Archive for the ‘Qualities of Being’ Category
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What is a leader?

Date: February 19, 2012 • By • Comments 2

 

“In gentleness there is great strength. Power most of the time is a very quiet thing.”  Sun Bear

The peacemaker

The Peacemaker

It’s President’s Day, and this is an election year, so my thoughts have gone to considering what makes a good leader.  And I wonder if we really know in this country what a good leader is.  Or, more importantly, do our own leaders know.

 Here are some Native American teachings about leadership:

A leader:

  •  is the poorest man in the tribe because when the old and orphaned are without, the chief gives from his own stores to take care of them;
  •  has compassion and looks out for the well-being of others;
  •  takes responsibility and admits mistakes;
  •  listens to the counsel of women in order to have a balanced viewpoint;
  • prizes peace above all else.
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How Love Can Change Our World

Date: February 12, 2012 • By • Comments 2

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”  Mahatma Gandhi

 

Ghandi

Mahatma Ghandi

Any life coach will tell you not to watch the news because it will just bring you down.  Salesmen know not to watch it in the morning; it gets your day off to a bad start.  So I don’t follow the news closely, although I do scan headlines to have a general idea of what’s going on in the world.

But in the past 24 hours some things came to my attention I couldn’t ignore.  I watched Eve Ensler’s riveting talk on TED.com in which she spoke of the atrocities against women in warring third world countries.  Then I saw George Clooney’s film, “Three Kings” which, under the guise of entertainment, made a powerful statement about atrocities against the people of Iraq by Saddam’s Royal Guard.

There’s so much more, but I don’t need to list it all; we all are aware of the inhumanity going on around the world.  The question is: what’s to be done about it?

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How did my cats know that?

Date: January 25, 2012 • By • Comments 1

“Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way.”   John Muir

We had a lot of thunderstorms in Michigan this year.  A lot.  It’s particularly memorable to me because each storm, as it gets close, necessitates unplugging all my computer equipment.  [Losing a printer in a storm last year was all it took for me to learn that lesson!]

two catsSo the drill at my home during a storm is:

 Unplug all computer equipment;

Curl up with a good book;

My two cats go to their respective hiding places.  [While I find electrical storms magical and awesome, they clearly do not].

During the last storm, after I had been reading for a while, thunder still thundering, my cats suddenly showed up next to me.  Surprised, I listened closely and, after a few moments, it was clear that the storm was moving away.  But they knew that well before I did.  How?

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What is success?

Date: January 22, 2012 • By • Comments 0

“Too often we define success as financial achievement. I view success as doing your very best at all costs.” – Bear Heart in The Wind Is My Mother

SuccessHere in the U.S., “success” is often attributed to the richest, thinnest, youngest and most famous.  Is that backward?  I think it is.

I recently came upon another meaningful definition of success.  I invite you to ponder it.  As a reader of this blog, I feel it’s certain to apply to you.

This beautiful poem is traditionally attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, but there is some question as to whether he wrote it.  For further information, go to: http://www.transcendentalists.com/success.htm

Regardless of who wrote it, I find it inspiring and thought provoking.

To laugh often and much;

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Attitude of Gratitude. Huh??

Date: January 12, 2012 • By • Comments 2

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.”  ~Meister Eckhart


Most of us know what an “attitude of gratitude” is.  But do you know how it can change your life?

GratitudeFor the past four years I have had the pleasure of teaching leadership at a week long- summer camp for 13-year old inner-city girls. The week is laden with fun activities and new experiences, and leadership is the most “serious” topic.

I make leadership as much fun as possible, with games, dance and my often mis-fired attempts at 13-year old humor.  The transformation the girls go through over the course of the week is palpable every year.

But I have also noticed a change in the girls that come into the program from year to year.   Each new group seems sharper, more mature, more settled and better able to grasp topics such as leadership qualities, visualization and goal-setting .

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