A B C
My words are not mine most days. They just appear in my mind, on my computer screen or on paper and I share them. I sat in a meeting recently listening to others around me speak about all the challenges in life. The group was made up of men and women of various ages.
One middle aged man wondered out loud why God had not permitted him to be successful.
I stood up and said, "Success is as easy as A B C."
I then walked out of the room.
Of course this stirred the conversation and caused a number of people to laugh at the simplicity of my statement.
I waited outside the door and listened.
"He has no idea what he is talking about!"
"Nothing in life is that simple!"
As I turned to walk away I heard a voice, "Sir! Pardon me."
I stopped and turned toward him.
"You caused quite a discussion in there."
"I always do," I replied.
"I couldn't let you go without an explanation," he said. "You said 'Success is as easy as A B C.' How can that be?"
I then pulled a small scrap of paper out of my jacket, walked over to a nearby table, and scribbled something on it.
"Out of all those people, you were the only one who showed interest in the possibility. It's a reflection of today's society. We are made to believe that unless something is complex, multi-layered, and expensive, it cannot be of any value. Something simple is not worth pursuing. That is except for those who know the truth...like you," I said.
I then handed him the note, smiled, and walked away.
Before he opened the paper, I left the building, crossed the parking lot, and got into my car.
I waited and watched the nearby window. He appeared there smiling as he held the note up and waved.
This is what I wrote,
"You are "A" child of God.
You will "B" successful,
when you "C" what He sees in you."
"A B C"
The Little Things
Jim Stovall
We are all rushed and crunched for time in our world today; therefore, anything you choose to do should be done with your best effort or not at all. With so many responsibilities and opportunities before each of us daily, there is no time nor reason to be mediocre at anything.
Everyone understands the urgency of performing well in the tasks they consider to be "big things," but they too often overlook matters they consider to be "little things."
If you really analyze the areas of your life, either personally or professionally, that you consider to be "big things," you will find, if you look closely enough, that they are nothing more than a series or group of "little things."
You may run the best, most efficient business operation ever known to mankind, but if your people don't answer the phone politely and professionally, or if they don't invest the time and energy to simply get people's names right, you are wasting your time.
Our most precious possession is our name. One of the elements that distinguishes world class service from standard service—whether it be business, dining, hotel, transportation, etc.—is that the world class professionals greet you politely, energetically, and use your name correctly.
There is a certain group of business "experts" who believes that in order to be successful we must practice intimidation. While I disagree with this philosophy, there is an amazing learning opportunity for us all within these intimidation theories.
These adversarial intimidators would tell you that the best way to "put someone down" or try to establish your own superiority is simply to mispronounce or misuse their name.
The most amazing, thoughtful, meaningful, and significant message can be diminished by a simple typographical error. No matter how profound the words on the page may be, if they contain sloppy errors, you may as well stamp the words in bright red across the top of the page: "I really don't care very much about this."
You've heard it said countless times, but it is as true today as the first time you heard it. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. If you want to show people how much you care, pay attention to the little things, and you will find the big things take care of themselves.
As you go through your day today, do everything as if it alone will make the difference between success and failure. You will find that it does.
Today's the day!
The Boundaries of Experience
Expanding Your Comfort Zone
None of us are born with a guidebook that provides explicit rules for thought and behavior that will enable us to navigate life successfully. To cope with the myriad of complexities to which all of humanity is subject, we each develop a set of habits and routines that ground us, their continuity assuring us that life is progressing normally. Most of us know, whether instinctively or by experience, that transformations can be uncomfortable, but we always learn and gain so much. Any initial discomfort we experience when expanding our comfort zones diminishes gradually as we both become accustomed to change and begin to understand that temporary discomfort is a small price to pay for the evolution of our soul.
Your current comfort zone did, at one time, serve a purpose in your life. But it is representative of behaviors and patterns of thought that empowered you to cope with challenges of days past. Now, this comfort zone does little to facilitate the growth you wish to achieve in the present. Leaving your comfort zone behind through personal expansion of any kind can prepare you to take the larger leaps of faith that will, in time, help you refine your purpose. Work your way outward at your own pace, and try not to let your discomfort interfere with your resolve. With the passage of each well-earned triumph, you will have grown and your comfort zone will have expanded to accommodate this evolution.
Whether your comfort zone is living with your parents, or perhaps being too shy to socialize, or maybe it’s not realizing your Spirit-self—whatever it is, start small, and you will discover that venturing beyond the limited comfort zone you now cling to is not as stressful an experience as you imagined it might be. And the joy you feel upon challenging yourself in this way will nearly always outweigh your discomfort. As you continue to expand your comfort zone to include new ideas, activities, goals, and experiences, you will see that you are capable of stimulating change and coping with the fresh challenges that accompany it.
Stand Tall Like the Sunflower
Tony Masiello
I find it humorous, sometimes, that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.
My wife, daughter, and I moved into our home nine years ago and we spent a lot of time and energy in the yard to get it looking like it does today. We live on a corner, higher than street level, and the entire side of the yard is encased by a professionally built rock wall. The front of the house, though, is another story because instead of a wall along the sidewalk the rocks appear to be just thrown up onto the dirt as if someone were in a hurry to finish.
We did the best we could with what we had to work with and called this area our "rock garden." Whenever we had leftover flowers or plants, Denise or I would stick them out front just to bring some color to the area.
I still do all of my own yardwork, even the dreaded weed-pulling. After putting on my kneepads, I assume the position to clear the yard of weeds, even in the rock garden.
Last summer, I had reached the end of the rock garden and found a tiny little plant that I could not immediately identify. I knew I didn't plant it, and Denise claimed that she didn't either. We decided to let it continue growing until we could figure out what it was.
Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the mystery plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. It was spindly looking with a tall skinny stalk and only one head on it. I decided to baby it along and weed around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something unusual. The sunflower had not started where I saw the stalk begin. It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the sun.
That's when I realized that if a tiny little sunflower didn't let a big rock stand in its way of developing, we too have the capability of doing the same thing. Once our environment begins to see that we believe in ourselves like that little sunflower, we can attain the same nourishment and nurturing as well.
First, we need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the capabilities in achieving our desires. Like the sunflower, it knew it had the capability to overcome its obstacle because it trusted in the Universal Truth and had faith it would succeed.
Stand tall like the sunflower and be proud of who and what you are and the environment will begin to support you. You will find a way to go under or around your big obstacle in order to reach your desires.
Forgiveness
from The Art of Forgiveness
In the Babemba tribe of South Africa, when a person acts irresponsibly or unjustly, he is placed in the center of the village, alone and unfettered.
All work ceases, and every man, woman, and child in the village gathers in a large circle around the accused individual.
Then each person in the tribe speaks to the accused, one at a time, each recalling the good things the person in the center of the circle has done in his lifetime. Every incident, every experience that can be recalled with any detail and accuracy, is recounted. All his positive attributes, good deeds, strengths, and kindnesses are recited carefully and at length. This tribal ceremony often lasts for several days.
At the end, the tribal circle is broken, a joyous celebration takes place, and the person is symbolically and literally welcomed back into the tribe.
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