Focus . . .

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What I focus on in life is what I get. And if I concentrate on how bad I am or how wrong I am or how inadequate I am, if I concentrate on what I can’t do and how there’s not enough time in which to do it, isn’t that what I get every time? And when I think about how powerful I am, and when I think about what I have left to contribute, and when I think about the difference I can make on this planet, then that’s what I get. You see, I recognize that it’s not what happens to you; it’s what you do about it. 

– W. O. Mitchell, Canadian Author and Teacher

 

Consider this: What are you focusing on today?

A powerful question . . .

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A Powerful Question

A man driving down a country road spotted a farmer standing in the middle of a huge field of grass. Sensing something was wrong, he pulled the car over to the side of the road. As he watched, the farmer just stood there doing nothing and looking at nothing.

Curiosity got the better of the motorist and he climbed from his car and approached the idle man. “Ah, excuse me mister, but is something wrong?”

“No, no,” replied the farmer, “I’m fine. I’m just trying to win a Nobel Prize.”

“You are?” asked the puzzled motorist. “But how?”

“Well, I heard they give the Nobel Prize . . . to people who are out standing in their field.”

(If you were expecting my humor to get better, I’m sorry to disappoint.)

It’s true that few of us will ever win a Nobel Prize. But that’s okay, because being the world’s best is not the point. Let me ask a different kind of question.

According to John Gardner, founding chairman of Common Cause, one cheerful old man asks a fascinating question of just about everybody he meets for the first time. Once they exchange names and they get to the part where one is sure to ask the other where they work or what they do for a living, he turns the conversation in a different direction. He asks his new acquaintance an unusual question. He asks a big question – an important one. He asks, “What have you done that you believe in and you are proud of?”

The question is direct and a little unsettling. It is not as easy to answer as, “What do you do for a living?” It requires some thought. When asked why he likes to pose that question, the old man responds that he doesn’t care how they answer. He just wants to put the thought into their minds. He thinks everyone should live their lives in such a way that they can have a good answer.

“What have you done that you believe in and are proud of?”

As I search for an answer, my mind goes first to family. We’ve raised healthy and productive children who want to make this world a better place. Not that I’ve been a model parent – far from it. But I’m proud of them. I also believe in the life my spouse and I have tried to put together with one another. We both chose to work hard on our relationship from the beginning.

What else have I done that I believe in and I’m proud of? Several things, I hope. But one especially is the creation of Life Support System. For me it’s always been about reaching out, and I’m gratified when others in our Life Support System family write and tell me how it has made a difference. In a small way I think we’re helping to bring the world together.

How would you answer that intriguing question? It may not be a big thing. Perhaps it’s something that nobody but you cares about. But it cost you somehow … you’re invested in it. You probably will never be awarded a Nobel Prize for your accomplishment, but it was important enough to do.

I think this can be one of the most powerful questions we can ever ask ourselves. It causes us to look deep inside and, like the old man says, prompts us to live our lives in such a way that we can have a good answer.

Now it’s your turn. You may want to close your eyes and give it some thought. “What have you done that you believe in and are proud of?”

— Steve Goodier, Life Support System

Consider this: How would you answer the question?

A thought for the new year . . .

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“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.”

William Henry Channing, 1810-1884
American Chaplain

Consider this: What is your symphony?

24 Rules For Being A Human Being In 2014 . . .

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24 Rules For Being A Human Being In 2014
By BRIANNA WIEST

1. Learn to be okay with not being okay.

2. Learn to have conversations that do not consist of lambasting someone else, especially when that someone is you.

3. Give the most kindness to those who seem like they least deserve it.

4. Learn to define and describe people without initially reaching for their sex or appearance as key adjectives.

5. Realize that perspective determines everything.

6. Understand that when something upsets you, it’s striking a nerve of truth.

7. Understand that when someone upsets you, the best thing to do is understand where they’re coming from.

8. Know that no matter how far you’ve come, there’s no point at which it’s appropriate to remain sedentary.

9. Be radically, sincerely honest. Be shocked at how deeply you can connect with people when you are.

10. Know that if you want to have a conversation about something that upsets you, insulting someone is only the by-product of your own defenses, and will ultimately raise theirs as well, not open lines of understanding and communication.

11. Realize that selflessness is one of the most predominantly wonderful qualities a person can have.

12. Learn to actually feel happy for other people.

13. Go into everything with the knowing that you don’t know it all, and that every experience is valid.

14. Invest in extra linens, donate what you don’t use, and keep extra Tylenol on you because people tend to need it and be without it rather frequently.

15. Call your siblings more.

16. Be present in what’s at hand. You owe it to the people in your life and to the things you’ve built for yourself.

17. Understand that letting go and moving on means very humbly and slowly gesturing in the direction of which you’d like to reach.

18. Get dressed everyday, just for yourself.

19. Give better goodbyes.

20. Carve out time to do nothing but be with yourself.

21. Boldly make yourself your first priority. You’ll do everything better when you do.

22. Stop shaming yourself for doing things that are perfectly, normally human, but happen to be deemed imperfect in society.

23. Read. A lot.

24. Reach out to people, open your heart, and watch how eagerly they jump in and do the same.

Consider this: What do you need to work on?

These Are My Wishes For You . . .

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These Are My Wishes For You
Sandra Sturtz Hauss

May you find serenity and tranquility
in a world you may not always understand.

May the pain you have known
and the conflict you have experienced
give you the strength to walk through life
facing each new situation with courage and optimism.

Always know that there are those
whose love and understanding will always be there,
even when you feel most alone.

May a kind word,
a reassuring touch,
and a warm smile
be yours every day of your life,
and may you give these gifts
as well as receive them.

May the teachings of those you admire
become part of you,
so that you may call upon them.

Remember, those whose lives you have touched
and who have touched yours
are always a part of you,
even if the encounters were less than you would have wished.
It is the content of the encounter
that is more important than its form.

May you not become too concerned with material matters,
but instead place immeasurable value
on the goodness in your heart.
Find time in each day to see beauty and love
in the world around you.

Realize that what you feel you lack in one regard
you may be more than compensated for in another.
What you feel you lack in the present
may become one of your strengths in the future.
May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.
Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience.

May you find enough inner strength
to determine your own worth by yourself,
and not be dependent
on another’s judgment of your accomplishments.

May you always feel loved.

Consider this: What do you wish for?

A Little Boy At A Big Piano . . .

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A Little Boy At A Big Piano
Author Unknown

Wishing to encourage her young son’s progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her.

Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked “NO ADMITTANCE.” When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing.

Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy’s ear, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.”

Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was mesmerized.

That’s the way it is in life. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren’t exactly graceful flowing music. But when we trust in the hands of a Greater Power, our life’s work truly can be beautiful.

Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You can hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.”

Consider this: Can you hear him whispering in your ear? Don’t quit.

When Great Trees Fall . . .

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WHEN GREAT TREES FALL

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

—Maya Angelou

Consider this: how do you remember Nelson Mandela?