ANYTHING IS EVERYTHING
HAPPINESS AND MONEY
Does money bring happiness? To many, it does, especially if they have experienced the lack of it! That explains why thousands of people line up for hours to get their lottery tickets, hoping against hope that their tickets would win them great fortunes, and hence their happiness.
Mind and Perceptions
Bruce Lipton, author and cellular biologist, said: “The function of the mind is to create coherence between our beliefs and the reality that we experience. We generally perceive that we are running our lives with our wishes and our desires. But neuroscience reveals a startling fact: we only run our lives with our creative, conscious mind about 5 percent of the time; 95 percent of the time, our life is controlled by the beliefs and habits that are programmed in the subconscious mind.”
In other words, it is your pre-programmed subconscious mind telling you that money can give you happiness. That can also explain why you may find yourself working in jobs that you do not even like due to your subconscious belief that money is everything in life.
The whole world out there that you see in front of you right now is nothing more than a projection of what you feel deep inside. Not only is it a projection of your deep feelings and thoughts, but also your internal energy. Yes, money is energy too, just like you, me, and everything else. Money is an expression of energy of your subconscious mind, building a complex system of money beliefs, such as “money makes the world go round” and “when I have enough money . . . then I’ll be happy, and can do whatever I want to do.”
Happiness in relation to money is no more than mind and perceptions. So, change your mind to change your perceptions of money and happiness.
A Case in Point
At the end of 2007, John Kralik, an attorney who owned a law firm, experienced debts and disasters in both his life and career.
One day, after a walk in the mountains, Kralik became enlightened: as his 2008 New Year resolution, he decided to write a thank-you note a day for the rest of the year to every one he knew.
Kralik’s 2008 “gratitude project” had changed his life completely. Instead of his feeling of discontent regarding his lack, and his envy of those who had what he did not have, he had learned to be grateful for his law firm, his practice, his friends, and his family, despite the many disasters and drawbacks he had previously experienced. Kralik’s gratitude began to change every aspect of his life. His relationships with his family, his friends, and his staff improved significantly; his law firm avoided bankruptcy, and turned around completely.
Gratitude is something that you get more only by giving it away more. Expression of gratitude generates happiness that overcomes the unhappy feelings of lack. . . . .
The above is taken from my book: The Happiness Wisdom.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Does money bring happiness? To many, it does, especially if they have experienced the lack of it! That explains why thousands of people line up for hours to get their lottery tickets, hoping against hope that their tickets would win them great fortunes, and hence their happiness.
Mind and Perceptions
Bruce Lipton, author and cellular biologist, said: “The function of the mind is to create coherence between our beliefs and the reality that we experience. We generally perceive that we are running our lives with our wishes and our desires. But neuroscience reveals a startling fact: we only run our lives with our creative, conscious mind about 5 percent of the time; 95 percent of the time, our life is controlled by the beliefs and habits that are programmed in the subconscious mind.”
In other words, it is your pre-programmed subconscious mind telling you that money can give you happiness. That can also explain why you may find yourself working in jobs that you do not even like due to your subconscious belief that money is everything in life.
The whole world out there that you see in front of you right now is nothing more than a projection of what you feel deep inside. Not only is it a projection of your deep feelings and thoughts, but also your internal energy. Yes, money is energy too, just like you, me, and everything else. Money is an expression of energy of your subconscious mind, building a complex system of money beliefs, such as “money makes the world go round” and “when I have enough money . . . then I’ll be happy, and can do whatever I want to do.”
Happiness in relation to money is no more than mind and perceptions. So, change your mind to change your perceptions of money and happiness.
A Case in Point
At the end of 2007, John Kralik, an attorney who owned a law firm, experienced debts and disasters in both his life and career.
One day, after a walk in the mountains, Kralik became enlightened: as his 2008 New Year resolution, he decided to write a thank-you note a day for the rest of the year to every one he knew.
Kralik’s 2008 “gratitude project” had changed his life completely. Instead of his feeling of discontent regarding his lack, and his envy of those who had what he did not have, he had learned to be grateful for his law firm, his practice, his friends, and his family, despite the many disasters and drawbacks he had previously experienced. Kralik’s gratitude began to change every aspect of his life. His relationships with his family, his friends, and his staff improved significantly; his law firm avoided bankruptcy, and turned around completely.
Gratitude is something that you get more only by giving it away more. Expression of gratitude generates happiness that overcomes the unhappy feelings of lack. . . . .
The above is taken from my book: The Happiness Wisdom.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
ANYTHING IS EVERYTHING
What is meant by “anything is everything”? It may have different meanings and different interpretations to different individuals.
First of all, human perceptions are subjective and individualized: they are affected not only by the five senses, but also by the unique experiences of an individual, as well as by the indelible memories of those experiences retained in the mind of that individual. Therefore, what is important to you may not be as important to others, and vice-versa. For this reason, anything could be everything to you, but not to others.
An illustration
Near the end of 2016, a road rage occurred in Arkansas that ended in the tragic death of a 3-year-old child.
A woman, with her 3-year-old grandson sitting at the back of her car, stopped at a stop sign. A man in the car right behind honked her for not starting her car immediately, but the woman honked back; thus the road rage began with the man firing a gun shot at the back of the woman’s car.
Stopping too long at a stop sign, or wanting to get to a place on time might be everything to the man. Having the right to remain where she was might also be everything to the woman, so she naturally honked back.
Unfortunately, that anything-is-everything incident ended in tragedy-the death of the woman’s three-year-old grandson being shot dead while sitting at the back of her car.
In real life, anything could be everything to real people-it all depends on their respective perspectives of anything is everything.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Click here to get your book.
An illustration of anything is everything
In 2012, a Chinese couple from Hong Kong filed a lawsuit against an education consultant in the United States for $2 million dollars, who promised that he could-but ultimately did not-get their two sons into Harvard University.
The couple had used “improper” but maybe still perfectly “legal” means to get their two sons into Harvard University.
Getting into an elite college or university may be everything to many students, including their parents. Some might even resort to doing anything in order to achieve that goal, which is everything to them.
A similar illustration
A pastor from Hong Kong was invited to give a sermon in China. A woman from the congregation asked the pastor if it was “right” to give money to get her son into an elite school in China. The pastor replied by saying: “Your son getting into that elite school would also imply depriving another child of that same opportunity you are seeking for your child.”
A year later, the pastor met the same woman, who told him that her son had got into that elite school but without using her kwganxi or connection. The pastor then said to her: “See, God is in control; if you would just let Him.”
Now, what is your own take on “anything is everything”?
A Frog in a Well
In many ways, many of us are just like a frog in a well, looking up at the limited sky above, in that we see only ourselves, and no one else, and therefore anything is everything to us. In other words, we see only our own needs and our own desires that have to be fulfilled and gratified no matter how, but without seeing those in others.
Just like the Chinese couple who saw only their desire to get their two sons into Harvard University, but without considering that their “improper action” might also deprive the opportunity of two other students to get into Harvard University.
The above example demonstrates one major human flaw-the “inflated” ego-self, which is focusing too much on “anything is everything” related to an individual’s ego-self.
Remember, we are all created to be in this world for only one purpose: to be our true self. Conventional wisdom often tells us to find our role model, pursue our life goals based on that role model. Subconsciously, we may all begin to dream that we are that role model or someone else that we are not, instead of being who we are supposed to be. That is how we may all have created an ego for ourselves; worse, we may even believe that we have to do anything and everything to gratify our ego-self in order to feel happy and contented.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Click here to get your book.
In 2012, a Chinese couple from Hong Kong filed a lawsuit against an education consultant in the United States for $2 million dollars, who promised that he could-but ultimately did not-get their two sons into Harvard University.
The couple had used “improper” but maybe still perfectly “legal” means to get their two sons into Harvard University.
Getting into an elite college or university may be everything to many students, including their parents. Some might even resort to doing anything in order to achieve that goal, which is everything to them.
A similar illustration
A pastor from Hong Kong was invited to give a sermon in China. A woman from the congregation asked the pastor if it was “right” to give money to get her son into an elite school in China. The pastor replied by saying: “Your son getting into that elite school would also imply depriving another child of that same opportunity you are seeking for your child.”
A year later, the pastor met the same woman, who told him that her son had got into that elite school but without using her kwganxi or connection. The pastor then said to her: “See, God is in control; if you would just let Him.”
Now, what is your own take on “anything is everything”?
A Frog in a Well
In many ways, many of us are just like a frog in a well, looking up at the limited sky above, in that we see only ourselves, and no one else, and therefore anything is everything to us. In other words, we see only our own needs and our own desires that have to be fulfilled and gratified no matter how, but without seeing those in others.
Just like the Chinese couple who saw only their desire to get their two sons into Harvard University, but without considering that their “improper action” might also deprive the opportunity of two other students to get into Harvard University.
The above example demonstrates one major human flaw-the “inflated” ego-self, which is focusing too much on “anything is everything” related to an individual’s ego-self.
Remember, we are all created to be in this world for only one purpose: to be our true self. Conventional wisdom often tells us to find our role model, pursue our life goals based on that role model. Subconsciously, we may all begin to dream that we are that role model or someone else that we are not, instead of being who we are supposed to be. That is how we may all have created an ego for ourselves; worse, we may even believe that we have to do anything and everything to gratify our ego-self in order to feel happy and contented.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Click here to get your book.
