More overwhelming, many are wondering. Many people wonder if there is common sense in American politics now - the ex-US governor. How success works

Many people wonder - how to fast? But another thing is not clear to me - how not to fast? During the fast, everything is clear what is allowed and what is not. But now the fast time is over - and what next? With each post, we strive to rise to a new step in our spiritual life. And I really don't want to lose this spiritual baggage accumulated during the fasting time. But how to do that?

Priest Alexy AGAPOV, rector of the church of the Archangel Michael in the city of Zhukovsky, Moscow region:

Perhaps you are not dreaming of such a profound feat, but simply want to preserve the special mental attitude achieved during the fast. In this case, start with the simplest thing: do not gorge yourself at night. As you know, food eaten before bedtime negatively affects both the mind and the soul. So try to eat in the evening a couple of spoons less than usual, and see how much this is possible for you. But take your time to take vows before God. Leave the freedom to abandon the experiment if you realize that you cannot afford it.

Another way to maintain precious reverence is through prayer. Try adding a few prayers or psalms to your usual rule. Here, too, one must act rationally, not taking on more than you can bear. It happens like this: a person has read a given rule, feels - he has the strength and desire to read more. I read the troparion to one saint, to another. For tomorrow he thinks: let me read it to today's saint. And there are a lot of such additional prayers. But then suddenly the circumstances of life change. Yesterday there was time for a long prayer, but today there is not a single extra minute. And he begins to crush the feeling of guilt - before those saints whom he did not have time to pray today, before God. There is such a law: words are easily added to prayer, but it is very difficult to subtract them later. Therefore, any additional effort beyond the generally accepted church prescriptions must be resolved with caution. Better to tell yourself in advance: this is not part of my rule, not an obligation, but only an attempt, a "one-time experiment." According to the apostle Paul, try all things, hold on to the best (cf. 1 Thess. 5:21). This applies to both food and prayer.

The main thing is to remember: the one who wants to maintain reverence forever will have to work all his life. All my life to seek, to try to learn how to fulfill Christ's commandments. The Monk Silouan called it “to miss the Lord”: “My soul is bored with the Lord, and I tearfully seek Him. How can I not look for You? .. "It will never happen that you once and for all" catch "the gift of grace in your heart - and calm down. Here you will not be able to calm down by finding a universal recipe. And the desire to fast continuously can sometimes be caused by just such a deceptive hope for a quick and final deliverance from all emotional storms.

Orthodoxy teaches that the will of God is the fulfillment of the commandments always and in any place. We often read in the lives of the saints how they prayed for a long time and performed deeds, before making any decisions they tried to understand whether it would be pleasing to God. Please tell us what it means to surrender to the will of God when making any decisions, when choosing a life path.

I want to remind once again that Orthodoxy differs from other confessions in that it proceeds from the patristic understanding of the answers to the questions that life offers us. Yes, many people ask themselves what to do according to the will of God? Answer: "There is no virtue higher than reasoning," said Antony the Great, when three ascetics came to him and began to argue which virtue is the highest. One said that fasting, the second, that prayer, the third, that obedience. Anthony replied: "And by unreasonable fasting you can kill yourself, and by unreasonable obedience you can become slaves of men, and not God's servant, and by prayer you can both ascend to heaven and fall into the abyss of pride and delusion." Where there is no reasoning, there is no virtue. So, a person must always act according to reason and conscience. According to reason, based on the knowledge of the ideas of Christianity that it has, and according to conscience, since conscience is a subtle and living indicator of our actions - according to reason and conscience, and the intersection of these two lines gives the desired point. If a person does this, then, as Isaac the Syrian writes, we must say: "Lord, this is what my insane reasoning says, this is what my very burned conscience says, but, Lord, let your will be done, not mine." ... If a person sincerely turns to God with such a prayer and makes a decision in accordance with his understanding, then even in the case of a person's mistake, God will correct it. Why? Because he puts his sincere trust in God, and not in himself. Then the Providence of God is accomplished. It is especially important to rely on the will of God when people in prayers ask for some earthly things, for health, for external well-being. The Holy Fathers say: "If you can, do not ask God for anything." But sometimes we cannot but ask, and even then ask like this: "Lord, you know what I want, but Thy will be done, Lord, and not mine." Such an appeal to God can receive the most favorable, positive answer. When we insist, reject the Providence of God, the will of God, albeit with tears, but demand that it be our way, then, of course, we will get nothing. Most people seem to be praying, asking for one, the other, and the third and getting nothing. For two reasons. The first reason: they persistently ask God: "Give me this, Lord." The second - but there is no faith. They ask, and they themselves do not believe. And so a person spends his whole life and remains without fruit. The providence of God is accomplished when we surrender ourselves to the will of God, but not without effect: here I am sitting in an armchair and saying: “Lord, I would have a garden. .. ". No, we must do what we can, but leave the results to the will of God. Here is the solution to the question.

Many people ask the question - are there any criteria for changing consciousness? How can you notice, determine that consciousness has changed, has become different? Firstly, if you try to find changes in yourself every day or every week, then you are unlikely to find them, of course, if some events that strongly influenced the psyche have not happened. But, for example, if you look, try to remember yourself a year or two ago, then it is quite possible to notice the changes. And the main, and, in principle, the only criterion for a change in consciousness, will be a change in their reaction to approximately the same situations, or standard situations. How much your perception has changed, tracking the moment when it has changed, how much and how your reactions to what is happening have changed, and so on. And of course, no guru or clairvoyant will help here. Only you yourself can know and see yourself, like no one else, as you really are. Of course, in the complete absence of inner lies to oneself. This is if you answer the question "how". But there are also other questions. For example, the question "why". Or - "why". Why do you want to know about your changes. Of course, these questions can be answered - in order to understand how progressive my development is; to understand if I'm changing or staying the same. The former - what? As I see it, a person wants to change from himself today, if he does not suit himself in something today, he does not like something to himself (or not to himself), or if he thinks that he needs to change, he must do for your development. There is also a third option - the feeling of the need for changes in oneself. All these options have a different background, but they all have a place to be. Try to just look at yourself. Pay attention to your desire for change. Where does this desire, this interest come from? Perhaps from the assessment of yourself? Yourself today and yourself yesterday. Reflecting on yourself and imagining yourself in the future. But aren't you today this is the real you? Exactly who you are, who you are. And tomorrow this "you" will be who he is. And so he will be in the future. And was in the past. Comparing yourself with yourself does not divide you? The need to change and the assessment, that is, the identification of ongoing changes, does it divide you? Or maybe you are still one whole, whole person? With their mistakes, and, in your opinion, correct decisions. With his attentiveness, his "correctness", following the instincts and his recklessness. With only your "evil" and "good". And with only his own vision of anything. And, perhaps, looking around, you will see not a stupid or smart, bad or good, moving or stopping yourself, but a multifaceted yourself. Multi-faceted and whole. You will see, without dividing oneself into periods and stages of life, and you will understand that there were no "stops in development" and wrong roads. There were no mistakes. All this is your and only your way, your life story. And whatever you are, for yourself or for those who evaluate you, you are a person, you are the brainchild of your soul. After all, every moment of your life passes under her vigilant vision, and under her guidance you. You have never been bad, and you have never been good. You were and are what you are. Just listen and perceive the impulses that the soul sends to your consciousness. Whether you have changed or not is not really important. Only one thing is important - you are, and you go, always. (c) Arina Beletskaya

I work for success. I enjoy experiencing success. I feel significant, respected, and even loved. Everyone smiles at me, even those who are jealous. And I become confident, witty and irresistible. For the sake of success, I am ready for much, for a lot, for practically everything ... Could you subscribe to these words?

Many men and women, especially under the age of 5, are puzzled by the question of how to become more successful. Moreover, everyone understands this task in their own way. Someone, for example, wants to be successful in business and be successful with women. Another - to make a career, become famous, save a fortune. The third is to successfully get married, have children and settle in country house... There are many formulas for success, books on "How to Become More Successful", trainings that develop the ability to achieve. Motivation for achievement is one of the priority areas of psychology. The psychology of success, personal effectiveness trainings are actively represented in the market of psychological and parapsychological services. Does everyone want to learn the formula for success, achieve it, become more successful?

How success works

Not every achievement is a success. Success has three characteristics.

1. Success is something that I myself planned, achieving my dream or realizing my plan. Not someone else's, mine. Of course, I can work for the overall result. But if I do not see anything of mine in him, then, most likely, I will treat him as my help to another person (team) or as a well-executed assignment. But not as personal success.

2. Success is different from luck and luck.We consider the success that has been achieved as a result of our efforts, calculations, labor. Moreover, a subtle psychological law is known: “The more labor and time something cost me, the higher the subjective value of the result for me”.

3. This is a success for meand this is the third feature of success. Success is very subjective: what is success for me may be failure for another. Whether the result will be a success, I determine myself. Psychologist Eric Byrne believed that among people there are winners, winners and losers. The criterion is as follows: everyone in life sets goals for themselves, calculates how to become more successful. Based on this, at the end of life, you can summarize whether he achieved what he wanted. If he wanted and achieved - the winner. I wanted the best, but it turned out as always - a loser. He wanted to, but did not reach the goal, stopped halfway or one step away from it - the undefeated. According to this theory, the person who wanted to become president and became prime minister is just an undefeated person. And the one who dreamed of raising three children and did so is the winner.

Success components

One of the most important and non-obvious truths about how to become more successful is the following: a person cannot guarantee one hundred percent success. While we are doing something, we cannot be sure of anything. Only half of the success depends on our efforts and abilities. The second, little respected by arrogant people, is not subject to human will. In industrial relations, in business, talking about the latter is bad form. Not everyone has the courage to accept that man is not the creator of this world and that certain circumstances are beyond our control. And if so, one can only hope, wishing a fair wind or good luck. We can only prepare the conditions for success, try and find out how to become more successful, but we cannot guarantee anything. For success, no matter how you look, is the result of two components - effort and luck.

The flip side of success

Will I be able to? What's my bar? Will I reach the limits of my own capabilities? In other words, personal effectiveness is what a person constantly checks if he takes himself and his life seriously. Accomplishing the goal of “becoming more successful” means that we not only accepted the challenge, but also proved to be successful in its face. And if we cannot implement our projects, we feel bad. It's so bad that we are beginning to need a quick and bright success. And the worse our affairs are, the less satisfied we are with ourselves, the more success we need. And we are no longer so attentive to the choice of means, because we need success more and more.

For some people who have not experienced success for a long time (it does not matter whether they actually had it or went unnoticed), the need for great success develops into the phenomenon of "waiting for a miracle". A person no longer relies on himself, but acutely feels that fate owes him a lot and that justice can be restored only if a miracle happens. Therefore, he decides on an adventure, ceases to see the situation realistically, and it is so easy to deceive him.

Dependency on success is the surface of the big problem. This is an example of psychological dependence, similar to drug or alcohol. But if drugs and alcohol are the lot of people with a weak will, then dependence on success is dangerous precisely for hardworking and strong-willed people. As a rule, these are those who do not know how to fairly evaluate themselves. And he is looking for external evidence of his worth. For them, intrinsic value is determined by the external attributes of success: position, car brand, belonging to the prestigious and successful. It is these people who come with their problem to the best psychotherapist, because they deserve the best.

Successful patient

Here he is - a respectable, ambitious and sometimes cynical man with money. He talks about emptiness, crisis of the genre, depression. Sometimes it is presented as a midlife crisis: he has already proved everything to himself, but he does not know what to do next. Such people are very restrained in feelings, so their favorite word is “discomfort”. I work a lot, but the passion is not the same. I am considered an outstanding and tough leader, but what is perceived from outside as my charisma is a heavy burden from the inside: you need to meet expectations, radiate enthusiasm and confidence, carry your image.

These people have a lot, but they do not have a sense of happiness. They find it difficult to admit that they are constantly experiencing anxiety about failure, which they now cannot afford. Every year the stress grows, the tension from what only captivates new task, harder than the previous one - easy tasks have become boring.

The lack of confidence in your own good attitude towards yourself, that you will not become an empty place, if you are left without positions, you lose your fortune, your beloved woman leaves ... A specific defense mechanism that masks this uncertainty is the need for one hundred percent control. Whether it is work, partner or partner, children or destiny - nothing can be left to chance or to another person. Everything should be on a short leash.

Achieve success

But stay yourself! First, try changing your attitude towards success. Agree: there are forces that are beyond the control of anyone. An unfortunate set of circumstances can turn a fully prepared success into a failure. How our will and forces independent of us combine in favorable circumstances is still a miracle. We cannot not only change this, but also understand. But the more we strive to facilitate this secret process, the more we violate it. What is the real recipe for success? How to become more successful and not lose your freedom? Success refers to that amazing side of life, which includes joy, happiness, gratitude of children and grandchildren and that deepest feeling of fulfillment. But a roundabout leads to it. By all means trying to experience orgasm, a person blocks its achievement. Determined to have fun tonight, a person will look tense. So is success: in order for it to become a natural consequence of our life, we must pay attention to something greater - the meaning of our lives. And then we can allow ourselves to be satisfied with ourselves, justify ourselves and respect ourselves, even if we don't succeed. After all, we did a good job for the value that we serve all our lives.

It could have been more, but I forgot what else was there. .. It just so happened that for some time you will have to stay here, in a correctional institution (IS). Of course, this is not the best place to live, but nothing can be done, the court sentenced you and fixed the term: someone a year, someone two, someone more However, life does not stop there, and wherever you are , it is necessary to remain people everywhere and always, to live according to human rules.
Once you are punished and temporarily isolated from society, some restrictions and prohibitions apply to you by law. You must clearly know what you can and cannot do here. To do this, it is necessary to study well the Criminal Executive Code of the Russian Federation (PEC RF) and unquestioningly observe the Internal Regulations of Correctional Institutions. The book you are now holding in your hands should help you quickly get used to the new, temporary conditions of life and more successfully prepare for liberation.
Good advice to you: respect yourself and others, do not commit rash acts! And keep in mind that the administration of the PS is trying to help you. These people are absolutely not involved in what happened to you, as a result of which you ended up here. They are not your enemies, but they are doing their hard work for you to restore your good name. So try to solve this problem together with them!
Attention!
...
To address the staff of the penitentiary institution and persons visiting the institution, one should use the word "you", calling it "citizen", "citizen" and further - the title or position. You can contact the penitentiary institution for minors by name and patronymic. It is necessary to greet while getting up. This is required by the Internal Regulations of the PS (clause 16).
And, of course, you have to fulfill your duties, which has already been mentioned, and also not do what is prohibited by the Internal Regulations of the PS (clause 15). In particular:
violate the boundaries of the penitentiary;
go outside the isolated areas without the permission of the administration, as well as stay in hostels in which you do not live;
smoke in places not designated for this;
apply tattoos;
use obscene and slang words, assign nicknames;
stay in sleeping places during the time not allotted for sleep without the permission of the administration;
keep animals and birds, raise ornamental fish and houseplants;
use homemade electrical appliances;
eat food in places not provided for this;
send and receive postal information without going through the administration.
Appendix 1 to the Internal Regulations of the PS contains a list of things and objects that are prohibited from having with you, receiving in parcels, parcels, parcels or purchasing. These are: all types of weapons and ammunition; optical devices, cameras and film cameras; compasses; colored pencils, markers, paints, ink; playing cards; money, valuables and some other items. If they are discovered by the prison administration, they are seized and stored without the right to use them until they are released.
The rules of conduct, however, are not limited to official requirements, which are set out in regulatory documents and heard from the mouths of representatives of the administration. There are also "informal rules" that you need to know in order not to fall under the influence of negatively minded convicts and their leaders.