Sunday, July 28, 2013

Grounded: Your life’s Imperative

Grounded: Your life’s Imperative

Feet

Ω This last letter
in the Greek alphabet

arose in my meditations

this morning.

I first thought of it

as an algebraic

or physics symbol,

the meaning of which

I didn’t remember.

But the picture I got

is the lower half

of a human body

stick figure

with feet well planted.

Later it came to me

as the omega,

the last,

the end,

the ultimate.

Yes.

Grounded.

To Ponder

1. GROUND (grounding, grounded) is one of the most

significant words in our language.

2. Think of the symbolism the word evokes: beginnings,

foundation, rootedness, source, stability, legacy.

3. Nothing, nobody thrives and lasts without grounding.

4. Nothing in life is as significant as our determination and

moderation in cultivating and establishing our grounding.

5. What sustains us in our failings and crises? What

stabilizes us in our successes and exhilarations?

6. Be reflective. Stop running and hiding. What do you need

to do and be to be grounded?

7. What’s your most revealing symbol of groundedness?

Start there.

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Visit us here for a fresh quote from leading thinkers every Monday, Wednesday and Friday--designed to enhance your life. On Sunday mornings we go a bit deeper with our weekly message--intended to add vitality and enduring inner peace to the life of the contemplative reader. In a word, that’s grounding. Open a team meeting or family meal with a thought you’ve picked up here and see what happens.

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Labels: Feet, Grounded: Your life’s Imperative, To Ponder

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Find Your Victory Edge

Find Your Victory Edge

Rasp

A bird nearby in a tree

makes a hard-edged

staccato sound,

dawn creeping up,

a rhythm like someone

with a deft stroke

who peels potatoes fast.

It’s a welcoming sound,

high energy,

a grate of industry

first thing on waking,

a preparation

for the sun’s rising.

O, let’s get ready!

It’s more than

a cup of coffee,

standing, looking.

But God knows,

there’s nothing

wrong with that,

either.

To Ponder

1. How do you face the morning? Poorly, with dread and

and an agonizingly slow start? If yes, this message is not

for you.

2. But if in good time, you can wake, there are treasures

that await you in any climate, on any turf.

3. For me, I don’t have to get out of bed to rejoice, at least

when the window’s open.

4. It can be a breeze, a fresh lift, a woman walking to her

car to start it and leave. Movement. Purpose.

Engagement.

5. In this case, it’s a bird, one whose call I’ve never heard,

sending out his hard-edged message of deliverance and

strength.

6. What swift, deft strokes deliver me? Do I have any? Has

anyone noticed? Am I well-equipped?

7. Such as they may be, how will I perfect them with a

clear, unabated energy?

__________

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If you enjoy reading this story, you may wish to order WHOA! Are They Glad You’re in Their lives? available on Amazon Kindle and in print edition too.

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Labels: Find Your Victory Edge, Rasp, To Ponder

Sunday, July 14, 2013

What Is It That’s Exceptional about You?

What Is It That’s Exceptional about You?

Exceptional

“Am I exceptional,”

she asked herself.

It hadn’t occurred to her

till a friend,

near death

told her she was.

Now her friend

was gone and

she was left

with the memory

from bedside

and it wouldn’t leave her.

I am exceptional,

she declared,

“and that itself

is not.”

What did she do

with this realization?

Very little, for now,

except, alone,

to acknowledge

her vanity

and smile.

To Ponder

1. Imagine being at the bedside of a dying friend—one you’ve loved for

years—and she tells you you’re exceptional.

2. Of course, you feel deeply touched and hardly know how

to respond at this time.

3. Of course, again, you’re grateful to this woman who

means so much to you.

4. Days, weeks, months go by and her statement stays with

you, even begins to feel like an obligation.

5. Then it dawns on you that you’re special, and then again,

not special at all.

6. Then you admit you got a little puffed up and chuckle

inside.

7. Now it’s clear: What you are that makes you like nobody

else is what you owe to the world!

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If you enjoy reading this story, you may wish to order WHOA! Are They Glad You’re in Their lives? available on Amazon Kindle and in print edition too.

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Labels: Exceptional, To Ponder, What Is It That’s Exceptional about You?