i got this from a friend whom i’ve only met through e-mail. i’d tried to shorten it by deleting the unnecessary lines. however as i went though it, i realized that every line is important to be able to understand what the author wants to convey….

SEVEN HABITS OF ENLIGHTENED SOULS

1. Be quiet. At least once a day, sit down. There is a source within each one of us called the spirit or soul. It is a crime to disturb the inner peace. This peace is our power to create positive things in our life. Try speaking softly and slowly than your usual way. Speaking this way is more powerful because it attracts the peace in others. Just be aware of your words. Savor their energy and rhythm.

2. Let go. Don't hold on to anything with your hand or with your mind. Many think that doing this means losing. If you don't release the old, you can't get anything new. This requires detachment. Letting go means moderating excessive attachment to material possessions, to emotions, or to the status quo or comfort zones in our lives.

3. Let it be. We are great fixers of other people's lives. We're trying to write somebody else's script. We are absent from our own lives because we're busy living the life of others. Acceptance and contentment are the first steps to healthy relationships. An example is our appreciation of the moon, which is beyond change. We never dream of wanting to change or influence it, nor have we the slightest remorse that the same face of the moon is always turned toward us: We have no need to see the dark side. Extend this deep feeling of acceptance to the people we meet.

4. Listen in. Use your intuition, the inner tutor and the voice of wisdom. Because we have held on to our false beliefs for so long, we ignore and distrust our inner voice and tell it to shut up. The process of enlightenment is the process of learning to trust that inner voice once again. Example is the conscience as intuition at work. When we misbehave, the voice of conscience alerts us to our mistake. We may shun that voice, engaging in reason as the ally of ego to justify our deeds. Yet the troubling intuitive disapproval of conscience will go on to make its rebukes. We can either suppress the advice or repair the wrong.

5. Wake up. Habits are programmed by our external conditioning. Write down your habits then decide which ones to strike out and replace them with virtues. Visualize the virtue you want to create and empower that image. For example, if you want to develop patience, visualize yourself as a patient person. Watch, feel and manifest patience in every action you do until it becomes your behavior. Waking up is to consciously choose your behavior and thereby create the personality you want. Never believe anyone who says, "You can never change."

6. Know yourself. Look behind the "I want" attitude, those desires that make us need things that are not necessary. The truth is, happiness is a choice, not a chore, a decision to bring out from the self. Affirm that you are happiness, a source of happiness.