stop, recharge, reboot and reconfigure

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” Emerson.

I often get emails from readers and subscribers of Just Joy thanking me for lessons that helped them do better and live better, and often I am told that I am trying to create a revolution of positive power and values. To those special people out there who take the time to write to me with your comments and also stories of how Just Joy has helped you, a very sincere thank you. Thanks to YOU we are now a growing community of 2000 Just Joyers across the globe.
I would like to use this Just Joy to talk about revolution because revolutions of thought and action have punctuated and changed human history; sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad. But, inherent in the concept of revolution is an uprooting of all that was, a rape of the present and often the past to create the future.
Do we really need a revolution to make our lives more fulfilling, meaningful and prosperous? Do we need a revolution to wake up and realize that stuff is wonderful, but it is the side dish in life…the main dish is living our passion and our purpose and contributing, sharing our humanity, our ideas with others. Do we really need a revolution to change the social and personal disconnection we have created that makes us feel lonely and isolated from one another? Do we really need a revolution to stop the unabashed growth of self interest that in the end will only kill the quality of our lives, our families, our relationships our economy and our world?
As we look at the landscape of our lives, our businesses and our world very few of us can say that we are not sitting in the middle of stress mess, of a bed that we do not really want to lie in because of the pervasive misalignment that sits deep in our chest, deep in our hearts and preys on our minds when we are reminded of the fact that life, work and the world appear to be getting more difficult than ever before, and the leadership that we used to look up to seems to have run to the hills that we can no longer see.
We all know what we need in our lives, in our businesses and in our world. A climate of trust, a society with organizations, corporations and businesses that empower people to improve their own performance and to help others do the same. A culture of transparent communication and collaboration where we learn and teach each other to do better, live better, think better and create better solutions that drive our passion, our purpose and the engine of innovation and execution that makes or breaks our economy.
I don’t think that we need a revolution. I also don’t think that we need a miracle. Rather I think that we need to stop, recharge, reboot and reconfigure because we each have the miracle inside us that can move our lives, our businesses and our world forward. If we are living in a vortex of change, in the eye of a storm where values driven servant leadership is getting more difficult to find it is because we do not need a revolution we need an EVOLUTION OF SELF. We need to get rid of the nasty wrinkles of judgment, anger, frustration, envy and ego that sap our true power and potential to live better, lead better and do better. Metaphorically speaking, I think it is time to botox our heads and our hearts so that we can remove the wrinkles that keep us from realigning head and heart and kick start an evolution of thought, progress and human decency
Well, you may ask, “If it is so simple, then why are we still spinning our wheels while getting stuck in the mud?” Clearly smart is not enough, or the world would be perfect. I think that the pace of life and work and the full force of ego distract us from remembering what we really want and need. We get caught in the details that do not really matter that much and forget to listen to our heart, to hear our soul…and if we use our head, without an alignment of head, heart and soul nothing will ever change.
It is time for an evolution of thinking, doing and being that can start in small ways and grow bigger. It can start this second just be taking one hour or one day to ask “How can I be of service to another?” “What random act of sharing can I give someone else today?”
Think about it. What can YOU do today that will help YOUR evolution as a personal leader? To quote a great man whose great words speak louder today than ever before: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” Emerson.