OUR USE OF TIME – DOES IT MATTER?

Time inexorably beats its way into the  future.  Of the many aspects of

life which we can control .. time is not in that category.  We can

determine what we do with the allotment granted to us… but the

great reaper grows larger and stands closer to us with each passing second.

Suddenly we awaken to the realization that friends, relatives, and mentors

are no longer here.  We cannot visit, or call, or Skype.. they have passed on.

 

 What we do have are memories of memories. Memories which include recollections

of the impact others have had on us.  How they changed our lives, attitudes and values.

They contributed to the person we are today..and now they are gone.

Silence remains… ongoing video replays of treasured times.

 

 How did we impact others and the world around them?

 

Question?   What happens in the afterlife? In heaven?  Do our beloved carry memories

of us with them?  Will our relationships be restarted when we die?  What we do and

how we act while on earth impacts us in the afterlife?  

 

Time is eternal—never ending.   Can the same be said about the consequences of our actions,

beliefs and values,   Does our legacy matter?

MOTHER TERESA and the CARPENTER

Artists, of  all genres, have spurts of intuition and insight.

Painters begin with a swab of paint and let their fingers do the walking.

Writers begin with a word, an idea, a concept, and their minds wonder.

Friends  inquire as to the source of ideas and inspiration for these muses.

Today is one of those times – a muse written as an observation of the good

works you bring to this author.

On Sunday  the smiling lady standing behind a scattered  pile of books said

“ Take as many as you want”.” They are from our library.”

 A collector of things written ( as overflowing book shelves attest).

I couldn’t resist – books for free – manna from Heaven.

Book diving in the bottom of a cardboard box – there it was talking to me

“ Mother Teresa – In my Own Words”.

Want a freshly baked humble pie? Think you are clever when

friends say –that muse really struck me in the heart?  Today’s comparison

with Mother Teresa grabs one by the scruff of the neck – wake up big boy!

Not a chance, Mother Teresa is in the big leagues.  A clean up hitter

when it comes to insights and action.

Reflect, take a deep breath, and learn from the words of a master

whom  I heard mesmerize an audience decades ago.

 Mother Teresa , bent, frail, charismatic, dressed in her customary humble garb

 addressed  a  hushed, awed crowd of thousands in Philadelphia. 

No soaring rhetoric of hope, change.

Calm, confident, engaging, yes one could describe her as angelic.

A forceful, low key,  captivating speaker .. to say you could hear

a pin drop in the audience is a gross understatement.

One of those seminal events when we have the gift of listening to

a “game changer” in the course of human history.

Her message of compassion, love, and service to the poor reverberates these

many years past.

Here she is again,  forcing herself into my consciousness: sharing her insights. 

A simple card table full of books In a country church in Fontana. 

Who would expect Mother Teresa here?

Open  this book of Mother Teresa’s quotes – pick a page, any page.

Discover the differential  between a Saint and us mere mortals.

Humble, insightful, seeing the world through a prism of understanding

to which we can only aspire.

Days later, the local handyman rings the doorbell – – a somewhat bedraggled

fixer of all things electrical, mechanical,etc.

Equipped with a  smile, a tool box, and a beat up van carrying gadgets and gismos.

His weathered ladders are splattered with paint,

His unkempt hair a month or two since feeling the snip of a barber.

Today he came to fix a light fixture in the bathroom.

Hi ! he pronounces – another great day in Packer Land!

The fixture ? . No problem  and off he chugs down the hallway.

 30 minutes later he climbs off his wobbly  ladder.

“ A little more complicated than I thought”.. That will be $15.00!

How is that possible I ask? Only $15.00?

He displays  this air of accomplishment – a  problem solved.

Money isn’t the motivator ..  a problem solved and a pleased customer.

This journeyman doesn’t wear his Christianity on his sleeve.  One

knows he lives his faith.. demonstrates his values. No preaching,

no giving out splashy flyers.. just watch  my example.

Mother Teresa said “ Whoever is dependent on his or her money or

worries about it, is truly a poor person. If that person places his or her

money at the service of others, then the person becomes rich, very

rich indeed.”

The  van’s engine turns over. A wisp of blue smoke fills the air. Down the

driveway and off to his next challenge.  A rich, very rich man has spoken

volumes by his deeds.

Will he and Mother Teresa meet in Heaven?

A Saint in our Midst

Acting On Our Beliefs and Values – A MessageFramed in History

The keeper of memories at Brandywine

Hidden away near the Brandywine Battlefield

A rugged stone mill stands sentry .

Two hundred years of water tracing

24/7 turning the paddles and buckets

Which give force to the tiny grinding mill again and again.

 

Steady, throughout the harsh Penns Woods winters.

Steady, when the stream turns to a trickle.

Steady, when its primary purpose is replaced  by gas powered machines.

 

There is an aura about this place. A mirror, a memory tape.

Like other places of history and locales of human events

The mill has heard the generational stories  of its neighbors

Its warriors, its heroes, its common folk who worked the land.

Its neighbors in the apartment blocks and IT parks nearby

Its yet unborn .

 

What is “it” about places throughout the world where people

Have sacrificed for their beliefs and values?

What is “it” about the international need to respect and revere

These places of honor ?

 

By the same token, what is it about Civil War battlefields which are

now home to parking lots and the Golden Arches?

Or  the Warsaw Ghetto where one searches for the markers of that WWII tragedy?

The killing forests of Eastern Europe – hidden from view, not disclosed.

Or the  catacombs in Paris.

 

What single iridescent   thread runs through these places remembered and those forgotten/destroyed?

Is there a common theme ?

 

From the common mill at Brandywine, to the catacombs, we remember that the treatment of each

Is a continuing reflection of our values.  What Is important? What is sacred? What is meaningful

to each and every culture, nation, and political demarcation line?  Herein lies the back story for what is

preserved or abandoned.

 

No matter our station in life, we have a commonality with the mill at Brandywine. 

Steady as life goes, we all have our memories, our life changing events.

We celebrate life’s victories like the Colonials at Brandywine. 

We keep on keeping on. 

 

The values we place on our beliefs  act are a platform  for our life changing decisions.  Do we value the

past such as the sacred ground at Brandywine? Or do we alternatively dismiss our personal

history as just another day to be endured on this earth?

 

Choices come to us sometimes quietly. In the small private moments of our inner soul.  A whisper.

A dream.  A premonition.  Our interpretation of a look from someone we know.

Forming  our values, our beliefs, our creed. 

 

Our interpretation of even fleeting moments  may be profound.  The permutations permanent.

 Reflecting our values, a whispered  yes or no  becomes the hallmark  of who we are

 and the continued, repetitive  voice in our inner being.

 

 Our acknowledgement of the goodness of others..the Harold Johnsons and Mother Theresas

 of this word reflect what we value as important: what is life sustaining. Do we pick up the

challenge and continue their missions?

.

Our rejection of those who take advantage of the poor, the humble, those with lesser abilities:

a reflection of our values – do we act or walk on the other side of the road?

 

Can you identify your values, beliefs, and creed?  Enjoy….

VALUING WHO WE ARE

The questions begin in high school

“ What do you want to be when you grow up?”

For many this is a deer in the headlights question

How the hell do we know?

We’re full of raging sexual hormones, acne, and are

trying to escape the here and now.

A ‘life plan” is too vague a concept for the moment to

moment driven adolescent.

 

Years later, many ask the same question

“ What do I want to do with my life?”

Whatever the response,  one considers is this

A question about the future or the present?

 

The question is generally posed in the context of

an occupational choice – work, career, occupation.

Perhaps this  may be the tail wagging the dog.

Say what?

A more delicate and  probing question for people

Of all ages, at all stages of life is :

What type of person do you want to be?

The responses focus on what are our values, what

Is important to us, what makes us happy, and who is

Important to us?

 

The type of work we do, the occupations  to which we are drawn

Are ultimately a product of our values, desires, and the choices

about who we choose to call our friends and mentors.

 

Yes, these are choices. 

These choices are fluid, evolving, and result in life changing decisions.

A mirror image of how we see ourselves.

The places we go, the hobbies we choose, the conversations we have

The clubs we join, the places we live, the voyages we take

All are choices, all are ingredients in the soufflé of our persona.

Not withstanding our age 25-45-65, transition is inevitable and exciting

An adventure which we can seek out, join in and enjoy.

 

Revisiting the question – what are you going to be when you grow up?  

Offers us an opportunity to examine the positive side of that

“deer in the headlights” look we had as an adolescent.

Yes, it’s about career, achievement, money in our IRA,  the house we live in:

The image we see in the mirror is more important – valuing who we are.

 

 

Paradise and Peace- Part 1

 

Paradise and Peace

                                                                PARADISE AND PEACE – PART 1

The following is an introduction to a discussion about Paradise and its 3 components:

peace, prosperity and happiness.

 I hope you share your thoughts about what is “ peace” in your life.

  Email your sharings to info@rlhassociates.com .

 

Paradise  is sometimes described as a place where peace, prosperity (not luxury) and

happiness exist.

How do we arrive at this place (or is it a condition) that we label “paradise”?  Is

paradise some oasis as pictured in some paintings? Or a place with opulence?

Is it : inherited, / acquired through religion or meditation or ….?  Can we buy it? Or

build it? Or Invent It?

Does it really exist or is this a creation of our mind/imagination? 

For discussion purposes,  an interesting beginning is giving reflective consideration 

 to “ what is peace”?  Are there metrics, measurements, standards by which we

measure peace?  Those with a religious bent might say it is being one with their God.  

 calmness, a unity, the turning over of their lives to a supreme being. In the book “ Eat 

  Pray Love”  Elizabeth Gilbert  describes her trek  through the meditational journey of

Yoga and  a Bali wise man.  A process that sweeps her away into another  mystical

place.

 What about those who do not believe in a religious sense.? There is an absence of

 standards and values which relate to an after life.  Peace is about practicality –

getting and doing those things which are necessary for happiness. Others 

compliment/or subjugate  their peace by gaining satisfaction through being

conducting themselves as  “servant leaders”.   Giving their lives and talents to

enhance the lives and well beings of others.  We see this in the remarkable spirit of

volunteerism  which embraces the United States ( this is not true in many countries

and cultures where the government is the universal care give).  The

ravages of floods, tornadoes, fires are  solved  by neighbors and strangers who are

committed to assisting others in times of need. You get more than you give – a common

refrain from rain soaked, muddy volunteers who have spent back breaking hours

filling sandbags along the surging rivers of the Mississippi River.

 A cohort tells me his version of peace Is the absence of emotional conflict.  Meaning 

 having an uncommon bond and a sense of  comradeship with others.  This is an

important value in his life.  That being,the capacity to sincerely, deep down in his

souls, have the capacity to engage all types of people in business and personal

relationships to the degree that he is at total peace with them.  Talking to the

truth is his philosophy so therefore there is an absence of hypocrisy, the taint of little

white lies, and deception.  Winning is not important —  it is more about building and

maintaining honest relationships.

Another “peace’ is that of security.  Security may be in the context of financial health.

 Or perhaps it is physical security – the avoidance of physical harm or being in good

 health.   Money can’t buy you happiness but it sure helps goes the saying.  For

security needy individuals, accumulating wealth is more necessary than

relationships, or peace of mind, or their relationship with a deity. 

For others who have illnesses, or lived in areas of high crime or conflict, peace is

good health and safety.Knowing your child will come home safely from school

everyday or being able to go to the grocery store without fear of being attacked are

very real concerns.  Indeed, they are a priority.  Luxurious houses, a 

stress free life as regards relationships, these are important – but living In fear for

one’s life prohibits one from being at peace.

 

  

 

MOVERS AND SHAKERS – LOYALTY-1

 

AT WHAT PRICE LOYALTY?

Without exception, CEO’s say that they have certain core beliefs and values to which they are loyal.
• Loyal to a fault?
• Uncompromisingly loyal?
• Loyal –with exceptions
• Loyal to values and people- or only values
• What is the message when loyalty is compromised?
• Are employees loyal to a company or a person?
• Commitment and loyalty – are they the same?
Lot’s of questions – questions which have been pondered for generations: Answers which evolve and change over time.
What follows is an all too common workplace situation.
Duane is a vital employee. He is the hands on engineer, maintenance guy par excellence. A designer of machinery, he has invented equipment which has made the firm a leader. Brilliant at troubleshooting, he is on call 24/7. Duane’s performance ratings over the past 20 have been superior.
Without Duane, the firm’s production lines could literally shut down. A catastrophic event for management, employees, and customers.
The firm has made a concerted effort to create a “let’s respect each other environment. In other words, sexual harassment is a big time no- no. Gone are calendars, double entendres at meetings, and raucous Company parties and picnics. Employees have been occasionally terminated for inappropriate behavior.
This is all part of the owner’s “ respect each other” value system.
In the last 6 months, two serious discussions have been held with Duane due to sexual harassment complaints from employees. Conscious of this employee’s past work record and his importance to the Company, he has been warned – but not placed on probation or threatened with termination.
Now there is a 3rd incident. This time Duane cornered a woman employee and prevented her from exiting her workspace. Grabbing her from behind, he propositioned her.. “ you’ll love it he said.
Inappropriate, yes: The 1st time – no: seen by other employees- yes. Was this an incident of “mutual consent”- no.
Intimidated, embarrassed, threatened, she went to the female vice president of human resources to file a complaint.
The conflict : the owner is hair chested about his loyalty of long term employees. A lot of water both at work and on a social level has flowed under the bridge in 20 years. The owner brags publicly about the safe work environment for women and minorities.
He is loyal to customers – on time delivery no matter what the circumstances.
Aside from the potential for legal action, what is the “loyalty” issue? Is the employer loyal to his espoused support of women and minorities in the workplace? Yes that is an important issue.
There is a broader issue. IS THE EMPLOYER LOYAL TO HIMSELF? If values are a guidelines of expediency- then he is transparently phony. Contradiction follows contradiction. Street wise employees
,customers, friends and lovers all know when they are being snookered . Deeper still, the employer knows when he is dishonest with himself. This carcinoma eats away at integrity, confidence, and eventually public persona.
Being loyal to one’s value system can be short term pain – with exponentially larger long term gain.

Loyalty,respect,commitment