Let The Greatest Among You Serve

Yep, it's another quote from one of the earliest and voluminous personal development books, the Bible. Widely read and translated in to several languages, although I've never seen a copy with a big banner across it saying "Over 20 million copies sold!".

Is it possible to have a re-epiphany? You know, when this realisation hit's you out of the blue like the it's the first time but then you remember that it isn't? I had one recently. It came from litening to a friend of mine talk about the circumstances leading up to her current situation which finds her living in a beautiful 2 bed apartment on a Greek island for next-to-nothing. She's really loving life and her business is on fire. Deservedly so.

She was making the point that she had put others first for so long that she had lost track of what made her happy. She wasn't begrudging, it was an observation. So many of us do it, especially parents. I'm not saying neglect your kids, that's the extreme but I am saying look after yourself and don't forget to put yourself first.

My kids aren't really mine, I'm minding them for God for when they grow up to be their own person. So the onus is on me to be the best person that I can be becuase I would like the children to surpass me and my accomplishemnts. So if I set the bar high... you get the picture.

So where does that put me? Well if I'm going to lead by demonstartion I'm going to have to be the best me that I can be. And who wins ultimately by campaign for success? Well, everyone around me. A wise man was told me "The best way to help the poor is to not be one of them." I heard it but I didn't really understand until recently. If IAM poor how can I help other poor people? What resources do I have? And let me add this, there is no virtue in poverty. So let me put my goals first, let's have the bigger house, the newer, nicer and safer car and let's travel with our kids to broaden their minds. Let's be the best that we can be for glory of living.

"Did you have a good life when you died? Enough to base a movie on?" Jim Morrison.

Ego a go-go

Transcending the Levels of Consciousness is a book that's had a huge impact on my life. It has helped me so much on my journey through personal development. It has helped me to understand so much about myself, my interactions with others and the hidden determination of human behaviour. The paradox is that the more I learn, the less I care to remember.
The main stumbling block to happiness in many people's lives is their ego. The best way I can describe the ego in my own words is an identity and self of self that evolves through the years as we grow. It's triggered when we take offence or mis-interpret praise (it is the act or deed that is good, not the person). It rears it's head when we feel self-satisfied or prideful. It's the rage we feel when someone cuts us off in traffic or we feel like someone is treating us like an idiot. Am I making sense? lol
It's a fine line that takes practice because when you do a good deed that isn't self-serving, it is a great feeling. It takes practice. The ego is responsible for a lot of our sorrow, wars and strife. It's becuase of ego that Hitler felt he could take over the world, that Saddam felt he could not toppled and it's responsible for road rage. I casues anger when we don't get the attention that we look for. At the end of the day, I think Alfred Einstein said it best when he said "Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value."