Look at the Beauty

These words of David in Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God” kept ringing inside my head as I was driving through Nyamweda, Mhondoro. I have driven through this rural beauty so many times before and as a matter of fact, I was born there. I had not realized how beautiful my place of birth was. It took a hiatus period of more than 10 years to realize this beauty. It’s funny how we ignore beautiful things around us just because we think anything exotic is better. This time around it was different. I fully appreciated the vegetation, the climbing rocks /hanging rocks, cactus and the native acacia species. This is a God given beauty; no human effort went into beautifying this largely undisturbed area. See the picture to the right how beauty comes out of it. I took this picture very close to the place of my birth. I could not help it but to rejoice for the natural beauty God has endowed my home.

Many times, we are so preoccupied by the cares of this life that we begin to ignore the beautiful and wonderful things surrounding us. As a matter of fact some of those things have been given to us for therapy but we miss it and look for therapy in what is not therapeutic. The familiar had to become unfamiliar for me to begin to enjoy and appreciate the nature’s beauty. A friend of mine after a trip to the Victoria Falls had intimated me that he had seen a hippopotamus and all he had to say was its beauty is in its ugliness. We have a lot of valuables around us that we have taken for granted and we treat those things like trash or in-valuables. At times it takes an outsider to come and alert us of the value around us.

The beauty that I saw in my native home is beyond comparison, especially after been stuck for a long time around the concrete and mortar of Boston. Unfortunately not everyone around me as we stopped to take pictures appreciated the beauty. Life is that way at times that a star shining so brilliantly bright is not seen by everyone. We know the story of the shepherds and Herod, and how the later did not see the star the shepherds had seen.

Now that you think you know

This is a second part to “ I want to know” in honor of Angela and Simukai.

“I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it’s not pretty, everyday, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand alone in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments”. (Part B; I want to know--Oriah)

I want to know

I was honored to be asked to read this essay at my nephew’s wedding --Simu and his bride Angie in Marinette, WI.

“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring with your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human”.(Part A; I want to know--Oriah)

Harness Your Mind

I got what I’m posting today in my mailbox from Dr. Mike Murdock and felt it might bless you the way it did to me.

What happens in your mind is likely to happen in your future. Meditate on specific Scriptures today that will unlock your faith in God. Make your mind your servant. Fill your Mental Warehouse with the Word of God.

“Whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue, if there be any praise,
think on these things” (Philippians 4:8)

The Mark of a Good Leader

When people fail, a good leader doesn’t treat them as failures; s/he corrects them and tries to help them learn their lessons so they can do it better next time. The leader does not throw the baby out with bath water. There are many people who, when you make one mistake, they cancel you. They don’t want you around anymore, they don’t want to talk to you anymore, and they put you aside because they do not want to deal with you anymore. All this, is a sign of poor leadership. True leaders are not annoyed by people’s failures, they are challenged by them. They do not consider the behavior, but the potential within. Leaders separate a person’s behavior from their self worth and do not confuse their value for their present condition.

In every organization, there will be opportunities to fail, and some people do fail. Leaders need to realize that that everybody fails. The former President of the USA, Bill Clinton, wrote this about himself in his book---My Life. During the final days of his presidency, the then Chairman of PLO, came to his office to thank him for his efforts of bringing a lasting peace in the Middle East and to let him know that he was a great man, but Clinton replied “ Mr. Chairman, I am a failure, and you made me one.” Here is a highly successful and admired leader world over who confessed to be a failure---he had spent so much time in retreats and meetings trying to achieve an elusive peace deal.

Some people make mistakes and the first thing they say is “I will never amount to anything. My mom always told me I was a failure, my grandma told me nothing worthy could come out of my life, and the teachers told me I was a loser". Then, they sit down in a puddle of failure and bathe themselves. For years they stay in that puddle. If you have missed your exit on the highway of life, don’t continue in the wrong direction. Stop, turn around and get back on track and be like Dr. Myles Munroe who said “Failure is only a temporary detour and should never become a permanent address.”

What are your Core Competencies?

Competency refers to a combination of skills, attributes and behaviors that are directly related to a successful performance on the job or task. Core competencies are the skills, attributes and behavior s which are considered important for all staff of an organization, regardless of their function or level.

Defining competencies is important both for the organization and for staff. Competencies are forward-leaning. They describe the skills and attributes staff and managers will need in order to build a new organizational culture and meet future challenges. They help organizations clarify expectations, define future development needs, and conduct more focused recruitment and development planning. Competencies provide a sound basis for consistent and objective performance standards by creating shared language about what is needed and expected in an organization.

Competencies need to be developed and strengthened throughout one’s career. Acquiring a competency is not a one-time event, but rather an ongoing process. Formal training can help, but experience, coaching, feedback and individual learning activities are needed as well. Organizations are constantly evaluating their core competencies to be able to meet challenges of the day and of the future. An African statesman and former Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan said this about competencies, “It is my hope that competencies will provide us with shared language for talking, in concrete terms, about high performance and managerial excellence. I believe that a shared view of the standards we are striving to achieve will assist us in our continuing efforts to prepare the Organization to meet the challenges of the 21st century”

Let things be done decently and in Order

Zig Ziglar has been credited for statements like: “Regardless of your past, tomorrow is a clean slate.” “You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with Seeds of Greatness.” “When you are tough on yourself, life is easier on you.” “If you don’t like the output, then change the input.” The big question is, how do you harness great things around you for your success?

Yesterday, I had to change my input so I could get the output I wanted. My desk was so cluttered and I could not get an article I wanted to read for my work. I decided to be tough on myself, take some precious time and go through my desk and make some order. In other words, I practiced what has become known as Everything Has A Home (EHAH).

I decided that everything around me should have a place assigned to it. This way, I was able to create order around my desk. I have come to know order as a secret of great productivity. Over time, we accumulate things that we don’t really need and they increase clutter around us. May be it was time someone had a garage sale. Do you really need those four or so vacuum cleaners in your garage? Give away some to create order and space in your garage.

Order is the accurate arrangement of things. Order is necessary in all facets of life. Imagine how unnerving would it be if the traffic lights on Madison Square Garden or Broadway, NYC stopped working and there was no one to control the flood of pedestrians and cars. Order in traffic, creates safety and protection. Order in business prevents financial mistakes. Order in relationships diminishes conflict. Order in appearance will increase beauty. Order in an environment creates comfort and serenity. What kind of order are you creating today? Let all things be done decently and in order. (1 Corinthians 14v40)