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."

Your Goals

Steering away from the partial negativity of my last post and getting back to shorter posts, I thought I'd throw this log on the fire and see who warms their hands on it. (I thought I'd use this kind of parlance due to Wall Street II the movie coming out.)

Are your goals worthy of your actions?
When you look at the actions that you are taking to reach whatever goal that you have set yourself have you stopped to consider its worthiness? This is a question that anyone should ask themselves in any endeavour. What am I doing this for? What am I hoping to achieve and are the scales balanced here?

Because somewhere along your journey you will be tested once, twice even thrice if not more and only your unskakable certainty will see you through as you suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (to borrow a phrase from the Bard).

I have a dreamboard here that's all up in my grille every day. It's the booster rocket that propels me out of the mire becuase I can tell you this for nothing, being poor is hard work. I know, I was there.
So as we dust off whatever cobwebs may have shrouded our mind and vision, ask yourself these questions three;

1) Why not?
2) Whay not me?

3) Why not now?

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” Carl Bard

 

Just for Laughts: Following on from Michael Berry's post on the South African airline, I thought I'd share this you.

 

After every flight, Qantas Airlines pilots fill out a form called a gripe sheet, which conveys to the mechanics problems encountered with the aircraft during the flight that need repair or correction. The mechanics read and correct the problem, and then respond in writing on the lower half of the form what remedial action was taken, and the pilot reviews the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews and engineers lack a sense of humor.

Here are some supposedly actual logged maintenance complaints and problems as submitted by Qantas pilots and the solution as recorded by Qantas maintenance engineers.

By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident.

(Editor's Note: I recevied a series of emails in July 2008 that indicated the above statement was an urban myth. To see a list of Qantas crashes compiled by Ken Sanford, please click here.)

(P = The problem logged by the pilot.)
(S = The solution and action taken by the engineers.)

P: Left inside main tyre almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tyre.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on backorder.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what they're there for.

P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.