Inspirational Living: Life Lessons for Success & Happiness

Listen to episode 244 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The University of Hard Knocks | Lifelong Learning. Edited and adapted from a Lyceum-Chautauqua lecture by Ralph Albert Parlette. Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, don’t forget to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, subscribe to us on YouTube, and spread the word among your friends. Thank you. Today’s podcast was edited and adapted from The University of Hard Knocks by Ralph Albert Parlette, published in 1916. NOBODY can give us or buy us an education. We earn it in The University of Hard Knocks. Books and Colleges only give us some tools — some of the best tools in the world. We must use these tools in the School of Service. It is the Service, the Struggle, the Sacrifice, the Overcoming, the Achievement, that brings us the Knowing, the Understanding, the Success, the Happiness, the Strength, and the Greatness of Life. "You who would be greatest among many, let you become the Greatest Servant" — for Greatness is merely the ability to carry great loads, to serve greatly. You cannot buy a great arm; you earn it in physical service. You cannot buy a great mind; you earn it in mental service. You cannot buy a great character; you earn it in moral service. Our philosophy of education is based on the belief that we only know what we have lived. We only understand what we have proven in the laboratories of our experience. We can't get something for nothing. We do not learn from books, we learn from bumps and bruises. We learn in the one great school: The University of Hard Knocks.

Listen to episode 243 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Nine Helps to Happiness | Happy People. Adapted from Helps to Happiness by the Reverend N. B. Cooksey. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. This past weekend of Our Sunday Talks was perhaps my favorite episode. I read thoughts from James Allen on the power and wisdom of being silent. It’s a lessons that took me many years to learn myself, but has paid great dividends. To learn more about Our Sunday Talks and how you can gain access, please go to: LivingHour.org/Sunday. Now, on to today’s reading, which was edited and adapted from Helps to Happiness by the Reverend N. B. Cooksey, published in 1916. EVERYONE wishes to be happy. That is one thing upon which all can agree. Unfortunately, much of our effort to become happy is lost, because it is made in the wrong way and happiness is expected where it never can be attained. So, let me share with you 9 helps to happiness, which are guaranteed to set you upon a joyful path in life. Number 1) AMBITION One of the world's greatest mistakes is that of supposing that complete happiness can be found in the attainment of some one thing, whereas the helps to happiness are numerous. Women and men are compound beings, possessing physical, intellectual, and spiritual natures, each of which have many wants which must be supplied if we are to be happy. If any one or more of these physical, intellectual, or spiritual needs are not satisfied, we are, to some degree, made unhappy. Happiness is not one great joy to be found in the attainment of one great aim or purpose in life, but it consists of many things, found in a great many experiences and possessions.

Listen to episode 242 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Opportunity Knocks | The World is Your Oyster. Adapted from Stepping-Stones to Success by Horace D. Hitchcock. Podcast Excerpt: THE world today is full of opportunities. In business, in art, in literature, in every field of endeavor, the call of opportunity is greater than ever before. To the ambitious, the world presents a rich hunting ground, a wide expanse for fruitful endeavor. But to those who lack knowledge and courage, it seems as a great city, walled in by those more fortunate who have gained entrance to its rewards, through fame, fortune, or influence. The old adage that opportunity knocks once on every person’s door, is, perhaps, so old that it is now out of date. The saying was undoubtedly intended to exemplify the fact that opportunity actually comes to one less often than it is sought. The fields of endeavor are full of opportunities today, but they are ever playing "hide- and-seek" with the ambitious. The first step toward any success is the grasping of an opportunity. In speaking of opportunity William Gladstone said: "In some sense, and in some effectual degree, there is in every person the material for good work in the world." In every one of us, there is the God-given germ which may be termed our "capacity for usefulness." In every one of us, this quality is capable of being developed, through proper exercise and nourishment. Today's podcast was sponsored by Audible.com. To get your free 30 day trial, which includes one free audiobook, go to Audible.com/inspirational. Or text the word inspirational to 500-500.

Listen to episode 241 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Happy Life of the Mind. Edited and adapted from Working With God by Gardner Hunting. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: It is frequently said by people, who profess to have studied the subject, that thinking is a difficult and unattractive job. We accuse average folks of dodging the task of thinking whenever they can. This charge is not true. If you and I do not choose to think about one subject, it is because we prefer to think about another. But think we do — and get out of it not merely most of our fun, but all the fun we have to experience. Indeed thinking is not only all the fun there is in life; it is all we live for — all of us! Few things are more pitiable than the person who tries to get perpetual and satisfying joy out of past performances, and past triumphs. People do not begin to live on memories because they are growing old; they grow old because they begin to live on memories. Give a person a topic about which to think, and they will not grow "prematurely old." Anticipation is nine tenths of the joy of life, because anticipation is constructive thought. One who does not anticipate, never enjoys anything. The applause of the crowd may please us, but only because it stirs us on to further achievement. And the one who learns that all joy lies in achieving through thinking becomes indifferent to applause — and also to censure.

Listen to episode 240 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Vedic Wisdom & The Path of Giving. Edited and adapted from a lecture by Swami Vivekananda. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: The perfect individual can put their whole soul upon one point of love, yet remain unattached. How to accomplish this? Well, first of all, we must recognize that we are all beggars. Whatever we do, we want a return. We are all traders: we are traders in life; we are traders in virtue; we are traders in religion. Alas! we are also traders in love. If you come to trade, if it is a question of give-and-take, if it is a question of buy-and-sell, you abide by the laws of buying and selling. There is a bad time and there is a good time; there is a rise, and a fall in prices — always you expect the blow to come. It is like looking at the mirror. Your face is reflected: you make a grimace and there is one in the mirror; if you laugh, the mirror laughs. This is buying and selling, giving and taking. We get caught. How? Not by what we give, but by what we expect. We get misery in return for our love. Not from the fact that we love, but from the fact that we want love in return. The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the person who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful. Ask for nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you but do not think of that now. It will come back multiplied a thousandfold, but the attention must not be on that. Cultivate the power to give — give, and there it ends. Learn that the whole of life is giving, that nature will force you to give. So, give willingly.

Listen to episode 239 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Confident Man & Woman | A Victorious Attitude. Edited and adapted from “You Can. But Will You?” by Orison Swett Marden. Motivational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. If you are looking for that perfect nightstand book to usher you into a relaxed and inspired sleep, purchase our book Evergreen: 50 Inspirational Life Lessons. Learn more at our website: InspirationalLifeLessons.com. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from the book “You Can, But Will You?” by Orison Swett Marden, published in 1920. Do you know that you will never accomplish anything great unless you not only hold the conviction that victory is your birthright, but also show evidence of it in your face, in your manner and bearing? No person can expect to be a conqueror while they carry the confession of defeat in their face. You must not only feel like a winner, but you must also appear and act like one. You must show victory in your very expression. It is not difficult to pick out a successful person among a multitude. If you are a leader, a person who relies upon yourself, every step, every movement, will indicate it. You are covered all over with telltale signs. There is assurance, confidence in your face and bearing. You walk like a master and talk like one. Everyone knows that you believe in yourself and in your mission. What marks the difference between a winner and a loser? The winner is a person who gets up after they have been knocked down with more determination than before; a person who is stung into greater activity by some serious setback; a person who does not know when they are beaten. A temporary failure does not mean much to such a man or woman; it is only an episode in their life.

Listen to episode 238 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Living an Authentic Life | Originality vs. Conformity. Edited and adapted from Working With God by Gardner Hunting. Motivational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. By special request, we’ve just finished producing a new series of autosuggestion meditations to help those who are struggling to break free from cigarettes, alcohol, or heroin. When used in combination with our Majesty program, these meditations are a powerful tool to help create a new life free from addiction. Learn more by visiting our website at LivingHour.org/breakfree. Now on to today’s reading was edited and adapted from Working With God by Gardner Hunting, published in 1934. THE poorest reason in the world for doing anything is that somebody else is doing it. Children have a name for the imitators; they call them a "copycat." But isn't it a curious thing that the "copycat" habit is almost universal among human beings? Most of us say the same things about newspapers, relatives, and sunsets that our friends do. We rise, sit, sleep, and eat as others do. And, whether consciously or unconsciously, one of the aims of our lives is not to be weird--that is, unlike others. Isn't it pitiful, how we so often conform: conform to style, to custom, to mode, to trend. And if we think about it, we come upon a curious anomaly. The world is actually crying out for originality (for something new under the sun) yet it slaps at it instantly when it raises its head. No person is so unpopular as the one who begins to be unlike the rest. However, no person receives such rewards as the one who persists in it! Strange! All people seem to be in a conspiracy to curb originality, yet we also all laud and reward it — and then when the applause begins, we all begin trying to ape the originator.

Listen to episode 237 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Carl Jung on Life, God & Religion. Edited and adapted from the work of Carl Jung. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. Visit our lifestyle brand BookofZen.com to shop for inspirational fashion and gifts. Proceeds help support the production of our podcast. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from the work of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. “The decisive question for humanity is: Are we related to something infinite or not? That is the telling question of our lives. Only if we know that the thing which truly matters is the infinite can we avoid fixing our interests upon futilities and upon all kinds of goals which are not of real importance. The more we lay stress on false possessions, and the less sensitivity we have for what is essential, the less satisfying is our life. We feel limited because we have limited aims, and the result is envy and jealousy. If we understand, and feel, that here in this life we already have a link with the infinite, our desires and attitudes change.” “An understanding heart is everything in a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become…..You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.” “There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness…..As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.”

Listen to episode 236 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How to Live a Good Life | Lubbock, Seneca, Epictetus. Edited and adapted from edited and adapted from The Use of Life by Sir John Lubbock. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. To gain access to the full transcripts of our more than 200 podcasts, please become our monthly patron for less than the price of your favorite Latte. Learn more at LivingHour.org/patron. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from The Use of Life by Sir John Lubbock, published in 1894. The most important thing to learn in life, is how to live. There is nothing people are so anxious to keep as life, and nothing they take so little pains to keep well. This is no simple matter. "Life is short. Art is long. Opportunity fleeting. Experiment uncertain, and Judgment difficult,'' says Hippocrates. Happiness and success in life do not depend on our circumstances, but on ourselves. More people have ruined themselves than have ever been destroyed by others: more houses and cities have perished at the hands of men, than storms or earthquakes have ever destroyed." There are two sorts of ruin; one is the work of time, the other of humankind. Of all ruins, the ruins of humanity are the saddest, and our worst enemy, as Seneca said, is the one in our breast. Providence does not create evil, but gives liberty, and if we misuse it we are sure to suffer, but have only ourselves to blame." I am sometimes accused of being optimistic. But I have never ignored or denied the troubles and sorrows of life: I have never said that we all are happy, only that we might be so; and that if we aren’t, the fault is generally our own: that most of us throw away more happiness than we enjoy. And this makes it all the more melancholy. In other words, "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been."

Listen to episode 235 of the Inspirational Living podcast: When Things Go Wrong | The Power of Constructive Thinking. Edited and adapted from Success Through Thought Habit by Benjamin Johnson. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast, creators of The Majesty Program, a life-changing meditation program using our very own autosuggestion sound method technique. Get 30% off the $11.99 purchase price with the coupon code: inspiration. Learn more at: LivingHour.org/majesty. Today’s podcast has been edited and adapted from “Success Through Thought Habit” by Benjamin Johnson, published in 1908. IF ever the true merit of constructive thought is placed to a test, it is when things go so wrong that there is apparently no way to turn, and no solution to our difficulty. Try as we may, we can find no reasonable excuse for what’s happening. Once in a while, we may be placed in the trying position of not being able to blame anyone for our plight, and, as we think things over, we are forced to admit that were circumstances to be again arranged as they had been, we would do the same things all over again. Then, perhaps, we grow a little sorry for ourselves and we say — beneath our breaths — "What is the use of trying. I was just as good as I could have been for days, weeks, and months, and then this awful thing had to happen for no reason at all." Next, we may get angry, or possibly disgusted, and just in proportion to our own state of mind, does the outlook continue to look worse and worse until soon dull despair settles down in great chunks of gloom. "What is the remedy?" you ask. There is only one to be used in cases of this description, and that is absolute Faith in the ultimate outcome, no matter how bad everything looks — and the realization that nothing that happens to us at any time is an accident, but is what we need, in order to show what we are made of. Resistance, resentment, anger, and blame only mean that we shall continue to have more tribulations of a similar nature, until our lessons have been learned, and we find that out of every evil, good will come. In the mental world, as well as the physical, anyone who breaks a law is punished — not always in the way we may recognize, but just so surely the punishment comes....

Listen to episode 234 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Self-Improvement Begins Now | Classic Self-Help Books. Edited and adapted from A Book of Cheerful Counsel by Nixon Waterman. Motivational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. I’d like to start today by thanking our new patrons: Michael Jindra, Margo Blake, Gizem Engur, and Elhadj Omar. I truly appreciate your financial gifts that help offset the 70 hours a month I put into producing this free podcast. To become our monthly patron and gain access to our entire transcript archive, please visit LivingHour.org/patron. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from A Book of Cheerful Counsel by Nixon Waterman, published in 1909. LEARN to do, but without overdoing. Too much striving for success is as bad as too little. Moderation is the silken string running through the pearl chain of all virtues. Do not cram books into your head until you crowd pleasant thinking out of it. A moderately informed person, standing firmly on their two good legs, is superior to the wise professor who is unable to leave their bed. What have you profited, if you gain the whole world, and lose your own soul? And what does it profit you, if you become a multi-millionaire and lose your health of mind or body? Success that costs more than it is worth is failure. Make haste slowly. Be ambitious, but not foolish. Learn a few things, and learn them well. The person who grasps much, holds little. We all know that there is a happy medium between too much preciseness and slovenliness; between laziness and an unwarranted degree of mental activity; between ignorance and an intellect ground to an edge too fine to carve its way through a hard world. The mind should be a good, strong, healthy feeder, but not a glutton. When unduly stimulated, it wears out the mechanism of the body, like friction upon a machine not lubricated, and the growing weakness of the physical frame nullifies the power it encloses. Get the Best of Our Podcast in Inspirational Book Format. Discover Evergreen (50 Inspirational Life Lessons & Everest (50 Motivational Life Lessons) at: InspirationalLifeLessons.com.

Listen to episode 233 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Master Mind | Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Success. Edited and adapted from Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: The Master Mind principle, or rather the economic feature of it, was first called to my attention by Andrew Carnegie. Mr. Carnegie's Master Mind group consisted of a staff of approximately fifty people, with whom he surrounded himself, for the DEFINITE PURPOSE of manufacturing and marketing steel. He attributed his entire fortune to the POWER he accumulated through this "Master Mind." Analyze the record of any person who has accumulated a great fortune, and many of those who have accumulated modest fortunes, and you will find that they have either consciously, or unconsciously, employed the "Master Mind" principle. Great power can be accumulated through no other principle. ENERGY is Nature's universal set of building blocks, out of which she constructs every material thing in the universe, including humankind, and every form of animal and vegetable life. Through a process which only Nature completely understands, she translates energy into matter. And Nature's building blocks are available to us in the energy involved in THINKING! Our brain may be compared to an electric battery. It absorbs energy from the ether, which permeates every atom of matter, and fills the entire universe. It is a well-known fact that a group of electric batteries will provide more energy than a single battery. It is also a well-known fact that an individual battery will provide energy in proportion to the number and capacity of the cells it contains. Gain full access to all of our transcripts by becoming our patron for as little as $3 a month. Visit LivingHour.org/patron.

Listen to episode 232 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Joy of Doing | Rebuilding Real Manhood & Womanhood. Edited and adapted from A Book of Friendly Thoughts by Nixon Waterman. Motivational Podcast Transcript: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. Coming up this weekend on Our Sunday Talks, we’ll be discussing the problem of life, along with the imaginary conflict that supposedly exists between science and religion. To gain access to our weekly Sunday series, please become our monthly patron today. To learn more, please visit LivingHour.org/Sunday. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from A Book of Friendly Thoughts by Nixon Waterman, published in 1913. Half-way, half-hearted doings never amount to much. Battles are not won with flags at half-mast — they are run up to the very tops of their standards and are waved as far toward the heavens as is possible. If we lack enthusiasm, we are almost as certain to fail of achieving an end, as a locomotive engine that lacks steam is of climbing a grade. A listless, lackadaisical spirit may get on all right, so long as the path of life is all on a level or down grade, but when it comes to hill-climbing and the real experiences of life that serve to develop character, we are likely to give up the contest, and surrender the prize we might win to other and more earnest competitors. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something. If you would get the best results, do your work with enthusiasm as well as fidelity. The world makes way only for the determined person who laughs at barriers which limit others — at stumbling-blocks over which others fall. Everyone knows that the friends whom they love best are the ones who are alive to the world about them and who feel an enthusiasm in the tasks and privileges that confront them. Enthusiasm is the breeze that fills the sails, and sends the ship gliding over the happy waves. It is the joy of doing things, and of seeing that things are well done. It gives to work a thoroughness and a delicious zest and to play a whole-souled, health-giving delight. Only they who find joy in their work can live the larger and nobler life — for without work, and work done joyously, life must remain dwarfed and undeveloped. Gain full access to all of our transcripts by becoming our patron for as little as $3 a month. Visit LivingHour.org/patron.

Listen to episode 231 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Taking Stock of Ourselves | Vices & Virtues. Edited and adapted from All’s Right with the World by Charles B. Newcomb. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. Support us by visiting our lifestyle brand BookofZen.com to shop for clothing, wall hangings, coffee mugs, and more — all of which feature our own original inspirational quotes within a classic zen enso circle. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from All’s Right with the World by Charles B. Newcomb, published in 1897. IT is a custom of retailers to have an annual "taking account of stock." At such times, they examine carefully the goods on hand, clear the shelves of unsaleable articles, mark down those that have become shopworn or out of season, and put new values on all for which there is unusual demand. Just so in the thought life of a community, we find that periodically there is by general consent a taking account of stock. Old standards and ideas are removed from the shelves and carefully examined in the light of new discoveries — their character and usefulness are challenged, and their condition tested. If they have become unserviceable for any reason, and higher thought has led to higher standards, the old theories and views of life and conduct are soon laid aside. Their defects have become apparent, and better things are in demand. At the same time, some ancient truth or teacher that has been long labeled passé and put upon a shelf comes suddenly into notice. New meaning and unsuspected value are found in the proscribed philosophy. It throws a fresh light upon all the ethical problems of the day, and is slowly becoming popular once again. In this moral stock-taking, we are often surprised to find the necessity of a new classification of what we have called "virtues" and "vices." In the light of higher principles and larger knowledge, we find we must change the tags that have been carelessly put on. Some virtues do not hold their color in the sunshine of the new century. Some vices prove to be not so harmful after all. Gain full access to all of our transcripts by becoming our patron for as little as $3 a month. Visit LivingHour.org/patron.

Listen to episode 230 of the Inspirational Living podcast: A Merry Heart | The Poetry of Happy Living. Edited and adapted from A Book of Friendly Thoughts by Nixon Waterman. Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, please spread the word by telling a friend or sharing your favorite episode on Facebook. We also would love it if you could leave us a review at the iTunes store, Google Play, or Stitcher.com. I always appreciate hearing back from you, and knowing this podcast has had a positive impact on your life. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from A Book of Friendly Thoughts by Nixon Waterman, published in 1913. WHO among us can presume to estimate the value of a joyful heart? What a perpetual blessing it is to its possessor and to all who must come into close relationship with the owner of it! There is nothing more pleasantly "catching" than happiness. The happy person serves to make all who are about them the more happy. What the bright, inspiring sunshine adds to the beauty of the fields, a happy disposition adds to the charm of all the incidents and experiences of one's daily life. Do not you, who listens to me now, love to associate with a friend possessing a cheerful disposition? And do you not intuitively refrain from meeting with the unfortunate one whose looks and words are heavy with complaining or whose eyes fail to see the beauty of the world lying all about? If we are given to wise thinking, we must reach the conclusion that as we regard these attributes in others, so others must regard them in us. Nothing is more eloquent than a joyful face. It is the open sesame to all our hearts. A sunshiny face melts away all opposition and finds the word "Welcome" written over the doorways where the face that wears a hard, unfriendly look sees only the warning, "No Admittance."