MEANING
 
I seem to spend so much time searching
for meaning and looking for happiness.
Perhaps I need to start in a different place.
For when I see myself
at the centre of everything,
it’s easy to lose my way.
 
The first step I think, is to go deeper within myself
to that place of nothingness.
It is here that I find all that I need.
For  here is the reservoir of love,
where I can become, at the same time,
both all powerful and yet powerless.
 
When I then act, or talk, or interact from this place
I do so from a position of all-ness rather than self.
By trusting in love, I become one with love.
For all becomes possible,
when it is no longer about
my narrow definition of self, or purpose.
 
I find the meaning of all in this place within me,
in power and powerlessness,
in all-ness and nothingness.
For I am no longer separate from everything,
adrift on the sea.
I am the sea.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1.   Can you shut out the world and go deeper within yourself? 
2. Can you sit for a few minutes in the place of nothingness? ​

​Day 331 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

​TEAMWORK
 
You must work with us.
If you go off on your own
to do your own thing,
then it’s solely about you.
 
If we could all work together
then everything becomes about us,
We can help each other
to achieve all that we should.

VALUE ADDED

When we go through our list
of previous jobs and roles,
we tend to think of the title,
responsibilities and payment.
 
We may even reflect
on the people we worked with
and some of the work we did.
 
And if we keep going
we get to that same point
in every role, and hope that
we did something good,
something that lasts.
 
We also realise that our presence
becomes  embedded  as value added 
in the lives of others,
who after we leave,  take their turn
and make their contribution.
 
So remember, our job outcomes
are realised long after we are gone.
And when we look back    we see that
we did something good,
something that lasts.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1.   Who did you add value for?
2. How  are your job outcomes growing in each role or job that you had? ​

BIRTHDAY PARTY 
 
There is a party in our village
when a new baby is born.
Families all get together
on a Saturday morning at 11am
to meet the new arrival, and
welcome this new person to our world.
 
We celebrate with smiles and hugs
giving thanks for all our lives.
We shed a small tear of remembrance
for those who have left us.
These little parties are literally, staging posts, 
and the lifeblood of our village.
 
We call this a  'Birth Day' party,
for the time of our first days.
It’s the informal coming together of
family, friends and community.
It’s our call to journey with the child
and for us all to begin again.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1.   How might you 'journey' with us and 'begin again' this Saturday morning  at 11am?
2.   Who would have been around at your Birth Day  - and what  do you imagine they said? 

 GLASS BOOKCASE

He must have been a senior lawyer
or perhaps a judge.
The extensive law library housed
in a beautiful glass bookcase
across three walls of his study,
bears witness to a serious role and
a long commitment to his work.
His large oak desk still has the
files of papers he was working on.
 
He died two years ago
and his ground floor apartment
 remains largely untouched,
although the conservatory wall
is in need of some paint.
We view the property as potential buyers
and see family photos of a grandad,
and a bedroom left as if it was
 just tidied up for our viewing.
 
His home is full of outdated furniture
and we learn that,
after our judge  lost his wife,
he lived on here for years,
immersed in his retirement.
This flat will be sold and cleared out,
except for the glass bookcase,
which I think, will  remain,
waiting for new books to arrive.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1.   What books would you treasure and  keep in your glass bookcase?
​2.  What  in your life,  is your long term  commitment to?​

​SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY

Commit yourself to love
with all your heart,
for this is your passion
that is above all passions.

Commit yourself to love
with all your soul,
for this is the part of you
that is pure and eternal.

Commit yourself to love
with all your mind,
for this will uncover all
that you will ever know.
 
Nurture and cherish
the love that is within you
and the love that you are.
With all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.

ENERGY SWITCH
 
Don’t get consumed by it.
Don’t get overwhelmed by it.
Don’t give all of your thoughts,
energy and time to it.
 
It is passing through.
It will soon be gone.
And you have more important
work to do.
 
Switch your thoughts, energy and time
to activities worthy of your gifts,
your generosity and your love.
For this, by far, is the best deal.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1.  What is consuming your  energy and taking up so much time, that you do not need? 
2.    How can you make better use of your gifts,  your generosity  and your love?  

AUTO START
 
Open your eyes.
Turn on your ears.
Unleash your tongue.
Unfold your hands.
Switch on your speech.
 
We start up our five senses
every morning, in a seamless routine,
without acknowledgement or thanks,
for these most amazing gifts.
So, let us pause and say,
 
Thank you for my seeing today.
Thank you for my hearing today.
Thank you for my taste today.
Thank you for my  touch today.
Thank you for my voice today.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1.  Which of your five senses are most important to you?
2.   Can you describe other senses that  you have? I have a sense of ...

WAKE-UP CALL
 
In the quiet of night-time,
at three in the morning,  
when I am supposed to be asleep.
My head is full
of problems to be solved,
and worries about those I love.
 
Instead of these worldly concerns
taking me away from God,
I find they bring me closer to him.
My worries are an open door
to be with love, and
to work out what we should do.
 
But this is more
than problem solving,
or a business meeting.
This is a joyful relationship
with love, at now, four in the morning,
whilst the world sleeps.
 
And he is there, every night,
for each of us.
Waiting to be with us.
Waiting to be asked,
to sort out the troubles
and worries that keep us awake.
 
If we look out our window
we see that the problems
that consume our thinking, are
in fact a blessing, a wake-up call,
an invitation and a joyful reminder, 
of the love that waits for us in the night.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1.   Is there anything that is worrying you?
2.   When will you plan an early morning call?

 
SCALES

What if in the
bigger scheme of things,
failure, is
just as important
as a success?

What if in the
bigger scheme of things,
inactivity, is
just as important
as activity?

What if in the
bigger scheme of things,
poverty and pain, are
just as valuable
as riches and fame?

What if in the
bigger scheme of things,
failure to achieve anything,
was just as important
as achieving something?

What if in the
bigger scheme of things,
periods of desolation and depression,
are just as important as
times of excitement and jubilation?

What if in the
bigger scheme of things,
we are using the wrong scales?
What if there are no scales
and that everything is one?

​​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1.   How do you measure what is important  to  you?