Good morn’ DearOnes.
I keep a personal manifesto in my top drawer. I wrote it in Dr. Barnes class at UCO maybe 20 years ago while working on my Masters. It’s been tweaked a million times. It comes in handy on days when God needs to remind me who I was before the world pushes in and tries to tell me who I “should” be.
Or, that I’m doing it all wrong.
Or, that I’m not enough.
Maybe it’ll be a reminder for who you are, too.
Thought I’d share. In a nutshell, it says to default to love.
Always.
Always.
Go ahead, right now, and send love out to where you are going today.
The store.
School.
The office.
Chemo.
The couch.
Wherever.
So – this a lil long. Before you start have I told you lately how much I love my people? You’re my people.
And, I so love you. You, too, are enough.
My highest value is compassion, which comes in lots of forms: love, kindness, empathy, gratitude. And, every time a situation comes up, I ask myself, “How can I deal with this with full compassion?”
My goals are the same whether they are professional, personal or otherwise. Success is not easy. If it were easy, everyone would do it. It is hard work. Messy work. The following are my goals; they are also my key ingredients for assuring I maintain a successful spirit. I start each sunrise by sending the love of God out before me to all the places I will be.
1. Humility. Be humble. Have a huge amount of humility. Everything comes from God; it is a gift, an undeserved blessing. Be aware of every gift. Psalm 25:9 “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.”
2. Nurturing. Nurture those who follow me. Do not enable them – teach them to find answers themselves. Praise them immediately, in public if possible, send notes of encouragement. Nurture always. Titus 2:3-5 “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the world of God may not be reviled.”
3. Commitment. Everyday. Have a “no matter what” mentality. Commitment is the one trait that separates those who make it with those who don’t. Stop “trying” and just “do it”. Don’t give my power away. Don’t make excuses. Be committed. This is my way out of anything that is holding me back. Proverbs 16:3 “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”
4. Focus. Understand my goal. Know what it is that I am striving for, then get LASER BEAM focused on that goal. Eliminate all tolerations that hinder my focus. Proverbs 4:35 “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.”
5. Positive Attitude. Love those around me, everyone that I come in contact with. Always assume the good intentions of others. My Mom Reinking always said, “Annnngellla, (it rolled off her tongue, she only addressed me by my real name) always judge by others by their best intention”.
Psalm 118:24 “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
6. Integrity. Character. Do what’s right even if it is hard. Do the right thing. Be transparent, share my weaknesses. 1 Peter 3:16 “Having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” Job 27:4-6 “My lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit. Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.”
7. Generosity. Share. Sacrifice and give generously of my time, my talents, my money, my ear. Share always. Proverbs 11:24-25 “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”
8. Self-Discipline. Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments. Only undertake what I can do in an excellent fashion. Hebrews 12:11 “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
9. High Expectations. Dream Big. Paint a BIG picture of where I see myself. See it in my mind’s eye. Freeze that image until I’m ready to enlarge it! Have a classy style of portraying my expectations. The kind of class that lends an aura of confidence – that is, being sure without being cocky. Mark 9:31 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’”
10. Endurance. Run the race to the finish. I don’t have to win – just finish. Finishing is where the success lies. FINISH. Philippians 3:13-14 “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”.
Thomas Jefferson penned the words, “Those with the ability to take action, have the responsibility to take action.” As I grow my hope is that my people gain camaraderie, from which we will serve together and learn about each other. Relationships are critical to accomplishment, and I hope to gain insights that will enable me to love well. I also hope to gain confidence in the area of “leadership presence”, but not in a pretentious way, just a very real transparency that will allow me to make a positive, authentic, impact, and courage to lead with soul. Romans 12:1-2 “ I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: by be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
lewis3sunz 