Ross Reck – Over the years, I’ve had a number of people tell me that life is a game of “give and take.” While that phrase does sound logical, it’s simply not true. Instead, life is about giving and receiving.

One of the biggest myths on the planet is: When I get what I want, I’ll be happy. This implies that happiness is a destination which can only be reached by focusing on yourself and once you’ve reached this destination, you can sit down, relax and enjoy the good life for the rest of your days. In reality, the opposite is true.

A professional golfer once told me that the biggest reason most golfers’ scores don’t improve much is that they tend to play with other golfers whose skill levels are roughly the same as theirs.

Ross Reck – Study after study has shown that successful people possess high levels of self-confidence—a rock-solid belief in their abilities. This confidence stems from the fact that they have very large “comfort zones.”

Ross Reck – he above is a quote from the spiritual teacher, Osho.

Ross Reck – Often when we greet people that we encounter during our daily activities, we say something like, “Hi, how are things going?” They may respond with something like, “Fine.” “Great!” or “Not bad.”

David Brooks, Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, wrote an essay titled “The Moral Bucket List” which was posted in the Sunday Review section of nytimes.com.

Ross Reck – The following story was sent in by a subscriber in response to the Reminder about Being the Rainbow in Someone Else’s Cloud.

Ross Reck – Dr. Douglas Gentile, a distinguished professor of psychology at Iowa State University, found that when people took the time to think positive thoughts about the people they saw as they were going about their day, they had improved moods, felt happier, better connected, more empathetic and more satisfied with their lives.