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Daily Steps To Mindful Living

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How to Deal With Life’s Disappointments

Healing, Inspiration, Spirit


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“Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it.” – Eliza Tabor

Over the course of your life you will encounter many disappointments. Sometimes it will be a loved one who let’s you down. Sometimes it will be a work deal or a business meeting that doesn’t go as planned. Other times it will seem as if the whole universe is kicking you in the head just because it can.

If you want to live a happy and fulfilled life you need to learn how to deal with life’s disappointments. In this post I am going to talk about a few strategies that you can use next time you feel let down.

Are your expectations realistic?


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One of the first things you need to look at when you are feeling disappointed is whether or not your expectations were realistic. I want to tell you something that might sound quite radical:

It is your expectations that create your disappointment. Nothing else.

That’s right. It is your expectations that create the fertile ground for your disappointments to flourish. Although it might seem like your business partner let you down by not coming up with the goods it was, in actual fact, your expectations that led you to believe that this event would not occur.

The next time you feel disappointed by some situation I want you to take a few moments to look into your mind. Examine the situation and start to think about whether or not your expectations were realistic. I think you will find that, in almost all situations, your big disappointments will be caused by unrealistic expectations.

Should I have no expectations?
If you start to realize that your expectations are partly to blame it is natural to then think that perhaps you should have no expectations whatsoever. This is an interesting point that I would like to hear some discussion on as I am not completely sure of the answer myself. Should we have zero expectations or should we just try to be more realistic?

Is your reaction realistic?


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One thing I have noticed over the years is that my own mind is quite unrealistic when it comes to reacting to disappointment. Let me give you an example. [Read more…] about How to Deal With Life’s Disappointments

Originally posted on March 3, 2009 @ 1:48 pm

How to Look Back on Your Life with No Regrets

Inspiration, Life, Spirit


Creative Commons License photo credit: Lucky B

“My religion is to live and die without regrets.” – Milarepa, Tibet’s greatest ever yogi.

Imagine this. You are old, frail and sick. You are laying in your bed with your children and family members around you. They are crying. Their eyes are red and their faces pull forced smiles trying to make you feel better about what is happening. You are dying.

Now ask yourself this question: are you regret free? Are you going to slip away in to the afterlife knowing that you lived a good and moral and full life? Or, are you going to be panicking because your mind is full of regrets and you aren’t ready to leave?

In this post I want to give you a few simple ways to make sure you live your life without regrets. I truly believe that when death comes the most important thing you can have by your side is the knowledge that you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Why this is so important to know

First of all I want to talk a little bit about why it is so important to live and die without regrets. It is not a complicated philosophical argument or even a religious teaching. The reason it is so important is because all of us, at the time of death, are scared out of our mind.

Think about when you lose some little trinket that you treasure. It might be a necklace, wedding ring or your car keys. Think about how frustrated and anxious you get. You are so attached to that item you can’t bare to be separated from it even for a few moments.

Now imagine death.

At the time of death it is not just your keys or your necklace that you are leaving behind. It is everything. You are leaving behind your kids, your house, your spouse. You are leaving your morning coffee and your local park and all your life habits. Most distressing, however, is the fact that you are leaving behind your body. The very body that you have groomed and cared for and cleaned and loved your entire life. It is time to separate from it. And that is bloody scary.

At that point in time the only thing you have to rely on is a calm mind. If you are in a negative space; thinking about all your possessions and attachments that you are parting from then your death will be painful. If, however, you are calm, collected, happy and regret free your death will be no drama whatsoever.

How to look back on your life with no regrets

Now that I have done a little bit of an introduction I want to talk about a few things that you need to do if you want to die without regrets. If you have ANY IDEAS of your own I would love to hear them. This is one area where you can never have enough knowledge.

1. Do no harm
All the major religions and philosophies of the world have one thing in common. They all speak of the fact that the very core and heart of their teachings is the idea that you should do no harm.

This is the most important thing of all. If you have spent your life harming people your death will be an occasion full of fear and regret. If, however, you have spent your days helping people and lived a loving and caring life there will be no cause for fear at the time of death. Why would there be? How could anything bad come from a life spent helping others?

If you want to die without regret it is important to do no harm. Don’t harm others with your body or your harsh speech. Don’t gossip about people and ruin their reputations. Don’t kill or injure animals. As a great Indian Buddhist master once wrote in his seminal text:

“Even a tiny spark can set fire to a whole mountainside. Do no harm whatsoever.” – Shantideva

2. Waste no time


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One of the major regrets that all people have is the recollection that you wasted a lot of your spare time doing things that had no real benefit. I touched on this in the recent post on recognizing your faults but I wanted to mention it here as well.

Human life is so precious. It is so rare and it is endowed with opportunities that no other species has. We have the mind, body and inclination to relieve the suffer of others. Not many animals can claim that they have this ability. But we do. We have the potential to travel the world, experience new things and grow as a person. We have the ability to love and the ability to bring joy to others’ lives.

This opportunity is so rare. It is so rare than even some other humans can’t claim to possess it. Impoverished souls in Africa and India and those in war torn countries do not have the opportunities that we relatively wealthy people in the west have. Wasting it would be the worst crime of all.

I truly believe that when death comes I will be more regretful of wasted time than of anything else. For the most part I do not harm a lot of beings and I do my best to help out when I can but, like a lot of humans, I am infected with the virus of laziness. I do not use my time well. If I want to die without regret I need to do something about this. And you do as well.

3. Take every opportunity that comes by
When you talk to the elderly about their lives one thing inevitably comes up – missed opportunities. Everyone has a story about an opportunity they had to work in a great firm or travel to a distant land or play for a great sporting team. And everyone regrets not taking that opportunity when it presented itself.


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Something that I feel is very important is to take every opportunity that comes along. The reason for this is simple – you will regret not taking an opportunity a lot more than you will regret taking it and it not working out. For example, it would be a lot better to take a job in a distant land and find out it isn’t right for you than it would be to turn it down because you were afraid.

If you want to get to the end of your life and have no regrets you need to seize every opportunity that comes along. It doesn’t matter how small or big it is, never turn down something because you are too afraid that it won’t work out. 90% of the time you will only get one shot.

4. Travel the world
In 2006 my best mate was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. The doctors found the disease quite late and by that time it had spread to his bones and lymph nodes. It didn’t look good. During that time he said something interesting to me, something that has stuck with me. He said that he felt extremely lucky to have traveled.

It was really interesting to see a young man who was facing death say that one thing that really helped him was the fact that he had traveled the world and seen a lot of things. He said it made him feel as though he had lived a fuller life and hadn’t missed out on too much, despite his young age. I am happy to say that my friend has since recovered fully from the cancer.

If you want to die without regret I think it is not so important to see lots of things as it is to really experience them. When you travel I encourage you to stay in one place for longer than you would normally and really experience the culture and the location. Don’t just go sight seeing, try and really experience what magic the place has to offer. At the end of your life you will remember these experiences.

5. Train yourself in impermanence
Death is a lot like professional sport. If you spend a lot of time training for it you will do well. If, however, you just try to fluke it there is every chance that you will fail. The time to train for death is today. The method is remembering the truth of impermanence.

When you are laying in your bed with your family around the last thing you want is a clinging mind. The last thing you want is to be so pained by your attachments that you can’t bare to let go of your life. If you are attached to your house and family you will find it extremely hard to slip away.

The only way you can combat this is to remember impermanence now. Every time you see yourself becoming attached to something you should remind yourself that it won’t last. Everything composite breaks. Everything that goes up comes down. Nothing lasts. Don’t be depressed by this fact, be happy. For now you have the motivation for seizing the moment and making the most of life while you still have it. This is what they mean when they say you need to live in the light of death.

Conclusion

I truly believe that if you live your life with the goal to have no regrets at the time of death you will live a wonderful life. Don’t harm, don’t waste time and don’t miss opportunities. These three things are essential. Your goal is to make these things happen. I can write about it until the cows come home but until you change your life for the better it is all just idle speech. I wish you the best of luck.

If you have any tips to share with us please leave a comment. It might really help one of our readers.

Originally posted on February 16, 2009 @ 2:30 am

How to Recognize Your Personal Faults and Make a Change

Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spirit

Last night I went to have a hit of tennis with my younger brother. As he jumped in the car he said, “I have a present to give you” but wouldn’t tell me what it was. After the game we went back to his place and, upon walking in to his room, saw that his brand new super computer was packed up into a box. “I want you to have this,” he said. “If I you don’t take it I won’t get into medical school.”

In this post I want to talk a little bit about recognizing your personal faults and making changes that deal with those faults. I am writing this post on my new computer, inspired by my little brother’s ability to change his circumstances.

The story behind the amazing computer give-away

I want to give you a little bit of background to why my brother gave me this most generous present. Perhaps then you will see why I am so inspired by his strength of character.

My brother is 20 years old. He is currently in his third year of a Medical Science Degree and is now studying to sit an exam to get into Medicine. Medical school is his goal. It is his dream. It has been his dream since he broke his arm at around age 13 and realized how much his doctor helped and protected him. Ever since that fateful arm-break he has hungered to be a doctor.

But there is something standing in his way. It is something so powerful that it has consumed both his older brother (me) and his father. In fact, this thing standing in his way has stood in the way of goals and dreams all throughout history. That thing is procrastination.

My brother’s form of procrastination manifested as video games. It manifested as hours of online chess games, World of Warcraft and Counter Strike Source. He was constantly aware of how his love of video games was affecting his study but he was never able to completely quit them. Even though he had taken personal vows to quit the time wasting video games the draw and allure of the games always drew him back.

Now let me get something straight. This kid studies. He spends full days at University studying his texts and has been rewarded with some of the top grades in his class. Last semester he scored three High Distinctions and one Distinction and the head of school informed him that one of his papers would be used to show future classes how to write an excellent essay. He is smart.

But getting into Medical School is hard. Not only is it hard, it means a lot to him. He knows what his dream is and he doesn’t want to look back and realize that he failed to get into the school because he wasted time playing chess. So, last night after tennis, my brother gave me his computer saying, “I need you to take it. Use it better than I did. I don’t want anything getting in the way of my dream.”

Why my brother has inspired me so much

This kid is 20 years old. He is young. I know 50 year olds who don’t have the presence of mind or strength of character to recognize their faults and do something about it. Most people are either too self-absorbed or too proud to admit they have a problem. But last night my 20 year old brother gave away a $2000 computer because it was standing in his way. It was preventing him from attaining his goals. And it has inspired me a great deal.

What I respect so much is that fact that he saw a problem and he dealt with it. He was willing to give up something that meant a lot to him because it was feeding an addiction and wasting his time. Most people make excuses for their personal faults and addictions but my brother was able to stand tall and cut it from his life. [Read more…] about How to Recognize Your Personal Faults and Make a Change

Originally posted on February 6, 2009 @ 3:00 am

The Roger Federer Guide to Becoming Great at What You Do

Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spirit

Roger Federer

Roger Federer. Perhaps the greatest tennis player ever to have lived. Watching him play tennis is something similar to what it was like watching Michael Jordan play basketball or what it would have been like to watch Michelangelo paint pictures. When I think of Federer I think of words like discipline, focus, poise, accuracy and finesse. I think of the word champion. In this post I am going to show you how to become great what you do the Roger Federer way.

Why Roger Federer?

Some of you may be asking why I chose to write about Mr. Federer. Well, to put it plainly, the man is amazing! The Australian Open is on at the moment so for the last month I have been privileged enough to watch Roger play in quite a few matches. And every single time I sit down to watch one of his games I am truly inspired to become better at what I do. That is the power of this man’s tennis – his expertise inspires people all around the world to become better.

Who is Rodger Federer?

In case you have been living under a rock, asleep in a coma or lost in the desert for the last ten years I thought I would give you a bit of background into who this man is.

Roger Federer is widely known as the greatest tennis player ever to have lived. He was born in Switzerland and has been ranked number one for a record 237 consecutive weeks. If he wins the Australian Open final next week he will go down as the most successful tennis player of all time, having won more Grand Slam matches than anyone else in history.

Roger is renowned the world over for his cool temperament and his fiery self discipline. The best way to illustrate who this man is to show you a clip of some of his more “Federer-like” moments. Only then will you be able to appreciate the man’s skill and finesse.

The Roger Federer guide to becoming great at what you do

Using the example of our man Federer I would like to show you a few simple but crucial things that you need to do if you want to become great at whatever it is that you do. It doesn’t matter if it is tennis, truck driving, basketball, soccer, meditation or writing – these tips apply to everything.

1. Practice, practice, practice
Of course, the most obvious and the most important. If you do not practice hard you will never become great at anything. All skills take time to improve and it is only with time and practice that you can become great at anything.

I once heard Roger say something very interesting about this. He had just won an important tennis match against and Australian player who had recently been lifting a lot of weights to improve his game. The Australian media had hyped this player up saying that he would “out muscle” Federer with his new-found strength. Federer killed him. When the media asked Federer if he ever lifted weights he just calmly replied, “I just hit tennis balls.”

It is a fantastic lesson and one that we should all take to heart. If you want to be good at what you do you need to “just hit tennis balls”. Practice, practice again and then practice some more. It is the only way.

2. Master your emotions
One of the most admirable things about Roger Federer is the fact that he is a master of his emotions. He very rarely gets angry and as such he is able to keep his cool and win more matches. Back in the days we had kids growing up watching John McEnroe lose his temper and behave like a brat and now we have kids growing up watching the calm and collected Federer. Here is an example of how not to do it:

When you lose your temper you are basically giving in to your weaker side. Everybody would love to get angry and cry and scream when they are frustrated but the true champions like Federer know that this is a weakness. It takes strength to keep your cool and it takes discipline to overcome your negative emotions.

This applies to all areas of life. If you constantly lose your temper you are going to find that you don’t have a lot of resilience and you will not have the energy or mental toughness to progress in your art. Learning to control your emotions is one of the most crucial aspects of becoming good at what you do.

3. Be prepared
Fortune favors the brave but it also favors the prepared. If you want to become great at what you do you need to be prepared. Never expect anything to happen by chance and always give yourself the best shot at success.

Here in Australia we are in one of history’s biggest heatwaves. The temperature has soared above 40 degree Celsius for the past five days and many people are suffering from heat exhaustion. The tennis, however, must go on and the Australian Open has continued despite the heat. Some players have not been able to handle it and have withdrawn from the competition. Not Roger though. Roger came prepared. Even though he is from a relatively cold climate he has been able to stand the pressures of Australia’s climate. How does he do it? Simple, he spends a month before the Australian Open training in Dubai – in the middle of the desert. He prepares for everything.

Always put a solid effort in to your preparation. Study hard and do your research. Find out things about your art that you probably don’t need to know. Talk to people who you might never have talked to. Do things differently in order to be the most prepared that you can be. This is a key to greatness.

4. Never give up
One of the most important things to remember is that you must never give up. Even when it looks as if the odds are impossible you must keep pushing on. This is something Roger Federer does extremely well.

Last week Federer looked as if he was down and out when playing Del Potro. He was two sets down and after two hours of play things looked pretty bad. But in typical Federer style he came back to win the match after being only a few points away from defeat. His steely resolve was incredible. To get on top of your nerves and come back from the brink like that is truly inspiring. It was a great life lesson for everyone who witnessed it.

You must never give up. As long as you are alive you can keep going. This is the most important lessons to take away from this post – never give up if you want to be great.

Conclusion

Greatness is possible for everyone. Each and every human being has it within them to be something or someone special. In truth it takes a lot of hard work, discipline and mental toughness. But, if you can incorporate these things into your “game” as Federer has done you too will rise to great heights.

Originally posted on January 30, 2009 @ 6:31 am

How to Deal With Anxiety at Parties and Social Gatherings

Inspiration, Life, Spirit


Creative Commons License photo credit: Amre Ghiba

Parties and social gatherings are a part of life. They are intended to be happy occasions where friends and colleagues get together to catch up and unwind. However, there are a lot of people out there who hate going to parties because they experience high level of anxiety. I used to be one of them. In this post I am going to give you some simple ways to deal with stress and anxiety at parties and social gatherings.

Are you afraid of the marketplace?

First of all it is interesting to look at the condition known as agoraphobia. This word comes from the Greek words agora and phobos and literally translates as “fear of the marketplace”.

Agoraphobia is where people become anxious in situations with which they are unfamiliar or have little control (ie parties). The anxiety is often made worse by the fear of possibly having a panic attack in that unfamiliar situation. The fear and anxiety often spirals out of control and leaves you feeling completely sick and alone.




The condition known as agoraphobia is slightly shrouded in mystery. Experts know what it is but, in truth, they have no idea what causes the problem. There are many different theories and at this time that is all we have to go on. If you find that your fear of parties and social gatherings is becoming more and more serious it is possible that you have this common condition. In that case, it would be a good idea to go and visit your local GP for advice.

How to deal with anxiety at parties and social gatherings


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Even if you do have the condition of agoraphobia the techniques I am about to give you will be of some use. As I mentioned, I used to get extremely anxious before a party. But by using these methods I was soon able to overcome the problem completely.

1. Go with a friend who knows about your problem
Back in high school when I used to suffer from this sort of social gathering related anxiety I had a really good friend who knew my condition. I felt completely comfortable around him and he was very accepting of my reactions. Going to a party with him was a great support because I knew with 100% certainty that he would make excuses for me or support me if I needed to go.

If you have a friend with whom you can be completely open with about your condition it is a great idea to ask them to come along with you. My friend used to be my saving grace – never judgmental or impatient. I remember one party we went to when we were 18 where he sat in the car with me for over an hour just talking to me because he knew I needed to calm down. It was a massive gift for me when everyone else (parents, sisters, etc.) were telling me to just “get over it”.

Try to be open about your problem. I always found that telling people made it better, not worse. If people are aware that you get a little anxious they will always support you.

2. Understand that you’re not that important
The title of this point might seem a little bit harsh but it is something that really helped me out. Give me a few paragraphs to explain because I think it could help you too.

Understanding that you are not that important is a valuable tool to learn. To this day I feel that a lot of my anxiety at parties came because I wanted to uphold a certain “persona” or “character” and I got anxious when I felt that there was going to a be a situation where I might be “exposed”. For example, high school is a time when everyone is trying to be cool and fit in. If you get anxious before a party it might be because you are worrying too much about what other people think about you. You spend so much time worrying what others think about you that it ends up making you really nervous, paranoid and anxious.

Sometimes it is useful to say to yourself, “I am not that important. People are not thinking about me at every moment. My every move is not being scrutinized.” If you be realistic you will come to realize that most people are too wrapped up in their own issues and neurosis to be concerned with you.

3. Cut the pre-party worry chain
Getting anxious at the party itself is only part of the battle. One of the worst things that sufferers of this condition experience is days or even weeks of nervous anticipation. They worry and think about the party so much before hand that when they arrive at the day of the party itself the anxiety is beyond control.

If you want to learn how to deal with anxiety and panic at a party you need to take care of the preparation. Preparing yourself by worrying will only lead to bad experiences. If you can, however, cut the chain of worry you will find that the party itself is not at all that bad.

I wrote a lot about worry in this post on how to deal with worry. The basic technique that you need to learn is simply becoming aware of the fact that you are worrying. Look inside your mind and notice that worry is arising. You don’t need to try to get rid of it or force it out, just become aware of it. When you can do this you will find that it has a lot less power and you are more able to gain control over your mind.

4. Bring to mind the truth of impermanence
When you are suffering from a panic attack or high levels of anxiety it is useful to remember that nothing is permanent. Your panic, anxiety and stress will all go away soon enough.

For example, if you are going to a party and you really do not want to go because you are feeling anxious it is good to bring to mind the fact that both the party and your anxiety will soon finish. They will not last forever. The great thing about this strategy is that you know it is true – you can look at your own experiences to realize that anxiety doesn’t last. It never has before and it never will – it is always going to be impermanent.

The next time you rock up to a party or social gathering and start to feel the anxiety creeping in just take a moment to sit under the sky and say to yourself, “This won’t last.” Remind yourself that your panic will come, but it will also go. The party has started, but it will soon finish. Why get so worked up about something that is only fleeting? This really helped me with my own anxiety.

5. Don’t drink alcohol, coffee or smoke anything
This should be a given but many people do not realize the negative effects that these three substances have on your anxiety and stress. Coffee, alcohol and smoking (tobacco and marijuana) all lead to increased levels of anxiety.

If you cut out these substances you will not automatically cure your party anxiety. It will still probably come about. However, the flip side of this is that if you DO take these substances your anxiety and panic will get much worse. While I have never been a drinker or a smoker, I did used to consume an awful lot of coffee. I didn’t realize it at the time but it was making me very anxious. As soon as I cut it out I noticed that my mind was much easier to control – much more relaxed.

Next time you have a party to go to try cutting out these three things. See how your mind reacts. See how your body reacts. See if you feel more in control. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

6. Stop the mental chatter
This point is closely related to the strategy about cutting the worry chain. However, this point has more to do with the internal “conversation” that we all seem to have. This mental chatter, in my experience, makes dealing with anxiety a lot worse.

Let’s pretend you are going to a party and all your old high school friends are going to be there. You might start feeling a little anxious and so, as a means to deal with your anxiety, you start talking to yourself about all the different situations that might arise at the party. Your goal is to “cover” all the possible scenarios that might occur and in doing so you believe that you will be better prepared for the party. Wrong.

Mental chatter always makes worry and anxiety worse. The reason for this is simple: worry never sorts anything out. You could spend every minute of everyday for 1000 years thinking about a party but you will never find a solution. The more you internally jabber on about it the worse your anxiety will become.

The next time you notice yourself starting one of these internal dialogues remind yourself that nothing good will come of it. You will not be able to sort out anything by thinking about it. All you are doing is wasting precious time worrying about something that might/might not happen! What a waste of energy.

7. Exercise before hand
Exercise has been scientifically proven to improve the happiness of a person. The reason exercise makes you happy is twofold. Firstly, exercises causes your body to release a chemical called endorphins which make you feel good. Secondly, when you exercise you feel better about yourself mentally. Exercising before a party can be a great way to get a hold on the stress.

The best exercise you can do is something that is considered “high intensity”. My personal favorite are heavy weights or martial arts. These exercises fill you with confidence and to some degree relax your body such that you are less likely to feel the stresses and pains of anxiety overcoming you.

Another form of exercise that might be beneficial is yoga or tai chi. These have been used for centuries to calm the mind and relax the body. It is said that getting the internal energies or “chi” under control will help you to stay calm. Yoga and tai chi certainly do this.

8. Remember, it could be worse!
Sometimes it is tempting to think that a party is the worst place to be on Earth. But it isn’t. Life could be a lot worse.

I always found it really helpful to remember that I am quite fortunate to be able to attend a party with my friends and family. Many people around the world do not have the freedom or the ability to attend parties – their life is spent just surviving. The next time you feel like the anxiety is too much remind yourself that a party is actually a happy event. Don’t let your own issues spoil it for you.

How about you?

I would love to hear whether or not you get nervous before a party. Do you feel stress, anxious and sometimes panicked before it starts? If so, have you found any techniques that help to calm you down? Please leave a comment and let everyone know. As I always say, it might really help someone reading this article.

Originally posted on January 27, 2009 @ 4:02 am

13 Photographs of the Most Inspiring People from the Last 100 Years

Inspiration

Sometimes you need a hero. Sometimes you need to be able to say, “What would [insert your hero’s name] do?” in order to overcome a difficult obstacle. Sometimes just picturing your hero’s face in your mind is enough to keep you going.

I believe that images are very powerful life tools. For this reason I have put together 13 photographs of the people I believe to be the most inspirational figures of the last 100 years or so. I hope that they will motivate you to become the very best person you can be.

13 photographs of the most inspiring people of the last 100 years

There are, undoubtedly, many names that I have missed from this list. Notable ones include Michael Jordan and Elvis Presley. If there are any other inspiration figures that you think I should have included please leave a comment.

13. Nelson Mandela of South Africa

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was the first President of South Africa to be elected in a fully democratic election. He is renowned the world over for being an activist of peace and racial equality and after spending 27 years in prison as a political prisoner he spent his days working for racial equality around the world. His autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, has inspired many people around the world.

12. The Beatles of the United Kingdom

the beatles

The Beatles are widely known as the most popular band of all time. They are credited with the creation of rock and have had more album sales than any other artist in history, including Elvis Presley. Their music reached every corner of the globe and had a major impact on the upbringing of an entire generation of children.

11. Al Gore of the United States

Al Gore

Al Gore is a perfect example of someone who can suffer a crushing defeat and get back up to do something great. As far as changing the world goes, Al Gore has done more than just about anyone else. His famous movie An Inconvenient Truth is going to leave an indelible imprint on the hearts and minds of the next generation and as such he may have positively impacted the environment more than anyone else in history.

10. Thomas Edison of the United States

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was one of the most prolific inventors of our time. He is known to have invented the light bulb as well as film projectors and motion pictures. An extremely intelligent man, Edison also had wise words to say about politics, religion and metaphysics. He is an inspiration to inventors and scientists around the world.

9. Muhammad Ali of the United States

Muhaummad Ali

In 2007 Muhammad Ali was names the greatest athlete of all time. This is quite a phenomenal title but reflects the fact that, far from being just a sportsperson, Ali was and is a man who has inspired millions to become better at what they do. He is a celebrity who now works tirelessly for others both within and without of his sport. As an aside fact, the Rumble in the Jungle boxing match in Africa between Ali and George Foreman was, until the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the most popular sporting event of all time.

[Read more…] about 13 Photographs of the Most Inspiring People from the Last 100 Years

Originally posted on January 24, 2009 @ 12:44 pm