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Tag: Thomas Edison

Wayne Dyer, Think and Grow Rich, Interstellar, Deepak Chopra, and Matthew 13:12

Sunday Supplement #85 (December 25th, 2022)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

I hope you take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.”

– Wayne Dyer

Book of the Week:

Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

I heard of Think and Grow Rich long before I ever picked it up. The book comes up on every recommended list for those who have delved into the personal development genre.

Napoleon Hill went on a journey to discover the commonalities between the most successful people in various fields.

Hill credited Andrew Carnegie’s prompt to him as the genesis of his work to study the likes of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and others to discover and reveal the roots of success.

There’s a reason the book has stuck around for decades, has many plaudits, and has sold over 15 million copies.

Think and Grow Rich is a brilliant read for those looking to better themselves. It’s not just an insight into physical wealth.

Movie of the Week:

Interstellar

Christopher Nolan is one of the leading filmmakers of modern times. His filmography includes The Dark Knight trilogy, Dunkirk, Inception, and many other brilliant films.

For this Movie of the Week pick, I chose his Sci-Fi Drama Interstellar. Nolan wrote the film with his brother Jonathan, and it currently holds the 26 spot on IMDb’s Top 250 Movies list.

Interstellar follows ex-NASA pilot Joseph Cooper and his decision to join a mission of explorers traveling through a wormhole in space in search of a new planet for the survival of the human species.

Cooper chooses to leave his family behind in hopes of saving them. However, he doesn’t know what it will cost him, and his team discovers that the information that prompted their journey wasn’t fully realized.

Every Christopher Nolan film I’ve seen has provided a fantastic experience that has often stayed with me. Interstellar is my favorite of his filmography.

Brainfood of the Week:

The Abundance in Your Life is Proportional to Your Sense of Self | Deepak Chopra

In the video, Deepak Chopra discusses how we often get lost in egoic perceptions of ourselves but can tap into abundance by remembering our true sense of self.

Chopra is the founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit for research on well-being and humanitarianism. 

He has written numerous New York Times bestsellers, has been featured by Oprah Winfrey, and was described by Time magazine as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.

I’ve featured a Deepak Chopra guided meditation on Sunday Supplement #77, and this video gives an extra glance at his work.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

– Matthew 13:12

This passage from the Bible is taken from Jesus’s parable of the sower. It discusses a sower’s seeds that were scattered among a variety of terrain. Only the seeds that fell upon rich soil took root and survived.

For me, the parable and the verse above discuss the necessity of having the right mindset and core beliefs. If we do, positive seeds will flourish, if not, they wither.

If we don’t control our thoughts, mindset, and core beliefs, we continue to see the world from whatever default setting we currently have or are held sway by external stimuli.

The good thing is that we get to choose our mindset and our core beliefs. And we all have the ability to tune into and amply those qualities we want to see more of.

Choose how you want to move forward in life, tune into the abundance you wish to perceive around you, and have a blessed week ahead!

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Thomas Edison, Atomic Habits, Bad Boys (1983), Sadhguru, and Matthew 7:12


Sunday Supplement #8 (July 4th, 2021)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

I hope you take something away from this post that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

– Thomas Edison

Book of the Week:

Atomic Habits – James Clear

James Clear is an expert on habit formation. The New York Times, Entrepreneur, and Time are a few of the many publications that featured his work. Clear’s work has also been used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. His website receives millions of monthly visitors where he writes about habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement.

Clear’s book, Atomic Habits, was a New York Times bestseller. The book helped me quit smoking and get back in shape. I accomplished both before, but I found myself burning out at various points. I would eventually use my willpower to push myself back to my best, but I struggled. Atomic Habits broke down concepts that made it easier to improve in areas of my life that I wanted to build up while letting go of things that weren’t good for me.

In the book, Clear goes over topics like identity, which help with starting good habits or breaking bad ones. For smoking, I always viewed myself as a smoker trying to quit smoking. He explains how that frame of mind is rooted in identity and makes it hard to stop. The shift of implementing the identity that I’m not a smoker was a simple concept with profound results.

There are many valuable strategies and systems that Clear explains in his book. One of my favorites is akin to the Edison quote above. Clear gives the metaphor of an ice cube melting to signify one’s dreams and goals. You can work for a long time to melt the ice cube. You can bring the temperature up to 31.9 degrees, and it will still be an ice cube. But you are so close to making water from your efforts. Don’t give up!

Atomic Habits is one of my favorite self-help/self-improvement books. It is an enjoyable read as well. There are many true stories from various inspirational people that will entertain and motivate. Check it out!

Movie of the Week:

Bad Boys (1983)

A Chicago youth Mick O’Brien plans to rob a rival’s drug deal. The heist goes horribly wrong, and O’Brien is sent to a juvenile detention center. He must face the consequences of his actions and decide if the path he’s currently on is one he wants to continue. The story gets more intricate as the film continues, but that is a quick summary without too many spoilers. 

Sean Penn stars as Mick O’Brien in his first film released after the iconic Fast Times at Ridgemont High. His role as Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High created the possibility of being typecast as a comedic actor, but Penn made the deliberate decision to go in a different direction with Bad Boys. Penn’s performance was assisted with a brilliant supporting cast. Reni Santoni, Jim Moody, Esai Morales, Ally Sheedy, and Clancy Brown are some of many who brought immense quality to the screen. 

Bad Boys was a small film and didn’t get too much recognition when it came out, but it received mostly favorable reviews. A testament to the quality of the script and Sean Penn’s performance is that actors like Tom Cruise and Kevin Bacon auditioned for the lead role.

It could have been a simple movie, but instead, it allowed for depth in the narrative, which resulted in complex characters and a powerful story. Even though the film isn’t well known, Bad Boys deserves to be recognized.

Brainfood of the Week:

A conversation with Sadhguru led by Angella Nazarian.

Sadhguru is an Indian yogi and bestselling author. He is a spiritual leader and founder of the Isha Foundation, a non-profit spiritual organization with over 9 million volunteers. Sadhguru’s YouTube page features many videos where he discusses spirituality, perception, and various other topics. His videos have just shy of 1 billion views in total.

Angella Nazarian is a philanthropist, bestselling non-fiction author, and conference organizer. She co-founded Looking Beyond, a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of children and young adults with special needs, and Visionary Women, a non-profit community, focused on engaging conversations with innovative leaders and funding high-impact initiatives for women and girls.

In this video, Nazarian speaks with Sadhguru about vision, willingness, and joy. Sadhguru discusses how willingness can be tested when other people do not act in accordance with one’s beliefs. However, it ultimately our choice in how we respond or react. This culminates in a direct link with how we experience joy.

Sadhguru’s discussion is a great lesson and reminder of how we can shape our world.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Therefore whatever you desire men to do for you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”

– Matthew 7:12

There are a few bible passages I can quote off the top of my head. Matthew 7:12 one of them. But I didn’t know about the final part— “for this is the law and the prophets.” This part reminded me of the law of attraction. The basic principle of the law of attraction is positive thoughts bring positive experiences, and negative thoughts bring negative ones.

It always sticks out to me when different religions or philosophies I come across repeat similar passages. More often than not, you can find the same messages in different religions or spiritual practices. However, quotes like think positively don’t always have a positive reception when I’m not doing well. That is something I want to change.

In my first Sunday Supplement, I quoted Matthew 22:39— “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” I discussed how if you don’t love yourself, you won’t be able to love your neighbor. I then talked about filling your cup so you can help others. Matthew 7:12 reminds me that assisting others in filling their cup can fill yours as well. I believe in this way, Matthew 22:39 is linked to Matthew 7:12.

Trying to balance the two and knowing when I’m balanced is the goal I’m setting for myself going forward. I also plan on re-reading Atomic Habits to help me with that objective.


Be kind to yourself and others, and have a blessed week ahead!

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