We Are All Masters and Gurus In Our Own Way

We Are All Masters and Gurus In Our Own Way

PublicFriendsOnly MeCustomClose FriendsCEO Space InternationalSee all lists...Las Vegas, Nevada AreaP/Q ListFlorida ConnectionTexasCalifornia ConnectionsA ListSanta Maria, California AreaJonathan AlderCanadaArizonaColumbus, Ohio AreaThe Ohio State UniversityMarvelous Mondays with Harry & PhilInnovision Global, LLCFamilyAustraliaUnited States ArmyNevadaCEO SpaceWashingtonCEO SpaceLos AngelesThe Men's ClubGeorgiaNFHS Class of '78Alder Local SchoolsFWIOregonMy 100New MexicoMM GuestsColoradoCoachesJ#2Newton FallsM ListD ListL ListK ListC ListT ListB ListS#2R ListUVWXYZ ListOhio ConnectionJ ListS ListG ListColumbus ConnectionE ListN ListInner CircleH ListF ListI ListFlorida Connection #2Florida Connection #3Marvelous Mondays Expert PanelCircle of TrustO List295th The HerdConferenceNew York New YorkInnovision GlobalNew ZealandUnited KingdomRaising DaughtersIrelandMissouriVirginiaVeteransNew JerseyMichiganRaising FathersCarMaxAlder Local SchoolsAlder Local SchoolsGo Back

OK, let me explain. I have heard the terms "master" and "guru" tossed out, thrown around and used ad nauseam.

And it seems to me most people who either call themselves "masters" or "gurus" or people who discuss a "master/guru" always want to put them on a pedestal and yet, those who truly have mastered something are typically the most humble people you will even meet and would rather you did not do so.

To dig into this a bit further, I looked up definitions for master and guru and here is what I discovered:

Master:

1. A skilled practitioner of a particular art or activity.
2. Having or showing very great skill or proficiency.
3. Acquire complete knowledge or skill in.
4. Gain control of; overcome.

Guru:

1. A teacher and especially intellectual guide in matters of fundamental concern.
2. A leading authority in a particular field

Correct if I am wrong, but does anyone see the word "perfect" in any of these definitions?

So many people feel less than because they are not a "master" or "guru" and yet if we really thlnk about, we have all overcome something. We all have something in which we have great skill. And we are all teachers in our own way.

 And "masters" know better than anyone else that they will continue to grow and evolve and so they keep at it, most do not simply rest on their laurels, otherwise those skills will most certainly diminish. They know they are not infallible, that they too have made many mistakes along the way to mastery.

Oh, by the way, having great great skill, knowledge or proficiency and using it are two completely different things my friends.

I would imagine, if we sat all the "masters" and "gurus" down and talked with them, they would all say as Jesus did, "All of this and more; so shall you do."

Now, go out and "master" you and be your own "guru". If you are going to look to anyone, let it be YOU, for you are all worthy of the titles, most of you just have not discovered it yet. And yes, certainly admire those who have "mastered" things but do not think yourself to be "less than" in their presence.

May you be blessed always and in all ways!

Harry

http://www.harryshade.com

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking!

A message every adult should read because children are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say. I have said before that we are both teacher and student and while this is geared towards children, it is a universal truth for us at all times.

It reminds me of the Liberty Mutual commercials which show people seeing other people commit acts of kindness and so they pass it forward, because at that moment they became the student and then in turn the teacher.

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

When you thought I wasn't looking

I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator,

and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking

I saw you feed a stray cat,

and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking

I saw you make my favorite cake for me,

and I learned that the little things

can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking

I heard you say a prayer,

and I knew that there is a Higher Power

I could always talk to,

and I learned to trust in it.

When you thought I wasn't looking

I saw you make a meal

and take it to a friend who was sick,

and I learned that we all have to

help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw you give of your time and money

to help people who had nothing,

and I learned that those who have something

should give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking

I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it,

and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking

I saw how you handled your responsibilities,

even when you didn't feel good, and I learned

that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking

I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that

sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking

I saw that you cared,

and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking

I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know

to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking

I looked at you and wanted to say,

'Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.'

THIS GOES OUT TO ALL OF THE PEOPLE

WHO DO SO MUCH FOR OTHERS,

BUT THINK THAT NO ONE EVER SEES.

LITTLE EYES SEE A LOT .

Each of us influences the lives of those around us, especially the children.

How will you touch the life of someone today?

Just by sharing this with someone else,

you will probably make them at least think

about their influence on others.

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.

Thank you for reading this today, I am honored that you would take the time. Please feel free to share your thoughts and stories And by all means please share this with everyone you know!

May you be blessed always and in all ways!

Harry

http://www.raresenseunlimited.com/

The Power of Gratitude

Yesterday, my computer modem went out and I was without internet, phones or cable for about 24 hours. Now, I could have lamented the fact that I lost all my technology, after all I do run my business from my house but I try and be grateful for everything in my life, fo it all has a lesson in it.

"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation." - Brian Tracy

So, what did I do with this peaceful repose from technology so as to make it a grateful experience.

Well, first of all, I have a stack of books to read and I took time to finish one and completely read another. They were both by Joe Vitale and if you are in business I would recommend both to get thhings going, keep things going and prosper like never before.

The first one is "There's a Customer Born Every Minute", in which Vitale studies the success principles of the great P.T. Barnum. I found it hard t put down and it is chock full of business wisdom from the master publicity maker.

The other is "Your Internet Cash Machine". Once again Vitale provides practical business ideas, most of which can be implemented immediately and for little to no cost.

I also spent quality time with my wife watching a cute movie, "License to Wed", starring Robin Williams. It is a nice "date" movie!

The other thing I did was spend about forty minutes today in silence. It was inspiring, energizing, relaxing and quite a judicious use of my time. We do not spend nearly enough time in silence. In fact, most of us spend no time there at all and yet it can do so many wonderful things for us.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." - Melodic Beattie

Ok, what has this got to do with gratitude. Well, if I was not grateful for the modem breaking then I would not have had these wonderful personal and life growth experiences.

So, the next time something happens that at first looks to be a nuisance and/or inconvenience, be grateful for it and turn it into something fun and worthwhile.

Thats' all for now!

May you be blessed always and in all ways!

Harry

Do You Always Give Your Best?

Do you always give your best in everything that you do? Do you at least try to give your very best?

Many times in life when things do not go our way we want to blame things outside of ourselves but can we always say that "we" gave our very best.

Doesn't the responsibility for our actions lie with us? What influence are you having on those around you by your actions? Can you look yourself in the mirror and say, "I did my best today."?

Click on the movie below to watch this inspiring you tube clip about a football coach and his challenge to his player. Now, this coach has passion for his players and is a true teacher of life.



May you be blessed always and in all ways!

You Are a Teacher, Part 3.

In the last two posts I covered how you are a teacher to others and yourself. Today, I am going to narrow the focus a bit and talk about the most precious of students, our children.

There is always a lot of talk about creating a more harmonious world, one where peace and love rule. A place where we want to raise kids to be better citizens. Well, if that is true then we have to realize that it all starts at home.

Kids are a blank slate so the only way they can learn hate, prejudice, violence, deceit, bad attitudes, worry, deviance and anxiety is by example. Whether it is from the people they are in direct contact with or the almighty boob tube, it has to be learned.

So how is your home life? Do you show love and compassion? Are you honest and happy? Is it a calm, peaceful, serene place? Do you value service to others? Do you have a positive attitude? Are you a caring, kind and considerate? Do you tell your children that you love them? Are you encouraging them to play, create and explore? Is acceptance and tolerance taught? Are you flexible, patient and open?

Sure parenting is a tough thing, probably one of the toughest things you will ever do but it is so full of joy and priceless rewards that nothing can replace it.

The beautiful thing is you are not alone, ever. Everyone has someone they can turn to for support. Be it family, friends, mentors or social service organizations, there is always someone willing to lend a hand.

As a parent myself, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that there were times where I had no clue what I was doing and I know that I made some mistakes when raising my daughter. Overall, everything I did, I tried to start from a position of love and when I did that it all seemed to fall into place. Our soul instinctively knows what to do.

Even if your own childhood was not the best, you can still be a good parent. You have a choice as to how you are going to raise them. Just like any other thing you will choose throughout your lifetime, you can choose to be an involved, positive parent and raise a loving child.

My own father was an alcoholic and just never there, so I grew up essentially without a father. Now, I had two choices when I became a father, I could choose to be like him or not. I chose to be the exact opposite and I can say that it has worked out very well. I have a lovely daughter!

I'll sum this up with one of my quotes from my presentation, "The ABC's of Life".

"Children are the canvas on which is painted the next generation."

You Are a Teacher, Part 2.

Yesterday I wrote about all of us being a teacher and I focused on what we teach others. Today I would like to expand on that thought by turning the teaching inward. What I mean by that is while we are teaching others with our words and actions, we are also teaching ourselves.

How do we do that? Actually in the same ways we teach others, through our words and actions. Self-talk is one of the greatest teaching tools that we have in forming who we are for the rest of our lives. Especially after we leave childhood, our inner dialogue is more responsible than ever for who we are today and who we will be in the future.

Here are some questions to ask yourself: How is your inner dialogue? Do you say/think good things to yourself or are you constantly saying/thinking negative things to yourself? Do you encourage or discourage yourself? If a friend talked to you as you talk to yourself, would they still be your friend? Why do we put up with negative talk from our self when we probably would not from others?

To expand on this teaching thing a little further, how we treat ourselves teaches others how to treat us. If we are being negative towards ourselves then we are giving permission for others to treat us badly, in fact we are attracting those that treat us badly and then wonder why it happens. Like a bee is attracted to flowers because of the scent, we are sending our signals to the world (our scent) that it is OK to treat me badly because I don't really like myself anyway. The ironic thing here is that all of it is self-perpetuating. The more we think/say bad things about ourselves, the more we attract negative responses from the world, so the more we feel badly and dislike ourselves even more.

However, we can reverse the cycle by simply saying/thinking good things about ourselves. If you want to have good things happen to you then start by being a better friend to you. Then you will attract positive people who will treat you right, which in turn will build your self-esteem and self-confidence. Since at this point you are feeling better about you, then you will think/say good things about you and in turn you will continue to attract positive things. Once again it is self-perpetuating and will continue to feed upon itself.

Our words and thoughts are powerful things and they can lead us down two very different paths. One path of joy, love, happiness, peace & harmony and the other path of depression, despair, guilt & misery. What path do you want to be on? It is all up to you and you are teaching yourself and the world which path you will ultimately be on.

Well, that's it for today. I'll be back soon with more Rare Sense Thoughts!

May you be blessed always and in all ways!

http://www.raresenseunlimited.com/

You are a teacher!

If you want to live a fulfilled and balanced life then you have to recognize that you are a teacher and have all the responsibilty that comes with being in such a position.

Whether we realize it or not we are always teaching others. Some of us do it as a profession and all of us do it by our mere actions and words. How we treat others and the words we use, tell the world who we truly are on the inside. We must take this into consideration anytime we are around others.

How do you want the world to see you? What do you want to project? What do you want to teach others? What kind of world do you want to co-create? These are serious questions with serious ramifications, for if you say you want a world of peace, harmony and love, is that what you are teaching the world by your actions and words?

I have a list on my bulletin board entitled the "Five Laws of Life" that illustrates my point rather eloquently:

May every thought that you think be etched in fire in the sky for the whole world to see, for in fact it is...

May every word that you say be said as if the whole world were one great big ear for everyone to hear, for fact it is...

May every deed you do recoil on top of your head, for in fact it will....

May every wish you wish another be a wish you wish for yourself, for in fact it is...

May everything you do be done as if God is doing it, for in fact God is!

That's it, short, sweet and to the point. Sometimes I just like to be efficient.

May you be blessed always and in all ways!

Children Learn What They Live

Here is a great poem from Dorothy Law Nolte. It really does sum up what parents desperately need to know about raising children and what we as a society need to know about being a part of the process. As was said in the past it takes a village to raise a child, so we all need to understand the fundamanetal truths in Nolte's poem below.

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerence, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world!

-Dorothy Law Nolte