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12TOWARDS WELL-BEING
The principles that follow, in my experience and observation, provide some of the important keys to personal well-being.
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Avoid negative attitudes such as resentment, anger, self recrimination, envy, jealousy, hatred and bitterness over injustices done to you. Avoid preoccupation with unpleasant, morbid and fearful thoughts. Pleasant thoughts make happier people.
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Listen with interest to all your feelings, both positive and negative. They are conveying valuable messages. Do not try to cling to them nor be in a hurry to escape from them.
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Have faith and confidence in the good things the future will bring. This is a strong antidote to much of our anxiety, panic, desperation, fear and over-sensitivity. It fosters patience and tolerance. Beneficial changes are the product of work, not worry. Be willing to work at making changes, especially within yourself.
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Take the initiative. Investigate. Recognise the need to take calculated risks and avoid an obsession with security. Use courage wisely. Make use of the power you have, however little it might be. Maintain some independence for flexibility when you are interdependent with others. Keep the initiative and try not to part with it unless you have to. This reduces the frustration of unnecessarily having to wait for others to act.
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Seek the truth. Accept the truth about yourself, your abilities and limitations. This is the essence of humility. Recognising that no human being is the centre of the universe helps place your very real importance into perspective.
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Avoid over-commitment of your resources. Your time, money, energy, attention, and other people's abilities and willingness to help are limited. It is a strain to maintain a perpetual juggling act.
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Develop a realistic sense of responsibility; know for whom, in what, and to whom you are accountable. Exercise due care, timely communication and action. Seek out those people and environments which are mutually beneficial. Get to know yourself and those affected by your behaviour. Love both with equal emphasis.
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Be pragmatic rather than dogmatic in matters of morality; don't disregard rules but apply them where they do good.
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Don't specialise and concentrate to such an extent that you abandon all links with reality; life and meaning lie in the whole, not in any isolated part. Practise integrity using all aspects of your nature, your intellect, your feelings, your instincts and everything else you have, together.
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Examine your values; they give birth to your aims and hopes, and it is into these that you place your efforts. Don't keep investing more into a doubtful value just because it has already cost you a lot. Beware of pride; it encourages values that are seldom conducive to happiness.
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Do things properly and in the appropriate order; never rush the groundwork or neglect the necessary preparation and maintenance. In the long term, this policy is always more fruitful, satisfying and economical in every respect.
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Seek a balance of activity with time to relax and reflect. However, don't be totally preoccupied with yourself. Look outwards and take an active interest in people and the things around you.
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