You have been taught that independence is power. You seek to wield that power as an indication of your achievement. You, then, find yourself justifying your choices with apologies to those who counted on you.
The motivation to set yourself apart can, unchecked, isolate you from community. Wanting to set yourself apart can also motivate you toward sustainable contributions to the community. Your uniqueness can steel you to the deceptions to which others fall prey. You can think beyond the current moment to see our common future.
Independence, in truth, is recognition of the power you have even in the absence of titles, positions, and hierarchy. It is the discipline to utilize power with purpose, always having a reasoned approach to action. It is determining the wise course by whether it achieves a collective vision and satisfies a consensus need.
You must learn to distinguish between those that can be trusted and those who cannot. It is true that you are powerful. The promise of community is that other lights combined with yours can illuminate a brighter future. This requires risk. But, this risk is not blind. Those who will combine with you in community will complement your contribution and demonstrate discipline just as you must.
As comfortable and safe as it is to believe the contrary, you are not alone in your quest to succeed. But, this does not diminish the fact that each choice is ultimately yours to make. The risks and investments are yours to live with. You hold responsibility for your choices, but your freedom to make those choices is in the context of a larger community. Purpose gives power. Discipline is power. When we move, let us move together.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Wanting To Have an Answer Now
You have been taught that the process requires patience. You wait until you are unable to sit any longer. You, then, make decisions of convenience in the context of your current knowledge motivated by your immediate desires.
Your desire for a quick answer can seduce you into short cuts and suspect relationships. That same desire is a thirst for knowledge that keeps you searching, learning, and developing for a lifetime. Use that desire to motivate a determination toward preparedness.
Patience in the process, in truth, is an opportunity to work through the deficiencies you have. Practice a determined meditation—calm your anxiety through careful consideration of the inputs, the process, and potential consequences. Gain new knowledge through observation and reading. Focus on a state of being prepared. Become clearly aware of the opportunities around you. In time, sustainable use of process results in your ability to create your own opportunities.
It is not imperative that you know the master plan. You only have to be clear on your role and your next step. You will not achieve success without the process. Enjoy the process rather than wasting time trying to circumvent it or agonizing over the fact that the destination is unclear to you. Take pride in identifying your individual role and our collective responsibility. Be ready!
Your desire for a quick answer can seduce you into short cuts and suspect relationships. That same desire is a thirst for knowledge that keeps you searching, learning, and developing for a lifetime. Use that desire to motivate a determination toward preparedness.
Patience in the process, in truth, is an opportunity to work through the deficiencies you have. Practice a determined meditation—calm your anxiety through careful consideration of the inputs, the process, and potential consequences. Gain new knowledge through observation and reading. Focus on a state of being prepared. Become clearly aware of the opportunities around you. In time, sustainable use of process results in your ability to create your own opportunities.
It is not imperative that you know the master plan. You only have to be clear on your role and your next step. You will not achieve success without the process. Enjoy the process rather than wasting time trying to circumvent it or agonizing over the fact that the destination is unclear to you. Take pride in identifying your individual role and our collective responsibility. Be ready!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Redefining Process, Independence, Rightness, and Self (2 of 2)
You have been taught that the process requires patience. You wait until you are unable to sit any longer, and you make decisions of convenience in the context of your current knowledge. Process, in truth, is an opportunity to work through the deficiencies you have. You are both better prepared and more clearly aware of the opportunities around you. Sustainable use of process results in your ability to create your own opportunities.
You have been taught that independence is power. You seek to wield that power as an indication of your achievement. Independence, in truth, is recognition of the power you have even in the absence of titles, positions, and hierarchy. It is the discipline to utilize power with purpose, always having a reasoned approach to action.
You have been taught that rightness is a settled question. You do not take time to discuss the questions at hand. In this way, you have no responsibility for inconsistencies. Rightness, in truth, is a social construction rooted in the norms of the group. The discussion of rightness is a discussion of sustainability and the long-term responsibility we all assume for the decisions we make today.
You have been taught that you are singularly unique and required to strive toward perfection. You adopt approaches to the perfection question that either perpetuate a cycle of poor mental health, failed relationships, or both. You, in truth, reach perfection in the context of others. Discerning in the context of uncertainty and difference among the multitude of “good” options, that is the peak of human experience.
Overcoming rationalization is overcoming the willful misinterpretation of process, independence, rightness, and yourself. Choose sustainability. Produce with the consequence of interrelated community.
You have been taught that independence is power. You seek to wield that power as an indication of your achievement. Independence, in truth, is recognition of the power you have even in the absence of titles, positions, and hierarchy. It is the discipline to utilize power with purpose, always having a reasoned approach to action.
You have been taught that rightness is a settled question. You do not take time to discuss the questions at hand. In this way, you have no responsibility for inconsistencies. Rightness, in truth, is a social construction rooted in the norms of the group. The discussion of rightness is a discussion of sustainability and the long-term responsibility we all assume for the decisions we make today.
You have been taught that you are singularly unique and required to strive toward perfection. You adopt approaches to the perfection question that either perpetuate a cycle of poor mental health, failed relationships, or both. You, in truth, reach perfection in the context of others. Discerning in the context of uncertainty and difference among the multitude of “good” options, that is the peak of human experience.
Overcoming rationalization is overcoming the willful misinterpretation of process, independence, rightness, and yourself. Choose sustainability. Produce with the consequence of interrelated community.
Redefining Process, Independence, Rightness, and Self (1 of 2)
I do not know exactly what you were born into, but I do know for certain that what you are today, right now, is not comparable in achievement and acclaim to what will be your success. How can I be so certain? I am certain because a disciplined approach to any endeavor will yield results. A sustained contribution to your own success will free you from any deficiencies that present themselves as fears. Your deficiencies only outline the primary learning and relationships required for your success.
Your powers of intellect can be used against you. Pride can push you toward your own destruction. You must dispel the thought that you can achieve success on your own—that you are smarter or stronger than others only due to your uniqueness. Do not reason that, in yourself alone, you are wise.
The most dangerous deception is the deception you perpetrate on yourself. Once you have begun to believe without hope of contradiction that your actions are honorable, you are most dangerous. Outside counsel is shrugged off. Voices from multiple sources and perspectives are disregarded. With fervor and passion, you do what you have purposed in your heart. Regardless of the lack of sustainability and consequences of your action, you refuse to discern the deception.
More than a few methods exist in preparation for our self-deceit. As with other deceptions, they appear on the surface as desirable traits. Yet, without the principles of individual role definition combined with responsibility to community, desirable traits become seducers toward quick fixes and unsustainable gratification.
Notice the central deception in rationalization, your desire to achieve success through unsustainable means, a short-term view of process, independence, rightness, and yourself.
Your powers of intellect can be used against you. Pride can push you toward your own destruction. You must dispel the thought that you can achieve success on your own—that you are smarter or stronger than others only due to your uniqueness. Do not reason that, in yourself alone, you are wise.
The most dangerous deception is the deception you perpetrate on yourself. Once you have begun to believe without hope of contradiction that your actions are honorable, you are most dangerous. Outside counsel is shrugged off. Voices from multiple sources and perspectives are disregarded. With fervor and passion, you do what you have purposed in your heart. Regardless of the lack of sustainability and consequences of your action, you refuse to discern the deception.
More than a few methods exist in preparation for our self-deceit. As with other deceptions, they appear on the surface as desirable traits. Yet, without the principles of individual role definition combined with responsibility to community, desirable traits become seducers toward quick fixes and unsustainable gratification.
Notice the central deception in rationalization, your desire to achieve success through unsustainable means, a short-term view of process, independence, rightness, and yourself.
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