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Can it Get Any Worse?
Each day you face serious news. Billions of assets lost, millions unemployed, companies failing. Each day story seems worse than the last.
If you watch the news, read the papers or listen to talk radio guys, everything seems unbelievably horrible. "The United States is becoming a Socialist state!" "Terrorist cells are everywhere!" "They're trying to sink the stock market so they can take over the country." "The economy has never been this bad . . . and everyone agrees it will get worse."
You feel a little stress.
What can you do? How can you feel good? Eat food and gain weight? See a shrink? Make sure everyone around you is also worried? Take a pill?
Unfortunately, no matter what you do, the stress returns. You think about living in poverty. You think about death. Life is extremely serious, right?
Fortunately, you can do something that will help you win this game.
"A guy will tell you, 'We've got to face this thing practically, and what we are doing here is very serious.'"
"You want to know what seriousness is? Seriousness is solidity. You ever hear of a 'solid citizen?'
"There's nothing that succeeds like insouciance*. Plain flippancy** will actually get more done in less time than anything else you can name."
"And the more seriously you take the game, the less chance there is of winning."-- L. Ron Hubbard (*Insouciance: Lack of concern, carefree.) (**Flippancy: casualness, disrespectful joy.)
Benefits
When you stop agreeing with all the bad news and find a way to take things less seriously, you fire up your spirit of play! You enjoy benefits like these:
● You feel healthier and more alive.
● You think of great solutions that are simple and effective.
● People enjoy being around you.
● You get more done with less effort.
● You earn cooperation and support from others.
● You have more fun.
So why should you lighten up? Why should you take the game of life less seriously? How can you have more fun?
Recommendations
If you are in good mental shape, simply reminding yourself to LIGHTEN UP can switch you from a serious mood to a light, carefree mood. As a result, you magically feel better and start making progress toward your goals.
For example, you pull into a parking lot and can't find a place to park. You feel like smashing your car. Instead of driving around giving people dirty looks, you decide to lighten up. "Why am I getting so serious about a parking space! I'll park down the street and get in some exercise."
As another example, you hear some horrible, frightening news on the radio. You say, "Oh boy, all of us hard-working regular successful people don't stand a chance in this world." But then you realize, "I don't have any big investments. I don't make millions to be taxed. What do I care? I like music." You laugh, change the channel and start to think more clearly.
Another example: You and your spouse are not talking. You disagreed about something, had an argument and got very serious. You come to your senses and decide, "We need to lighten up!" So you act silly or tell jokes until you and your spouse laugh.
Your spirit of play can make or break your business or career. If you get too serious, you not only feel unhappy, you make others lose the joy of work. Everyone loses.
If you stop taking your job, your life and the economy so seriously, you make better decisions. Your days fly by as you get more done. You win the game!
For more tips on how to lighten up, read "Being Too Serious Can Ruin Your Success" at www.tipsforsuccess.org/seriousness.htm.
Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you. Copyright © 2009 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here. |
