There is another sky by Emily Dickinson
There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields –
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!
Quote
The door to a balanced success opens widest on the hinges of hope and encouragement. ~Zig Ziglar
Labor Day, Labor Daily
By Lee Colan, Ph.D.
As I was cleaning off my outdoor grill after a traditional Labor Day family barbeque, I reflected on why Labor Day was, well, Labor Day. I love living during a time when any answer is just a Google and a click away.
Labor Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September in the United States since the 1880s. The form for the celebration of Labor Day was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday—a street parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations,†followed by a festival for the workers and their families. This became the pattern for Labor Day celebrations.
Okay, simple enough—a celebration of workers. Although the trade and labor organizations have morphed over the years, we are all workers. Whether we clock in and out, manage a team, run a business or invest in many businesses—they are all forms of work. The Depression era yielded a generation who had a black and white view of work—work until you are 62 years old, then retire. There was no grey.
Many of today’s workers search for careers they are passionate about. The result: work does not feel like work. They can labor daily and see it as a blessing, a way of expressing their gifts, and yes, of course, a way of earning a living. We each have a need for mastery and meaning—to do something well and to contribute to something bigger than ourselves.
Working in Your Sweet Spot
Most types of sports equipment—a golf club, a tennis racquet, a baseball bat—have a certain spot that, if the ball hits it, will give the player the optimal result. Hitting this sweet spot yields a long drive down the fairway, a swift crosscourt return or home run swing. Every sport has a sweet spot of some type. If you have experienced it, you know when you hit the sweet spot, you barely feel it. The ball goes where you want it to go… even further and faster. Doesn’t get any better than that!
Did you know the average person possesses between 500 and 700 different skills and abilities? If we are going to labor daily (and be excited about it), our goal is to find that skill or ability that’s right in our sweet spot. When we do, we will be in “the zone†and our work will feel like play.
Want to know an easy way to find your professional sweet spot? Look at the intersection of these two questions:
What am I absolutely passionate about?
Which tasks are very easy and natural for me to perform?
Most of us vividly remember the moment we found our professional sweet spot. Others told us we made it look easy, that we really excelled and we looked like we were having a ball. Think of the last time when others made these comments to you. What were you doing? Like finding any sweet spot, it’s worth hitting these questions around for awhile and practicing our answers before we can serve up a winner.
Ralph V. Gilles understands this process. He dropped out of college and was spending most of his time—by his own admission—slacking in his parents’ basement, eating granola, watching “Dukes of Hazard†reruns and lamenting the sorry state of automobiles being made in America.
Growing up, Gilles was typical of most boys who played with Hot Wheels and Formula 1 model cars. But, as a teenager, he also was extremely talented in sketching vehicles. In fact, his aunt wrote a letter to then Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca, saying he should hire her 14-year-old nephew.
A Chrysler executive responded, recommending three design schools. Soon afterward, however, the letter was lost and forgotten. Meanwhile, the car-crazy Gilles completed high school and enrolled in college to study engineering, but dropped out quickly. His reason: “I was in a funk and was really not sure I wanted to be an engineer.â€
As he continued his granola/â€Dukes of Hazard†routine down in the basement, Ralph’s older brother, Max, recalled the letter from Chrysler. He remembered that one of the recommended schools was Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. Upset to see Ralph wasting his time and talent, Max pushed his brother to apply to the local school although the application deadline was only a week away and would require 10 sketches.
At that point, the whole family became involved, making Ralph coffee so he could complete his sketches, cheering him on and helping wherever they could. By the end of the week, Ralph was covered in pencil lead, but the sketches were complete, so his mother sent the packet to the school by overnight delivery.
Today, Ralph V. Gilles is recognized as the innovator of the Chrysler 300 sedan and the Dodge Magnum Wagon I in addition to being responsible for the 2002 Jeep Liberty, 2003 Dodge Viper SRT-10 and several concept cars. Dubbed as the Chrysler Group’s newest darling, Gilles has earned numerous national and international accolades. He has since been promoted to Senior Vice President of Product Design for Chrysler.
If we consistently misidentify our sweet spot, we will find ourselves stuck in a funk, like Gilles. If we pursue our professional sweet spot, we will be living the sweet life!
May your daily labor bear daily fruit of igniting your passion and making a difference!
Gen. Powell has put together these thirteen rules he lives by and I believe that, regardless of what your mission in life might be, they will certainly be applicable in your life as they are in mine.
1. It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
2. Get mad, then get over it.
3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls,
your ego goes with it.
4. It can be done!
5. Be careful what you choose. You may get it.
6. Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
7. You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make
yours.
8. Check small things.
9. Share credit.
10. Remain calm. Be kind.
11. Have a vision. Be demanding.
12. Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
13. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. (In the military, one always looks for
ways to increase or multiply your forces.)
Evening Star by William Blake
Thou fair hair’d angel of the evening,
Now, while the sun rests on the mountains light,
Thy bright torch of love; Thy radiant crown
Put on, and smile upon our evening bed!
Smile on our loves; and when thou drawest the
Blue curtains, scatter thy silver dew
On every flower that shuts its sweet eyes
In timely sleep. Let thy west wind sleep on
The lake; speak silence with thy glimmering eyes
And wash the dusk with silver. Soon, full, soon,
Dost thou withdraw; Then, the wolf rages wide,
And the lion glares thro’ the dun forest.
The fleece of our flocks are covered with
Thy sacred dew; Protect them with thine influence.
“Billions and Billions”
By Carl Sagan
Wide-Legged Forward Bend
Prasarita Padottanasana
(pra-sa-REE-tah pah-doh-tahn-AHS-anna)
prasarita = stretched out, expanded, spread, with outstretched limbs
pada = foot
ut = intense
tan = to stretch or extend (compare the Latin verb tendere, “to stretch or extend”)
Step by Step
Stand in Tadasana (Mountain Pose), facing one of the long edges of your sticky mat, then step or lightly hop your feet apart anywhere from 3 to 4 1/2 feet (depending on your height: taller people should step wider). Rest your hands on your hips. Make sure your inner feet are parallel to each other. Lift your inner arches by drawing up on the inner ankles, and press the outer edges of your feet and ball of the big toe firmly into the floor. Engage the thigh muscles by drawing them up. Inhale and lift your chest, making the front torso slightly longer than the back.
Exhale and, maintaining the length of the front torso, lean the torso forward from the hip joints. As your torso approaches parallel to the floor, press your fingertips onto the floor directly below your shoulders. Extend your elbows fully. Your legs and arms then should be perpendicular to the floor and parallel to each other. Move your spine evenly into the back torso so that your back is slightly concave from the tailbone to the base of the skull. Bring your head up, keeping the back of the neck long, and direct your gaze upward toward the ceiling.
Push your top thighs straight back to help lengthen the front torso, and draw the inner groins away from each other to widen the base of your pelvis. Take a few breaths. As you maintain the concavity of your back and the forward lift of your sternum, walk your fingertips between your feet. Take a few more breaths and then, with an exhalation, bend your elbows and lower your torso and head into a full forward bend. Make sure as you move down that you keep your front torso as long as possible. If possible rest the crown of your head on the floor.
Press your inner palms actively into the floor, fingers pointing forward. If you have the flexibility to move your torso into a full forward bend, walk your hands back until your forearms are perpendicular to the floor and your upper arms parallel. Be sure to keep your arms parallel to each other and widen the shoulder blades across the back. Draw your shoulders away from your ears.
Stay in the pose anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. To come out, bring your hands back on the floor below your shoulders and lift and lengthen your front torso. Then with an inhalation, rest your hands on your hips, pull your tail bone down toward the floor, and swing the torso up. Walk or hop your feet back into Tadasana.
August 15, 2012
“The real purpose of life is just to be happy—to enjoy your life. To get to a place where you’re not always trying to get someplace else. So many people spend their lives striving, trying to be someplace that they’re not, they never get to arrive.”
— Dr. Wayne Dyer
Ulysses By James Joyce