Leadership Qualities of Kings and Queens
1-Lead ourselves before leading others, Discipline
2-Able to change dreams into reality
3-A leader takes the lead
4-Few leaders are born but many are self made
5-Looks for or creates opportunity
6-Positive, futuristic, energetic, active
7-Vision, goal
8-Practical
9-Willing to take responsibilities
10-All problems are challenges
11-Charismatic, popular
12-Good communication skills
13-Self Respect
14-Capacity to love others
15-Integrity and morality
16-Able to see things from others points of view
17-Mentally tough and rigid
18-Resilience and ability to fight
19-Humility
20-Patience, compassion, love, understanding and concern for others
21-Doesn't procrastinate
WHAT IS DEMOCRACY, LIBERTY, FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE?
Which one doesn't belong in this group and why?
DEMOCRACY "Government by the people; a form of government in which the
supreme power is retained and directly exercised by the people." [1913
Webster]
Being exercised by the PEOPLE that have money that
buys food that the PEOPLE have become dependant upon and often going
against the SUPREME POWER OF THE PEOPLE.
WHO ARE 'THE PEOPLE' THAT EXERCISE SUPREME POWER NOW?
LIBERTY "The state of a free person; exemption from subjection to the
will of another claiming ownership of the person or services; freedom;
-- opposed to slavery, serfdom, bondage, or subjection." [1913 Webster]
FREEDOM "The state of being free; exemption from the power and control of another; liberty; independence." [1913 Webster]
INDEPENDENCE "The state or quality of being independent; freedom from
dependence; exemption from reliance on, or control by, others;
self-subsistence or maintenance; direction of one's own affairs without
interference." [1913 Webster]
A man does not live until he begins to discipline himself; he merely exists. Like an animal he gratifies his desires and pursues his inclinations just where they may lead him. He is happy as a beast is happy, because he is not conscious of what he is depriving himself; he suffers as the beast suffers, because he does not know the way out of suffering. He does not intelligently reflect upon life, and lives in a series of sensations, longings, and confused memories which are unrelated to any central idea or principle. A man whose inner life is so ungoverned and chaotic must necessarily manifest this confusion in the visible conditions of his outer life in the world; and though for a time, running with the stream of his desires, he may draw to himself a more or less large share of the outer necessities and comforts of life, he never achieves any real success nor accomplishes any real good, and sooner or later wordly failure and disaster are inevitable, as the direct result of the inward failure to properly adjust and regulate those mental forces which make the outer life.
Before a man accomplish anything of an enduring nature in the world he must first of all acquire some measure of success in the management of his own mind. This is as mathematical a truism as that two and two are four, for, "out of the heart are the issues of life." If a man cannot govern the forces within himself, he cannot hold a firm hand upon the outer activities which form his visible life. On the other hand, as a man succeeds, in governing himself he rises to higher and higher levels of power and usefulness and success in the world. The only difference between the life of the beast and that of the undisciplined man is that the man has a wider variety of desires, and experiences a greater intensity of suffering. It may be said of such a man that he is dead, being truly dead to self-control, chastity, fortitude, and all the nobler qualities which constitute life. In the consciousness of such a man the crucified Christ ies entombed, awaiting that resurrection which shall revivify the mortal sufferer, and wake him up to a knowledge of tha realities of his existence.
With the practice of self-discipline a man begins to live, for he then commences to rise above the inward confusion and to adjust his conduct to a steadfast centre within himself. He ceases to follow where inclination leads him, reins in the steed of his desires, and lives in accordance with the dictates of reason and wisdom. Hitherto his life has been without purpose or meaning, but now he begins to consciously mould his own destiny; he is "clothed and in his right mind."
In the process of self-discipline there are three stages namely;
1. Control
2. Purification
3. Relinquishment
A man begins to discipline himself by controlling those passions which have hitherto controlled him; he resists temptation and guards himself against all those tendencies to selfish gratifications which are so easy and natural, and which have formerly dominated him. He brings his appetite into subjection, and begins to eat as a reasonable and responsible being, practising moderation and thoughtfulness in the selection of his food, with the object of making his body a pure instrument through which he may live and act as becomes a man, and no longer degarding that body by pandering to gustatory pleasure. He puts a check upon his tongue, his temper, and, in fact, his every animal desire and tendency, and this he does by referring all his acts to a fixed centre within himself. It is a process of living from within outward, instead of, as formerly, from without inward. He conceives of an ideal, and, enshrining that ideal in the sacred recesses of his heart, he regulates his conduct in accordance with its exaction and demands.
There is a philosophical hypothesis that at the heart of every atom and every aggregation of atoms in the universe there is a motionless center which is the sustaining source of all the universal activities. Be this as it may, there is certainly in the heart of every man and woman a selfless centre without which the outer man could not be, and the ignoring of which leads to suffering and confusion. This selfless center which takes the form, in the mind, of an ideal of unselfishness and spotless purity, the attainment of which is desirable, is man's eternal refuge from the storms of passion and all the conflicting elements of his lower nature. It is the Rock of Ages, the Christ within, the divine and immortal in all men.
End of part 1. Part 2 coming soon...
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SOURCE: http://www.boxingscene.com/motivation/6971.php
4 SIMPLE WAYS TO EXPERIENCE GREAT HAPPINESS AND TRUE FREEDOM
Author: Lynn Zavaro
“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.” ~E.E. Cummings
I love to write. For years I wrote in journals and kept them stacked in piles on my shelves.
One rainy winter evening when I was 25, I walked into the Bourgeois Pig bookshop on Franklin Boulevard in Los Angeles and saw a book next to the cash register written by Natalie Goldberg called Wild Mind. I bought it and my life change forever.
Natalie’s book was about writing practice. A Zen monk practitioner, she brings the fundamentals of Zen to the creative writing process. There were some simple rules she suggested. Some of them are:
• Set a timer and write without stopping your pen—without crossing out or editing. Follow your mind without interruption and see where it leads you.
• Be specific. Not tree, but cypress. Not a street, but Utica Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Not a fruit, but a ripe slice of juicy pineapple.
• Go for the jugular—toward what might scare you. Meet your insides. Dive all the way in.
Writing in personal journals was my sacred time just for myself, to have permission to go wild, reach my depths, and be truly free.
As fate would have it, I ended up taking a workshop with Natalie in Taos, New Mexico and we become friends. At a time of major transition in my life she invited to move to New Mexico and immerse myself in a writing life with her.
Looking back at the many journals I collected, I see the writing met me for that moment in time, but that once it came out of me onto the paper, it was no longer a part of “me.”
It came through me but was not of me. It was an expression that had passed no longer fitting the current moment.
Although the writings still hold energy, the person who wrote them seems unfamiliar. That Lynn is gone, in the past, over.
If you write in journals and go back to re-read them are you surprised, perhaps interested, sometimes astonished by the person who wrote them?
Discovering who we are is an ever-evolving process, always changing, expanding, and growing.
We may think we have arrived, we think we can say that we know who we are now, and then in a snap of the fingers that moment is gone and something new arises—a new insight, a new awareness, a new interest or endeavor.
This is why we humans are a creative process. And why perceiving ourselves as a process can bring great happiness and true freedom.
Giving myself permission to just write without trying to be something, become something, make something out of it that defines me gives me incredible freedom.
Letting go of the need to be labeled by a “noun,” I become more interested in the “verb.” For example, I am not a writer. I write. Now, I am free.
Then, I have permission to revel in every moment my words move across the page for absolutely no reason except for the great happiness I receive from it.
Here are 4 simple rules to experience great happiness and true freedom:
1.BE INTERESTED IN WHO YOU ARE NOT
Part of being truly happy and free is being interested in the mystery of all that we are not.
Becoming clearer about who we are not allows us to de-layer, empty, and let go of the conditioning that doesn’t serve us. We come closer to touching our true essence, our absolute nature.
I’ve discovered pieces of who I am not at various stages of my life.
Like when I had spiritual experiences and labeled myself a “spiritual person,” only to discover I cared a great deal more about what it means to be my best as a human.
Or when I wanted to be a teacher because I wanted to feel like I had “arrived,” yet overlooked the benefits of lifelong learning.
Or when I published my first book, sent it out into the world, and realized the many years I committed to it were over. Almost the next day after my book release, I felt the call to explore something new and write my next book on an almost entirely different subject.
It’s about having a shift in perception and letting go of what we thought we were but no longer are.
Even though you may not have a direct answer when you contemplate who you are not, it’s still worthy. It may encourage you to keep being interested in the exploration of you, to investigate the mystery of yourself, to hear your greater call and listen.
2.DON'T TAKE THINGS TOO SERIOUSLY
Real happiness and freedom come when we remind ourselves to lighten up, to not take our reactions, feelings, desires, or thoughts that feel important so seriously.
Try this: Don’t believe me. Don’t believe anyone else. Don’t believe yourself.
Try not to hold onto your present experience for dear life, because it will change. I try to observe when I use my present experience to build myself up, or manipulate it to show me in a certain light, or try to make something more out of it than it is.
Every once in a while, laugh a little at yourself, at the funny workings of your mind, how silly they can become when you take things oh-too-seriously, and keep a sense of humor.
3.BE TRUE TO YOURSELF
On average, Americans have approximately 3–5 careers a lifetime. Why is this so?
Because we are constantly evolving, constantly changing, constantly learning more about ourselves. We wear a hat, try it on, get a degree, a promotion, commit years, weeks and hours and then realize there is something else we want that feels more in alignment with who we really are.
Somewhere, somehow we were taught that life shouldn’t change, that no one really changes, that we are the same person now that we were as an infant. And in some sense this is true.
We came into this world without any of the conditioning we developed in the years to follow. We were pure—brought into this world with a certain DNA that had a purpose and the trick is to discover it.
The more we are true to ourselves, the closer we are to happiness and freedom.
4.HAVE THE COURAGE TO LIVE FULLY
What if you lived life fully? Engaged your dreams fully? Didn’t cheat it and just went for it?
What if you kept finding your edge? Stopped playing it safe and stretched a step beyond your comfort zone?
What if it didn’t matter what will happen later because you know that it will change?
And this is where I get a little heavy, but only for a moment for this too will change. As humans we know our lives will eventually end. Whatever comes into being will go out of being. Nothing in life is permanent. What we think we have will go away.
So, with this in mind, dive in to this thing called life. Live freely and creatively. Reach for the stars and meet your dreams. Since everything is changing anyway, we truly have nothing to lose.
Source: http://tinybuddha.com/blog/4-simple-ways-to-experience-great-happiness-and-true-freedom/
Throughout our lives we have a tendency to become obsessed
by the relentless pursuit of material things,
houses, cars, clothes, furniture, boats, toys and trinkets.
The more we HAVE,
the more we want.
The more we WANT,
the more we get . .
The more we GET,
the more we WEIGH OURSELVES DOWN.
The end result to all this acquisition is that if and when the crunch comes, we suddenly find ourselves buried under a mountain of possessions, most of which we have little or no use for.
A wise old man once said,
"that if we own any more than 100 items in our lives, it is too much."
Ascertain what you really need to survive in this world and get rid of the rest.
Advertise them, have a garage sale, give them to friends or charity.
The more fluid you become, the easier you will be able to move through life.
To circumnavigate the problems.
And to be free.
Hard habit to break however, for a lifelong collector since birth.
