One pot was perfect, the other was cracked and leaked. Each trip to the stream only yielded one and a half pots of water because of the cracked pot.

The cracked pot was ashamed that it could not carry a full pot of water.

One day cracked pot apologized to the old woman saying

“I feel badly that you must go to the stream often because of me, leaking water all the way back and ending only half full”.

The woman looked at the cracked pot with a loving smile, “Have you never noticed that flowers grow on the side of the path that I carry you?

I planted seeds on that side knowing that you would water them and now your side of the path is a riot of colour and beauty. ”

Thank you Gail for this beautiful story.

This story is namaste.

Sometimes in the hurly, burly of life we drive ourselves forward to do this and that.

It is important to take time to reflect on what has been achieved and where that is leading.

Often we become creatures of habit, the same thoughts, the same outward strategies, the

same feelings of familiarity and yet is there something more?

Something more can be unsettling even frightening, what would happen if…….

What happens when things fall apart, the truth is they are always falling apart just as they are always regenerating.

A friend of mine thanked me recently for making a difference in her day. I combed my mind for some deep truth I had expressed.  She explained “when we were  shopping you stopped to look at the flowers and that reminded me to do likewise”.

Remember to stop and see the flowers, see the beauty that is literally everywhere shining from flowers and faces.

See the beauty that is your being.

Namaste, eh.

It is easy to imagine that the guy in the corner office is different, special compared to the guy downstairs organizing the cleaning supplies.

It is easy to imagine that the beautiful model on the front cover of Vogue dribbling with LeBron is a better person than that lumpy looking woman you sat next to on the train today.

It seems bizarre that we can imagine separation more easily than we can believe in wholeness. You and I are part of an organism we call the world.

Ronald Regan believed in trickle down economics, I believe in flow through spirit. If you kick some one in the shin it is felt around the world……..we may be so desensitised that we do not notice do not feel the kick. The law of physics prove it.

Each of us puts energy into the world, participates in the universe by simply being alive. In modern times we seem to feel if we get enough stuff we can separate ourselves for reality on the streets. Ah the streets, no one wants to walk the streets anymore, downtown they are littered with garbage and discarded people and drug addicts. In the suburbs they are clean and empty, there is something eerily intimidating about their emptiness.

Just for today remember we are all in this together.

These are the words of Chogyam Trungpa.

We don’t have to wait until we are smarter or slimmer or more enlightened, until we complete our degree or take that workshop or buy a car or start re-cycling.

We can begin now in the world just as it is, just as we are.

We can once again or perhaps for the first time consider our basic human goodness, the divinity in each human being.

All of us slip into periods of self-doubt and self loathing, a sloth with which I am familiar.

All our emotional turbulence comes from a disconnection with the reality of our own basic goodness.

The flame of goodness dwells within you, give it some oxygen, breath into it.

***** the picture shows Chogyam Trunpka  in western dress on the right, with Dilgo Khyenste/

As the picture above suggests, success is often built, piece by piece, by an engaged group of workers.

The delightfully-named David Zinger has a 39 page ebook with 300 zen like suggestions on increasing the engagement of your team members. Click here to download this ebook.

Energy?  Being fully engaged in something you believe in — there’s energy there!

It is simple!
Easy? No, simple.

Simply sit and concentrate on your bare breath,
say your wasifa 1001 times,
count your beads,
every morning clear your mind,
pray that you will be filled with light,
that you will not be consumed with
hurrying to met deadlines,
bills that cannot be paid,
children who cannot be helped,
the hardness that comes of pity,
of feeling less than,
the worry of a wasted life, the frustration,
the search for the big fix.
The anger, the memories of doing and not doing.
We have done those things which we ought not to have done,
and left undone those things which we ought to have done,
Is there any health in us?

start again

the fear the lurks just below the surface…….where did I put those keys…..

start again.

how can I be a good person if I cannot help the aged, the young, even myself?

start again

Get up every morning and

start again

chose your discipline and do it.

Just do it!

If you miss doing it for a week, a year, a decade, a day

start again.

“Come, come, whoever you are,
no matter how many times you’ve broken your vows,
come,
come again”

start again

“it doesn’t matter how many times you fall down, it’s how many times you get up”

start again

if the Hindus are right I’ll have to do this again,
if the Christians are right I’m on my way to hell,
if the Buddist’s are right it’s all an illusion,
if the Sufis are right there is only heaven,
open your heart and close your mouth,
close your heart and open your mouth,
close your heart close your mouth,

open your heart and open your mouth……

start again.

Today is a new day. Too big? how about, this is a new minute?
Can I negotiate with God, spirit, the light, the prophet, self pity?

Just as you are,
no matter how many times you have broken your vows,…..

start, start again.

My particular focus has been on the stories we tell ourselves.

My favorite story of Tolle’s so far is the two ducks.

You many recall the two ducks attack each other pecking and shrieking ( a duck dustup) and then turn their backs on each other, flap their wings furiously and when they next meet respond as if they had never argued. They let go.

The Buddhist story of the two monks is also sighted. Two monks are walking down the road and they come to a stream, standing at the stream is a beatiful woman in an exquisite dress, she is unable to cross the stream without damaging her dress. One monk picks her up and carries her across the stream, sets her down and the 2 monks continue on their way.

Later that day the one monk rebukes the other for having contact with a woman which is forbidden. The other monk replies, I let go of her, I see you are still carrying her.

My question is who would I be if I let go of the stories I tell myself?

In either case by flapping our wings vigorously or letting go of the stories we tell ourselves we can change our energy and change our world.

Namaste.

When you wake up do you remind yourself of good news?  There’s always some good news for you to pay attention to, if you look for it.  And after a while, you will create the positive and energizing habit of waking to positive thoughts!

Thinking about the good news in your life is the beginning of an energized day.

Post some good news on the bathroom mirror.

I have a high energy level…..that’s good news.

I have a mind that is alert……that’s good news.

I have challenging work to do……that’s good news.

I have a fun and meaningful future with great potential…..that’s good news.

I am creating my future today…….that’s good news.

The past is over…….that’s good news.

Today is all you have and each moment is a chance to make a change……good news.

Act as if you have enthusiasm even if you don’t feel that way.

It is easier to act your way to a new way of being than it is to feel or think your way there.

The power is always in the action and that is good news!

I’m sure you are all-too-familiar with the alternative thought patterns below!  Make your choice a good one!

The yin and yang of corporate life displayed on the front page for all to see.

As I looked over the list of the “10 Best” I was unsurprised to find WestJet in first position. This feisty 1996 start-up has taken the airline industry by storm not only because of phenomenal profits in an industry plagued by losses. It has set a new standard for customer service.

I remember the first time I flew with them, the kiddish enthusiasm of the flight crew was as surprising as it was contagious, I loved it and the smiles on the faces of most of the other travelers said they were as confused and delighted as I was. Since that time whenever possible I chose WestJet.
WestJet has a corporate culture which includes profit-sharing and a “department” dedicated to ensuring that its employees are happy and engaged. Let me repeat that a “department” at WestJet is dedicated to making sure employees are happy and engaged in the corporate culture. Wow, that really struck me as outrageous.

We all have experienced the HR department which by it’s very name de-humanizes the experience of work. Human resources, hum, am I gold or a lump of coal? The check list evaluation, the disinterest in anything you have to say. The formulaic answers and response given by the interviewer who may have no contact with you on a daily basis. It is a dreaded occasion in most companies and a sure way to squash productive and creative employees.

The evaluation becomes a occasion to engage in corporate double speak and spout platitudes. Instead of an opportunity to communicate and appreciate the contributions of the employee from the manger’s and the employee’s point of view.

The evaluation is a golden opportunity for honest talk about what is happening in the workplace. The evaluation often becomes a occasion to engage in corporate double speak and spout platitudes.

The evaluation itself is often given in the context of the salary scale. You can only move up the scale at a certain rate not because of the merit of your contribution but because the budget dictates.

Then I looked at the “how do you know that you are about to be fired” piece and realized in some companies, too many, it would be difficult for some of us to tell if it was business as usual or as Mr. Levitt says the “tea leaves” point to your imminent dismissal.

Too many employees, experience a culture in which fault finding and not praise giving is the way people are managed.

I read a Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) blog post about the secret of Dale Carnegie courses and the secret is…………..praise, find something to praise and shout it out over and over and watch the performance of the person reach new excellence.

Scott Adam’s talks about a woman who came to Dale Carneige unable to utter a word in front of the class the first session. She became an accomplished public speaker by the end of the course, simply because no matter what she did the facilitator was ecstatic and communicated this enthusiastically.

Non-communication, not being included in meetings and no say in decision-making are business as usual in most companies. Add to this mix little opportunity to communicate with managers at any level and a deaf ear to staff suggestions and voila job dissatisfaction equals low productivity.

Productivity should be the number one issue for any thinking executive! Productive employees naturally create wealth for the company. A cynical, de-energized work force will never be whipped into a top high productivity by the same stall methods that created the situation.

I have found that sometimes a story can carry more energy … more meaning … and more wisdom when it puzzles me at first glance. I wonder what you will take away from this brief tidbit of traditional Chinese wisdom.

*****

Tsze-lu asked about energy.

The Master Confucius said, “Do you mean the energy of the South, the energy of the North, or the energy which you should cultivate yourself?

“To show forbearance and gentleness in teaching others; and not to revenge unreasonable conduct:-this is the energy of southern regions, and the good man makes it his study.

“To lie under arms; and meet death without regret:-this is the energy of northern regions, and the forceful make it their study.

“Therefore, the superior man cultivates a friendly harmony, without being weak.

-How firm is he in his energy!

He stands erect in the middle, without inclining to either side.

-How firm is he in his energy!

When good principles prevail in the government of his country, he does not change from what he was in retirement.

How firm is he in his energy!

When bad principles prevail in the country, he maintains his course to death without changing.

-How firm is he in his energy!”

How firm is your energy?