The following simple definition of leadership has proved quite helpful in change projects over the years: the capacity of a human community—people living and working together—to bring forth new realities.
Another way to say this is that leadership energizes. Leadership breathes life into an enterprise, without which nothing truly new can emerge. The word inspire, long associated with leadership, derives from the Latin inspirare, literally “to breathe life into.” Continue reading
“The great Sufi poet and philosopher Rumi once advised his students to write down the three things they most wanted in life. Continue reading
The fact is that life is like the river: endlessly moving on, ever seeking, exploring, pushing, overflowing its banks, penetrating every crevice with its water. Continue reading
I think it’s really helpful to forget you exist, and often.
It sounds impossible, but it can be done.
Here’s an exercise I do sometimes to achieve that perspective:
Wherever I am, whatever location I am in, I picture the situation exactly as it would be if I wasn’t there. I just watch it like it’s a movie, and the people still in the scene are the actors. Or maybe there’s nobody around at all, it’s just an empty corner of the world sharing a moment with itself. Whatever the scene, it feels like I’m watching it remotely from some far-off theater. It’s all still happening, but I’m not there. Continue reading
In the autumn I gathered all my sorrows and buried them in my garden. Continue reading
In the cycle of nature there is no such thing as victory or defeat: there is only movement. Continue reading
 Why get agitated? Let Me take care of all your business. I shall be the one who will think about them. I am waiting for nothing else than your surrender to Me, and then you do not have to worry any more about anything. Say farewell to all fears and discouragement. You demonstrate that you do not trust Me. On the contrary, you must rely blindly on Me.
To surrender means: To turn your thoughts away from troubles, to turn them away from difficulties you encounter and from all your problems. Leave everything into My hands saying “Lord, Thy will be done. Thou think of it.” That is to say: “Lord I thank you for you have taken everything in your hands, and you will resolve this for my highest good.” Continue reading |
No one will disagree that life brings challenges, but step back for a moment and ask the deeper question, which is why. Why is life so difficult? No matter what advantages you are born with— money, intelligence, an appealing personality, a sunny outlook, or good social connections— none of these provides a magic key to an easy existence. Somehow life manages to bring difficult problems, the causes of untold suffering and struggle. How you meet your challenges makes all the difference between the promise of success and the specter of failure. Is there a reason for this, or is life simply a random series of events that keeps us off balance and barely able to cope? Continue reading
There is an old Tibetan story that I love, called ‘The Father of ‘As Famous as the Moon.'” A very poor man, after a great deal of hard work, had managed to accumulate a whole sack of grain. He was proud of himself, and when he got home he strung the bag up with a rope from one of the rafters of his house to keep it safe from rats and thieves. He left it hanging there, and settled down underneath it for the night as an added precaution. Continue reading
“Listen to your being. It is continuously giving you hints; it is a still, small voice. Continue reading
ONE TUSK 