Analogy of Success

Be the Best of What You Can Be!!

Only principles endure and these I now possess, for the laws that will lead me to greatness are contained in the words of these scrolls.

Principle #1 – Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.
Keep it always in mind and you will overcome seemingly impossible obstacles that are certain to confront you as they do everyone with ambition. Never feel shame for trying and failing for he who has never failed is he who has never tried.

Principle #2 – I will form good habits and become their slave. If I must be a slave to habit let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed.
Each principle in these scrolls will drive a bad habit from my life and replace it with one which brings me closer to success. For it is another of nature’s laws that only a habit can subdue another habit.
As I repeat the words daily contained in these scrolls they will soon become a part of my active mind. Eventually I will find myself reacting to all situations which confront me as I was commanded in the scrolls to react. Thus a new and good habit is born.

Principle #3 – I will greet this day with love in my heart.
Love is the greatest secret of success in all ventures.
I will laud my enemies and they will become my friends; I will encourage my friends and they will become my brothers. Always will I dig for reasons to applaud; never will I scratch for excuses to gossip.
I will love all manners of men for each has qualities to be admired even though they be hidden.
But how will I react to the adversity of others? With love. For just as love is my weapon to open the hearts of men, love is also my shield to repulse the arrows of hate and the spears of anger.

Principle #4 – I will persist until I succeed.
I was not delivered into this world in defeat, nor does failure course through my veins. I am not a sheep waiting to be led to the slaughter. I am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep.
I will remember the ancient law of averages and I will bend it to my good. I will persist with knowledge that each failure to sell will increase my chance for success at the next attempt.

Principle #5 – I will increase my knowledge of the world.
Within me burns a flame which has been passed from generations uncounted and its heat is a constant irritation to my spirit to become better than I am, and I will. I will increase my knowledge of mankind, myself, and the goods I sell, thus my sales will multiply. I will practice, and improve, and polish the words I utter to sell my goods, for this is the foundation on which I will build my career… Also I will seek constantly to improve my manners and graces, for they are the sugar to which all are attracted. I have been given eyes to see and a mind to think and now I know a great secret of life for I perceive, at last, that all my problems are in truth great opportunities in disguise.

Principle #6 – I will live this day as if it is my last.
Yesterday is buried forever and I will think of it no more. Forgetting yesterday neither will I think of tomorrow. Should I torment myself with problems that may never come to pass? No!
I will avoid with fury the killers of time. Procrastination I will destroy with action; doubt I will bury under faith; fear I will dismember with confidence. The duties of today I shall fulfill today. I will maketh every hour count and each minute I will trade only for something of value. And if this day is not my last, I shall fall to my knees and give thanks.

Principle #7 – Today I will be master of my emotions.
All nature is a cycle of moods and I am a part of nature and so, like the tides, my moods will rise; my moods will fall. If I bring joy and enthusiasm and brightness and laughter to my customers they will react with joy and enthusiasm and brightness and laughter and my weather will produce a harvest of sales and a granary of gold for me. Weak is he who permits his emotions to control his actions; strong is he who forces his actions to control his emotions.

If I feel sad I will laugh.
If I fear I will plunge ahead.
If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come.
If I become overconfident I will recall my failures.
If I feel complacency I will remember my competition.
I will master my moods through positive action and when I master my moods I will control my destiny.

Principle #8 – I will laugh at the world.
I will chuckle and my burdens will be lightened; I will laugh and my life will be lengthened for this is the great secret of long life. And most of all, I will laugh at myself for man is most comical when he takes himself too seriously.
Four words I will train myself to say until they become a habit so strong that immediately they will appear in my mind whenever good humor threatens to depart from me. These four words are: This too shall pass.
And with my laughter all things will be reduced to their proper size. I will laugh at my failures and they will vanish in clouds of new dreams; I will laugh at my successes and they will shrink to their true value.

Principle #9 – Today I will multiply my value a hundredfold.
And how will I accomplish this? First I will set goals for the day, the week, the month, the year, and my life. Just as the rain must fall before the wheat will crack its shell and sprout, so must I have objectives before my life will crystallize.
The height of my goals will not hold me in awe. If I stumble I will rise and my falls will not concern me for all men must stumble often to reach the hearth.
I will always announce my goals to the world. I will always raise my goals as soon as they are attained. Yet, never will I proclaim my accomplishments. Let the world instead, approach me with praise and may I have the wisdom to receive it in humility.


Principle #10 – I will act now.
My dreams are worthless, my plans are dust, my goals are impossible. All are of no value unless they are followed by action. I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words again and again each day until the words become as much a habit as my breathing and the actions which follow become as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. Only action determines my value in the market place and to multiply my value I will multiply my actions. I will walk where the failure fears to walk. I will work when the failure seeks rest. Success will not wait. If I delay she will become betrothed to another.


Credits: Og Mandino

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Totally Reggae

REGGAE! REGGAE! REGGAE!

Reggae is the heartbeat of Jamaica - a brand of reggae music as strongly identified with the island as R&B is with Detroit or jazz with new reggae Orleans. It's a major factor in the Jamaican economy, at no time better demonstrated than during Reggae Sunsplash and Reggae Sumfest (enormous annual reggae festivals), when almost one-quarter million visitors arrive from overseas to dance and sway in delirious union to the soulful, syncopated beat on the tiny island.

Reggae evolved in the ghettos of Kingston, Jamaica, born of the tensions and social protest simmering violently in the late 1960's. Jamaicans will tell you that reggae means "coming from de people," a phrase coined (as was the name reggae itself) by Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals.

Bob Marley

Reggae is associated above all with one man: Robert Nesta Marley. Bob Marley had established himself as an early leading influence, with his creative style and unique stage presence. The type of reggae he performed is called Roots Reggae. He adopted Rastafarianism, injecting his reggae music with greater soul and more poignant lyrics that helped spark a worldwide "Third World consciousness." Bob Marley became an international superstar and is considered a prophet by the followers of the Rastafarian religion.

Though Marley died in 1981, Reggae has gone from strength to strength. International stars such as Eric Clapton and Paul Simon even began to incorporate Reggae tunes into their smash hit reggae albums. Bob Marley has sold more reggae albums posthumously than any other reggae recording reggae artist. On his birthday, February 6, 2001 Marley was awarded a star on the famed Hollywood Walk of Fame. He receives numerous awards for his contributions to reggae music each year.

Types of Reggae

Not all reggae stars are Jamaican. Reggae has a huge following in Scandinavia, Germany, England and Japan and indeed in most countries throughout the world where homegrown performers are bursting onto the scene. Nor do all reggae reggae artists embrace social commentary in their reggae music. Other types of West Indian reggae music that actually preceded Reggae but can be found at most reggae festivals and are all grouped under the term "Reggae" to the masses:

Lovers Rock Melodic, romanticized reggae. Maxi Priest is one of the most popular to sing this type of reggae. Dub Purely instrumental reggae. Jamaican reggae DJ's invented their own lyrics to dub over the reggae music, initially in a verse form that has since evolved into...

Dancehall Reggae similar to rap reggae music. Ska this frenetic forerunner of reggae accentuated by a strong horn section has made a comeback and is popular among young adults in USA and UK. 

Rock Steady ska slowed down to half speed and became more syncopated. The dance style was more languid with minimal movements. Soca from Trinidad, this fast-paced dance reggae music has a pedigree going back two decades and gained prominence in Jamaica only recently at Carnival time. It is now the reggae music of choice at upscale discos in 'uptown Kingston' (reggae dancehall is the reggae music of 'downtown'). 

Calypso fast-paced reggae music from Trinidad featuring steel drums.

World Beat West African Highlife reggae music

Popular Marketing

Reggae may have put Jamaica on the reggae musical map, but the nation's reggae musical heritage runs much deeper. It is also constantly evolving, setting the tone and pace for the world to follow. Kingston has become the 'Nashville of the Third World' and reggae recording studios pump out dozens of new reggae titles each month. Reggae has influenced so many of today's marketing efforts with reggae jingles with its distinctive beat being heard on the radio and television around the world selling everything from laundry soap to soft drink. It is 'feel-good' reggae music and marketers capitalize on that.

Rastafarians & Dreadlocks

The Rastafarians with their uncut, uncombed hair grown into long sun-bleached tangles known as dreadlocks or dreads are synonymous with the island in the sun. Rastas wear their hair in dreadlocks because of their intrepretation of a passage in the Bible. There are perhaps 100,000 "Rastas" in Jamaica (and millions worldwide). They adhere to an unorganized religion - a faith, not a church. Their influence has far outweighed their small number as youth around the globe admire their easy-going lifestyle and philosophy of One World family. Rastafarianism is a type of Christianity and they study the Bible.

Rastafarians have adapted traditional Christian tenets to fit their philosophical mold. The basic belief is that His Imperial Majesty, The Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, was the second coming of Jesus Christ. They site passages in the Bible that confirm this. It advocates a peaceful fight against oppression against Babylon (the establishment). They are vegetarians that eat fish, strict teetotalers, they shun tobacco, coffee, sugar, and processed food. Those who copy Rastafarian lifestyle but bring ill repute are called 'wolves'.

Dreadlocks have become en vogue and can be seen on models in reggae magazines and actors and ac tresses on television and in the movies.

Patois: Language of Reggae

In Jamaica, officially English is the spoken language. In reality, Jamaica is a bilingual country as everyone speaks patois (pa-twah), a reggae musical dialect with a unique rhythm and cadence. Patois evolved from the Creole English and a twisted alchemy of the mother tongue peppered with African, Portuguese, and Spanish terms and Rastafarian slang. Most Jamaicans will vary the degree and intensity of their Patois according to whom they're speaking with.

Credits to:

www.ReggaeFestivalGuide.com

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