GIFT WRAPPED Thank you for my life. And let me pause here for I normally go on to think about all that I’ve been given, all those I know, and all that I am involved with. But this morning I want to stop at thank you for my life. The gift that makes me here and now. The personal unconditional force of love that means I exist in this moment. The creatives force of love that makes me possible, smiles this morning. And gently reminds me that we are all both the giver and the gift. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How are you a gift of love to others? THOUGHTFUL I can do nothing about the past for it has gone. All is etched in time. I can do nothing about the future for the future never arrives. All I have is this moment and this thought. I ask for your mercy to forgive my past and to guide my present. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your thought in this moment? 2. And what is your thought in this moment? RELENTLESS Love is the toughest thing ever. It challenges all aspects of who we are. It confronts our ego and our focus on self. It challenges our behaviours in every interaction. It calls us to change all that we are and do. It demands we give all that we hold onto. It reminds us of our failings and the pain we cause others. Love is relentless. This is how it shapes us and guides us. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How exactly is love shaping you now? COMPARISON TABLE Have no doubt. We all have a role to play. Your life has a distinct and specific purpose. Each person is different and unique, but equally important and significant, no matter what we may think. Do not compare yourself with others or some worldly expectation. For your role is a collaborative and not a competitive one. To become, with God and with all others, all you can be today, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How might you collaborate today? RESPITE CARE Stop playing around with all the different pieces of your life. Stop trying to make this work and that happen. Just stop. All of those things are what you think you need to make happen, to survive and earn. But they are not. They are in fact consuming your time and energy, and taking you away from what you should be doing. So stop. Go back to basics. Go back to you. Go back to all that you are and let new energy emerge from here. Look after yourself. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What are the pieces that you are trying to sort out? 2. Are you able to stop for a moment and go back to all that you are? INHERITING A HOUSE When I was young we had a Christmas crib that stood on a little table in our hall. We all passed it coming in and going out of the house. There was a orange light that went into the back. The crib lit up the hall from within. The little bed of hay in the centre of the scene, stayed empty until Christmas Eve. We switched on the light every morning. Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds were waiting. We never have the three kings. Fifty years on and we still have the same crib. It's in a new setting with new young people. We all pass it coming in and going out of the house. The little bed of hay is there. Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds are waiting. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What treasure have you inherited form your parents? 2. What will you pass on to your children? . VISIONARY Imagine that the great love is water. It is everywhere. Is in the oceans lapping up to your feet on the beach. It is the water flowing from your taps and carried around in bottles. It helps us to wash and keep clean. It refreshes and sustains us, for without water we would die. Imagine that the great love is air. It is everywhere. Invisible and yet all powerful. Above us and around us, constantly within us. Sustaining us with every single breath, for without air we would die. Imagine that the great love is the sky, giving us light and heat. Imagine that the great love is all energy. Imagine that the great love is all living things. Imagine that the great love is all humanity. Imagine that the great love is all of this. Imagine that the great love is you. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What does love mean to you? CHRISTMAS PRESENT You have the greatest life. Beyond all imagination. Beyond all thankfulness. You have been given the grace to see that this life is not measured by what you have or have not, or how easy or difficult your situation is. You have the greatest gift. Connected to Love. Connected to eternity. You have been given the grace to see that this life is totally amazing. Blessed and sacred. No matter what has happened, or is yet to occur. You have the greatest life. Beyond all imagination. Beyond all thankfulness. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Our life is the greatest Christmas present. How big is your imagining for your future? How big is your thankfulness? BEEKEEPERS The noise in my head is intense. Priorities, to do lists, competing demands, people waiting for this and expecting that. It’s like a glass box full of bees, all flying around looking for space. So, I open the box and immediately the bees fly away. They all go and find their own space and I am left with mine. No noise, just peace. I close the lid and the bees cannot return. Nor can I put any other things into this glass box. It remains empty and clear I am no longer a beekeeper. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is causing noise in your glass box? 2. Can you let it escape? FUTURES To build a kinder world and a more collaborative way of working where people help each other, look after each other, share skills and actively work together, it’s not to the big organisations that we need to look. For they are lost in their agendas and policies, and trapped in old ways of working. Real change will come from millions of new workpiece groups where two or three ordinary people come together, wherever they live, and help each other to grow. For this is not just about more products and services. It’s the development of collaborations that reach into every aspect of our lives and the lives of all others. The power and opportunity rests gently with each of us, together. We are the futures. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What would you like to really see happen in our world? 2. Who will you talk with today about this? How can you find a like minded soul? 3. How will you together begin to build your workpiece group.? |
The BookYour FREE daily training!Des McCabe's acclaimed blog posts are also on Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram every day Explore more
June 2021
Keep in touch |