Being Malleable

The beauty of the expectant is desirable, but there is also a certain pleasure in the unexpected. Look forward to it.

Being in Love

"Love begins at home and is spread abroad."



Love matters!

God bless the Obamas. God bless each of us. God bless our great country, the United States of America.

Being Successful

The quote below, attributed to Woody Allen, got me to thinking about success, luck, purpose, and the diligence required to fulfill one's purpose:

"Eighty percent of success is showing up when you are as talented as me. Without the talent, no one would have realized that I had showed up"

Is talent then given? Improved upon? Mastered? One shows up and that which is given, improved upon, and mastered bring about that eighty percent success rate?

What is the twenty percent? That which is given, the talent? What is the eighty? That which is improved upon and mastered?

Success then is not possible without you. Luck and happen stance are minimum forces that we ourselves create through diligence. Diligence here is working through the talent which allows you to show up, to be noticed, and to fulfill purpose.

This is being successful.

Being Excellent Until the Finish

Recently Tom Peters posted a quote by Ernest Hemingway's Garden of Eden on his Blog that relates to execution: "Finishing is what you have to do. If you don't finish, nothing is worth a damn." Below is my comment to the post largely quoted. You can read this post and brilliant others by clicking on the title above. And speaking of Tom Peters' brilliant posts, he understands well that writing a "clever rant" is no substitute for doing. His latest post, "The Stuff is the Fluff, the Flower is the Power," makes this point. Back to Hemmingway:

I loved the Hemmingway quote "finishing is what you have to do. If you don't finish, nothing is worth a damn." I recently gave a young man of 25 a chance to be an independent contractor for me. He is a fine craftsman and excellent worker, but he had begun to slack off over the last week, as he managed two sites. But the sites are set to be completed sequentially. I was conscious when he began not to overwhelm him, placing older men who had more managerial experience to look after him. But they have their own crews on their sites to look after.

In thinking of this post about the importance of execution, I was reminded of a conversation I had yesterday with the young contractor. "It's not how you begin but how you finish," I admonished. "Yes, ma'am. I think I know what you mean," he said, "but can you tell me why?" (He's from Tennessee and everything is "yes, ma'am" and "no, ma'am." He is a most likeable young man because of his simple way of honoring others in his speech, even his small ragtag crew.) "Because the memory of the end will be my last memory of you," I replied. "Yes, ma'am."

Last night he stayed with his crew until 2:00am and finished the job. When I went in this morning the work was done with excellence as I knew it could be. (He has serious skill, having learned to build homes from the ground up since he was 14.) As walked through the house, he was so proud of himself and I was so happy to have the work finished with such excellence. I gave him a serious bonus to encourage him and to express my gratitude. Though I had intended the bonus all along, I had not mentioned it. He was thrilled by the outcome and so was I.

Being Simply the Best

Barack 2008! Yes, We Can!



Barack is simply the best candidate, the best leader for our country.

Being James Dobson

1 Corinthians 13

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

James Dobson, the ultra conservative religious leader of Focus on the Family, accuses Barack Obama of "distorting" the Bible and "dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."

Can someone please inform Mr. Dobson that his often loveless understanding of the Bible and all the past sway that it had on large numbers of Americans is now over in this 2008 election? His power to influence is greatly diminished.

Please tell Mr. Dobson that we flatly reject loveless messages of any kind by any persons whether they embrace bits of truth or not. (Rarely anything is all false.) The movement for change has begun. We will no longer ostracize people because of shortcomings, failures or personal choices. Let God be God and not us.

We will no longer accept self-righteousness over love. Love will supersede hate and fear mongering. Love will not be impeded by religious fanatics of any kind. The Focus on the Family should be love. No dogma or fanaticism shall we accept; we are now a much more loving and wiser people.

God bless each of us. God Bless the United States of America

Being a Wildflower

Standing amid rough terrains and high winds-resilient, yet so delicate, bright colorful hues.

Be a wildflower.