18 Ways To A Better Life

His Holiness, Dalai Lama

It is a new year and if you are like me, you are looking at is as fresh start. Here are 18 ways to help inspire you on your journey of living a better life, all according to his holiness, the Dalai Lama:


1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three R's:
    - Respect for self
    - Respect for others
    - Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life.Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

 

The Love Factor

I can't help but look into those eyes of yours. The same eyes that has raised my heart to new heights but at the same time has shattered it in mid-flight. The past is something that we both can't change but I guess when we decided to go on this unexpected adventure, you could not ease your grip on that piece of baggage that you carry.
  
Lord knows how hard I've tried. 

I'm torn because I want us to work. I want us to live this lifetime being together. I know that life will put us on a  roller coaster of a ride but a part of me believes that if we are together, we can make that ride worthwhile...that together we can conquer the world.

As much as I want that to be our reality, a part of me wants us to move on because I shouldn't have to persuade you. If your heart is not in it then there is really nothing that I can do. I shouldn't have to make exceptions because I'm in love with you. If you want me in your life, you'll make the effort to keep me. No matter how much we grow, you remind me how we just aren't going to work. We will continue to make excuses for things that we can't wholeheartedly confront .

The moment you looked into my eyes and told me you that you loved me but wasn't in love...as much as I want to forget it, it replays over and over in my head as my heart slowly disintegrates. I guess I'm puzzled because I played by all the rules and gave everything that was left in me yet I still wasn't good enough for you.

I've never loved anyone as much as I've loved you. Although as we close this chapter of our lives, I know that you'll never find someone that will love you as much as I do. My heart would take a bullet for you, it's just sad to know that right now with all this heartache...you are behind the trigger.


I know we hold on to each other because we are comfortable and we are aligned on so many levels. However, maybe we are the right people but at the wrong time. We will never know. Even though this may be hard for us to do, it's time we face reality and let go. But I guess with us, the hardest thing in life is letting go of what you thought was real.



...."Tell me who I have to be to get some reciprocity...See I know what we've got to do, You let go and I'll let go too."...

Hearts

I fill this void in my mind with deadlines and tasks instead of fondly reminiscing about our memories.
I fill this void in my heart with numbness and a chill so cold so that I don't have to remember your painful burn.
I can't control where your heart wanders when it feels like my love is not enough.
I can't control the visions of perfection that you yearn for when I stand before you.
I can’t control the increments of your value system if you find my self-worth too absurd.
As you pack and drift off into the night, know that these tears will wash away our hands clean of all the sins we've committed in this relationship.
I simply can't force you to love me.
Whether we love or close our hearts to love, at the end of the day it’s a choice that we make. 
We need to let our hearts guide us. We have to listen closely because our hearts whisper, we just have to be courageous to listen.
I can't force you to stay but this is the best that I can give, I don’t know any other way.

Upgrade You

Sure you've been with girls that were prettier, skinner and with body parts more voluminous than mine. But trust me when I say that you'll never experience another woman the way you will with me. I'm not trying to sound conceited but I'm like those classic cars with only two-doors, they don't make em' like me no more.

Baby, take my hand and I'll show you how it should be. Do away with that arm candy of yours because you need a trophy woman. I'll close those deals in that corner office of mine to bring home the bacon but sit back and relax baby because I'll also cook it too.

However I have to say....you have to come harder, cause this won't be easy. As much as I know you can hold it down and treat me to the fancier things that money can bring, money can't buy what I have right here...you earn it. If you want something you've never had, you'll have to do something you've never done. I'll introduce you to new things while we fly to cloud nine.

You need a real woman in your life, someone that knows what she wants out of life while helping you become the man that you were meant to be. This world is mostly ran by men, but women like me keep the tempo.

You have all of the cards in your hand, it is just up to you how you want to deal them out. When you are ready, I'll re-define what you thought was proper. If you allow me, I'll elevate you. Baby let me upgrade you.


..."It's very seldom that you're blessed to find your equal...Play my part and let you take the lead role..."

Copy Cat

There will always be people that will try and take credit for your ideas and work. However, don't let it get to you because you know the truth.

People like that are just fascinated at the risks you take because unlike them you put accountability for the words that you speak.

People that are constantly in search for recognition obviously care too much of what people think. People like that lack initiative, innovation and hard work. You do it for the love of it and most importantly you do it for yourself.

Be flattered that someone is watching your next move. Consider it your sense of paying it forward to people that need a boost of confidence to their ego.

Let those people do what they have to do in order for them to feel adequate about their lives. 

Do what you have always been doing; DOING YOU. 

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

#truth