Make Reality Your Ally

Make Reality Your Ally (Story from: "Put Your Dream To The Test" - John C Maxwell) He wanted to be a conductor however, his style was odd, to say the least. When conducting soft passages, he'd crouch down. When the music called for crescendo, he'd leap into the air with a shout. One time he jumped to cue a dramatic passage, but the musicians didn't respond. He'd lost track of his place and jumped too soon. The musicians often looked to the first violinist instead of him for direction. His memory was not very good. During a performance, he tried to conduct the orchestra through a section of music he had instructed them to skip. When they didn't play the passage, he stopped conducting all together and shouted, "Stop! Wrong! That will not do! Again! Again!" He had a clumsiness about him. When he conducted for a piano concerto he had written, he tried to do it from the piano while playing and knocked candles off the piano. During another concert, he knocked over one of the choir boys. The musicians begged him to give up his dream of becoming a great conductor. Finally he did. From then on, Ludwig van Beethoven gave up conducting and focused his attention on composing.   My Message We all have great dreams, most of us more or less know what we want out of life, in both our careers and personal lives, but what is important is to make these dreams a reality. Many people dream about accomplishing the things they are destined to do, but very few set out to make it more than just a dream. Be one of the few who strive to transform the 'wafty' dream into something real and concrete. The simplest way to make your dream into a reality is to know your strengths and weaknesses, to focus more on your strengths and to identify what you are naturally good at. Proceeding with your talents is the most guaranteed route to success. Align your abilities, habits, potential and aspirations so that you have a great probability for achievement. Don't act out of luck and chance to fulfill your dreams. Make an assertive effort to create the ultimate life you are destined for. May you have  an awesome week, where you harness the power to transform your dreams into reality! Darren Zwiers The Quote: "Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference." – Joel Barker

Anyway

Anyway (Mother Teresa) People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People who really want help may attack you if you help them. Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway.   My Message You know we not all perfect, and yes we all have our faults and weaknesses, but we should never be too week to keep striving to not be perfect but to be the best version of ourselves that we can honestly be. I love the above poem so much because as we move through life we always get given exactly what we need not necessarily what we want and sometimes that "need" can be something we don't want, but whats important for you to reach your true potential is to accept everything you are given and focus on being the best 'you' that you can be, and if life decides otherwise just be the best you can anyway. John Maxwell wrote in one of his books: "The Power of Choice is the greatest power that a person possesses." and how true this is when we decide to rise above our circumstances, our setbacks and weaknesses we become the worlds finest leaders. Don't just sit back and accept life as it unfolds, be a leader, be a performer not a spectator. Only you can make this choice and I trust you will make the right one. May you have an uplifting and awesome week. Darren Zwiers The Quote: "When you die and you meet your Maker, you're not going to be asked why you didn't become a messiah or find a cure for cancer. All you're going to be asked is, 'Why didn't you become you? Why didn't you become all that you are?" - Elie Wiesel (Souls on Fire)

Think "Out The Box"

Think "Out The Box" Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant’s beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant’ debt if he could marry the merchant’s daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. The cunning money lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail. They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag. The consequences of the girl pointing out that the moneylender was a cheat would have been severe as he was a harsh man, so the girl had to take the less logical approach and think very laterally. The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles. “Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one. My Message Take a moment to ponder over this story, it's used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking. The girl’s dilemma could not be solved with traditional logical thinking. At times the most complex problems do have a solution, some­times we have to think about them in a different way, we have to think outside the box. While its important to live by the book it's more important to exercise independence and to go beyond the more 'logical' approach. Yes every now and again people will be against you, but hold onto your independence and view life's problems in a way no one else does. This is what separates today's innovators and visionary leaders from the rest. Apple quoted this perfectly in their advertising campaign in 1998 "…While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."  click here to see Apple's "Think Different" Advert…. it never gets old May you have an outstanding week. Darren Zwiers The Quote: Intelligence is something we are born with. Thinking is a skill that must be learned. - Edward de Bono

Open Your Eyes

Open Your Eyes The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read Beneath the long, straggly branches of an old willow tree. Disillusioned by life with good reason to frown, For the world was intent on dragging me down. And if that weren't enough to ruin my day, A young boy out of breath approached me, all tired from play. He stood right before me with his head tilted down And said with great excitement, "Look what I found!" In his hand was a flower, and what a pitiful sight, With its petals all worn - not enough rain, or too little light. Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play, I faked a small smile and then shifted away. But instead of retreating he sat next to my side And placed the flower to his nose and declared with surprise, "It sure smells pretty and it's beautiful, too. That's why I picked it; here, it's for you." The weed before me was dying or dead. Not vibrant of colors, orange, yellow or red. But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave. So I reached for the flower, and replied, "Just what I need." But instead of him placing the flower in my hand, He held it mid-air without reason or plan. It was then that I noticed for the very first time That weed-toting boy could not see: he was blind. I heard my voice quiver, tears shone like the sun As I thanked him for picking the very best one. "You're welcome," he smiled, and then ran off to play, Unaware of the impact he'd had on my day. I sat there and wondered how he managed to see A self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree. How did he know of my self-indulged plight? Perhaps from his heart, he'd been blessed with true sight. Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see The problem was not with the world; the problem was me. And for all of those times I myself had been blind, I vowed to see beauty, and appreciate every second that's mine. And then I held that wilted flower up to my nose And breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose And smiled as that young boy, another weed in his hand About to change the life of an unsuspecting old man. My Message Hellen Keller once said "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision." Sadly this is the case for most of us myself included. We forget to see the world in its real essence in its true beauty and sublime splendour, not only in its physical form but on a higher more 'spiritual' form. When you woke up this morning, you probably thought "this is just another Monday the weekend has gone and it's straight back to the routine", but the truth is that today is a new fresh day its a new week and you have the ability to open your eyes and see that today is a beautiful day full of enjoyment. You have been given the gift of a clean slate every morning, please don't take it for granted. Get out there and make a positive impact. Be grateful that you are here today and express your gratitude by giving back to the beauty of life in kindness, just as the world has been given to you out of pure, complete and perfect kindness. Open your eyes and heart see life's gifts and you will certainly live with peace. May you have a beautiful week. Darren Zwiers The Quote: “Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up". ~Jesse Jackson