of things or is that outside of us? What keeps us alive each day? Where does that life manifest - out there in life or somewhere within us?

We may not always understand our life. We may not always be happy with the direction of our life. We may not always be in contact with our life - we are living but our focus is not quite there.

But I think we can all agree the real focus of our life is within us. For someone else it is within them, but for us it is within us.

If the real experience of life is within us, and what makes us tick is within us, then the real challenge is life is not to wash the dishes, not the job, not the sport we participate in. Not any of those things, important as they are.

No, the real deal in life is to uncover, to discover ourselves within ourselves.

That's the end of the supplementary article

Hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting. Martin

What do you think? Let me know by sending me your feedback using this link.

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What's been happening on the website

Recent developments on www.self-esteem-enhances-life.com

If you look on the SiteMap page you will see I have highlighted recent page additions.

I must admit to enjoying adding these recent pages.

So now there are further pages in the self discipline (for example What is self criticism?, What is self care? and What is self reliance?), self management (for example What is self knowledge?), goal setting (for example What is decision making?) and talents and values (for example Virtues and Ethics) sections of the website.

They have got my creative juices flowing and I'm happy that I have captured something of how I feel about these subjects. They were a challenge but I'm happy with the results. I hope you enjoy reading them.

My next pages will be providing quotations pages for various sections of the website, as well as further pages in the Body Language, Personality and Behavior sections of the site.

If you'd like to provide any feedback or comments please use my Contact Me page.

RSS feed

To get the latest website developments to your screen please subscribe to my RSS feed. You can either paste this address into your RSS reader

https://www.self-esteem-enhances-life.com/Self-Esteem.xml

OR

on my Home Page please click on the RSS button, top left of the page, and follow the instructions.

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Prose Corner

Each month I will look through my notebooks and find a little bit of prose. Often written in a few minutes, so please don't expect Wordsworth, but hopefully these entries will provide a little interlude in your day. A chance to think and ponder, to daydream or to visualize, to perhaps see things in a different light.

Happy reading

Live up to your principles- the ones you set yourself.

Live up to your ideals - the ones you set yourself.

Live up to your morals - the ones you set yourself.

Live up to your ethics - the ones you set yourself.

Live up to the standards you set yourself, the principles you set yourself,

but have no scruples if the need arrives.

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As you know this is free to your email box at the beginning of each month. If this is not your own copy then please follow this link to sign up for your very own copy

Main Article

Each month there will be an article, with fresh content, that goes into a subject in a little more detail. Perhaps give a different stance. Perhaps provide food for thought. Perhaps . . .

We are at the helm, what can we do? It can be a car and we are a designer. It can be our wedding plans and we are the organiser. It can be a cake and we are the cook. It can be our job and we are the employee. It can be a book and we are the writer. It can be a piece of art or sculpture and we are the creator. It can be our life and we are the occupant, the participant - we are at the helm.

In all these activities.we have to use the resources available and mould them. We have to use our skills and experience, knowledge and wisdom to develop what we want, to change what we have, to create our end product. I don't wish to discuss here how we go about those things but to ask us to step back for a moment. Take a short time out and consider what we are doing when we

  • develop something
  • change something
  • create something

Developing my web pages has made me think a lot about things,

  • how they relate together
  • their importance, both individually and collectively
  • their importance to me, and
  • how best I could convey my thoughts and feelings about various subjects

And my aim - to convey something in order to try to help if I can, in a small way, to make sense of things.To help put another piece of the puzzle together.

(That was my approach when I wrote my web pages on self development, self improvement, personal development, personal improvement and self help. After all so much has been written on these subjects, how to offer something new, something meaningful. I was not sure how they would end up but I am quite pleased with the outcome. Please follow the links here to judge for yourself.)

And that puzzle here is to clarify what we mean by developing, changing, or creating.

So I would like to carry forward that process here. And to see what comes in trying to distinguish between developing, changing and creating. And in so doing help us to know what we are doing in life to improve ourselves, to make more sense of things, to get more out of life, to help us realize it does have meaning and purpose and will be another step along the road, our road, to fulfilling our potential.

To develop, to change or to create seem words that convey very similarly meanings. Are they interchangeable? Do they mean different things? If we understood the words a little better would that help to put things into perspective a bit more for us?

What do we think? What we think is important. And why? Well we are at the coal face. We are living life. We make the decisions. We have our thoughts, ideas, feelings. And we base our life on them. Let me lead - but before proceeding give a little thought to what these words mean to you:

  • develop
  • change
  • create
What do they mean to you? Are they the same? Are there subtle differences? Or are they just different words meaning the same thing?

A quick thinking time: . . . . While you think about that . . . and if you feel it is a waste of time, that is fine, but just remember that we give our attention in our thoughts to many things. Why not give a little time to things that effect us? Why not about our development, our lives? Why not about how we could change things for us? Why not about how we could create new opportunities for us - to move our life along? OK . . . what came forth?

OK, you have had a chance to let your ideas or thoughts filter through. Here are my initial thoughts and inclinations:

develop a word that conveys to me the idea of improvement, enhancement, boosting, working on something but making it better, stronger, more useful, greater than it was

change quite a strong word which, in simple terms, conveys movement, going from one position to another - does not say whether this is better or worse, just different

create another meaningful word - this conveys to me the idea of building or making something from something else, with the positive idea of improvement, enhancement - but maybe that is me - why create something that is worse or useless?

So just from these initial thoughts we have differences, differences between these three words, these three concepts, that at first seemed closely related both in action and deed, origin and outcome

A quick synopsis

  • develop - greater, stronger, more useful
  • change - movement, moving on
  • create - building, making something but improving, enhancing
Can we take this further? Let us look deeper into their meaning

What does change really mean?

  • to cause to be different - done on purpose with motive in mind, not on a whim - needs to be lasting
  • to transform - different appearance - needs to be sustainable, pleasant on the eye, but an inner change, too
  • to exchange - to replace something with another - how do we know it is better or wise?
  • to switch or to transfer - to maintain but also to gain
  • to undergo alteration - to keep what we have but amend it a little
  • to go from one phase to another - very important, growing through life, we need to experience things, we need to go through things, we cannot be cosseted through life (though at times that does seem welcome)
  • to put on other clothing - our changes are only transitory if only skin deep, we need to change inside to really change on the outside (but that's another topic in itself)

What does develop really mean?

  • to aid in the growth or strengthen
  • to bring into being gradually
  • to influence the behavior towards a specifc end
  • to cause, to serve a particular purpose
  • to improve, to advance

What does create really mean?

  • to invest or appoint - give ourselves permission to change
  • to reproduce - but want to be ourselves and not a clone
  • to establish - to be substantial and lasting
  • to reinvent - to go back and take what is good and bring it forward to add to what we have, not to forget our path or past
  • to build - to enhance, to make greater
  • redo, refashion - to use what we have but hone it, bring back it's sheen and shine
  • throw together - only when we are impatient, but patience and visualizing the end result will help to minimize this

Now I find that informative as well as interesting. Gives us a new slant on things. Helps to sharpen the focus. Helps us to move things forward a little.

To finish on a more practical note, a few quick thoughts on what these three elements in our lives can mean to us in practice.

Change is demanding, demanding of us. And to be the same consistent person throughout change is one of the challenges (not just of change but life itself)

To develop ourselves requires effort and commitment, dedication and determination.

To create something of ourselves, for ourselves, demands application, imagination, visualization, belief, confidence.

That's the end of the main article (or the starting place for another?)

Hope you enjoyed it and found it beneficial. Martin

What do you think? Let me know by sending me your feedback using this link.

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Ever wanted your own website or your own business, but always wondered how?

Have you ever wanted your own business? But no previous experience . . . Have you every wanted your own website? But no previous experience . . .

If you have the desire, the will to do your own thing then help is at hand.

Think you can, you can.

Think I don't know - then you could . . .

Find out about how YOU could do this for yourself with Site Build It!.

Or, to find out how I learned about this and started putting it into practice

Yes, you can do this.

You can build your own website.

You can realize your own dreams.

You can fulfill your dreams.

Any questions about SBI!?

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If you'd like to contact me please use the following link: Contact Me page

Until the next edition of 'Balance in Life'

So, that is all for this month. It has been a pleasure spending time with you. I look forward to meeting up with you next month, at the beginning of the New Year.

May I just wish you all the very best for the festive season and hope that you find enjoyment, satisfaction and fulfillment in your life in the coming year.

All best from England, Martin

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