Top 10 Cannabis Studies the Government Wished it Had Never Funded

Liberty Crier
Waking Times
10) MARIJUANA USE HAS NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY: A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death. Sidney, S et al. Marijuana Use and Mortality. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 87 No. 4, April 1997. p. 585-590. Sept. 2002.

9) HEAVY MARIJUANA USE AS A YOUNG ADULT WON’T RUIN YOUR LIFE: Veterans Affairs scientists looked at whether heavy marijuana use as a young adult caused long-term problems later, studying identical twins in which one twin had been a heavy marijuana user for a year or longer but had stopped at least one month before the study, while the second twin had used marijuana no more than five times ever. Marijuana use had no significant impact on physical or mental health care utilization, health-related quality of life, or current socio-demographic characteristics. Eisen SE et al. Does Marijuana Use Have Residual Adverse Effects on Self-Reported Health Measures, Socio-Demographics or Quality of Life? A Monozygotic Co-Twin Control Study in Men. Addiction. Vol. 97 No. 9. p.1083-1086. Sept. 1997

8) THE “GATEWAY EFFECT” MAY BE A MIRAGE: Marijuana is often called a “gateway drug” by supporters of prohibition, who point to statistical “associations” indicating that persons who use marijuana are more likely to eventually try hard drugs than those who never use marijuana – implying that marijuana use somehow causes hard drug use. But a model developed by RAND Corp. researcher Andrew Morral demonstrates that these associations can be explained “without requiring a gateway effect.” More likely, this federally funded study suggests, some people simply have an underlying propensity to try drugs, and start with what’s most readily available. Morral AR, McCaffrey D and Paddock S.
Reassessing the Marijuana Gateway Effect. Addiction. December 2002. p. 1493-1504.

7) PROHIBITION DOESN’T WORK (PART I): The White House had the National Research Council examine the data being gathered about drug use and the effects of U.S. drug policies. NRC concluded, “the nation possesses little information about the effectiveness of current drug policy, especially of drug law enforcement.” And what data exist show “little apparent relationship between severity of sanctions prescribed for drug use and prevalence or frequency of use.” In other words, there is no proof that prohibition – the cornerstone of U.S. drug policy for a century – reduces drug use. National Research Council. Informing America’s Policy on Illegal Drugs: What We Don’t Know Keeps Hurting Us. National Academy Press, 2001. p. 193.

6) PROHIBITION DOESN’T WORK (PART II): DOES PROHIBITION CAUSE THE “GATEWAY EFFECT”?): U.S. and Dutch researchers, supported in part by NIDA, compared marijuana users in San Francisco, where non-medical use remains illegal, to Amsterdam, where adults may possess and purchase small amounts of marijuana from regulated businesses. Looking at such parameters as frequency and quantity of use and age at onset of use, they found no differences except one: Lifetime use of hard drugs was significantly lower in Amsterdam, with its “tolerant” marijuana policies. For example, lifetime crack cocaine use was 4.5 times higher in San Francisco than Amsterdam. Reinarman, C, Cohen, PDA, and Kaal, HL. The Limited Relevance of Drug Policy: Cannabis in Amsterdam and San Francisco. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 94, No. 5. May 2004. p. 836-842.

5) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART I): Federal researchers implanted several types of cancer, including leukemia and lung cancers, in mice, then treated them with cannabinoids (unique, active components found in marijuana). THC and other cannabinoids shrank tumors and increased the mice’s lifespans. Munson, AE et al. Antineoplastic Activity of Cannabinoids. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Sept. 1975. p. 597-602.

4) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER, (PART II): In a 1994 study the government tried to suppress, federal researchers gave mice and rats massive doses of THC, looking for cancers or other signs of toxicity. The rodents given THC lived longer and had fewer cancers, “in a dose-dependent manner” (i.e. the more THC they got, the fewer tumors). NTP Technical Report On The Toxicology And Carcinogenesis Studies Of 1-Trans- Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, CAS No. 1972-08-3, In F344/N Rats And B6C3F Mice, Gavage Studies. See also, “Medical Marijuana: Unpublished Federal Study Found THC-Treated Rats Lived Longer, Had Less Cancer,” AIDS Treatment News no. 263, Jan. 17, 1997.

3) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART III): Researchers at the Kaiser-Permanente HMO, funded by NIDA, followed 65,000 patients for nearly a decade, comparing cancer rates among non-smokers, tobacco smokers, and marijuana smokers. Tobacco smokers had massively higher rates of lung cancer and other cancers. Marijuana smokers who didn’t also use tobacco had no increase in risk of tobacco-related cancers or of cancer risk overall. In fact their rates of lung and most other cancers were slightly lower than non-smokers, though the difference did not reach statistical significance. Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.

2) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART IV): Donald Tashkin, a UCLA researcher whose work is funded by NIDA, did a case-control study comparing 1,200 patients with lung, head and neck cancers to a matched group with no cancer. Even the heaviest marijuana smokers had no increased risk of cancer, and had somewhat lower cancer risk than non-smokers (tobacco smokers had a 20-fold increased lung cancer risk). Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society International Conference. May 23, 2006.

1) MARIJUANA DOES HAVE MEDICAL VALUE: In response to passage of California’s medical marijuana law, the White House had the Institute of Medicine (IOM) review the data on marijuana’s medical benefits and risks. The IOM concluded, “Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be mitigated by marijuana.” While noting potential risks of smoking, the report acknowledged there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting. The government’s refusal to acknowledge this finding caused co-author John A. Benson to tell the New York Times that the government loves to ignore our report; they would rather it never happened. (Joy, JE, Watson, SJ, and Benson, JA. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. National Academy Press. 1999. p. 159. See also, Harris, G. FDA Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana. New York Times. Apr. 21, 2006)

The Powerful Use Esoteric Knowledge While Keeping it From Humanity: Empower Yourself by Awakening Consciousness

Belsebuub, Guest Writer
Waking Times
You should be active in your spiritual life.
You’re never going to discover why you exist, and what the purpose of your life is, if you don’t do something about it. Do you want to live your life superficially, or do you want to have a genuinely spiritual life?

Reading, discussing, watching videos and belonging to groups might be helpful to begin with, but ultimately it’s not going to get you there. If you want to have a rewarding spiritual life you’re going to have to EXPERIENCE.

It doesn’t matter what you think about consciousness, higher truths or different dimensions, it’s what you experience and what you are that counts.

Planes of existence beyond this world exist, there are higher beings, heavens and demons, and hell is real; I’ve been there. I’ve seen realities that can’t even be imagined or dreamed about.
Wake up and see for yourself what’s really going on. Be more conscious in your life and learn from the dimensions beyond this. But watch out, because you’re ingrained in a passivity that will stop you, and you don’t even realize it. That passivity is ingrained into the subconscious in all of us by society, and by the feelings and emotions that are part of nature’s program, which we were born with.

This will drag your inner state down when you try to elevate it to spiritual states, it will make you search for pleasure and satisfy animal drives, it will keep your life stuck in this plane of existence, locked on a mechanical track with few choices, and you won’t even know it’s there.

Esoteric Knowledge is Used by the Few and Denied to the Many

Dancer at a pop concert with the all-seeing eye within a triangle symbol on the back of their shirt and a hand sign symbolizing three sixes.

The passivity has developed over time to the extent that the human race has effectively become domesticated and in many cases resemble passive sheep. Unfortunately, pleasure is a powerful driving force, and when people live for pleasure many compromises have to be made. Not the least is a reluctance to attend to the things that really matter. Corruption sets into society, greed becomes a virtue, the environment is frivolously destroyed, there are huge differences in the distribution of wealth, etc.

People have less inclination towards serious issues and are more willing for others to do things for them. Other people and institutions then make many of their decisions for them. With the result that a huge number of people are only able to understand simple slogans, and are thus able to be manipulated by those in power. And, in terms of spirituality, the tendency is to follow the herd and accept what they have been brought up with or what others do without any deep questioning. But spirituality is far too important a subject to leave up to someone else, or to have as a blind belief. Its an individuals fate beyond this life that’s at stake and that’s a very high stake not to take a serious interest in.

If you look for knowledge far enough you’ll discover a maze of ideas, but are likely to come across some information on out-of-body experiences and symbols. The two are related since the language of the astral plane is in symbols. By learning to have out-of-body experiences, you’ll be able to learn much more of what life and the universe is about. But you’ll also start noticing that symbols from the astral plane are everywhere in society.

They are in movies, in the logo’s of corporations, in ancient art, in music videos, public buildings, religions, they’re all over the place. So why isn’t everyone familiar with them? Why is it that mostly people and institutions at the elevated end of society seem to use these symbols?

Suppressing Higher Knowledge

The all-seeing eye within a triangle as used in the emblem for an intelligence agency.

The answer is that it’s suppressed knowledge, it’s powerful and enabling. Those in power want to restrict it’s use and don’t want it falling into the hands of the majority. The establishment wants to have control over it. Many powerful institutions throughout history have not wanted people to have it. That’s been the basis of persecution of many people in the past. It was part of the reasons behind the inquisition, the witch hunts, the brutal suppression of early Christian knowledge by the church, and the suppression of many individuals and groups through the history of the world. Those behind religions don’t want anything new to arise to challenge their religion. Society wants conformity, and profound spiritual knowledge doesn’t conform, it’s usually developed by small numbers of people who don’t fit in.

The result is that esoteric knowledge basically has been wiped out of societies repeatedly, and yet there are groups at the higher levels of society who obviously have some kind of knowledge of esoteric symbols and ritual and a wider esoteric knowledge too. But you’ll often find this knowledge is inverted, it’s of darkness and is being used as a vehicle for power and evil.

Dark symbols, landscapes and themes used in the music industry.

For most people though it’s taboo to even talk about higher spiritual knowledge in many places, if you were to try talking freely even about a simple subject such as astral projection you might get a lot of negative responses.

Higher spiritual knowledge is demonized in many ways in society and has been for a very long time. And yet its darker aspects are so common in the music industry and Hollywood, most people take it as fiction, but not all of it is, and I believe there are agendas behind its use in the entertainment industry, some working to affect people at a subliminal level. And being used to direct peoples ideas and attitudes in ways the media, and influences behind the media want them to go. This gives an extraordinary level of control over people and that’s not healthy.

Not All Secret Societies are ‘Bad’

There have been many types of secret esoteric societies, some were created for sinister purposes, some out of religions to further their agenda. Some were created with good intentions, and some today have well meaning people in them doing good.

Not everything esoteric or occult is from the dark side, fundamentalist Christians often label everything esoteric as Satanic, but it’s not, some of it is actually a remnant of white ancient knowledge. Some societies began as fully fledged esoteric orders, but became watered down with time, lacking people with sufficient inner awakening to participate in them.
Many of these became infiltrated by dark forces as people motivated by greed and power took control of them. Their original good intentions hijacked to fulfill sinister purposes.
It is necessary to have levels of secrecy in many areas of life, in some areas of government for example (assuming the government is working for the benefit of its citizens). Esoteric societies used secrecy out of necessity for their own protection. Have a look at a video of Gurdjieffs ‘Meetings with Remarkable Men’, look at the levels of secrecy in it, towards the end there’s a secret esoteric school. They needed that secrecy to protect themselves from people who would have destroyed their school. Not everything secret is bad, esoteric knowledge has been protected by hermetic silence.

You can’t have something like this today, people would ruin it. Pearls are not given to swine, as Jesus said, or they will trample them underfoot.

The Use of the Word Cult to Stop People Forming Groups for Higher Spiritual Knowledge

The cult word today is being used as an instrument of suppression and it restricts your freedom. If you take an interest in something spiritual, say astral projection, and you get together with a group of interested people, and they elect you to be the head in some way, you’ll immediately be classified as a cult leader and your group as a cult. And if someone attends and they don’t like you they can lie about you in public and be supported by a huge number of institutions, religions, groups of abusive anti-cult witch hunters, atheists, the media and society in general, and if you look for justice you’ll find it’s priced beyond the reach of ordinary people. How are you going to withstand that? Your life will be ruined.

The media fuels the witch hunt, the sheep in society follow, and the bullies attack. Society is not free. People with agendas control the media, and this is rotten. Heretic, blasphemer, witch, pagan, cult, these are all bigoted words meant to shut people out of society and destroy them. There are always lawbreakers in every aspect of society including spiritual groups, but they are the minority and there are laws to deal with them. But the actions of a few become the brush to tar the many with.

A poster for the EU containing upside down pentagrams and an image that bears a striking resemblance to the tower of Babel (mentioned in the Bible) in construction.

What does the word ‘cult’ make you feel? Bad? That’s part of your programming. Even Jesus would be called a cult leader if he were alive today; here is an article about it. Those with agendas pulling the strings behind the scenes don’t want you to study esoteric knowledge, they don’t want you to form groups around it. They don’t want challenges, at a deeper level, the forces of darkness don’t want the forces of light to emerge to counter them.

They don’t want you to become empowered by consciousness and wisdom. Behind the scenes they manipulate the media to make you believe these things are wrong, but they are not. You have a right to gather with others to stand together and face this ignorance, to fight for truth and to know the secrets of esoteric knowledge. You should empower yourself with truth and become active for the good of society. Statistically the most persecuted religious minority in the western world today are not Jews or Muslims, they are modern Pagans. Society is not free.

Spirituality has been Commercialized

Upside down pentagram used in the emblem of a police force. A pentagram the right way up is a symbol of light (signifying a person ascending to heaven). Forces of darkness use this symbol by inverting it and thus attracting the powers of darkness.

While some spirituality is not allowed one type is encouraged, that is commercial spirituality. The alternative health and lifestyle industry in the US in 2006 was worth $300 billion dollars. That’s where your interest is being funneled. True spiritual knowledge is given for free, you’re being deceived.

The figures of commercial spirituality are not spiritual teachers they are celebrities, their messages are simplified and watered down to the extent they are misleading. They often fish other peoples ideas and present that work as their own, they are talented writers and speakers, but they are businessmen and women, supported by a highly sophisticated industry. If you have a spiritual message to share, but you’re not up to making money for these corporations, you’ll be ignored.

The Source of the Suppression of Knowledge in Society

Religion, lots of different interests, corporations, individuals and groups combine and organize to create the world as they want it and work behind the scenes. I’ve been attacked by some of them. It’s been going on for a long time in society.

It’s my experience that there are people of a religious persuasion who are able to go into the astral plane, they have awakened psychic faculties for evil, and they go into the abyss where they get their knowledge, they access the intelligence of evil. This is the source behind the evil that is manipulating so much of the world today.

This spreads like the roots of a tree from secret mystical societies through the upper scales of power and influence in society, until it’s influence permeates the lives of the unsuspecting majority.

Darkness has its hierarchical structure, which goes through society, to a small number of initiates of darkness, then through the hierarchy of evil out-of-the body to demons and the forces of darkness. A hierarchy of light also exists, but THE HIERARCHY OF LIGHT IS BROKEN, it has been smashed and does not reach society.

One of the results of this is that the different ventures of truth and good in the world have little or no understanding of the esoteric principles of life, lacking that common understanding they are split, weakened, dissipated and often become infiltrated by dark forces. Darkness has virtually won the war for the human race.

A Global Awakening is Not Happening in Consciousness

A pop star mimics a character from the old film Metropolis in which a woman was created to destroy men through sexual desire using entertainment. Notice the upside down pentagram – used to summon the forces of evil. The pop star then proceeds to strip out of the robot suit and dance scantily clothed before millions of people.

A lot of people today talk of there being a global awakening, but where is the awakening of consciousness? People are more asleep now than ever, there are no more societies based around esoteric knowledge like there were in ancient times, nor at this rate is there any chance of there ever being any. An awakening of information about important things in the three dimensional world, though good, is not an awakening of consciousness. It may be that people are becoming more conscious of several important issues, but people are not more awake in consciousness, they are more asleep and are blind to the wider reality of cosmic existence.

And don’t be fooled by those studying non-physical phenomena such as consciousness and the astral plane, who use scientific methods to draw theories about what they’ve never experienced. Or who say that non-physical phenomena are constructed by the mind alone. The result of this will be to keep you from searching for higher knowledge while out-of-the body, while in life being immersed in inaccurate theories.

It’s great that people search for truth in society, each human being has a responsibility to work for the forces of light in the struggle against darkness, but becoming initiates is even better. A small number of initiates of light in the world could create a powerful force for good.

You Need the Astral Plane to Understand Secret Symbols and Ancient Knowledge

Pop star covered in upside down crucifixes and doing a symbolic gesture in covering their eye – creating the all-seeing eye.

Most of the symbols in use today have their origins in the symbols of the distant past. It’s unfortunate that so many people have taken wrong direction when it comes to understanding ancient knowledge, but it’s not surprising considering the suppression that has been going on for so long. When studying ancient cultures people draw all kinds of theories about their symbols, but they don’t understand that they are looking at the symbolic universal language of the astral plane, probably because they have seldom if ever been there. Some interpret them as tales of evil reptilians and codes of evil societies, but without understanding that without esoteric knowledge, you can’t interpret the more profound meanings in the symbols of ancient civilizations. Nor can you get esoteric knowledge without finding it beyond this three-dimensional world. And no one can get profound esoteric knowledge without becoming an initiate.

Esoteric symbols are the language of the astral plane, and that is their origin, just as it is the location of ghosts, demons, angels, divine beings and much of the paranormal. Ancient peoples used the astral plane for knowledge and brought back it’s symbolism for use in their teachings and temples.

Evil people become initiates of darkness and thereby get access to knowledge of evil. Initiates of light get access to knowledge of light. Ordinary people get ordinary knowledge = dull.
There are ascending serpents (light) and descending ones (darkness), get knowledge and don’t fall into the trap of drawing conclusions from ideas that have no esoteric experience behind them. It’s easy to do that, but you’ll just stay blind to higher truth, even if you fight for truth on a physical level. Fight for truth on all levels and empower yourself with white esoteric knowledge.

The Sleeping Majority Whose Destiny is Out of Their Hands

The consumer society with its indulgence in the lifestyle of greed has its price, in the suffering and destruction that follows to people, animals and the environment. But it has a higher more subtle cost in enslavement to the many corrupt structures and people that exist in society. And an even greater enslavement which is of the dumbed down sheep like existence of a person whose consciousness is asleep, who drifts through life in a semi-comatose state, oblivious to the wider universe around them, with a Santa Claus like view of cosmic reality, which they call religion.

The average person is a person who doesn’t know why they exist, nor what the purpose of their life is, it’s a person who dies and whose destiny is out of their hands. Who moves on a circuit of lives from one to another until the last life is over, then submerges into the abyss (look up hellish near-death experiences if you want to get some idea about this). The majority of people don’t want to wake up and don’t want others to wake up.

Ignoring esoteric knowledge has a cost, a very high one. It’s much more difficult to discover and even talk about higher universal truths than it is to explore the truth behind events that happen in society. But it’s necessary to find them if you want true knowledge.

Know the Truth and the Truth Will Set You Free (Jesus)

If you don’t do enough to discover higher truths, you won’t get them, the best you can do is to get glimpses here and there, and try to be content with that. Why not be one of the few that wants to discover more about what’s going on, and be completely free in mind and consciousness?

The problem is in making the sacrifices to do it, facing opposition from the many forms of the forces of darkness, and enduring the hardships of the way. The hardships are the testing ground of life; we’re all in creation’s testing ground, and that’s why we’re here. Darkness enables us to see form, and opposition is necessary for awakening. And yet the difficulties of life are a major reason there are very few people actually trying to self-realize.

Study yourself, get knowledge from outside the physical world, become an initiate of light and go through an esoteric process of change. Be aware of what traps you, be strong and set yourself free.

The world destroyed a man, but the man became a serpent and lay hidden in the womb of the cosmic mother. But darkness beware, because the serpent rises to one day reach the light and be devoured by the eagle. And then the feathered serpent can fly.

18 Things To You Can Do Positively Change Your Outlook

Josh Richardson, Prevent Disease
Waking Times

We live in denial of our inherent negativity for the most part, and often wonder why the world around is so mean and reckless. Unlike dogs we may not be born eternal optimists, but positivity is something that can be imbibed even if a tad forcibly; such as by trying to tweak our sense of humour, the way we react to a given situation, by being more pleasant and believing others too have a mind, and by smiling each time somebody says ‘thank you’. While positivity is a state of mind, the answer lies in our perspective. Here are 18 things you can do right now to becoming a more loving and positive person.
It’s one thing to wax eloquent on positivity, but quite another to be a positive person at heart. Despite believing to have a positive outlook, we invariably weigh the cons first. What’s more, we prefer needless sarcasm for humour, manage a wry smile when something is genuinely funny, and believe deep down that the glass is actually half empty.

18 Things To You Can Do To Change Your Outlook:

1. Have the desire: To become a positive person one must have a strong desire to be positive. And the desire will come only if you are convinced that becoming a positive person will enhance the quality of life. Positivity is like an aura, and you know you are a positive person when people start trusting you, random people become polite with you, colleagues at work respect your positive outlook and you start building rapport easily.

2. Believe in all possibilities: About what you can or cannot do. About what is possible or impossible. Don’t allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly! Once you realize all is possible, the doors of limitation that were closed in your mind will open be connected to all those aspects of consciousness.

3. Be realistic: Do not try to become a saint. Becoming a positive person does not mean you can never have any negative emotion or encounter any negative situation. It is the overall attitude that matters and your reaction to every experience. Don’t get bogged down by failure, and disappointed when your expectations are not met. Understand that everything is of service to you. All experiences are neutral and our perception is what creates our positive or negative outlook.

4. Experience empowerment rather than criticism: Give up your constant need to complain and criticize about those things — people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. When you criticize, you are passing self-judgement for something lacking in your life that you refuse to let go of. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking. For every opportunity you feel the inclination to criticize, try to think about how that specific situation is serving or benefiting others.

5. Experiment: Be a keen observer. Use everyday life incidents to see how you can manage them in a more positive manner. These will serve as perfect instances to turn your outlook more positive. For starters, contemplate how you could have better handled a situation by being less hostile and more indulgent. Come up with five ways that could have saved the day, and learn to take things at face value sometimes. Remember, your ability to trust the other person also reflects your genuineness.

6. Accept responsibility: Guilt is a trick of the mind. Accept responsibility for yourself, your life and your actions. You are response-able. You are an adult. You are account-able, meaning, with every action you take, you account for it. You chose to do it; you must accept the consequences of it and you did it all for a reason…to learn. If you continue to feel guilty, you stop learning.
7. Speech and body language: Try and make positive words a part of your daily lingo, and work on your body language in way that you come across as friendly and approachable. Look amused when something is amusing, laugh when something is funny, congratulate when credit is due, and give others a chance to narrate their side of the story. Never think you are the only interesting, knowing one around.

8. Be yourself: You are unique. Enjoy your uniqueness. Nobody in the world is just like you. Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. The moment you take off all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

9. Company: One way to becoming positive is to seek positive company as both positivity and negativity are infectious. If the people you spend most of your time with are grumpy or have a pessimistic standpoint, you’ll find yourself inadvertently mirroring the same emotions with others. In order to inculcate positivity it is imperative that your friend circle is a positive, energetic, and a happy bunch. You’ll find yourself carrying the same positivity everywhere you go.

10. Think here and now: The past and future often set us on a path of emotional turmoil. We often assume the past looked so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for — the past that you are now dreaming about — was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.

11. Activities: Do not remain idle and brood. Take up positive activities with others or in isolation. Share a joke, narrate a pleasant incident, take part in sporting activities, go for a run in the evening after work, have healthy sex, and you’ll find yourself bubbling with positive energy.

12. Take it easy: Everyday life is bound to give you shocks. Be prepared to minimise impact and shrug it off. For instance, you may get too hassled everyday while driving to work or trying to park your car. When you accept the fact that certain things cannot be changed, you’ll be more at ease with yourself and those around too.

13. Drop your expectations: Let go of any expectations of yourself that will limit your growth. If you hold high expectations for how others should behave, you will often be disappointed if they do not represent themselves in the manner you expected. It is only your expectations of people that cause you to judge them which ultimately is a judgement of yourself. Far too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They often forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need. You have one life — this one right now — you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.

14. Maintain a diary: Instead of recounting all events of the day, filter out only the positive ones and make a note of them. It could be anything trivial from your bus arriving on time, your mom cooking a delicious breakfast, to remembering to pay the bills on time. When we look for positivity in the little things that make our lives worthwhile, we leave no room for negativity. Try consciously practising this for 10 days, and at the end of day ten when you read your diary back you’ll only have memories of all the good things that happened to you.

15. Meditate: Not only does it secrete happy hormones but also creates a sense of awareness within you. You will learn to control your breathing, and by way of it, control your mind from wandering. Every time you meditate, you feel a surge of positive energy through your body that calms your nerves, soothes your mind, elevates your mood, and not to mention enhances your level of tolerance.

16. Embrace change: Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change — don’t resist it.

17. Re-invent your need to be right: There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong — wanting to always be right — even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. We love to right-fight. It’s just not worth it because the state of being right is all subjective with so many layers and perspectives of truth. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question:“Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” ~ Wayne Dyer.

18. Say ‘thank you’: Thank god, thank your parents, friends, and thank yourself for all the hard work you did, for everything you achieved. Saying thank you frequently makes you humble, and a humble person is seldom cynical.