July 2009 'Useletter'
I thought I would wait until today before sending out the newsletter, as the 1st didn't fall in the beginning of the week, and I always thus “Useletter' i's a good thing to start off your Monday. I trust you agree. So how was your June? Mine was awesome and I noticed some interesting things this month. One of my functions gave me the chance to spend some time with a good friend of mine along the Rhine river, enjoying the scenery and castles on the banks. I still commented to him what 'soul food' this was and how beautiful the surroundings were. How many Germans had actually visited the Binger Loch (A well known area on the Rhine), or even knew of it? Right here in the middle of Europe was this awesome place with scenery like no where else, yet most sit at home complaining about the global recession and bad times. Similarly I had a client that flew me per helicopter over the Pilansberg to Sun City. Again, I had my video camera out, capturing the moment, and was blown away by the natural beauty.
I repeat, I had an awesome month. No, not because I flew all over the place, but because I got to enjoy some of the world's most beautiful scenery along the way. It also made me realize that no matter what country you are in, or where you live, we truly have many beautiful spots on this globe. Do you still visit and take in the natural beauty around you? Most people never do. They always think the grass in greener on the other side ... ha, guess what, if it is ... you have to mow it more often! Seriously though, it never is. The real secret to happiness lies deep within you and your attitude to life. It's good to travel internationally and visit a few countries – it also makes you realise that everywhere there are problems, crime, recession, high cost of living, etc. Not just at home!
I did some serious motivating and training this month and met a huge number of people. Guess what many had in common. They where all caught up with this so called recession and doom and gloom, that they have forgotten to live. Spend some time going for a walk and appreciating the nature around you. Take a drive to an well known area near where you live and spend the day there appreciating things you never noticed before. How will this help you? Well, I don't think I am different from anyone else, but my trip along the Rhine and the flight over the Pilansberg – that was soul food. But the cherry on top, was coming home to my two daughter who ran into my arms. That first night home, just cuddling and playing with them and seeing the excitement in their eyes – now I want to go experience that scenery with them too.
This brings me to the 1st lesson this month. We must stop wishing our lives by hoping for better times. The best time of life is RIGHT NOW! It's entirely up to you whether it will or won't be.
First, I was dying to finish high school and start university.
Then I was dying to finish university and start working in a job.
Soon I was dying to marry, have children and raise a family.
No sooner was I dying for my children to grow old enough and leave the house so that I could go back to work again.
And then after a while I was dying to retire.
Now, I am dying ...
And suddenly I realized I forgot to live!
Don't let this happen to you. Live every day in the moment and enjoy it to the fullest! Whether you wake up negative or positive, it takes exactly the same effort. So why not go for positive? The Red Indians have always been incredibly spiritual and wise people, here's a similar lesson from them.
THE BATTLE WITHIN
An old Cherokee describes an experience going on inside himself....
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
Similarly, we need to stop comparing our lives to others. Speaking and appearing at conferences & events, I watch people the whole time ... it's always about who is there, what are they wearing, what have they achieved, etc. Honestly, it gets tiring! Why don't people learn to be comfortable with who they are? Life would be so much simpler. Here's a great lesson on coming to terms with who you really are:
MASKS
Don't be fooled by the face I wear, for I wear a thousand masks, And none of them are me. Don't be fooled, for goodness sake, don't be fooled.
I give you the impression that I'm secure, that confidence is my name and coolness is my game, And that I need no one. But don't believe me. Beneath dwells the real me in confusion, in aloneness, in fear. That's why I create a mask to hide behind, to shield me from the glance that knows.
But such a glance is precisely my salvation. That is, if it's followed by acceptance, if it's followed by love. It's the only thing that can liberate me from my own self-built prison walls. I'm afraid that deep down I'm nothing and that I'm just no good, And that you will reject me.
And so begins the parade of masks. I idly chatter to you. I tell you everything that's really nothing and nothing of what's everything, of what's crying within me. Please listen carefully and try to hear what I'm not saying. I'd really like to be genuine and spontaneous, and me. But you've got to help me. You've got to hold out your hand.
Each time you're kind and gentle, and encouraging, Each time you try to understand because you really care, my heart begins to grow wings, feeble wings, but wings. With your sensitivity and sympathy, and your power of understanding, you alone can release me from my shallow world of uncertainty.
It will not be easy for you. The nearer you approach me, the blinder I may strike back. But I'm told that Love is stronger than strong walls, And in this lies my only hope. Please try to beat down these walls with firm hands, but gentle hands, for a child is very sensitive.
Who am I, you wonder...
I am every man you meet. I am every woman that you meet.
And I am also you.
So before you judge and/or compare yourself to others, think carefully of these wise words! In a similar vein, the next story is a good way to end of this track of thought.
LIFE AS A JEWEL
One afternoon a wise man speaking to a group of people on the banks of a river. A man was idly inspecting a stone he had picked up along the road, thinking of the vast throngs who had come to hear this wise "Master." At the first break he asked the wise man, "You teach a way for every person to find liberation. But many of those who listen still seem to spend much of their time in conflict, and in seeking out excitement and other idle pursuits. Why do they waste away their lives so?"
"Most people don't recognize its value," he replied, "although human life is the dearest treasure on this earth."
"Surly everyone can see the value of life," asked the man.
"No," said the wise man. "Each man places his own value on things according to what he thinks. A different man with different knowledge will place a different value. That stone you found in the dirt will make a good example. Take it to the marketplace and see what you can get for it."
Puzzled, the chap took the stone to the marketplace and at a stall that sold sweets asked what the vendor would trade for it. The man laughed. "Go away, you're wasting my time."
He next tried a produce seller. "I have paying customers to wait on," said the grocer. "I'll give you an onion for it just to get you out of here."
He tried several more shops with no better response. Finally he came to the shop of a jeweler. The jeweler's eyes opened wide when he saw the stone. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't have enough money to buy your gem. But I will give you a hundred Euros if you will let me look at it a while longer."
Well, this man hurried back to the river bank and the old wise man, to tell him what had happened.
"See," he said, "how when we are ignorant we mistake a valuable gem for a worthless stone. If someone had told you its value before you knew what it was, you would have thought they were crazy. Such a jewel is human life, and whatever you've traded for it, that is what is yours."
And finally, I need to end off this month's 'Useletter' with a wonderfully cute and funny story which I feel I just had to share.
And finally, I need to end off this month's 'Useletter' with a wonderfully cute and funny story which I feel I just had to share.
THE LITTLE OLD LADY
A local news station was interviewing an 86-year old lady who had just gotten married ... for the 4th time!
The interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be married again at 86, and then about her new husband's occupation.
|he's a funeral director,” she answered.
“interesting,” the journalist thought. He then asked her if she wouldn't mind telling him a little about her first 3 husbands and what they did for a living.
She paused for a few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years.
After a while, a smile came to her face and she answered proundly, “My first husband was a banked whom I married in my early twenties.In my forties I married a circus ringmaster and in my sixties a preacher. Now in my eighties it's the funeral director.”
The journalist looked at her, quite amazed, and quizzed her as why she had married four men with such diverse careers.
“Easy son,” she aswered. “I married one for the money ... two for the show, ... three to get ready, ... and four to go!”
Have a great July, and if you want to read any of the previous month's 'Useletters', please visit my blog by clicking here.