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Entrée: Your Best Foot
Forward by David
Pines To put his best foot forward, the Individual must first select the principle
under which his motives, acts, thoughts and intents are to be focused. For
example, I want to be a constructive influence among my fellow life-travelers so
I choose a smile instead of a frown; a friendly greeting instead of a cold
impassiveness. I am putting a deposit into my account of "character credits."
But I may also effect a withdrawal by intentionally doing something I know to be
questionable in terms of my standard of right/wrong. So be it. In our quest for
improvement, we may step off the path or go back for whatever reason. However,
if the overall intent is constructive and the Individual seeks to add more
credit to his account than what he withdraws, he can intelligently move forward,
gaining precious experience, which becomes the impetus for his greatest step
forward.
Not everything we say, do, feel or think will be constructive, but all of
these will find a place in the Individual's Character Checking Account, either
(+) or (-). Putting your best foot forward means monitoring your personal
account - never mind someone else's - and everything counts.
If we want a higher standard, we must be willing to work for it and be
patient with the work. No free offers to lasting happiness; no trial
subscriptions. Balance: remember the word; it is Nature's fundamental
characteristic and a guidepost for productive, healthy living. As you review
your life-long Personal Behavior Account, try to keep it balanced. When you
borrow from the account, remember to repay willingly, if not in kind, then in
amount. Society is watching the stock markets. Individuals are watching their
savings accounts. Don't forget to monitor your Character Account, too. In the
long run, it will be more important then the daily fluctuations recorded by
Dow-Jones. A careless, selfish choice or decision with no regard for balance is
the forecast of uneven results - a good day one day compensated by too many bad
ones, leaving the Individual with a heavy conscience and much (too much)
unsettling food for thought - too many "Why did it happen?"
To place your best foot forward, to achieve a higher standard, pick your
principle and build your character by putting a list together of all the most
constructive, inspiring, uplifting unselfish behaviors you know. Take one such
behavior and put it in action for a day or longer. Monitor the results. If
constructive, the results will be satisfying and substantial, and the more
constructive behaviors applied, the more knowledgeable and secure you will be on
your own upward path.
Some suggestions:
About the author: David Pines is a staff writer for Life In Action,
published by The
Great School of Natural Science. The School is an organization of men and
women devoted to the study and application of natural laws as these function and
operate in all realms of life. It has students in many countries of the world.
The general purpose is to conduct a work of education along moral, ethical and
spiritual lines, as outlined in textbooks known as the Harmonic Series. The
specific Purpose is to help individuals live in harmony with the Constructive
Principle in Nature. The School makes no charge for its Instruction. It is a
gift to all who qualify to receive it. Second
Helping: The Four Agreements: #4 - Do Your Best by Don Miguel
Ruiz You should always do your best, no matter what. Sometimes your best will be
better then at other times. Sometimes you'll feel more capable and able and
other times you will feel less, but no matter what you should still do your
best. Not better and not less.
If you try to do more than your best you will end up wasting a lot of energy.
If you do less your quality of life will decline. When you do your best all the
time you'll gradually grow. When you do your best you do things because you want to do them and not
because you have to. If you only work because you want a paycheck then
everything becomes more difficult. Work becomes frustrating and a struggle. If
you do something because you want to, rather then expecting a return at the end,
then you will enjoy what you are doing and will get more out of life.
If you are enjoying what you are doing then it doesn't feel like work to do
your best. Whereas if you are doing something only because you have to then it
is very difficult to do your best at it.
The other 3 agreements will only work if you do your best at them. The more
you do your best, the better you become. Sometimes you might break your word or
take something personally, but don't judge yourself, just agree to keep doing
your best.
About the author: The above is an excerpt from The Four Agreements. Sit
at the foot of a native elder and listen as great wisdom of days long past is
passed down. In The Four Agreements, shamanic teacher and healer Don Miguel Ruiz
exposes self-limiting beliefs and presents a simple yet effective code of
personal conduct learned from his Toltec ancestors. Get a one-page PDF document
of The Four Agreements by sending an email to 4agreements@touchpointcoaching.com
- or, to purchase this book online visit Amazon.Com Soup to Nuts: From the Feedback
Button Chris DeSantis, an employee of the LDS (Mormon) Church Office, sent feedback
to correct the attribution of the Gordon B. Hinckley quote in one of the back
issues ("he actually was quoting Jenkin Lloyd Jones, and he said so during the
talk"), and asked for a little background on the ol' webmaster/resident
writer/head chef & bottlewasher. In one exchange, we were discussing our
individual, and therefore unique, belief systems, how we came to have that
belief system, and how one size doesn't fit all.
"My own family's religious history looks like a yo-yo," he wrote, "with my
staunch pioneer (former Anglican) forefathers spawning Latter-day Saints
turned Unitarians (my grandparents), agnostics (my parents), First Vanilla
Synagogue of Ortho-Lutha-Presby-Catholeterians [reformed Mishmoshians] turned
Latter-Day Saint (myself), and Latter-Day Saints turned Gay Wiccan (my
daughter).
"For me, the Latter-day Saint gospel fits. For others, it don't. All I know
is that I don't know anything, and I see people find peace and
happiness in an amazing Smörgåsbord of ecclesiastical, domestic, and societal
situations. I just re-watched Ben Kingsley's portrayal of Gandhi... 'live simply
that others might simply live' seems like a pretty good philosophy to me if you
want to get down to the basics."
"You have a gift with words," I ventured. "Care to contribute an
inspirational article? I would welcome it."
"As for an inspirational article, I'm pretty swamped right now with about
three different 'full-time' jobs, but if I can kill off a few alligators I'll
let you know." He signed his writing with the tagline, "I bhfad uainn go
léir an drochrud... [far from us all be the evil thing] - Myles na
gCopaleen, from The Poor Mouth"
Click to send your FEEDBACK to me right now! Main Course: How
Overaccomplishment Can
Become Underachievement I have learned the difference between accomplishment and achievement.
Accomplishment is getting a task out of the way, off the list. Achievement is
the successful completion of a task by putting forth my best effort. There is a
difference in these two things, like the difference between done and
completed.
When the pressure is on to do, do, do... I can accomplish. I get things
done. I did so by lowering my expectations to meet my performance.
Things that need to be done will get only as much attention as they need in
order to check them off the list, so I can rush off to the next thing screaming
for my attention. Such half-hearted efforts may not be the best laid plan, in
the long run. This way of doing things is referred to as crisis mode- or
squeaky-wheel task management.
You've likely heard the old saying, "If you don't take the time to do it
right, you'll have to take the time to do it over." My mom said that. Didn't
yours? That's called a "momily."
Looking back, I can recall many days in my life that were difficult because I
tried to accomplish too much in one day. There was no satisfaction in a day's
work done well, only that I had "done good" by getting everything wrapped up. I
knew that some things got less attention than others, that some work was better
than others. There was a sense of accomplishment, but it was empty without that
feeling of success in all that I had done. How many of those tasks could have
been set aside for a time when more care and attention to detail could be
offered to the job at hand? Would the world come to an end if this or that
didn't get done? Rather than leave a task half-heartedly done and waiting for someone else to
polish it off, I can do the best I can in every task until it is
completed and not just done, no matter how menial and
unimportant it may seem at the time. No one learns more about a problem than the
person in the proverbial trenches, down where the rubber hits the road. And no
one is better suited to the task than me, otherwise it would be someone else
wrestling with it. Right? Well, maybe not. But, what better opportunity could I
ask for, in order to learn and grow, than to be challenged by a hands-on
situation?
Instead of just doing the minimum necessary to accomplish a task, I can apply
myself to the job using all of the skills and knowledge, all the tools I
have at my disposal. My work is thus performed with the idea that I
will do my best, or I will find the right person for the task and learn
by helping them do it, insisting that they teach me the best way they know to do
the task while assisting my learning with my own insight, ideas and
inspiration. I will have achieved instead of just accomplished.
In doing my best each day at every task, my life acquires a rather
satisfying sense of overall success as a result. What more could
I ask of myself? God isn't interested in what I have done, but
how successfully I have applied my values and beliefs in the
process of doing those things. Did I do good? Wonderful! Did some things get
done better than others? Bravo! Did I do my best? I had better have an answer
for that one, eh?
Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. Expect the best of
yourself, and then do what is necessary to make it a reality. According to Oprah
Winfrey, "Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next
moment." Great! I don't have to do my best forever, just for this moment... I
can achieve that.
Michael Rawls, Friday's Inspiration © 2003 Just Desserts - Also Highly
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It's a funny thing about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the
best you very often get it.
The great blessings of mankind are within us, and within our reach; but
we shut our eyes and, like people in the dark, fall short of the very thing we
search for without finding it.
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There was once a man who wanted to attain
enlightenment. He asked the master how long it would be to enlightenment if he
mediated 4 hours a day. He master said that it would take 10 years. He then
asked the master how long it would take to obtain enlightenment if he mediated 8
hours a day. The master said it might take 20 years. When the man inquired as to
why it would take longer to obtain enlightenment if he mediated more the master
replied: 'You are not here to sacrifice your life. If you can do your best in 2
hours and you spend 8 hours meditating you will grow tired and miss the point'.
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Peace and Light,
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