Jul 30, 2009
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From Khalil Gibran’s, the Prophet.
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Jul 24, 2009
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An Inspiring post by Michael Hyatt. How do you get to Wow. I quote:
- Take a stand for greatness. Like many important things in life, creating a wow experience begins with making a commitment. You must resolve in your own heart that you will not sell-out or settle. This isn’t necessary for every project, of course. But when you decide that the dream warrants it, you have to take a stand and play full-out.
- Connect with the original vision. King Solomon once said, “Without vision the people perish” (see Proverbs 29:18 KJV). This is also true for wow. Before it exists, it is only an idea. The only place it exists is inside your head. Sometimes, you just have to close your eyes and once again become present to what it is that you are trying to create.
- Remind yourself what is at stake. I have found that the best way to do this is to ask, “Why is this so important?” When I was writing my first book, I had a list of seven reasons why I needed to write the book. I reviewed it every morning before I began writing. It gave the project an almost epic significance, but it kept me going when I wanted to quit.
- Listen to your heart. Most of us have spent a lifetime ignoring—or even suppressing—our intuition. I don’t know if this is a product of modern rationalism or American pragmatism. Regardless, I believe intuition is “the map to buried treasure.” It is not infallible but neither is our reason. And, it can point us in the right direction. We need to pay attention to this inner voice.
- Speak up. This is he crucial step. You must give voice to your heart and go on the record. If you don’t, who will? You may be the original dream’s last best chance of staying alive. Most people will happily give in, give up, and move on. Most people have more to do than they can get done, so they are reluctant to go through one more iteration to get it right? But if they don’t, they will never get to wow! This is why you can’t afford to remain silent.
- Be stubborn. This is perhaps the toughest part of all. We all want to be liked. We don’t want to be “high-maintenance” or unreasonable. But think back on your own history. Aren’t the people you respect the most also the ones who demanded the most from you? You may not have fully appreciated it at the time, but, looking back, their stubborn refusal to settle is what made the difference.
Look, mediocrity is natural. You don’t have to do anything to drift there. It just happens. But if you want to create truly wow experiences, then it is going to require courage. Are you willing to be brave?
Jul 18, 2009
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“Where your thoughts are, is where you are. Think of others and you are with them. Think only of yourself and you are alone.” – Yaatriki
Jul 15, 2009
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“More often than not, we remain silent when we should speak up. However, there are times when you should remain silent. Here are a few:
• If the problem is small, won’t happen again, and you know the other person already feels bad, you probably don’t need to say anything.
• If the problem doesn’t have a significant impact, don’t say anything.
• If you’re part of a leadership team and you’re the only one who cares about a certain issue—or is at least willing to confront it—take preparatory steps. Talk to your peers. If you’re still the “Lone Ranger,” tell your team that you are about to set a new standard (give them a warning), then do it.”
- Taken from Crucial Confrontations
Ofcourse, the bigger problem faced by corporate world today is keeping silent when one should be speaking up. That’s precisely what the brilliant books Crucial Confrontations and Crucial Conversations, deal with; ie how to speak up effectively when faced with situations that involve broken agreements, poor performance, or any scenario which involves high stakes, strong emotions combined with differences of opinions.
Jul 13, 2009
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Have you every come across a book that was so good that you actually felt like kissing it? And then actually did so? If you are a writer, Page after Page can get you dangerously close to having an affair with it. The subtitle of the book goes, “Discover the confidence & passion you need to start writing and keep writing (no matter what)”. Heather has certainly delivered on her promise. Each time I complete a chapter, I am raring to get back to my desk and write out yet another blog post, an entry in my journal, or anything for that matter. I received a warm, nourishing, nutritious feeling each time I’ve completed a sitting of reading Page After Page. Come to think of it, ‘Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul,’ would have been a more apt title.
Sprinkled with subtle humour, that doesn’t get you laughing out loud, yet leaves you wanting to read just a little for more. The book is divided into 3 parts and 30 chapters. The First Part is to Create a New Writing Self, the Second on How to Maintain Your Commitment to Writing and Final on Finding Your Place in the World of Writing. At the end of every chapter she’s set some amazingly imaginative writing exercises, makes you wish that you were back in school and this be the prescribed textbook. My favourite is exercise #19, where Heather asks you to imagine yourself being the child of your two favourite authors. Who would your Writing Parents be? (My Mum would definitely be Enid Blyton, don’t know who my dad would be). Taking that forward she further asks you to create your Writing Family Tree.
“Choose a writing Aunt, add a few writerly nephews, some neighbours, a whole little town of people who actually do write who are related to you. Goofy as it is, making a collage with these people’s faces (photocopy writer photos at the library) and sticking up inspiring quotes by them really helps…”
I sure it does, Heather. Thanks for the brilliant book!
