Category: Info

Informational posts about Under New Management

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Surrender To Win

SurrenderToWin

Surrender is not the same as giving in. Surrender is about accepting your current reality and responding to it in a mature serene way.

God made us to surrender. Our choice is what we surrender to. We can surrender to Him, or we can surrender to our character defects.  It’s your choice. – Bill Riedy

If a fire alarm goes off at your place of work, what do you do?  Do you bitch and moan, complaining about how often the alarm goes off?  Or do you sit petrified with terror that you are just going to die, so why bother?  These are two forms of non-acceptance, and there are many more to choose from.

Acceptance is recognizing the fire alarm for what it is. It is there to get your attention. You should respond in a calm mature fashion. Look for the nearest exit and proceed calmly and safely towards the exit. On your way out if you see others tell them of the alarm and the need to proceed to the exit.

Surrender and acceptance are two sides of the same coin. We are all called to live in this moment, whatever the moment brings. We can take action to create a different future, but it is futile to fight the reality of the right now.

I believe that there is a Higher Power that wants the best for me. He wants me to feel love, and to give love freely to others.  Why wouldn’t I want to surrender to this?

Choose. Live life on purpose. You are worth it.

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Religion vs. Spirituality

ReligionVsSpirituality

Religion and spirituality are different concepts.  Religion is about: theology; and doctrine.  Spirituality, in all its forms, comes down to two beliefs: there is a power greater than self; everyone and everything is connected to that power.

Can spirituality be found in religion? Yes, it can be found in religion.  Sadly there are too many examples where spirituality is missing from many religious environments.

Spirituality can be found in many different forms.  Some of us commune with nature.  Some believe in Universal Love, others Universal Truth.  The Star Wars movies have the Force.  Eastern traditions have chakras.  Buddhism has the Four Noble Truths.  Recovery has the Twelve Steps.

If you are from a religious background, then explore spirituality within your own faith.  Islam has the Sufis, an ascetic and mystical sect.  First century Christians had Gnosticism.  A new age spiritual form of Christianity is A Course In Miracles.

It doesn’t matter which spiritual path you take.  I can say that being on a spiritual path is rewarding and fulfilling.  Embark on your own spiritual journey.  I promise that it will take you to places that you never even dreamed of.

 

theology: there is a proper and correct knowledge of God and God’s attributes

doctrine: there is a proper and correct set of teachings, rules, and laws governing our thoughts and behaviors

spirituality: the belief that there is a power greater than self, and that everyone and everything is connected to that power

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Be still…

BeStill-384

Be still, and know that I am God
– Psalm 46:10

How does God* speak to you?  I don’t know about you, but for me God speaks to me in a small still voice.  If my life is loud and dramatic (mentally, emotionally, physically) I can’t hear Him*.  I need to still my mind and its very loud inner critic.  I need to still my emotions – what can I do to soften my heart and be more loving.  I need to still my body – I need to be comfortable in my body and to just be.

Being is a state that is not familiar with many of us.  Be gentle with yourself.  Have the courage to be.  To be in this moment.  Accept reality for what it is, because when I try to refute reality I will always lose.  Accept the moment for what it is.  Invite the God of your understanding into the present moment with you.  The more you invite Him in, the closer and more loving your relationship with Him will be.

God – God as you understand Him.  God comes in many forms: Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Universal Love, Universal Truth, Nature in all its Glory.  Don’t get hung up on the word or the concept.  Just admit and accept that there is a power greater than you.

Him – I refer to my higher power as He because that is the language of the faith tradition I was raised in.  I’m not trying to impose that language onto you.  The words that I choose are mine, if you don’t like them, change them into words that are acceptable to you.

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Why are there multiple versions of sacred wise texts?

Why is it that there are multiple editions or versions of sacred texts?  The answer is rather simple: they were written a long time ago, and/or the original language was not English.  When the language is brought up to date or translated from another language there are different ways of interpreting and expressing the concepts in today’s vernacular.

I’ve heard that the Christian Bible is comprised of a mix of Hebrew and Greek texts, and the number of distinct words in the original text is 5,000 – 7,000 words.  A single translation of the Bible will have significantly more than 7,000 words.  A smartphone app YouVersion Bible https://www.youversion.com shows that it has 46 different English translations.

What’s the benefit?  

The positive thing is that if a passage perplexes you – the wording is not natural to you – or it doesn’t make sense – you can look up the same passage in another translation.

Let’s say you want to read from Luke 6:31, which is often referred to as “The Golden Rule”.

In the KJV (King James Version) the text is as follows:

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
– Luke 6:31 KJV

I don’t  know about you but that is definitely not the way I talk.  Let’s look at another version:

Do to others as you would have them do to you.
– Luke 6:31 NIV (New International Version)

That is much closer to modern English.  I think it’s still a little clunky, but no where near as clunky as the KJV text.

Other sacred and wise texts

By sacred and wise I mean

  • There are Truths contained within the text that are eternal and true
  • That many people have read and Applied its wisdom into their lives
  • That it has withstood the test of time and has Longevity on its side

Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu on Amazon shows more than 10 translations.  The Tao Te Ching is a great short text of 81 separate verses.  Each verse is 2 – 20 paragraphs long.  From the first verse:

The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao.

The Art of War, by Sun Tzu on Amazon shows more than 10 translations.  The best fight is to not fight at all.  My metaphor for life is not that life is warfare.  This book takes a complex topic like warfare and breaks it down into smaller understandable concepts.

Call to action

What are the sacred and wise texts in your life?  If it was written a long time ago and in another language I challenge you to read a different translation (not the one you are familiar with) and see what new thoughts it will create.  Go out and read those sacred texts.

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7 Types of Good Failure – Lessons from Yes, And

I’m in the midst of reading a great book titled

Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses No, But Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration–Lessons from The Second City by Kelly Leonard

Everyone makes mistakes.  Accept the reality of that statement.  Have compassion with yourself and others regarding their faults.

To err is human; to forgive, divine – Alexander Pope

Are you embracing your failures?  Or do you instead deny, rationalize, or otherwise cover up your faults?  Are you sure that you are right even when you are wrong?

Often in error; never in doubt.- my friend Jack

The goal is not to fail, but rather to fail with purpose.  Don’t keep making the same mistakes again and again.  Make new mistakes, fail in a better way.

Here are 7 types of failure that you want to embrace.

  • Fail in order to cultivate creativity – In order to create small or great things you must be willing to try and to fail.
  • Fail in public – Acknowledge the failure to yourself and to others.  It’s often the cover up that gets us in more trouble than the original offense.
  • Fail together – Have the team take on the failure or success of a particular course of action.
  • Fail fast – If you or your team has made an error then just fess up, and move on.  Don’t keep a failing project alive if there is no way to correct the failure.
  • Fail free of judgement – Have compassion for yourself and others as we all make mistakes.
  • Fail with confidence – Failure is part of the human experience.  When trapeze artists miss their partner and fall into the net, they come out of the net and bow.  Embrace their failures they indicate that you tried.
  • Fail incrementally – Continuously try to improve yourself.  Make new and different mistakes, but keep trying to improve.

For more information on failure and how you can use it for positive change I encourage you to read Yes, And.
Yes, And

Yes, And on Barnes & Noble

Yes, And on Amazon

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4 Categories of Stinking Thinking That Steal Your Peace And Serenity

What exactly is stinking thinking?  Well they are those types of thought patterns that are unhelpful.  In the circles of psychology and self-help these are sometimes called cognitive distortions.  I’ve seen some lists that contain 67 of these cognitive distortions.  That’s a large number and perhaps too large to memorize.

There is a simpler way at looking at our thoughts.  We need to categorize our stinking thinking and these garbage thoughts fall into 4 categories. Think of the acronym EGADS.

  • Ego
  • Greed
  • Aversion
  • Delusion

Four categories – that’s a small number and it is easy to memorize a list containing 4 things.

EGO

Where am I thinking of the 3 most important people? Me, myself, and I.  OK they actually are not the most important people, but rather what we think of most often.  We are all part of an inexplicably connected greater collection of human beings.  Each of us have a divine spark within us.  Focus and try to find the divine in others, and take the focus away from yourself.

GREED

Are you caught in the disease of more?  Do you wish pleasant experiences to never end?  This too is a form of greed.  Do you covet things that are not yours?  Are you never satisfied?  Be content with what you have in this very moment.  This moment of lack will not last forever.  Focus on the contentment of the present moment.

AVERSION

Is your first reaction “oh I really don’t like this”?  Do you get stuck in thinking things should be a certain way, different from what they are right now?  Is your deepest most primal thought “leave me the F* alone”?  Have compassion for yourself and for the others around you.  Accept the present moment and your current circumstances as the reality of the moment.  You don’t have to like where you are, but you do need to accept that what is IS.

DELUSION

Are you able to see things as they truly are?  Do you exaggerate the situation of the present moment?  Have you really done things a million times?  I don’t think so.  Does your nemesis always act in a certain way?  Perhaps you need to be more careful with your words and thoughts.  How about saying something like “I often fail and succumb to the desire for a doughnut”?  Even better would be “I often choose to ignore my long term health and seek the short term pleasure of eating a doughnut”.  Words have power.  You have the power of choice over how you respond to the facts of life.  Choose wisely.

IIWII – It Is What It Is

The only way you are going to find contentment, peace, and serenity in the present moment.  The place of refuge is the present moment.  Experience it fully, experience it as it truly is.  Experience it with acceptance, love, and compassion.  Experience it by looking for the divine in the people around you.

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Are you in spiritual summer school?

Are you stuck in a place you’ve been to far too many times? If you didn’t learn your lessons in elementary school you may have had to attend summer school.  Once you mastered the material, you could then be promoted to the next grade.

The same holds true for our spiritual path.  When we keep coming back to the life situation, chances are that there is a spiritual lesson that you have not learned.  It sucks, but it is true.  Have the courage to ask “what lesson have I not learned”?  Have the humility and courage to be vulnerable and ask others for their input and wisdom.  Your trusted friends may notice things that you are blind to.

The only way to graduate to the next level is to learn a new way of living.  You are worth the work.

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4 Simple Steps To Being a Better Person

Ok you may be saying "how can there be just 4 steps"? Most seemingly complicated issues can be broken to a short list of root causes. Change begins from within. Make a decision, a resolution, a commitment, to be a better person from this moment onward.

What do I mean by "better"?

Everyone has heard of the Golden Rule, but there is an even greater maxim that was given, and I call it the Platinum Rule:

"Love one another as I have loved you".

That bold challenge to love can be frightening and overwhelming. Try the following suggestions on for size. Try them, put them into practice before you scoff at them.

  1. Find a spiritual hero
  2. Ask what would my hero do in this situation?
  3. Act like your hero even it is far outside your comfort zone
  4. Periodically ask yourself is there a better hero I should emulate?

As you work your way through this the work becomes deeper, perhaps more difficult, but not fundamentally different.

We are all here to love. Find a spiritual hero whose actions you can choose to emulate. Be the better person today. You can do it.

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The Bible is God’s GPS — WRONG!

Several churches located near my home have displays/signs on their property showing things like worship times, and potentially the topic for the sermon on Sunday. Recently I saw the following sign:

The Bible is God’s GPS

I have to wholeheartedly disagree with this statement. Think about how a GPS works, and how you use one. A GPS consistently gives out clear and concise directions on where to go, “Turn RIGHT in 100 feet onto Main St”. If you make a mistake it chimes in “Recalculating”, then gives you new directions. We often follow a GPS blindly as can be seen in this article in the New York Times from a few years ago. There were two separate incidents, less than a year apart, where the driver followed the GPS directions and turned onto railroad tracks.

Our walk with God, and communication from Him via the Bible, is NOT a passive exercise. The Bible is more like a paper road map.

OK, but what does that mean?  I’d like to point out something I read a few years ago in David Allen’s book Ready For Anything.

“A map is not functional until you know where you are on it.”

So where is the Red Dot saying “You are HERE” on this road map? The present moment is that Red Dot. I don’t mean a passive present moment, but rather one where you are engaged and truly experiencing the present moment.

Having difficulty finding the “Red Dot” in your life? I would suggest that you do what I call an “instant meditation”. It involves evaluating your current “spiritual posture”, and inviting the God of your understanding into the present moment.

Spiritual Posture

  1. Where are my feet? What are the physical sensations that I am experiencing? Where am I physically? Looking at potentially several different on/off states like hot/cold, pleasant/unpleasant, relaxed/agitated, etc.
  2. Where is my heart? What emotion(s) am I sensing, label it, and locate it in your body. The 7 base emotions are: sad, mad, glad, lonely, embarassed, guilty. If it is something else I would suggest that you are experiencing an emotion COUPLED with a judgement about something.  For instance, jealousy could be anger mixed with the judgment that my spouse SHOULD be faithful.
  3. Where is my head? What am I thinking about? What judgments are going on in my thoughts and speech? Am I asking many “WHY” questions, or am I getting trapped in “IF ONLY” or “SHOULD” statements?

Inviting God into the present moment

  1. Ask God into the present moment.  I mean the God of your understanding, and not anyone elses.  This could be God, Jesus, Buddha, Tao, Higher Power, Love, Infinite Wisdom, or any other personal conception.  Ask that He (She, It, They, other) give you the ability to truly experience the present moment. Feel the words vibrate in your vocal chords and pass over your lips as breath. Feel the vibration of your body. Feel your emotions, label them, and locate them in your body. Ask to let go of judgment about these things, and to just experience them.

Now that you know where you are on the map, further work is necessary.

You need to study the map, and be able to translate the abstract notation of a map into what it looks like in reality. A topological map shows altitude as concentric lines where each line is X amount of difference in elevation. Seeing lines on a map stacked closely together is different than looking at an almost vertical hill that you know you need to climb. The Bible is a wonderful map, but it can be abstract at times. Have an understanding of it, read it, interpret it, talk with others about it, and see how it relates to your current life situation.

You need to have a destination in mind, and track your progress towards your goal vs. where you actually are.  This is not meant as a means to beat yourself up, but rather as a means of course correction.  I’ve heard an anecdote that during the Apollo missions they were “off course” more than 90% of the time.  By this I mean that they were not perfectly oriented in the direction where they wanted to go (the moon), but rather were slightly askew.  They would correct their course, and then they would be slightly off course in the other direction.

Let go of the drive for perfection, to be perfectly aligned with your destination.  Instead be aware of your location, your desired destination, and what, if any, correction(s) need to be made.  Then you have to do them.

The Bible is God’s roadmap.  It is up to us to study and use it wisely.

Bill Riedy

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Desiderata

I occasionally post things I’ve read that are inspirational. Here is one of those.

Definition
Desiderata : things that are deemed essential.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be critical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

© Max Ehrmann 1927