God Is Watching Us

A short reflection on the subject of awareness of ourselves, our attributes and characteristics and how we can use the moment to add value to our actions to the benefit of ourselves and others. It is about being aware of who we are and accepting responsibility for all of our actions.
It was just a thought, really. I often hear the questions put, “Why does God allow this to happen. If there is a God there, how could He, permit such to occur?”

Decision Makers drink tea or coffee

There is an assumption that there is a God “there” and although I do not expect everyone reading this to agree, I need to put my own cards on the table and affirm my belief that He or She does exist for me.
Tragic events happen to individuals, to families to nations. Are they the acts of God or are they the consequence of human actions or inaction. Ultimately, decision makers, like the rest of us, eat corn-flakes or whole-grain something or other for breakfast. They drink tea or coffee; they have snacks, they have a favourite football or cricket or base-ball team. They are individual human beings. They are not collective clones although their thinking might reflect that from time to time. They are fathers, sons, daughters, husbands, partners. They are individuals. They, like you and I must accept responsibility for their actions and in-actions.

I am at that stage of life where I have been through many different experiences. Happily, most of them were and are very good. My childhood experiences were wholesome and healthy. A brother of mine, younger but wiser than I, says, “When we were young, we had nothing and thought we had everything. Now, they have everything and they think they have nothing.” In a very simplified and accurate way, he sums up our childhood. We were a working-class family, hardworking father and devoted mother; brought-up to believe in sharing, respect for our parents and elders generally and in honesty and integrity in all that we would undertake.

Simple Times

It was a simple lifestyle, devoid of trappings of the rich or the afflictions and deprivations of the poor. We were taught our prayers, taught about charity and kindness and taught about discipline and obedience. We were, I expect, also taught about enjoyment and happiness and we exercised our experience of both without constraint. We were taught to respect the elderly, of which there appeared to be many, since we were just young children. We addressed our seniors as Mister, Missus, Mam or Sir. There was no undue deference in doing that. It was just being polite. We would offer a seat in the bus to an elderly man or woman and would notice if no other young person showed whether they had “manners” or not.

Disposition Becomes a Habit

It is said, “Disposition becomes a habit, just as a boy becomes a man.” Well, the characteristics developed during our childhood years were certainly no burden in adult life. The values instilled in us remain as unseen guiding hands in the assessment and analysis of the challenges and demands of the adult world. That is not to suggest that, although aware of the “right” or “wrong” of any proposed action, one always took the right course. Far from it. Although we always find some justification for whatever course we take, it does not blind us to the searching questions that pop into our conscious and sub-conscious minds and with the wisdom of hind-sight in particular, we soberly ask ourselves, “What were we thinking of?”


Where is God in all of this? Simply answered, I believe He is at heart of it. Aware of His universal presence and aware that all things are connected, we are conscious that all that we do is a manifestation of who we are in all the dimensions of our lives. We are where we are supposed to be at any given point in time. How we deal with the present, at whereever we are at that point, is how we deal with life. We sometimes hide from that fact and say, for example, “I was not myself when I did such an act”. “That is not like me”, or some such expression of denial. But it is me. It is definitely not somebody else. It is me. That applies to your many successes and achievements and acts of gallantry as much as it does to those acts that we are, perhaps ashamed of or in denial.

Tempus Fugit

We live our lives at a speed of sixty seconds per minute. That is the speed at which it passes. That is also the only time in our lives that we can actually exercise any control over our lives. It is during those sixty seconds, those precious, unique, unrepeatable moments, that we can choose to do something, say something, or do and say nothing. It is during that time we choose and decide events. We do it all the time. By no doing anything or saying anything during that time, we may very well be engaging in “non-decisions.” A "non-decision” can be, in effect, a decision not to change or alter a policy or position.

Awareness

Awareness of the importance of the sixty seconds of our time is crucially important to living our lives to full potential. Awareness of our individual importance as human beings, free-thinking human beings, is exercised during those sixty seconds. Once the second has passed, we cannot recover it. We have no “Action Replay” button. We can do something later, maybe even better, but we cannot make up for the time we decided to do nothing and missed the opportunity to do something of importance.

It is important, I believe, to remember, God is not going to do for us things that we can do for ourselves. Hence the importance of being aware of what we can do for ourselves and for others, when we can do it or ought to do it and then deciding to do whatever it is. It is also said, “Hell is full of good intentions”. Well, we can create our own “hell” in this life. Opening our minds and hearts to the possibilities of helping others to experience a better place in this life is, perhaps, the most rewarding thing any one of us can do, once we choose to do something about it.

Experience the Moment

“God is watching us” comes from the song, “From a Distance”, beautifully rendered by Bett Midler. Let us resolve to look at what is around us. Experience the moment. Stretch out the hand of friendship to someone who needs it.whether that person is in our own immediate family, community or neighbourhood or much further afield. There is no shortage of opportunities. The power is in your hands. Carpe Diem.

Leadership And It's Importance In The Business World And Your Success

By Maggie Yue

Leadership

In our competitive world today, leadership skills are crucial to any successful business. What is leadership? Leadership is commonly used to refer to activities such as conducting, guiding, or directing people; initiating activity. However, leadership is also used to refer to someone who is a leader. How can leadership be applied in so many ways and what constitutes a leader in all of these situations? The answer is contained in the realization that perhaps the most fundamental characteristic of leadership, and therefore of leaders, is personal leadership.
What is personal leadership? It is the ability to lead others and yourself in the direction you want your life to take. The ability to define what you want out of life and how you are going to get there is the first step in developing leadership. It is only the beginning because personal leadership means “leading”, “directing”, and “taking action”. It means living each day to the fullest. It means developing goals that you want so badly that you live each day with enthusiastic ardor for your goals, yourself, and all who are close to you. Knowing what you want out of life; knowing what success is to you; knowing what your goals are; knowing that you are going to achieve those goals regardless of what other people think, say, or do, is the essence of personal leadership.
Personal leadership also means “accountability”. It means that you have decided to use the talents that are unique to you and will develop them further to reach your goals. It means that you realize that you have the potential to develop further. It means that you have determined the course of your destiny—you are the master of your life.
The good news is that you do not have to develop this skill alone. There are professionals out there that will guide you through this process so you can be as successful as you have dreamed. A business coach will give you the accountability needed and the motivation needed to succeed. You can literally have anything you want in your life so why not start today?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maggie_Yue http://EzineArticles.com/?Leadership-And-Its-Importance-In-The-Business-World-And-Your-Success&id=558096

Do You Wish to Lead the World or Just the American People?

Do You Wish to Lead the World or Just the American People?
By: Michael D. Ringrose


When we think about Leaders, we generally tend to think about those who grace or occupy the world stage. Historically, Lincoln, Washington, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Churchill, Stalin, Nelson Mandela come to mind but there are many. Some political, some religious, some social, some in the world of sports and in the world of literature, music and art.

There are those who present themselves to the public to be chosen to lead. At present, we have, perhaps the world's best example of that process being acted out on the American Stage. America is presented with choice of future President. Will it be Hillary Clnton, JohnMcCain, Barak Obhama or Mike Huckabee who will be the benificiary of their preferences. It is an enormously onerous duty and responsibility they bear in making this choice because, of course, it effects not only the United States but it will also impact significantly on the rest of the world.

The "rest of the world", does not have a vote in the process. One might ask, if the person selected for the position of President of the United States, will be cast in the role of Leader of the Free World, then perhaps consideration ought to be given, at some future date, to allow those countries outside of the United States, who will, or maybe, affected by the result of the election, some way of exercising or expressing their preferences in the choice of President.

Of course, one can anticipate the contrary arguement. Why should countries or persons outside the jurisdiction of the United States or any other sovereign state, have the right to exerise a vote in internal elections? In perhaps all other countries, the Prime Ministers or Presidents do not normally purport to have a right to dictate how other countries behave. Such has been the position with the U S, and I hastely add, often at the behest of countries in Europe and elsewhere. Many countries have, in time of war or econimic crisis, requested or imposed on the US to come to the rescue.

Whatever the reasons, we are faced with a defacto recognition of its perceived status. In those circumstances, what are the characteristics now being sought in the candidates? What are the attributes that shape and inform those candidates? Leaving aside the fact that each and all of them will play to the particular audiences they meet in their thousands as they plead for support, what are the real values that drive and sustain them as persons? Where and how do they display their courage and how is it measured? How is their commitment to honesty portrayed? Outside of claiming to the omniscient in all things political, how do they demonstrate their capacity to be truly understanding of the human condition and offer wise counsel in dealing with complex situations.

Leaving aside the wonderful rhetoric and lyricism of the speechwriters, where is the demonstration and evidence of capacity to deal only with truth?

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So You Want To Be A Leader?

So you want to be a leader. What is stopping you?. What is it about leadership that attracts you. Are you influenced by the public profiles of those who grace the world stage, in the fields of politics, economics, religion? Are you more attracted by those who prove their physical prowess? Famous athletes, of one kind or another? Runners, boxers, basket-ball champions, baseball heroes, tennis champions, auto racing drivers? Are they leaders?

Often, it seems the title is loosely attached to individuals who are identified as the best in their particular field. Sometimes, those individuals are not capable of offering leadership to others. They are "loners", consumed in the pursuit of their own ambition. Sometimes picked and selected to posts requiring demonstrable leadership skills, experience and qualifications solely on the basis that they possess public profiles as being on top of their particular league. Delving deeper into their attributes and one may find a dearth of the necessary ingredients that enable and encourage others to follow.


So what is it that makes a difference? What is it that makes a leader? Are leaders born? Can they be shaped, crafted, formed and honed? Does this formation need to be external? Can one make oneself a leader or develop the necessary skills to allow one to grow into leadership.
Is the drive to become a leader influenced by intrinsically good values, service of others, community, nation or is it driven by the desire or need to dominate, control, coerce?


Can we learn from the profiles and characteristics of world leaders? To what extent is the profile we see and hear on TV and radio, a managed, artificial product, occasionally fractured with glimpses of the human being behind the public face? World leaders include Ghandi, Hitler, Tito, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Clinton, Lincoln, Putin, Bush, Senator Mitchell, Jesus Christ, and a disparate selection of people who are described as either terrorist or hero and patriot, depending on what side of the value system one is viewing from.


So where is the compass that guides your journey to becoming a leader? Reflecting on the question adds its own value to the question. What guides us as individuals essentially are the values that we hold most precious in our lives. They vary from person to person and from community to community and are absorbed at various levels, as we progress on our development from children to adulthood. Some of those values are held in highest esteem when we are young, immature and have not sufficient understanding and maturity to take personal ownership of them. Others become more internalised as we grow through life and the choices we make assist in enshrining certain values deep into our personas. Whether that is due to conditioning or conscious selection is dependant on the opportunities we met or were deprived of along the way to develop a personal critical capacity that enables a distancing from our subjective judgements.


Opportunity and choice are part of the equasion that need to be factored in, coupled with the inate sense of importance one attaches to our value system. Do we wish to share it or coerce others to absorbe it? Is leadership imposed on us or do we subconsciously need to be lead? If we desire to be leaders, is that pushed by choice or obligation to others? Is it service or is it power?

Additional Resources
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Leadership

Lead or Be Led invites contributions from all those who share an interest in identifying the particular qualities, attributes, knowledge, experience and skills that inform and shape the characteristics that are evident and admired in good Leaders.

Those involved in studying the diverse and varied components that are manifest in the exercise of leadership, those involved in training and forming leaders, those who practice in leadership positions, in public or private sector, those who aspire to be leaders and those who wish to develop their competencies, knowledge and skills, all are welcome to join us in our journey of exploration and share in its findings.

Leadership- Identifying the Leader in You

Identifying the Leader in You

Leaders have many attributes, many qualities, many styles and many faces. They can be presented in a formal way,
easily enough identified, as for example, military leadership. Distinctive uniforms separate the soldier from the masses and within that category, badges, stripes, stars, braids, ribbons, ranks and titles, all assist in placing the individual at his or her appropriate place within the organisation.

In civilian life, other symbols are utilized to signal the importance and status of individual leaders within our societies and there are a multiplicity of agencies, PR professionals, State Agencies, Event Managers, etc., whose function in life, it appears, is to enable others to identify and build images of themselves and then use mechanisms to portray those images to appropriate audiences.

These strategies are used in order to add weight and importance to the presence of the individual leaders and also as influencers in communicating messages from leaders to their supporters and followers and also, to attract more support in advancing whatever is the campaign or mission.

We all succumb to these strategies and subliminally absorb them, from television programmes, newspapers, magazines, promotion events and rarely allow ourselves the time to analyse or even question the substance of the message propagated by such “leaders”.

When it is time to elect a government, we do the same. When candidates present themselves, seeking our vote to elect them into high office, we readily accept the categorisation of policy. In the US we have Republican or Democrat; in Europe, divisions tend to be more diversified, with candidates coming from Labour Movements, Liberal or Conservative, Socialist, Communist, Democratic of Fascist camps of one kind or another. In other countries, of course, choice is not offered and is not an option. Winston Churchill is credited as saying; democracy is a dreadful process until you try the alternative.

Where do such leaders get their power? Excepting countries where there is no choice and, indeed even there, there is choice but the subject of another article) they derive their power from the people. Who are the people? Most of “the people” are content to exercise their 60 seconds of democracy, the time it takes to cast your vote, once every 3, 4 or five years. In casting that vote we identify the leaders we wish to put in place to rule us and our lives and expectations over the next number of years.

The real leaders are the individuals who choose the leaders but we do not permit ourselves to create and establish that identity in the process. We rather go through it as a duty and allow those seeking our support to present as if we have no choice but to give it to them and they, by and large, accept it as of right.

Individual people, all of whom collectively constitute community, society, country, possess a range of power and influence in our lives. No matter where we are and what our status we are in control of our own lives. The exercise of choice, having due regard to the rights and entitlements of others, is the key to our success and happiness. It is the exercise of our authority over our lives. It can be, judiciously utilised, be a key influencer, for the better, over the lives of others. Use it, use it wisely and use it well.

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