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.


__________

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.


© 2013 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.
_____________________________________________________


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. 

• Kindle Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?

• Print Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?



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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?


__________

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.


© 2013 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.
________________________________________________________


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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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!




© 2013 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.
_________________________________________________________________


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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