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gopimenon July 20th, 2010

Last week my grandson celebrated his First Birthday.   My son and daughter-in-law had planned everything very well and so the party went without a hitch!  The decorations were fine, so was the food, and so too were the guests and all of us enjoyed ourselves tremendously!

However the incident that made me think of God in a new light, came after all the guests had left, leaving just the immediate family! The doting parents were viewing the video that had been shot of their son blowing out the candles on his birthday cake.   The child was so happy that he was clapping his hands in glee when the guests finished singing the birthday song.  After blowing out the candle, when everyone clapped, the birthday boy too smiled widely and clapped.

The parents were so thrilled and happy at the sight of their child being happy that they kept rewinding the video to see it again and again! Why were they so happy?  Because they saw their child being happy!

Then it occurred to me:  If we as parents can be so happy to see our children happy,  would not God the omnipotent Parent also feel happy when we are happy? The answer is “Of course God would!”   Nothing could make God happier than have his creation (humans) enjoying themselves and being truly happy in this world of God’s creation, just as any doting parent would!   So it stands to reason that God would be happy if we were happy and not if we were miserable!

Unfortunately for us and the world, all of us are brainwashed from birth with teachings that make God out to be a vengeful, vindictive, autocratic dictator instead of a loving, caring Parent!

We are told to Fear God, to Obey God, to Pray everyday so as to Pacify the vengeful God!  We are told to feel guilt because “We are Sinners”;  “We are born on Earth to work out our Bad Karma”; that this wonderful world is like a Penal Colony to which we were banished from paradise because our first parents disobeyed God!

How vindictive must God be to punish all the following generations of children for a ‘sin’ committed once by a parent? How wicked must God be to create a horror called Hell to place his children in ‘forever’ just because they disobeyed Him?  How we do malign God to think of God’s compassion and love in such horrible terms!   But that is what we have been doing for ages and still continue to do so!  Our every belief about God is an insult to everything good in the Creator!

No wonder we find it difficult to be happy!  We turn everything good God has created and say that ‘this world is evil’, ‘people are sinners’, ‘life is an illusion’, and so on!  We are told we cannot be and should not be happy in this life but must suffer now so that we can reap the rewards in our afterlife! What crap?  But that is what is being preached even now!  Worst of all even educated people who should use their God-given power of reasoning, fall for such blatant untruths and continue to teach the same negative ideas to their children.   Then they complain God is not fair, the world is full of evil etc.

According to the Law of the Mind which we use in Affirmations, whatever we repeat to ourselves and continue to focus on we will attract!  So if you keep repeating that “I am a sinner” everyday, can you expect to become a saint? Of course not!  You will continue to remain a sinner and become a worse sinner if you believe such thoughts!

It is time to look at God in a new light – as a loving, compassionate, caring parent who has set up everything we need in this world to experience, enjoy, grow, be fulfilled and be happy in this life NOW and not only in the hereafter!

How much happier would we be if we believed in such a loving, caring God?   And that is the truth – God is loving, God is caring, God has your best interests at heart!  How can it be otherwise when even his creations (humans) can show so much love and caring to their own children? God has got to be the most wonderful Parent we could ever dream of having!   So let us Love God (not Fear God) and be grateful and happy and live a wonderful life here and now!

By looking at all the wonders of creation in this world, we can be confident that when our time is up on this plane of existence, God would have created an even better world for us to inhabit.   So have no fear for the present or the future!  Don’t listen to the false teachings of fear-mongers who only hope to control you by fear!

As always let me say again:

If you will reason things out for yourself using your God-given mind and discernment, and not just follow blindly what some so-called masters or gurus are saying, then you can make Happy Living a habit and a reality!

Will be back soon with more Tips on Happy Living.

• fear , gratitude , happy living , law of mind
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gopimenon July 4th, 2010

Today’s post is an excerpt from my latest ebook entitled “6 Golden Rules of Happy Parenting“.

When it comes to talking to older children, especially teenagers, it is necessary to respect them and trust that they will act responsibly, when faced with any situation!

NOTE: This rule comes in at #5 because for it to work we need to have applied the other 4 Rules while bringing the child up from a baby!

1. Stop forbidding them anything! Tell them “It is your choice, but accept responsibility for your choices!”
2. Always ‘persuade rather than command’!  Let them feel it is in their own interest to do something.

The second principle above “Persuade, Rather Than Command”  will be illustrated in the story below which is another article I wrote long ago, but never got around to publishing!

The Case of the Recalcitrant Calf

Your first response could be: “What the heck does recalcitrant mean?”  Not to worry – the meaning will become clear when you read the story!

This story involves the famous writer (Emerson I believe), who was holidaying at his farmhouse in the country.  One fine day the great man found that a calf had wandered into his living room.

He first tried to shoo it away, but the calf had other ideas.  He then called his son to help. The son tugged at the head while Emerson pushed at the rear, but the calf would not budge! They tried in vain for several minutes to get the calf outside and had just about given up.

Just then their milkmaid happened to pass by carrying a pail of milk and they hailed her.  She observed the situation calmly for a moment.  She then dipped her thumb into the pail of milk, walked up to the calf and placed her thumb in its mouth.  The calf quietly followed her, busily sucking on her thumb. The maid and the hitherto recalcitrant calf made their exit.

Emerson was left nonplussed.  For all his intellect and wit and wisdom, a mere chit of a girl had succeeded in doing what he and his son had failed to do!

The moral of the story: A calf, or even people, can be `led but not driven’!  You do not need a PhD to persuade others to do what you want, but you do need common sense.  To lead someone we need to know what that person wants or needs. The same thing applies to parents and equally to children.

Now back to the `big’ word. By now I’m sure you know that recalcitrant means stubborn (intractable, refractory or intransigent).  Then why did I use the uncommon word instead of the common?  Simply because the uncommon tends to be remembered better.

For example: How many of us know of `The Son who Wastes Money’?  But I’m sure all of you remember the story of `The Prodigal Son’.

*****************End of Article**************

Other topics I discuss in the book ‘6 Golden Rules of Happy Parenting‘ with actual real-life examples for applying each rule, include the following:

Rule #1:  Treat Each Child as a Human Being and NOT as Just a Child! (Don’t fall victim to Parental Pride Syndrome)

Rule #2:  Never Discipline a Child When You are Angry! (How to discipline with love)

Rule #3:  Always Treat the Child as Priority (and act with their interests in mind – not that of friends or relatives!)

Rule #4:  Learn the Art of Saying NO to a Child! (Don’t forbid outright but …)

Etc.

If you would like to check out the book just CLICK here:  Happy Parenting Rules

Will be back with another Happy Living Tip soon.

Cheers!

• happy living , parenting
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