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Archive for 'Personal Leadership'

Things

“Write the bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble.” Arabic parable

 

What do we miss in life…

Musician was playing music on a New York station:

(Source & Author of story unknown)

He played six Bach pieces for about 60 minutes. During that time approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After:   3 minutes

A middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes
A three year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

This is a real story. The Washington Post, as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities, arranged the entire scenario. Playing incognito, no one knew the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days prior to this, Joshua Bell sold out a theatre in Boston where the tickets averaged $100 per seat.

The questions raised:
In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty; do we stop to appreciate it?  Do we recognize talent in such an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments …….How many other things are we missing?

 

Think…Before…

 

To do…

My obligation is to do the thing. The rest is in God’s hands.
Martin Luther King

So be sure your moments are being spend on things that are taking you nearer to your dreams. Also make sure that you are busy doing while still being yourself. As we are human beings and not human doings.

 

Jigsaw puzzle of live…

Are you a jigsaw puzzle aficionado?

If you have ever worked a complicated jigsaw puzzler, you know three things about them.

First, they take time.

Few people can put several hundred pieces of a puzzle together rapidly.

Most large and complex puzzles take several days, even weeks, to complete.

The fun is in the process, the satisfaction in the accomplishment.

Second, the starting point of a puzzle is usually to identify the corners and edges,

the pieces with a straight edge.

Third, jigsaw puzzles are fun to work by oneself,

but even more fun to work with others.

When a “fit” is discovered between two or more pieces,

The excitement is felt by all the participants.

Consider the day ahead of you like a piece in the jigsaw puzzle of your life.

Indeed, its shape is likely to be just as jagged, its colors just as unidentifiable.

The meaning of today may not be sequential to that of yesterday.

What you experience today may actually fit with something you experienced several months ago,

Or something you will experience in the future.

You aren’t likely to see the big picture of your life by observing only one day.

Even so. You can trust that there is a plan and purpose.

All the pieces will come together according to a greater design and timetable.

On some days, we find straight-edged pieces of our life’s puzzle – truths that become

a part of our reason for being

On other days, we find pieces that fit together so we understand more

about ourselves and about the greater work in our lives.

And on all days, we can know the joy of sharing our lives with others

and inviting them to be part of the process of discovering who we are.

The main thing to remember is to ENJOY the PROCESS.

LIVE today to the fullest, knowing one day you’ll see the full picture

Author : Unknown.

 

Learn from other…through reading

Books enable us to gain from the knowledge base of other men and women who have lived in the past and the present. However we must be prepared to be open to new learning as we read to be able to see the world through their eyes, else we will stay stuck in our own way of seeing.

It is said that the way we look at the world, will result in our way of doing and that will lead to the results we get.

So what will keep us from getting new perspectives on life?
Let’s listen to the stories we hear, read and learn, and be open to see the world in a fresh perspective. Remember then to try it out…else it was nice to know

 

Happiness

The question most probably can be asked what happiness is. Neil Kaufman writes in his book, Happiness is a choice, that the following six principals are central to happiness:
Make happiness the priority
Personal Authenticity
Letting go of judgments
Being present
Being grateful
Deciding to be happy.

Looking at principal two to five, it leaves me with the thought that Mindfulness will be key to these principals.

Mindfulness can be described as the ability to stop for a moment or minutes and just to be, to be quite and to be aware of one’s thoughts but to direct it back to the moment or to one’s breathe.

“Mindfulness/Meditation can do that which nothing else can do, it introduces you to yourself.” Swami Rama.

What a way to stop: To learn one better, to be aware of our thoughts, to develop the discipline of presence and lastly to develop the skill to be able to evolve to a being to life live to its fullest.

Secondly to be grateful for the small things, I heard of somebody that got into the practice to say thank you everyday for something that they did not say thank you for before…. Make one think.

 

Values at work…

This morning I heard an interesting way The “Kleipot Gemeente” run their way of interacting as a Christian community, based on values, with the following metaphors:
1 : God is central with, God’s massage of love,
Clock : God is 24/7 Central to each members life,
Plug : Time spend with God, to connect with God and get his message and power for one’s life. Prayer and “Being quite” before God.
Bread: Community with people, to share with the people one like and do not like.
Puzzle: Accept all people for their unique gifts they can contribute.
Shoes: Carry out the message of God, but also putting yourself in the shoes of other, to really understand their world.
Downward slope: Move away from the EGO, and always ask what Jesus will do in the situation.

This was a beautiful message that I will take with me on my journey through life.

I pray that your week be blessed, with God’s graze.

The “Kleipot community” blogspace is: http://www.kleipotgemeente.org/

 

Desire

Language is actually profound, the words desire and need at first site had more or less the same context for me at first glance. However with some reflection I now see them quite differently and it will also make some decision much easier, in future.

You see the question I will ask myself in future is the following: Do I need something or do I have a desire to have it?

Desire then ego centric; I want vs. a specific need….

 

The rat race…

Whilst reflecting on the rat race we are engage in every day… With responsibilities as husband, farther, a job and I enjoy it by the way and the list goes on.

Being realistic we all just have twenty four hours per day, so what we keep ourselves busy each day will determine the outcome of our lives. The question most probably is then what are the actions in our do lists?
Is it actions that take us nearer to our goals?
Is it actions whereby we live out our gifts?
Is it actions that create a legacy for us or is it to please other or to please our own ego’s?
Is our actions balanced to contribute to the following parts of our lives?

We must reflect on what we do to ourselves in this rat race, our days could be filled with joy living to the fullest each day, our just surviving.

What will people say looking back at your live, it was a live lived to create a legacy or will they put an inscription on your tombstone:

To do done
Dead anyway!

 

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