Craffies Coaching

A good friend of mine always tell the story, of a story line in one of the Maternity Wards he visited: The first 30 sixty seconds of life is pretty dangerous, and then somebody added, the last thirty is also pretty dangerous.

The following quote by Allan Sacs; “Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives,” leads to the following question how do we life these moments between birth and death?

• Do we life our passion?
• Do we love unconditionally?
• Do we care?
• Are we creating a legacy?
• Are we brand ambassadors for Christ?
• Are we living our dreams, or other’s dreams?

We are at the end of another year. It leaves me with a question; What makes the difference between 31 December and 1 January, is it not just another day or is it 2008 and 2009 that makes a difference?

However it is like everyday a good time to do some personal reflection, that bring me to the following quote:

“A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it.” Unknown

Although I believe strongly to live for today, I also believe that the actions and thoughts of today will build a path towards the accomplishments of tomorrow.

So what will be the thing be that will fill my tomorrows, so that I know what I am aiming at. These things must bring balance and purpose to my life and have eternal value.

Take the last day of 2008, reflect, dream and write down those things that you would like to fill the moments of 2009 with.

May your 2009 be filled with moments of God’s blessings.

Most probably 90% of all problems can be traced back to trust. The oxford dictionary describe trust as follow:

• noun 1 firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. 2 acceptance of the truth of a statement without evidence or investigation. 3 the state of being responsible for someone or something.

Personally I do believe trust is like the old story of what comes first the egg or the chicken, meaning that trust starts with own trustworthiness.

Know what must I do to be trustworthy, I do believe firstly one must be consistent, secondly one must be dependable and lastly competent.

Consistent: There must be congruence between one’s personality and personality, so what people see everyday will be authentic to how we feel inside our bodies. That will lead to us to be consistent in our behavior.

Dependable: What we say and what we do is the same thing. We would rather say no, than yes, and never do it. This also reflects a part of really caring for people and also respecting other.

The above talks for me to character, I do believe in abundance, I want to serve other, I want to contribute to other with my gifts. I can offer something unique to the world.

Competence: I can not do something, if I do not have the skill, ability or the resources.

Eric Liddell, Olympic athlete, better known for the story in Chariots of fire said the following words:

I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.

I was pondering on these words and the following thoughts came to mind:
To be able to live life with passion I must be living life to the fullest. To be able to do that I must be contributing to the world by sharing my gifts.
However I must trust God and not myself to be able to this.
I must be grateful, also for the so called small things. As that will create mindfulness and gratitude.
It will also create more energy as I will then be living integrated and I will be in a performance zone to perform and share.

May you have a wonderful week and perform in the zone to the benefit of God. The wonder is then we will also reap the harvest.

I blogged on exercising the mind on Friday. One of the thoughts was on playfulness. The part of being like a child had me thinking…

As children can also be very cruel or is it honest with each other and the impact of that on their community and the productivity of the environment.

So I had a discussion with my kids and quickly a few themes emerged:
Negative kids draw negative kids.
Positive kids need to avoid this energy or they are drawn in.
Positive kids, make constant long term contributions on all levels.
Short-term illusions is sometimes created that the Negative kids get results, which the positive kids do not get. However how Steven Covey puts it, Principals will always rule over the long-term.

So in future if I refer to being playful like a kid, it is with reference to the pure form of being like a kid.

Regards.

The following words are from the song of U2, one:
ONE
(U2 & Mary J Blight)
Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now?
You got someone to blame
You say: one love, one life
When it’s one need in the night
One Love, we get to share it
Leaves you baby if you don’t care for it

Did I disappoint you
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without

Well it’s too late, tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We’re one, but we’re not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other

Have you come here for forgiveness
Have you come to raise the dead
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head

Did I ask too much – more than a lot
You gave me nothing – now it’s all I got

We’re one, but we’re not the same
Well we hurt each other, then we do it again

You say: love is a temple – Love a higher law
Love is a temple – love the higher law
You ask me to enter – then you make me crawl
And I can’t be holding on to what you got
When all you got is hurt

One love, one blood
One life- you got to do what you should
One life with each other
Sisters, brothers

One life, but we’re not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other
One – one

It always leave me with the questions in my own life:
How integrated and balanced are my life, do I life a life of one, or perhaps if fragmented what must be corrected?
Am I part of the universe and do I really have compation with other?

Enjoy your day.

Just a few thoughts on the mind and keeping it fit.

Thoughts about the future or the past have a definite impact on the brain. It was determined through research that one can gain skills through observation and indirect experience. So make sure: you’re thoughts is part of your brains exercise to learn positive skills.

Playfulness…. The philosopher Henri Bergson wrote; “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to create oneself endlessly.” The ways in which kids play have two beautiful skill building components to it to develop emotional and social skills. Through play they learn how to see the world out of different perspectives; they also learn how to interact with the world. Sometimes they get hurt, however they get back to the present and learn from the moment and enjoy it. To close on this Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge….I would agree with this, however I will add that dreams with out action/fun/playfulness is just dreams and we need to take action.

To read… it was discussed in this blog already, to be open to learn. This will help us to recognize the patterns of the world around us and to be able to act pro-actively to utilize the opportunities. It is also the learning of new languages to be able to describe new things in the world. (Right brain)

Expression of “language”, taking the new information and creating something new, being creative or innovative, expressing it in writing, art, what ever your natural or unnatural way of expressing, making food what ever. (Left Brain)

As a last thought…Yes, exercise is necessary to keep the body clock on the go but it is also good for the mind. The American Heart association currently recommends 30 min of moderate exercise a week. It rid the body of all the stress we toxic-ate it with.

Let’s do something playful, be a kid again, do some reading to stimulate our thinking and express ourselves in a wild way this weekend.

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

No I do not want you to gym to have a big chest to be able to be a good leader.

I want to share a few thoughts on integral way of being. Where do we make decisions?

The sensation in or belly give a sensation in our body.

The feeling in our chest gives us a sensation about how we feel about the situation, influenced by our character and spirit.

Lastly our minds, where the decision are made. This is where we have choice; will I allow my chest and belly to give me direction, or am I going to let my decision be pure cognitive decisions.

An integral approach will take us to the next level.