Creating Oneself

This writing, from the Positive Thoughts  blog, describes well what it means to move from a Reactive perspective to a Creative one... something that not many adults achieve...  This shift, from Reactive to Creative is central to The Evolving Self program starting on April 27, where we explore what it means, but more importantly, we explore and practice the skills on how to do it.

When children learn that giving is more rewarding than taking; when they learn that they can't control everything, but they are masters of their own souls; when they learn to accept people whose difference they fear, and that pleasure is found in the power in helping others; when they learn that the value of one's life is best measured not by possession acquired, but by wisdom shared, hope inspired, tears wiped, and hearts touched; when they learn that happiness and lasting contentment are not to be found in what a person has, but in what he or she is; when they learn to withhold judgment of people, knowing that everyone is blessed with good and bad qualities; when they learn that every person has been given the gift of a unique self and the purpose of life is to share the very best of that gift with the world. . . . When children learn these ideals, they will no longer be children--they will be blessings to those who know them, and worthy models for all the world's children.

David L. Weatherford   

To exist is to change, to change is to mature,
to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.

Henri Berson

For Details of The Evolving Self Program click here.

Waking Up The Workplace

Hi

I've just come across a new webinar series called Waking Up the Workplace in which luminaries from the world of personal and organisational evolution are exploring the dynamics of workplace transformation.

This is the sort of work that the Corporate arm of Keep Evolving is really passionate about. http://www.keepevolving.com.au/corporateprograms.html

It looks like it will be a fascinating series, and better still, it's free!   To register, see below.
All the best
StJohn

About the Waking up the Workplace series:

Business is one of the most powerful forces in the modern world.  And yet work is usually seen as a method solely for making money.  Why is business falling short of its potential to create truly global change in the way that we live and work?

What would happen if we saw the business of work, not just as a means for trade and profit, but as a vehicle for realizing our deepest human potentials in a conscious and creative transformation?

This is the question at the heart of the ‘Waking up the Workplace’ series.  We invite you to join the conversation and help transform business into an expression of sustainable change in the world.

During the series you can discover answers to the following questions:

• How can we design the workplace as a vehicle for transformation?
• How can business include our human passions and purpose and yet retain its practical productivity?
• What are the most powerful and cutting-edge tools available to transform business?
• How can we step into the role of conscious and powerful agents of change?
• What is conscious leadership, and how do we use it to transform the way we do business?
• What kind of workplace do we need to truly address the problems of the 21^st century?

Participation is free:

We’re so passionate about the series that we’ve made sure that you can participate completely for FREE.  All you need is a telephone or internet connection to be able to:

• Contribute to the global conversation with world-leading experts
• Learn powerful conscious business tools to bring to your own work
• Participate in a community of international conscious business practitioners
• Help transform the way the world does business!

By registering you’ll get access to:

• Free participation in all the weekly live calls (including the opportunity to ask questions)
• Free access to downloads of all the calls (forever)
• Participation in what we’re expecting to be a fascinating conversation!
• The chance to contribute to the community blog and take the conversation even further

Register for FREE and join the conversation

1. First name
2. Email
3. We respect your privacy. Your information will never be shared or sold.

Please note:  The links in the form above do not work.   You can register for the Waking Up the Workplace webinars at  http://www.wakinguptheworkplace.com/ 

StJohn

Save the Shoes!!

You may have seen this one - its doing the rounds on Facebook (and deservedly so!)

It's the story of a New York Fireman who is conscious enough to watch his own ego in action - even in an act that smacks of ego-transendence. I love his honesty. Love, love, love it. There is nothing more energising and heartening than simply watching someone tell the story of getting beyond ego.

It's magical. It's a call to transcendence. My own ego melts away as I watch and listen to that story.

And how lucky are we that we live in an age where these little nuggets of beauty are dropped into our in-box on a daily basis??

Right - look out - I'm off to find some shoes...



Jo Flynn

Winter of my Content

‘In the depths of winter I finally realised that deep within me, there lay an invincible summer’ Albert Camus

Who likes winter? 

I am not a winter person. I thrive in summer; give me endless days of sunshine, heat and humidity! I was born with tropical blood in my veins! For nearly three years, I have lived in a mountain climate, where you really get to understand what winter is all about (trust me, until you have truly lived through an entire winter where rain, mist and fog and below 10 degree temperatures are common, you have NO idea what winter is all about!). Living in a place where nature is such a force also makes you really understand the changing of the seasons. Watching the leaves first turn orange and then fall from my cherry blossom tree until it is bare, and then waiting for the first buds, first blossoms, reminds me of the impermanence of life.

The changing seasons is a good test for the spiritual warrior; a time to spring or winter clean, shed old skins, change old habits, dream, reassess, plan, rest and move into action. Autumn and winter may be traditionally a time when we hibernate but it’s also an ideal time to actually do the work to reach the goals that we planned at the start of the year. So with that in mind, as the seasons change, I am going to try and make friends with winter. Firstly, to be grateful for the gifts of winter;

Autumn leaves...so beautiful

• Winter food...I’m thinking Jamie Oliver stews, homemade soups with crusty bread, roast dinners...yum! Maybe this winter calls for trying at least five new recipes 
• Doonas, quilts, blankets, rugs...anything to cuddle up under while you have a cuppa. Surely that calls for buying a new one? 
• Blue sky days..lapping up every last bit of sunshine with long walks in the zingy air 
• Music...good at any time, but something about putting on a good cd to brighten up a misty day 
• Warmth...hot showers, central heating or a fire, warm socks 
• And best of all, every winter holds one special day...my little boy’s birthday! Surely something to celebrate, the best harvest moon I’ve ever had. 

Do you like winter? Or are you a summer person? What are your plans/goals this winter?

Joanna Woutersz

Brain Stuff #1

An occasional series on the brain to test your knowledge and amaze you.

What has the largest brain in comparison to its size? 

a) Elephants
b) Dolphins
c) Ants
d) Humans

The ant.

An ant's brain is about 6 per cent of its total body weight - if we were to apply the same percentage to humans, our heads would have to be nearly three times as large, making us all look rather like the Mekon or Morrissey.
An average human brain weighs 1.6 kg ( 3.5 lb) , which is a little over 2 per cent of body weight. An ant's brain weighs approximately 0.3 mg.
Although an ant's brain has only a fraction of the neurons of a human brain, a colony of ants is a super-organism. An average-sized nest of 40,000 ants has about the same number of brain cells as a person. Ants have been around for 130 million years and there are about 10,000 trillion of them at large as we speak. The total mass of ants on the planet is , slightly heavier than the total mass of human beings.
There are about 8,000 known species of ant. Ants account for about 1% of all the insects on earth. The total number of insects in the world has been calculated at one quintillion (or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000.)
Ants sleep for only a few minutes a day and can survive for nineteen days under water. A wood ant can manage for twenty-four days without its head. A single ant cannot live alone outside the colony, head on or not.
Ants appear to have photographic memories to help them navigate. They seem to take a series of snapshots of landmarks. Scientists do not understand how ants' tiny brains can store so much information.
Ants are not stronger than people. Though ants can lift many times their own weight, this is only because they are small. The smaller an animal is, the stronger its muscles are in relation to its body mass. If people were the same size as ants, they would be equally strong.

"Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies capture slaves, engage in child labour, exchange information ceaselessly. They do everything but watch television,"  LEWIS THOMAS

How is this information useful?  I've been thinking that myself.   
Let me know what you think...


Source:"The Book of General Ignorance" by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson from the TV Program QI