The Parable of Brother Leo

A legend tells of a French monastery known throughout Europe for the extraordinary leadership of a man known only as Brother Leo. Several monks began a pilgrimage to visit Brother Leo to learn from him. Almost immediately, they began to bicker about who should do various chores.

On the third day they met another monk going to the monastery, and he joined them. This monk never complained or shirked a duty, and whenever the others would fight over a chore, he would gracefully volunteer and do it himself. By the last day, the others were following his example, and from then on they worked together smoothly.
When they reached the monastery and asked to see Brother Leo, the man who greeted them laughed. "But our brother is among you!" And he pointed to the fellow who had joined them.


Today, many people seek leadership positions, not so much for what they can do for others but for what the position can do for them: status, connections, perks, advantages. They do service as an investment, a way to build an impressive resume.


The parable about Brother Leo teaches another model of leadership, where leaders are preoccupied with serving rather than being followed, with giving rather than getting, with doing rather than demanding. Leadership based on example, not command. This is called servant leadership.


Can you imagine how much better things would be if more politicians, educators, and business executives saw themselves as servant leaders?




Michael Josephson
www.charactercounts.org

"Mastery does not come from dabbling. We have to be prepared to pay the price. We need to have the sustained enthusiasm that motivates us to give our best."

-- Eknath Easwaran

212 degree service

Someone once said, "Life is like a game of tennis. The player who serves well seldom loses." The same can be said for any business on the planet. There are many books written about service, however, this one keeps it simple. 212º Service presents 10 simple, but engaging rules of service that can be read by every member of your team in less than 30 minutes.

This book is written specifically for businesses and is all about creating a service culture. In case you are not familiar with the 212º concept, here it is in a nutshell:

At 211º water is hot. At 212º, it boils. And with boiling water, comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. The one extra degree makes the difference. This simple analogy reflects the ultimate definition of excellence. Because it's the one extra degree of effort, in business and life, that can separate the good from the great.

This book is written with real life examples that will have your team coming up with ideas that apply specifically to your industry.

Click here to get all the details and look inside the book

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Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.

- Pablo Picasso

What if?

I hated every minute of training, but I said, "Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." - Muhammad Ali

Forgiving Without Condoning Or Forgetting

I suspect all of us have been hurt in deep and lasting ways by the words or acts of another. It's normal in such situations to feel hostility toward the person who hurt us. If we allow the offense to linger, we may carry the hurt and resentment in the form of a grudge. Usually this causes more unhappiness for us than the person we're mad at.


Some religions speak of forgiveness as a moral duty, others as a worthy virtue, and still others impose preconditions on the wrongdoer before he or she is entitled to be forgiven. Whatever your religious views, psychologists say the ability to forgive is closely correlated to happiness and mental health.


Some people refuse to even entertain the idea of forgiveness because they don't think the person they resent deserves to be forgiven. Others don't want to appear to condone or excuse the conduct and certainly don't want to reconcile with the person.


The essence of forgiveness is a voluntary decision to abandon continuing resentment, to let go of anger, and to move on. It doesn't require or imply condoning, excusing, or forgetting. Nor does it require that the forgiver re-establish a relationship with the wrongdoer.


According to Dr. Ben Dean, the capacity to forgive is related to the character strength of empathy. People who can empathize with an offender and see things from that person's perspective are much better able to forgive. He also says that the older we get, the more forgiving we're likely to become.


Hmmm. We usually get wiser, too. So maybe it's wise to forgive.




Michael Josephson
www.charactercounts.org

“In order to live a rich life, everything about who you are must be one, in alignment, and in pure harmony.”

-- Suze Orman

"You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage -- pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically -- to say 'no' to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside."

-- Stephen Covey

Click On Your Mind’s “Undo” Button to Erase ALL Fears!

Discover the Technique That Enables You to Eradicate ALL Fears & Phobias – In Just 10 Fun Minutes! Can you imagine being able to “undo” all of your fears and phobias... ... Just as easily as you’d click the “Undo” button in your word processor? With The Rewind Technique, it really can be JUST that simple.

"Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again." -- Sarah Ban Breathnach

Tales of passion

Author and activist Isabel Allende discusses women, creativity, the definition of feminism -- and, of course, passion -- in this TED talk. She laments the terrible exploitation of women which still goes on throughout the world and explains how empowering women always benefits the whole of society, including economically. She calls for us all to reject patriarchy and embrace feminine energy so that we can look forward to a loving and peaceful future.

"Smile, it's free therapy."

-- Doug Horton

Be Secretly Happy No Matter What Is Happening in Your Life

 Can you keep a secret? I mean, can you keep a really, really significant secret? If you can, then you have a big head start on holding yourself happy.

Tragedies of many "degrees" occur all the time. Happenings occur that are way beyond your control. How do you keep going?

Steve came through the door of my office looking as though he had been run over by a pickup truck and left for dead. He was literally dirty, clothes torn, blood dripping from his left nostril.
"What hit you?" was all I could manage.

"I just got mugged down town on my way to see you. That's way it been going these last several weeks," Steve said. (Not his real name.) "My life is a mess. I jammed up and my wife left me and took the kids. I was laid off the job that I had for 17 years. My mother died two weeks ago. Father was already gone. I am about to have my house foreclosed. I am just not happy."

Pardon me, but I almost laughed when he said, "I am just not happy." I managed to stifle the impulse, however. Steve didn't say that to be humorous. He said it because it tallied up his entire life at that moment.

We went to the restroom across from my office and got the bleeding stopped and his face clean. Then back to my office so we could talk. He told me the usual tale of how he had been raised to believe if he just had the right stuff, the correct job, lived in the proper neighborhood, drove a certain car, he would be happy. Instead, all these, plus his family, were gone in a few weeks time.

I said, "I'll teach you a confidential way. It won't heal your problems, but it will help you contend with them. Can you keep a secret?" I am sure this sounded much too light for him, but he was game for anything at that point.

I told him happiness resided on his inside, not his outside. I said to him that I was not making light of his circumstances, but the secret was he could be happy even in the midst of great discomfort or tragedy. He could always be happy if he remembered this secret and applied it in every circumstance.

"You have seen, unfortunately, first hand, that depending on outward situations does not bring happiness," I said. "You need to develop an inward hidey-hole, an escape-room, where your happiness is locked away. Then nothing can ruin you."

I told him all he had to do to have and keep this escape-room was to determine it was so. Decide that at the Core of the Universe, and therefore his own core, there was deep, profound and eternal Harmoniousness that nothing could trouble or destroy. He needed to latch onto that Harmony by being making contact with the Harmony daily. Taking just a few moments in a day to deeply center in on being happy on the interior. That he needed to see this happiness sending out rays to range over all possibilities.

Is there such a place within each of us? Oh, yes. Make no mistake, we are hardwired to the Core of Harmony of the Universe.

So, I told Steve, the world can be falling apart around us, yet we can remain enveloped in our happiness. Not as a means of permanent retreat from the substantial world. But as a place of evacuation where we can refresh our spirits and reach our strength for the disturbances in life. Steve left my office a little bit better off than when he appeared dirty and bleeding. As I communicated with him over the weeks to come, he was feeling much better about himself and his world.

You, too, can feel much better when you evolve and hold this secret base of happiness within you. It takes just a few minutes each day to retreat to this site of safety, to reequip yourself for whatever is happening in your corporal world. Does it solve problems? No. But it surely helps you contend with them. Decide now, right now, that you have this secret of happiness within you.

Author:  Dr Robert Henry Schwenk  Working with me through blogs, emails and newsletters you will be uplifted, given ways and means to make yourself even better than you are. You will be able to solve the problem you may have of low self esteem, knowing your own worth, feeling as if you deserve the best. Life is too short, I believe, not to be able to find someone to help you solve the problem of the meaning of life. I am here 4 U. In my works you will find the way to happiness, which is the meaning of life. I will help you find a way that leads you to happiness that is ever-present and everlasting.

To that end I have a few credentials: 40 years as a life coach; B.A. from Baldwin-Wallace College, M.Div. from Wesley Theo. Seminary, D.Min. from United Theo. Seminary. Have published two books, several ebooks, many blogs, over 150 articles on EzineArticles.com.
Sometimes named "The Maven of Meaning," or "The Harbinger of Happiness."

If you would like to contact me you can do so at drbob4u@gmail.com

http://themeaningoflifewithdrbob.com/blog

http://themeaningoflifewithdrbob.com/drbobslifephrases

Uncover the real power behind 'Think & Grow Rich'

Can YOU imagine going through your day-to-pay life without worry about your financial future? Constructing your financial path with The Master Blueprints is amazing! Author Bradley Thompson has recently released a system to understanding and implementing the Think And Grow Rich way of life. So, would YOU like to be on your way to financial security and beyond? Just click on THIS link to learn how: http://www.consultivotal.com/e_master.htm

Letting Go.

I think so many of us are too hard on ourselves for what we didn't accomplish or what we should have done.  The first step is to forgive yourself for all the things you didn't do that you should have and all the things that you did do that you shouldn't have.  Get rid of the guilt.  Negative feelings don't do you much good.  The way to deal with them is to forgive yourself and forgive others.

Forgiveness is a tricky term.  It does not only mean that you apologize, although regretting what you did is part of it.  You may want to make amends if you can, but there are some circumstances where there is nothing more you can do.  Even when you cannot mend fences with others, you need to tell yourself:  "Yes, I did it and it would have been better if I hadn't, but now I want to forgive myself for having done that negative deed."

Forgiveness helps you come to terms with the past.  I've learned how to forgive myself, and this has helped me no longer feel deep regrets or sadness about my past.

There's a difference between using your past and wallowing in it.  Say I had an experience with a nasty person and I got nasty back, but I don't want to be that way anymore.  I can use that experience to work out a different response whenever someone is not so pleasant to me.  If I don't like my reaction, I can change my response.

You can review your past, benefit from your successes, and learn from your mistakes without judging yourself.  This is an excellent time to do a life review, to make amends, identify and let go of regrets, come to terms with unresolved relationships, and tie up loose ends.

Morrie Schwartz

“Our deepest need is for the joy that comes with …knowing we are of genuine use to others.”

-- Eknath Easwaran

It's not just me

Watch this inspirational movie perfect for women who need some encouragement.



To look inside the book that inspired this movie click here =>  http://bit.ly/fBb6C4

"The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment; it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone." -- Orison Swett Marden

Forgiveness

When I feel betrayed by someone,
instead of sulking, clinging to
my resentment and playing the
role of victim, I am challenged to
strengthen my soul through forgiveness.
By forgiving the person who hurt me,
I strengthen my soul. . . . each time
we are called upon to forgive, we
nourish our souls and learn more about
who we are and what we have to
share in this world. This is also an
example of unconditional love.

John Gray

“...focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”

-- Greg Anderson

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

by Daniel Pink

According to Pink (A Whole New Mind), everything we think we know about what motivates us is wrong. He pits the latest scientific discoveries about the mind against the outmoded wisdom that claims people can only be motivated by the hope of gain and the fear of loss. Pink cites a dizzying number of studies revealing that carrot and stick can actually significantly reduce the ability of workers to produce creative solutions to problems. What motivates us once our basic survival needs are met is the ability to grow and develop, to realize our fullest potential. Case studies of Google's 20 percent time (in which employees work on projects of their choosing one full day each week) and Best Buy's Results Only Work Environment (in which employees can work whenever and however they choose—as long as they meet specific goals) demonstrate growing endorsement for this approach. A series of appendixes include further reading and tips on applying this method to businesses, fitness and child-rearing. Drawing on research in psychology, economics and sociology, Pink's analysis—and new model—of motivation offers tremendous insight into our deepest nature.

“Lighten up! Whatever happens as a result of your decision, you’ll handle it!”

-- Susan Jeffers

Being the beauty within you

Know that every time you see and feel beauty in the world, you are seeing and feeling a representation of the immense beauty that resides in your soul — a reflection of the beauty within you.You are truly beautiful.