Happy Soul Food Friday!

In the Midwest they have a saying, “Pray like everything depends on God, Work like everything depends on YOU”

In the Middle East they have a saying, “Trust in God… But Tie Your Camel!”

Wherever we find ourselves geographically, we all live somewhere midway between self-determinism and fate, based on our distinctive beliefs, culture and values. Because I know single-handedly, I cannot possibly do all that needs to be done, personally I have trust, faith and hope that collectively we can be that change that our communities and our world needs, with a little guidance from above….

I need to be the change, AND I need the change to be.

If conventional negative, sensational news is draining your energy and unconsciously toxifying your head space, here are a couple of options to cultivate energy, optimism and faith in humankind:

www.givemore.com

Thanks Chris

http://www.dailygood.org/

Thanks Larry

Choosing Happiness

Committed to Happiness & Positive Psychology? Here is a presentation promoting the well-being of students at UCSD, courtesy of Jerry Phelps.

Click here!

Finally, enjoy this visual story…

Warm Story

May you always have love to share,
Health to spare,
And friends that care.

Thanks this week go to Chris, Larry and Jerry…

Pay it forward!
Love,
Neville

“If only I could be the person my dog thinks I am…”

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week, education, attention, tricking your brain for happiness, an extraordinary musical instrument and the masters of disguise in nature.

But first, let’s lighten the mood with some Punography

Punographics 

I changed my iPod’s name to Titanic. It’s syncing now.

When chemists die, they barium.

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

I know a guy who’s addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I’d never met herbivore.

I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can’t put it down.

I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.

They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Type-O.

We’re going on a class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there’s no pop quiz.

I didn’t like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.

Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn’t control her pupils?

When you get a bladder infection urine trouble.

Broken pencils are pointless.

I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.

What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.

All the toilets in New York’s police stations have been stolen. The police have nothing to go on.

I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.

Haunted French pancakes give me the crêpes.

Velcro — what a rip off!

A cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details are sketchy.

Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!

The earthquake in Washington obviously was the government’s fault.

(thanks Beth)

On Education-

Can Teacher Expectations Influence How Students Perform?
This 8 minute NPR story is compelling…

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/09/17/161159263/teachers-expectations-can-influence-how-students-perform

Breakthroughs that are Occurring from Online Education- Getting the best content from the best teachers FOR FREE!

An inspiring Ted talk covering what is both desperately necessary AND what is suddenly possible…

http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education.html

(Thanks Rex)

Quiet Time

In the 2002-2003 school year, there were 41 murders in the neighborhood of Visitacion Valley Middle School. Young students were playing “cops and robbers” with real guns, and many suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2007, the principal instituted a program called “Quiet Time” to teach meditation to every student in the school, with dramatic results. Truancy rate fell by more than 7 percent (while the average for the State rose to 30 percent) and suspensions fell by more than 50 percent. Twelve minutes at the beginning and twelve minutes at the end of school day have given these children a coping mechanism to deal with the many stresses of poverty and violence in their lives.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=3091

(Thanks Beth)

How to Trick Your Brain for Happiness with Rick Hanson

“We do not know what a thought is, yet we’re thinking them all the time.”

http://shar.es/ueZSi

(Thanks Dan)

An Extra-Ordinary Musical Instrument

This incredible machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa.

Please note, the balls don’t fall on the floor, they return to the machine…  All of the balls wind up in catcher cones.  Amazingly, 97% of the machine’ components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft, Iowa

Yes, farm equipment! It took the team a combined 13,029 hours (6.26 years) of set-up, alignment, calibration, and tuning before filming this video but as you can see, it was WELL worth the effort. It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_K48e8z9-k

(Thanks Mohit and Kali)

Masters of Disguise

Enjoy these Amazing photos from Nature at its Best…

Click here!

(thanks Larry)

Pay it Forward!
Love,
Neville

For Your Early Soul Food Pleasure This Week:

The Price of a Closed Mind: From my friend Will Marre presenting a 30 minute webinar on Sept 13^th

What if the opposite of what you believe is also true? That’s a disturbing thought.

Sometimes, when I am teaching a group of leaders how to solve a controversial problem, I ask them “How fast are we moving? Yes, right now in this room.” After a few looks someone says, “We’re not moving at all.” To which I reply, “You are absolutely correct!” Then I repeat the question: “How fast are we moving?” Sometimes I exhort them, “Think.” Occasionally, someone will say, “Well, we are moving around the sun at thousands of miles an hour.” Then I exclaim, “You are absolutely both right. We are all moving at roughly 67,000 miles an hour and we are absolutely still all at the same time.” Once you start looking, it turns out reality is closer to the truth that two opposites are true at exactly the same time.

For instance, do you love your family and yet experience times when you can’t stand to be around them? Do you love your job, and does it make you stressed out, often in the same day?

Reality is messy.

We ignore the messiness of reality at our own peril. Today, we are in a dangerous political season. Politicians and their communication machines are trying to appeal to our fear-sensitive, non-rational brains. That means creating demons, enemies, and simplistic “either-or” solutions to complex problems, are the tactics of the day. But this is not what we need. We cannot thrive with simplistic, my-way-or-the-highway, right-or-left solutions. Today, more than ever, we need high-center thinking that allows us to deal with complexity and reality. It all starts with our unexamined first assumptions. Some people fundamentally believe that society should try to reduce avoidable suffering. This idea is based on “civic virtue,” which promotes efforts to reduce or eliminate the suffering brought on by being born in poverty, old-age illness, structural unemployment, exploitive wages, unsafe working conditions, pollution, and unsafe products. Much of this effort is labeled social justice. Sounds good. Except that it’s expensive and often creates both dependency and entitlement, which makes people weak and irresponsible. It does, in fact, seem to be true that when we continually support people financially without them earning their way, it makes them insecure, ungrateful, and demanding. That’s true with trust fund babies as much as it is with chronic welfare recipients.

On the other side is the belief that we live in a “just” world and that, for the most part, everyone gets what they deserve. In the view of radical conservatism, hard work and gumption will overcome any disadvantage of birth. In this view, the role of society is mostly legal. Protecting property rights and personal rights of individual autonomy is the only proper role of government. Under this way of thinking, personal virtue is a choice, and forcing us to participate in civic virtue through laws, regulations, or taxation should be out of bounds. So who’s right and who’s wrong?

The truth is messy.

It’s messy because both positions have merit. Yet there is no evidence that a large-scale, unregulated society can function. Every person for himself is not really a society. So the personal responsibility position is more a theory than a solution. On the other hand, there is evidence that it’s difficult to make social democracies thrive because entitled voters make government bankruptcies likely. But there are answers. They are found by focusing on the best evidence of what promotes both personal responsibility and civic virtue. This is indeed possible. I have frequently referred to work of Nobel Prize-winning economist, John Nash, who mathematically proved that the best society for all is also the one that is the best for each individual. Societies that perpetuate wild extremes of education, opportunity, and income are inherently unstable human systems. These systems always lead to revolution. Much economic and social research has been done on what creates the best society for the most people. It is five essential strengths.

1.        Free universal education of equal quality

2.        Virtually free access to not-for-profit healthcare

3.        Up to date physical and digital infrastructure

4.        Reasonable access to capital to start new business

(By the way, none of these 4 things need to be provided directly by the government. Only number 5 does.)

5.        Personal safety, security, and equal protection under the law

So how do you think our nation is doing at providing those 5 things? Perhaps the reason we may have trouble providing the five essential strengths is that we are arguing over whether government or private enterprise ought to be providing those services. But what if we could invent new institutions to solve these problems? High-quality universal education, health care, and public infrastructure might all be better provided through non-governmental, citizen-led, nonprofit enterprise. There are now many examples of large-scale social enterprises that are economically self-sufficient and magnificently effective. As far as banks go, we already have the model of depositor-owned credit unions, whose large-scale growth could be fostered by lifting regulations promoted by the big commercial banks to limit competition. So what’s all this got to do with you? First of all, we are in a political season where we as citizens need to flex our combined muscles to create a barrage of demands for rational wisdom and innovative solutions rather than emotional argument. Second, the victory of rational wisdom is a long-term generational journey, so we need to do all that we can to make our lives thrive, no matter how irrational public debate might be. We cannot be paralyzed into silence by the loud voices of special interests. What we can do is stand for wisdom, in every conversation and every personal decision. What we can do is remain focused on the quality of our lives, of our families, and of our circles of influence. What we must do is not give in or give up.

Third, free yourself from either-or thinking. Free yourself from your inner, insistent bully. Free yourself from being controlled by either-or thinkers in your workplace or bullies in your life. Don’t be afraid to consider evidence contrary to your present assumptions. The two keys to enduring happiness are an open mind and a loving heart. Turn up the volume on both. On September 13th, I’ll be presenting a new, 30-minute webinar titled “Free Yourself.” It’s an action plan that will help you take control of your work-life harmony and your future, no matter what your life circumstances are. I am very excited to share it with you. If you have any questions, please send them to me at askwill@thoughtrocket.com .

Visit http://www.ThoughtRocketTraining.com/free-yourself for more information…

On Education:

The news is all abuzz with respect to education nowadays… So how are we doing with respect to learning outcomes? Does the value of education come from the actual learning or from the prestige of the institution?

Check out The Rise of the Phoenix:  For-Profit Universities Like the University of Phoenix Are Shaking Up the Status Quo and Reshaping the Future of Higher Education.

For-profit colleges have deep roots in American history, but until recently they were a tiny part of the higher education landscape. Now they are big players. More than one in 10 college students attends a for-profit. The rapid rise of these career-oriented schools has provoked heated debate, opening up new conversations about the costs, quality and purpose of higher education. In this documentary, correspondent Emily Hanford examines the history and influence of the University of Phoenix, one of the nation’s largest colleges, and explores how Phoenix and other for-profits are shaping the future of higher education.

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/tomorrows-college/phoenix/

(You can also listen to the program at this site or podcast it to your mobile device)

The Relationship between Money and Happiness

Telling it like it is at a Provoking Commencement Speech at Brandeis University…

http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2011/may/brooksvideo.html

The One Good Thing

http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/05/original-blue-dawn-its-not-just-for-dishes-anymore.html

Finally, Global Citizenry & 25 Things You Might Not Know About Countries Around the World

I found out about 19 and 6 on my recent holiday… Click here!

Thanks this week go to Will, Larry and Chris

Pay it forward!
Love,
Neville

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

First some humor with some real truth to set the tone:

On Moms…

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1.  She’s the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2.  Mostly to clean the house.
3.  To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1.  He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2.  Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3.  God made my mom just the same like he made me.  He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1.  God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2.  They had to get their start from men’s bones.  Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1.  We’re related.
2.  God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?
1.  My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2.  I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3.  They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1.  His last name.
2.  She had to know his background.  Like is he a crook?  Does he get drunk on beer?
3.  Does he make at least $800 a year?  Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1.  My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world.  And my mom eats a lot!
2.  She got too old to do anything else with him.
3.  My grandma says that mom didn’t have her thinking cap on.

Who’s the boss at your house?
1.  Mom doesn’t want to be boss, but she has to because dad’s such a goof ball.
2.  Mom.  You can tell by room inspection.  She sees the stuff under the bed.
3.  I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What’s the difference between moms and dads?
1.  Moms work at work and work at home and dads just work at work.
2.  Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3.  Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power ’cause that’s who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
4.  Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1.  Mothers don’t do spare time.
2.  To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1.  On the inside she’s already perfect.  Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2.  Diet.  You know, her hair.  I’d diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1.  She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean.  I’d get rid of that.
2.  I’d make my mom smarter.  Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3.  I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Thanks Mohit

Next, Ten Lessons the Arts Teach

For those of us that think art is not an important element in education, this might shape your perspective.

It is pretty hard to get these important lessons anywhere else!

‘Ten Lessons the Arts Teach’ by Elliot Eisner

The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships. Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgment rather than rules that prevail.

The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.

The arts celebrate multiple perspectives. One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.

The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.

The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor number exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.

The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects. The arts traffic in subtleties.

The arts teach students to think through and within a material. All art forms employ some means through which images become real.

The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said. When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.

The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.

The arts’ position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.

Thanks Rex

Third, Run, Hide, Fight

Unfortunately we live in a violent society. This is a video the city of Houston put together on what to do should you (a citizen) run across an active shooter, such in the recent spate of violence around the country.

They were just finishing it when the Colorado shootings occurred…

Stay Safe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VcSwejU2D0&feature=player_embedded

Thanks Chris

Finally, These Incredible Photos Will Blow Your Mind!

Click here!

What’s your favorite? Do share your favs in the Comment Section of the blog

Thanks Larry G.

Thanks this week go to Mohit, Rex, Chris and Larry G

Pay it Forward, you can’t take it with you…
Love,
Neville

“Simple kindness to one’s self and all that lives is the most powerful transformational force of all.”

–David Hawkins

Energy Crisis and Mobilizing a Personal Energy Movement:

While on vacation earlier this month, with the gift of time to reflect on what is most important in life, I saw an article on Happiness

http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2012-08-02-Gross-national-happiness_CV_U.htm

This reminded me of the Happy Planet Index and Gross National Happiness Index that I first heard about in 2009, and a slide deck I created then using a similar framework but for Personal Energy and Personal Happiness/Wellbeing

As above, so below…

It is not just our planet facing an energy crisis at the macro level. At a micro level each of us is challenged by the individual energy crisis that daily living demands.

Check out the deck and share your thoughts in the comments section of the blog…

Click here!

Don’t Underestimate the Power of Self-Talk

In the last month I have been privileged to speak with the entire Leadership team of several San Diego School Districts on the topics of Engagement and Leadership.

This HBR article about the right way to speak to yourself is provocative. It is not simply nice to treat ourselves nicely, it is strategic!

When we feel loved, appreciated and cared for, we try harder, take more risks, work more collaboratively, and perform better.

So what kind of classroom is going on in your head?

http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2012/08/teach-yourself-to-have-a-healthy.html

Thanks Linda

Enjoy The Book of Life designed with just a few pages to transform your attitude and remind us to experience this moment!

Click this.

Thanks Mohit

Some Words of Wisdom…
A friend of mine opened his wife’s underwear drawer and picked up a silk  paper wrapped package.
‘This, – he said – isn’t any ordinary package.’
He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.
‘She got this the first time we went to New York , 8 or 9 years ago. She
has never put it on, and was saving it for a special occasion.
Well, I guess this is it.

He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he  was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died.
He turned to me and said: ‘Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion’.
I still think those words changed my life.
Now I read more and clean less.
I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.
I spend more time with my family, and less at work.
I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through.

I no longer keep anything.
I use crystal glasses every day…
I’ll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it..
I don’t save my special  perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to.

The words ‘Someday….’ and ‘ One Day…’ are fading away from my
dictionary.

If it’s worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do
it now….

I don’t know what my friend’s wife would have done if she knew she
wouldn’t be there the next morning, this nobody can tell…
I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.
She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels.
I’d like to think she  would go out for Chinese, her favorite
food.

It’s these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come..

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.

Live for today, for tomorrow is promised to no-one..

Thanks Larry

Stay Soul-filled and pay it forward!

Love,

Neville

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting
something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

— Frederick Koenig

Happy Soul Food Friday!

We are back after our summer holiday, visiting the East Coast including New York City, Upper NY State, Quebec, Montreal, Toronto and Niagara Falls.

Nothing like a digital fast supplemented by the wonders of travel to re-invigorate the soul, create perspective, as well as give us a chance to step off the treadmill and routinization of daily life…

As my travel photos don’t compare, here are some photos from hither and yon to feed your soul courtesy of National Geographic and Larry H.

Click here!

If you have prospective soul food submissions, keep sending them my way…

Love and Imagine,

Neville

Happy Soul Food Friday!

“And in the end. The love you take is equal to the love you make”

Inspired by the Olympics:
I hope you are enjoying the agony and the ecstasy of the first all-digital and most watched opening ceremony in Olympic history. From Paul McCartney getting choked up before he launches into a global chorus of “Hey Jude”, to a legally blind (20/200 vision) athlete competing for their nation in archery, to 15 and 16 year olds excelling on the world stage and setting world records, to athletes competing in their 3rd straight Olympics -12 years- at the top of their game, to seeing the champion mindset and intentionality in the women’s gymnasts just in their walk & body language…wow!

As we enjoy the spirit of the game, here is an Olympic guide to make things easier…
2012 Olympic Guide

The Spirit of the Game:
While not Olympiads, over the weekend, brothers Cayden and Connor Long joined hundreds of other children as they competed in the first annual New England Kids Triathlon in Cambridge. The boys did not win the event — they didn’t even come close. But that didn’t stop them from winning hearts across the Internet. The Long brothers are not your typical triathletes. Six-year-old Cayden has cerebral palsy and can neither walk nor talk. But thanks to the dedication of his older brother, Connor, the young boy has participated in several triathlons. They are also true champions!
http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=285

Develop a Leader’s Mind:
Whatever your passion and purpose, developing a leader’s mind can help and this short article is excellent
http://www.success.com/articles/1879–develop-a-leader-s-mind

Summer time means more water sports.
Make sure you and yours are pool safe this Summer and please protect your loved ones…
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2012/07/25/summer-pool-drowning

On Travel:
Here are a few exotic travel destinations to enjoy from the comfort of your desktop in full splendor and as up close and personal as you want

First, the Taj Mahal Panorama featuring one of the seven wonders of the world
http://www.airpano.ru/files/Taj-Mahal-India/2-3

Next JERUSALEM
After a year of research and preparation, the giant Imax 3D screen film, JERUSALEM , is scheduled for worldwide release in 2013. The film takes you on a spectacular and unprecedented aerial tour throughout Israel/Palestine , the Holy Land and the city once believed to lie at the center of the world. Here is a preview. To see it in full screen – click on the 4 small arrows at the bottom right hand corner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=iPQI6Yupt48

Now Enjoy all these amazing cities at night
Click here

Finally enjoy this soul-filled photos that will touch your heart
Click here

 It is vacation time, so if you are so inclined, post your own soul food in the comments section of the blog while I do some traveling of my own…

Keep smiling!

I have been in many places, but I’ve never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can’t go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.
I’ve also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.
I have, however, been in Sane. They don’t have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family, karate students and work.
I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I’m not up for leaping or jumping.
I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.
I’ve been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm. (My wife might disagree with my assessment…)
Sometimes I’m in Capable, and I seem to go there more often as I’m getting older.
One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the heart!
I may have been in Continent, and I don’t remember what state I was in.

Life is too short for negative drama & petty things. So laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly!

Thanks this week to Jehangir and Larry.

Stay Soul-filled!
Love,
Neville

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”
Greek Proverb

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

On Education:

What is School For?
Check out Stop Stealing Dreams by Seth Godin

A recent lunch with two saints; Paul B. and Peter B. Stark brought up this compelling publication on education

http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/docs/StopStealingDreamsSCREEN.pdf

On Intelligence:

Dr. Jill Tarter: A Scientist Searching For Alien Life

Whatever you stand on the idea of extraterrestrial life, experience this compelling interview by a thoughtful scientist who contemplates the stars and life beyond the confines of our little blue planet

“We reserve the right to get smarter”

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/23/156366055/jill-tarter-a-scientist-searching-for-alien-life

On Parenting:

Anyone with Active Kids will Resonate with the Table Cloth Trick

http://biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=30018

On Travel:
Enjoy this amazing slide deck without ever having to leave your house or office…
Bestof2012

Special thanks this week go to  Peter, Paul & Larry

Pay it Forward!

Love,

Neville

“LOVE is our Soul Purpose”

Happy Soul Food Friday!

Love, Love, Love…

As you have probably noticed, my sign off on most of my emails is “Love,”

As unconventional as this may seem, this is because encouraging the heart, and bring our heart energy into virtually every aspect of our life, for me, brings meaning, purpose, passion and soul to our world!

In the past week, my wife Barbara and I celebrated our 21^st Wedding Anniversary and in fitting tribute decided to go to Las Vegas and take in the Cirque de Soleil Beatles LOVE Show.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to experience the timeless music of the Beatles, coupled with the magic of the amazing Cirque de Soleil production which has been voted the best show in Las Vegas for 4 years in a row, I strongly recommend you add this to your “must experience list” for soul food!

Here is a tiny sampler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWmYQPS21yE&feature=related

Contributing to Community Well Being:

This week I was privileged to invest an afternoon of my life with United Way San Diego, www.uwsd.org visiting their corporate offices and hearing first-hand from some of their leaders – Angela, Carol, CJ, Dania, Holly, Shaina & Lance -about the real impact they are having in our community by partnering with local leaders, other non-profit partners and corporate supporters to address the critical issues of health, homelessness, education, & income. From a holistic approach to reducing child abuse and neglect, to ending chronic homelessness in San Diego, to recruiting readers, tutors and mentors for kids, to helping families challenged with self-sufficiency, there is undoubtedly a cause you are passionate about that they are working on right now and could use your help and energy.

When it comes to matters of the heart, the only things we keep in life are the things that we give away.

I strongly encourage you to take a moment to listen, to learn, and to lead by taking the Volunteer Challenge along with UWSD’s Give. Advocate. Volunteer. and find ways to make a difference of consequence in our community. If you are already doing this be sure to spread the word.

You can learn more at: http://www.uwsd.org/content/volunteers-united-way

A Story:

The Old Man and a Bucket of Shrimp

It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean.

Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier.. Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp.  Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to himself.  The glow of the sun is a golden bronze now.

Everybody’s gone, except for a few joggers on the beach.  Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts…and his bucket of shrimp.

Before long, however, he is no longer alone.  Up in the sky a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier.

Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly.  Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds.

As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, ‘Thank you. Thank you.’

In a few short minutes the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn’t leave.

He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and place.

When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home.

If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, Ed might seem like ‘a funny old duck,’ as my dad used to say. Or, ‘a guy who’s a sandwich shy of a picnic,’ as my kids might say.  To onlookers, he’s just another old codger, lost in his own weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp.

To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty.  They can seem altogether unimportant …. Maybe even a lot of nonsense.

Old folks often do strange things,  At least in the eyes of Boomers and Busters.

Most of them would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida.  That’s too bad. They’d do well to know him better.

His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker.  He was a famous hero back in World War II.  On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down.  Miraculously, all of the men survived, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft.

Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific.  They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger.  By the eighth day their rations ran out. No food. No water.

They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they were.

They needed a miracle.  That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle.  They tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose.  Time dragged.  All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft..

Suddenly, Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap.  It was a seagull!

Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move.  With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck.  He tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal – a very slight meal for eight men – of it.  Then they used the intestines for bait.  With it, they caught fish, which gave them food and more bait……and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until they were found and rescued (after 24 days at sea…).

Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull..

And he never stopped saying, ‘Thank you.’   That’s why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.

Reference: (Max Lucado, “In The Eye of the Storm”, Pp..221, 225-226)

PS: Eddie was instrumental in Eastern Airlines.

Simplicity is Everything:

Periodically, literally or figuratively we are going to accidentally push to far and get the cork stuck in the bottle. Here is some lateral thinking that might help you out…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdGp2KUD4us

The Most Stunning Photos of 2012.

Even now, this planet is so full of beautiful sights. Here are the most beautiful, breath taking photos taken this year so far. Enjoy.

 http://twistedsifter.com/2012/06/top-50-pictures-of-the-day-for-2012/

As many of you know, Stephen Covey passed away this week…

Here is some advice from his business partner and my friend Will Marre

The Best Advice I Ever Got

My mentor and professional partner Stephen Covey passed away yesterday.

Of the many amazing experiences we had together, one short sentence of advice had the greatest impact.

One day, when I was struggling to find my voice as a public presenter and I had been a miserable flop with his “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” he quietly said,

“Seek to bless, not impress.”

That advice shifted me, not only as a speaker, but also as a human being. To seek to bless in every conversation, every encounter, is to activate the meaning of life in the everyday journey.

Stephen lived with zest. He gave his gift and made a difference. His legacy is that we might all do the same.

Some Nifty House Tricks:

Click here!

Thanks this week go to my heroes at the United Way, Larry, Mohit, Will and every one of you who practiced a conscious act of kindness this week.

Stay Soul-Filled and Pay it Forward!

LOVE,

Neville

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people…  They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”

~ Thomas Jefferson

Hi,

Here is your Soul Food for this post-Independence Day week:

So, what does the Next Generation of the American Dream look like?
A sea change in orientation as “First Globals” understand the idea of a linked or shared fate:
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/10/156463825/globals-generation-focuses-on-experience

Did you happen to know the Other Verse of our National Anthem?
This marine does…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0fQd858cRc

Bet you could have used this Simple Trick at your 4^th of July BBQ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETgWdRfRY2U

Goethe, the German philosopher, said, “The world without music would be a mistake”.
This community- kids and all- takes this to heart! Enjoy this un-classical flash mob performance from just a couple of months ago..
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=GBaHPND2QJg&feature=youtu.be

Finally, if you have a few extra minutes,

Experience this amazing commencement speech given by Cory Booker, currently Mayor of Newark, New Jersey and a Stanford alum on the Conspiracy of Love.
http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2012/06/18/watch-mayor-cory-bookers-stanford-commencement-speech-it-will-inspire-you

Thanks this week to Mike, Larry, Anurag and Mohit!

Keep feeding the right beast and stay faith-ful (and soul-ful)…

Love,

Neville

A great artist is always before his time or behind it. 
~ George Edward Moore