Happy Soul Food Friday!
“You have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”- Sam Levenson
This week:
Giving in to Your Vulnerability and That of Others ( A Soul-Filled Story)
Giving in to Helping Others is not the Enemy of Productivity, it is the Mother Lode Motivator (A NY Times Article that Totally Captures My Philosophy of Life)
Giving up Control Just Might in Improve your Mood and Wellbeing (Research That Suggests Letting Go Can Be Liberating!)
Give in to the Amazing World S/He has Given Us (Pictures that Make You Go Ahhhh…)
If you are local…
See Indecent at the La Jolla Playhouse!
This play within a play is a “blink in time: that as relevant today as when the first play was written in 1906. Experience the power of art to challenge the status quo with intellectual honesty and heartfelt appeal for issues of racism, sexual liberation and history repeating itself…
http://www.lajollaplayhouse.org/indecent
A Soul-Filled Story…
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.
At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. ‘I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.’ The old woman smiled, ‘Did you notice that there are flowers on your Side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?’
‘That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.’ For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.’
Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. SO, to all of my cracked pot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!
Is Giving the Secret to Getting Ahead?
This New York Times magazine article eloquently captures my philosophy of life:
Helping others is not the enemy of productivity, it is the mother lode, the motivator that spurs increased productivity and creativity!
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/magazine/is-giving-the-secret-to-getting-ahead.html?_r=0
326 – What You Gain by Giving Up Control
WHAT IF…by letting go of control, you gain. RESEARCH SAYS: New research compared the effects on mood and well-being of two approaches to uncertainty called “primary” and “secondary” control. Primary control is the go-to strategy of control freaks. In this approach you try to beat uncertainty by eliminating it, i.e. you do your best to control everything. Not surprisingly, this approach did not work well in real life leading to negative moods and feelings. In short, the inevitable failure of this approach bummed people out. Those who practiced secondary control, however, were happier and more peaceful. Secondary control is all about exercising control of your expectations and judgment, rather than of events. You can’t control everything in life but you can control your beliefs.
TRY THIS: Think of something you absolutely fear happening. Imagine what you would do if the worst happened. Feel your stress dissolve as you come to terms with how good you make your inner life when your outer life is sucky.
What a Wonderful World S/He gifted us with!
Thanks this week go to Larry H, Alan D, Will M, and All my crack-pot Friends who live in generosity!
Pay it Forward…
Love,
Neville
“A belief is not merely an idea the mind possesses;
It is an idea that possesses the mind.” – Robert Oxton Bolton
Happy Soul Food Friday! 