The quickest easiest way to get smarter

HEADLINE....people who think they are smart actually become smarter!

That's an actual healine based on a recent study. Just thinking you are smart actually makes you smarter. Makes sense to me! And I suppose that the opposite is also true...those who think they are intellectually challenged (dumb) are contributing to their dumbness. Not that I really believe.

"man is not born dumb or stupid, he has to watch a hell of a lot of television to get that way"

And there's more....just by fact that you are reading this article, tells me that you are smarter than the average bear. No, it's not because of my brillance (there I go becoming brilliant). No it's simply because reading makes you smarter by way of exercising that brain muscle of yours. Surely you've noticed that dumb people frequently make remarks like....I hate reading. Which is whole like saying...I chose to get all of my information and knowledge from Homer Simpson.

So I'm thinking....

If just thinking you are smart, makes you smart; then thinking I am funny, should make me funnier? Oh, hold the phones, I just had an inspiration; what if I start thinking I'm handsome?

And guess what? I'm going on holidays in a few days, good time to test my theory out, right?

(but let's keep this our little secret, ok)

Smile, you are smarter (funnier and prettier) than you think

Eduardo

Understanding enligtenment

Yes I can see into your future

The guru explains morality

The truth revealed....

How to solve depression

Ask a guru

Hard work

Wisdom

What I learned by watching TRASHY TV

"everything is not as it seems....it is much funnier"

Well at least that's the way it seems to me! I've been watching the never ending coverage of Tiger Woods sex scandel and those two camera chasing idiots who crashed a White House party. And as some would say there are 'teaching moments' in their escapades.

"bad is one of those concepts, that depends a whole lot on who is watching"

I guess we learned a whole lot about Tiger's morals but that's not the big lesson that I'm thinking about. The question that kept bouncing around in my head is this; why would a billionaire with public adulation, a model type wife and two beautiful kids, be screwing around with all those beautiful bimbos? The sterotypical manswer would be...because he can. But that really tells us nothing!

"oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive"

That's what my granny would say to me when I was a kid. Another one she liked to lay on me was....be sure your sins will find you out (or something like that). It's all coming back to me now...no man (or boy) has a good enough memory to be a good liar. Sheesh, I didn't know that her admonitions were still in my head. (ok, I'll admit to being a somewhat wild child). But I digress...oh yeah, what is the real lesson to be learned from Tiger's daliances?

"what most people believe is love is nothing more than selfishness"

I realize Tiger is considered by many to be the most competitive guy on the planet but trying to score with every barmaid in the country has nothing to do with love. Obviously, for all the billions of dollars, accolades, family and beautiful wife are not enough. As so often happens with celebrities, at some point they seem to have everything and yet still have a big hole they can't fill. Something was missing?

"how can you truly love someone else if you don't love yourself"

I'll guarantee you Tiger isn't loving himself today. And all that he has is not enough to make him happy. Seems strange. What Tiger doesn't have is love and therefore he is not happy. Oh his wife might love him, his kids no doubt love him but I doubt he loves himself and therefore can't love his wife in return. Love doesn't want to hurt, control or change. That big hole in him is causing a lot of pain and he'd better figure out how to fill it soon.

"a billion dollars won't make me happy (but I'd still like to prove it to myself first)"

Isn't it amazing that a person can be relatively poor and yet be happier than the billionaire? Damn we are always chasing false gods. Poor Tiger (never thought I'd say that).

Good luck Tiger...you can always buy some first class affection but I suspect you want more!

Padre Eduardo

People my age are much older than me...

"I recently celebrated another birthday which is not so bad if you consider the alternative."

Now while I appreciate the condolences and gentle jibes, it got me thinking about how we interpret age. Why do people want to know our age? Unless you want to know whether someone is legal drinking age, what does it matter?

As I get older, all that birthdays do is remind me that I have less in front of me than behind me. And even worse....someday, someone will expect me to act my age (now that would be depressing). So I'm proposing that when we reach a certain age, let's say 50, that we no longer solicit a person's age or give it when questioned. We should respond...I'm zero years old.

As a zero year old, we recognize that we spent 50 plus years and learned so damn little that we are starting over. A fresh start and an obligation to be immature, wild and free of everyone's expectations of us. Sounds pretty good huh?

"it's not my inner child, I'm afraid of losing contact with, it's my outer adult"

I may grow older but I can be immature forever and that's just what I'm damn well going to do! I can see it now......watching younger people having a blast at some immature event and saying to myself....'I wish I'd done that' (and then being reminded by a younger friend...you did you old fool).

As a zero year old I'm thinking....God was just showing off when he made us!

Eduardo

P.S. I read the other day that wine is the milk of the old (Richard Harris) I guess there are some benefits of age.

Legal drugs...

You must be smart..

Don't let this happen to you!

Famous quote revisited

"we are just as responsible for the good we didn't do as the fun we didn't have"

Words of wisdom (I think)

I'm back....

"Sure hard work has an immediate payoff but laziness pays off right now"

After not writing here for several months, I'm ready to share my enlightenment, insights and just plain annoy you again. I have no idea whether anyone still stops by this site anymore, so I feel like I will be starting from scratch.

"Putting off enjoying summer until you are retired is a lot like putting off sex until you get older"

Sometimes there is great value in taking a break from normal routines. I know I need to occasionally rejuvinate and refresh my brain and the best way to do that it to do nothing. As some wise guy once said....'the time you waste is never wasted'.

"Inside every hard working person is a lazy son of a gun, wondering what the heck am I doing this for"

So until its time to head for another southern vacation......I'M BAACK!

Don't cry because summer is over...smile because it happened.

Eduardo

Too much of a good thing? Nah, that's just silly!

I do not suffer from immaturity.....

I enjoy every minute of it!

Givers, takers, fools and friends

"the fun, easy and abundant life is most quickly realized when you surround yourself with givers and avoid or eliminate the takers"



I don't like hard and difficult if I can avoid it, so I'm always attuned to short cuts and this is the best one I've found so far. In life we are surrounded by givers and takers and we need to be able to instantly recognize them. It's quite simple if you look for it. Then simply avoid the takers and encourage the givers in your life.



Who are the givers?



They are the one's who care about the feelings of others and often put others before themselves. They are the social people who like host parties and suppers. You will see them picking up and caring for kids who aren't their own. Mostly you can tell them by one quality....they can predict the emotions of others. They know whether certain words will offend or hurt and avoid it at all cost.

"good friends are hard to come by and even harder to get rid of" E Yoda Wallman

Wondering if you are a giver? Just ask yourself the question, and I a giver? And if it takes more than a few moments to answer, then you most likely aren't.

Who are the takers?

It's easy to fooled by some takers. They appear to be giving but the question is, what is their motive? Is it because they are hoping or expecting some future return on their giving. Do they do it for recognition or to gain acceptance?

Then of course there are those takers who calculate exactly how much they've taken and give a little just to try and convince you they are not takers. They are the hoarders and greedy one's in society and are highly materialistic. They measure their worth by how much more they have than their peers.

They are also the biggest fools and losers in life. Sure they frequently end up with more money and possessions but its often a hollow victory. They lack the bonds and closeness of real friendship and love. They have spent their lives fooling themselves.

Why be a giver?

Givers get the most happiness! They form the close bonds with others. They have frienships that go far beyond the superficial pretense that some call friends. We want to be around givers because they give off the positive energy that feels so good. As the old adage says, it is much better to give than to receive.

So lucky me!

I'm surrounded by many givers in my life. That's not say there are no takers but they are very few. If I could grant one wish for you, it would be that you live in a world of givers.

Smile, and give until it feels good!

Give until it feels good is one of the principals I live by. That's not say that I allow others to take advantage of my generosity. If I'm giving and the recipient is just using me, I stop and give to someone else. No sense being a fool. It just means there is someone else more worthy of my time and efforts.

Eduardo

The only 3 things you need to be happy!

Today I want to tell you about a guy named Epicurus. He was a Greek philospher who walked on the planet a couple thousand years ago. Epicurus was a very smart guy who also had a great fondness for food and wine (my kind of guy). His name lives on today in the word 'epicure', meaning someone who loves fine dining.

Epicurus greates gift to us was his discovery of what it takes to make us happy. He determined that we need only 3 things and they are;

1. friends

By friends Epicurus was referring to; family (include spouse), friends and our community

2. freedom

Freedom refers to our leasure time or free time to do as we please.

3. an analyzed life

An analyzed life means taking the time to understand what makes us happy. And more especially what makes us happy in enduring ways.

"if work is so terrific, why do they have to pay us to do it"

Epicurus reasoned that some things that bring us the thrill of happiness last a short time but cost us large amounts of pain and effort. He considered these a poor investment. Today we might interpret this to include material possessions and other ego satisfactions. These ego satisfactions include; seeking wealth, power and social status.

"if people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles" Doug Larson

A better investment in happiness are those things that bring us enduring happiness. These long lasting pleasures could be best described as heart pleasures. Heart pleasures are things like; love, friendship and service to others or a cause.

"they say money doesn't bring happiness...I'm not denying that. I just want the opportunity to find out for myself" unknown

A couple of thousand years later and I'm thinking Epicurus had this happiness thing nailed pretty good. Learning to savor the heart pleasures and don't be fooled by the quick thrill of ego satisfaction. Smart guy!

And there is one more thing!

Epicurus believed that while we should savour our pleasures, we should do it in moderation. Pigging out on food or drinking to excess only lead to detrimental after affects (I'm thinking obesity and a hangover) just were not worth the investment.

I'm thinking Epicurs would be one guy to invite to my party!

Smile, the purpose of life is to do some good, have fun and learn something.

Eduardo

Some random thoughts that have been banging around in my head

"It's a lot easier and much more fun to seduce life, rather than trying to conquer it"

"If work is so terrific...why do they have to pay you to do it?"

"I don't suffer from immaturity...I love every minute of it"

"Intelligence is wasted on the stupid"

"The devil never made you do anything, that was either greed, selfishness or both"

"Don't take yourself so seriously...we don't"

"A friend was telling me that he goes to work an hour before any of his fellow workers. I thought to myself, of course he's motivated...he's married"

"If you want to make God laugh, pray for your team to win"

"Always borrow money from a pessimist, they don't expect to get paid back"

"Putting off a vacation because you are too busy at work, is a lot like putting off sex until you are old"

"The reason so many people are over-weight is because they have so few out of car experiences"

Smile, and remember that when life gives you lemons....make a margarita!

Eduardo

FREE Energy Source

Another great secret is about to be revealed right here and right now! I'm going to share with you, an absolutely free source of energy, that you can tap into right now. Please don't tell the government or they may want to tax it!
ta dum....drum roll please....

"if you are looking for an immediate energy boost, look for the happiest person in the room"

It's amazing the energy you can pick up from a happy person. It's like they have so much that they don't care if you take a little for yourself. In fact if they see that you are picking up some positive energy from them, then they just want to increase their energy output and give you more.

One caveat, don't bring negative energy around that person or he will flee with his good stuff. You'll be left all by your lonesome with only the others, with negative energy. You know, that 'like attracts like' thing. Hanging out with the negative energy crowd will make everyone feel lower than a snake's belly in a wheels rut pardner! (a little western humor).

Bonus tip.....I'm giving out positive energy everyday at this site, so stop by often and top off your tank (no charge) I'll leave you with some wisdom from some dude named Will Rogers...

"the best way to make fire
from two sticks, is to make sure
that one of them is a match"

Eduardo

Why affirmations (sometimes) don't work

I've read hundreds of self help books and I'm frequently struck by the claims that many authors make for repeating a daily affirmation. Over the years I've known many who subscribe to this advice and yet have seen few who actually benefitted from affirmations. Why?

By writing this blog I've had a lot of fun playing with ideas to see what will work for me. So in the interest of displaying my lack of wisdom I've tried;

* repeating affirmations word for word as recommended various authors

* listened repeatedly to affirmations on tapes, videos, CDs and on the computer

* wrote my own affirmations out and tried repeating them daily

* tried affirmations once per day and up to 20 times per day

NONE of those techniques worked for me! There are several reasons why it didn't work for me and probably won't for you either;

* you say the words but you don't believe what you are saying

* you are not employing your brain power with mindless repetition of a phrase

* your brain gets bored and tunes out

* a confused mind says NO

For those of you who follow this blog, you know by now that I have some pretty wacky beliefs that I am quite proud of. Crazy beliefs like:

"Life was meant to be fun, easy and abundant"

I certainly didn't have a belief like that for most of my life. But today I totally believe that statement. So how did I change my belief (and my life). Here is my big secret.....with 3" X 5" index cards. This has also become my de facto method to;

* make it easy to write articles like this

* generate business ideas

* plan parties

* solve problems

* seduce the world (not ready to share this one with the world yet, but soon)

* write speeches

* and much more...

"as a friend said, this is so damn simple and easy...just like you Eduardo"

So lets take a common problem and show how my simple method works. Let's imagine that you have a weight problem. In your head your self talk might be something like...."I know I'm fat, I can't loose weight...it's too damn hard" A belief like that is like a bent coin in a vending machine, it just won't work!

Ah hah, I can hear you saying....dumb ass Eduardo....try saying it in a positve way like, I am healthy and fit. Good idea but that doesn't work either. Yes, it is positive but it is also not believable since you know you are fat and lazy and not healthy and fit. And after a short while your brain becomes bored and drifts away to thoughts of ice cream and chocolate instead of salads and the gym.

Here's the little change that makes the big difference! Change the affirmation to something like this.....HOW I AM BECOMING FIT AND HEALTHY or WHY I LOVE BECOMING FIT AND HEALTHY. Now your logical brain says...ok, I'm not fit and healthy but I can become it one day. So your brain buys into the logic...you can start to believe it. And more importantly you have given yourself something to think and daydream about...the how and the why.

"lazy brains like to daydream and that's why they are more productive"

This is getting interesting, right? Ok, here's the final part. Now write out your affirmation on an index card and put it where you will see it often...in the car, on the computer or bathroom mirror. Now when you glance at the card go ahead and daydream about it. Think about being healthy and fit AND how you are going to do it. When inspiration wacks you upside the idea with some idea, jot it down on the reverse side of the card. Easy...simple!

As you go about your daily duties, allow yourself to daydream about being healthy and fit and the benefits you will recieve. Mostly pay attention to how you will feel. And keep jotting down those little thoughts about how to get there on the back of the card. Just repeating an affirmation like a robot won't get you anthing but collecting thoughts and ideas will do wonders.

Now, you are using your brain power just like Einstein and Plato, contemplating where you want to go. And what it will feel like when you get there. Just try it, you have nothing to lose.

Smile, it is easier and a lot more fun to seduce life then it is to try and conquer it!

Eduardo

You matter when...

You matter when....

When you love the work you do and the people you do it with.

When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself.

When you leave the world a better place than you found it.

When you continue to raise the bar on what you do and how you do it.

When you teach and forgive and teach more before you rush to judge and demean.

When you touch the people in your life through your actions (and your words).

When kids grow up wanting to be you (or inspired by you).

When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it coul be.

When you inspire a Nobel prize winner or a slum dweller.

When the room brightens when you walk in.

And when the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime.

CONFESSION TIME; I swiped this from Seth Godin's excellent blog!

Eduardo

BONUS; If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there would be a shortage of fishing poles!

Commedians as Philosophers

I got thinking to myself, where are the philosophers? Who are todays version of Plato and Socrates? Well amigos I found a group of people who qualify and they are the comedians. If you don't believe me, check out some of things they had to say and even though some are funny, see if you don't agree with me...there is wisdom!

Robin Williams (my personal favorite)

"if women ran the world we wouldn't have wars, just really intense negotiations every 28 days"

"see the problem is God gave man a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time"

Groucho Marx

"time wounds all heels"

"I must say that I find TV very educational. The moment someone turns it on, I go read a book"

Jack Benny

"age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter"

Bob Hope

"if you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart disease"

Bill Cosby

"a word to the wise isn't necessary, it's the stupid one's that need the advice"

"every closed eye is not sleeping and every open eye is not seeing"

"sex education may be a good thing in schools. Just don't give the kids homework"

"women don't want to hear what we think. They want to hear what they think, only in a deeper voice"

Woody Allen

"it's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens"

Rosanne Barr

"of course men are better at reading maps. Only the mind of man could conceive of one inch equalling a hundred miles"

Erma Bombeck

"never lend your car to someone you gave birth to"

George Best

"I spent all of money on booze, fast cars and women. The rest I just wasted"

Will Rogers

"the only time people dislike gossip, is when it is about them"

Smile, and enjoy your weekend

Eduardo

Inner calmness

I am passing this on to you because itdefinitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives.

By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace. Dr. Phil proclaimed, 'The way to achieveinner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished.'

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning;

I finished off a bottle of WhiteZinfandel,

a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream,

a package of Oreos,

the remainder of an old Prozac prescription,

the rest of the cheesecake,

some Doritos, and a box of chocolates.

You have no idea how freaking good I feel rightnow. Pass this on to those whom you think mightbe in need of inner peace

Eduardo

P.S. This was sent to me by my amigo Yoda, thanks for the laugh!

Happy Birthday Jared and Antowaine

(that's my son Jared on the right and his little amigo Antowaine who both have birthdays this week)

Love Dad

It's not who you know...

"it's not who you know,it's who you know that likes you"

I've been writing for the last year about how to make our lives; fun, easy and over-flowing with abundance. Lately, I've been wondering...what is the easiest way to accomplish that? If there was just one thing that could impact our lives in a positive way, what would it be?

In search of an answer, I tried to think of who I knew that seemed to have a charmed, happy and profitable life? I could think of many people, some I knew and some I read about. So I asked myself, what do they have in common? And the answer is....."they are all likeable"

People who are likeable tend to get the best jobs, build the best companies, have more friends, better relationships and enjoy life more. Sounds good, right? But that doesn't even touch the benefits of being likeable. Here are a few more benefits;

* Doctors give more time and better care to patients they like

* Likeability is the most consitent predictor of election results

* Likeable people inspire others to give more

* They get better and quicker service from retail businesses

* Likeable students get better marks from teachers

* They get forgiven quicker for misdeeds (I need that one)

* They have better physical and mental health

* Live longer and happier lives

There's more but you get the point. Things come quicker and easier for likeable people. We favor them and do what we can to make their lives fun, easy and abundant. And this amigos is one of the biggest secrets I've ever learned...

"it isn't the choices we make about other people that makes life enjoyable, it's the choices they make about us"

There will always be the foolish few who actually prefer to go it alone. Their attitude is I don't need other people to make it. And with supreme effort, they still succeed. I'm just not one of those who wants to make any more effort than is necessary to reach my desires. If others want to help me out and make my life easier, I say welcome onboard.

Life is fun, easy and abundant when others want you to succeed because they like you. I've decided that at Eduardo's Happy School, the first subject taught will be....How to be more likeable! I can't think of a more important subject. My graduates will all be taught this vital skill and as a result will be world leaders in likeability.Now that we have established that the most important skill to attain in life, is likeability, the obvious question is how?

I've been researching and applying my limited brain power to provide you some answers. Appreciating the limited brain power aspect you will have give me more time.....so come back tomorrow! I promise you some fresh insights. I might even go into more depth than the ever popular method of...buying the first round.

Smile, I really, really like you!

Eduardo