I recently saw a bumper sticker that read: "God, please save me from Your followers!"
Since 9/11, Americans have come to realize many things. My personal realization? Americans may not be as loved as I once thought we were. Still, America is were dreams can come true! Regardless of the many problems we face in this great country, people like being here - people from other countries want to move here - chances are you and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
Currently, global warming is just one more of the "what ifs" we get to add to our list of things to worry about.
I believe we all want a better tomorrow for ourselves, as well as, generations to come. Is it possible?
As of Tuesday December 18, 2008 at 6:00 a.m., the world population was: 6,770,377,007.
On January 1, 1970, the world population was: 3,912,231,043
On January 1, 2020, the world population will reach: 8,056,448,722
By 2035, we will reach 10 billion people trying to coexist on planet earth!
We won't hear any of the current presidential WANNABEs discussing population. It is a very unpopular subject - it's tabu! Regardless, by the numbers shown above, it is the number one threat to our future. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but soon.
Have you made your New Year's resolution yet? Lose a few pounds? Start working out? Try to be more patient with your significant other?
While these are noble goals, we are facing much bigger challenges than "SELF." We know this, but as of yet, we have not been given the tools (mind-set) to address our current situation.
Everyday, more laws are being written to try and control a world that appears to be, out-of-control. Our prison system is overcrowded - the warehousing of souls waiting to get out to commit the same or more serious crimes. Prison gives the prisoners time to plan their future. Not a conducive place to plan one's future - do ya think?
Underlying the stresses we are experiencing today, is fear. Many people have given up and have become cynical. They believe the government wants us to be afraid so it can more effectively control us. This may be true. Who cares?
"There is nothing I can do about anything," is a current and common conceptual misnomer. I disagree. There is something we can do about! How? By gaining a higher, and better perspective of our individualize power to LOVE.
Joseph Campbell, in his PBS series with Bill Moyers titled, The Power of Myth, informs us that at the highest concepts of all world religions, is LOVE. The problem is, as a society, our definition of LOVE is limited or distorted. I love a chocolate sundae. I love football. I love the sweater you bought me for Christmas. I love you. I love...
Somehow, the English language has limited our understanding and the ability to conceptualize the kind of LOVE Joseph Campbell was referring to. I will present one of my favorite definitions Mr. Campbell shared. It's also one most Americans have heard at some point in their lives.
One definition of Divine Love:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If 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. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
This definition has nothing to do with religion - it has to do with common sense. If we don't make the connection at some point, there won't be much to discuss.
In an earlier broadcast, I discussed The Pearl Planner®. The concepts contained within THE PEARL PLANNER® provide faith, hope and LOVE. Investing your Pearls everyday, every hour, every moment... such as, mentoring a child, visiting with a lonely person, contributing...
THE PEARL PLANNER® provides the guidelines to define our choices. Overtime, the fear becomes less and less. You are INVESTING your Pearls into something or someone worthwhile. INVESTING in yourself, is INVESTING in the world.
I will reprint a segment of THE PEARL PLANNER® from an earlier blog entry. When making your New Year's resolutions this year, consider the possibilities of your RETURN ON INVESTMENT of your eight daily pearls.
MAKING YOUR PEARLS COUNT FOR SOMETHING
Let's do some Pearl Planner® math:
Eight hours of your day is taken up by sleep - you now have 16 hours left.
Another eight hours is taken up by eating, personal hygiene, waiting in-line at Starbucks for your Latte, and other similar stuff (aka etc.)
Now you have eight hours left for your Pearl Planner® Priorities™. Here's where your "Pearl Power™" kicks in! (Yes, this could include your time at the office).
Each morning when you wake up, imagine you are given EIGHT PEARLS. These EIGHT PEARLS are your gift from the COSMOS to use in only one of five ways.
1. You can "invest" your pearls.
2. You can "spend" your pearls.
3. You can "waste" your pearls.
4. You can "lose" your pearls.
5. You can have your pearls "stolen."
NOTE: You cannot "save" your pearls. You are given EIGHT for the day... And, more importantly, you are not guaranteed you will receive EIGHT PEARLS the next day. Nothing in life is guaranteed. These EIGHT PEARLS are your gift for today and for today only. God forbid anything should happen, but the reality is, today is all you've got.
EACH PEARL REPRESENTS ONE HOUR OF YOUR DAY. HOW "YOU CHOOSE" TO USE YOUR PEARLS IS STRICTLY UP TO YOU!
1. Investing a pearl. Remember, your pearl represents "one hour" of your day. Did you "spend" an hour with the kids or did you "invest" an hour with the kids. How was your pearl used?
If you invested an hour (pearl) with the kids, you may have work together on a project. If you spent an hour (pearl) with the kids, you may have simply been in the same proximity, but no exchange of building a meaningful relationship took place. Your pearl was spent, not invested.
What about you? How can you invest a "pearl" in yourself? Working out, eating right, getting enough rest, meditating, simply being? There are endless examples of what we all know we need to be better people.
What about work? Did you invest a pearl in building relationships at work? Or were you simply there?
What about your community? Do you just take and give nothing back?
What about your church? Do you spend an hour at church or do you invest your time in helping?
What about your parents? Do you spend time or invest time?
2. Spending a pearl. When we spend, we get something. But there is not return on our investment. Investing provides dividends. Spending provides stuff.
3. Wasting your pearl. Oftentimes, this has to do with wasting time on things that don't matter. E-mails that consume us. Cell phone messages that don't matter. Gossip and idol chit-chat about things we can do nothing about.
4. Losing a pearl. You may wonder where the time went? "Where did the time go," we will often hear people say. Lost pearls are the saddest of all.
5. Having your pearls stolen by a Pearl Thief™. This has to do with people or things that may seem important at the time. We may be tricked into thinking what we're doing matters. For example, have you ever met someone who continually consumes your time with his or her drama - complain, complain, complain? You've spent hours, days, months or even years trying to inform this person on how to make his or her life better; only to find out later, nothing has changed. Psychic vampires can suck the life out or you with their problems and endless mishaps. Remember, you only have eight pearls for the day and when someone steals your pearls, you don't have them to invest in things that matter most. Work projects and meaningless tasks can do the same. Busy work that means nothing! Doing, doing, doing, only to find out it was all for not!
SUMMARY:
Making Choices in Using My Pearls
Today, I choose to invest as many of my eight pearls as I can to take me to my dreams so I may fall in love with my future.
As each hour passes, I use one pearl, never to be recaptured again.
Investing a pearl means I gain a return on my investment. Some examples: Working out, stopping an addiction, getting enough rest, eating right, building meaningful relationships, being a leader, mentoring a child, having productive meetings, learning a new skill, quality time with family and friends, visiting a sick or lonely person, planning a vacation, being present, planning for my future, planning for my children's education, developing dreams, taking personal responsibility.
Spending a pearl means you were simply there in the physical sense - the rest of you wasn't present.
Losing a pearl means you don't know where the time went.
Wasting a pearl means you used an hour in a completely meaningless way.
Having a pearl stolen is allowing something of absolutely no importance consume your time.
NOTE: Just because you're busy doesn't necessarily mean you are getting anything done. Solution: Walk away from the Pearl Thieves™ in your life...
Traditional time-management systems only take into account, time. THE PEARL PLANNER® takes into account time, but also energy. In other words, how you use your time including energy output and energy return. Plus, there is another dimension to THE PEARL PLANNER® which provides you the opportunity to discern moment-by-moment, whether or not what your doing counts for something. And, whether certain people or projects need to be ejected from your life. Are there people who are renting space in your head that need to be evicted from the premises.
A good place to start investing your pearls are in people, places and things that deserve your pearls. Just 'cause someone needs vs. deserves, is a concept which will require a deep level of understanding on your part.
Once you realize the power of THE PEARL PLANNER®, your life will never be the same!
Happy New Year! You must know, you can make a difference!
Dorlon Peckham
Genesis Salon
250 Crummer Lane
Reno, NV 89502
775-828-9797
www.genesissalon.com
