Merry Chistmas 2015

Dear loving people,

It’s Christmas season everywhere and so it is at Living Lectures.  Amidst the plethora of messages that you will be receiving from your loved ones, Living Lectures through this short message adds its voice to wish you the best and thanking you for having stood by us throughout 2015.

Lucinda Franks says it was “Christmas in Bethlehem. The ancient dream: a cold, clear night made brilliant by a glorious star, the smell of incense, shepherds and wise men falling to their knees in adoration of the sweet baby, the incarnation of perfect love.”

“Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given--when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes.” So says Joan Winmill Brown

W. C. Jones says “the joy of brightening other lives, bearing others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas.”

In Agnes M. Pharo’s words, Christmas “is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.”

Are you planning to give gifts to your loved ones, Oren Arnold has the following Christmas gift suggestions: 

To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect.

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, the gladness of Christmas give you hope, the warmth of Christmas grant you love. It's not the presents that make Christmas so special; it’s the presence of those you love. Whether they are with you in person or spirit.

Let me join Hamilton Wright Mabie in saying “blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!”

Man In The Mirror

Dear lovely people,

My most admired singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor is the all-time best King of Pop - Michael Jackson. One of his most critically acclaimed songs is Man In The Mirror in which Michael actually goes a step further and offers a straightforward homily of personal commitment:

"I'm starting with the man in the mirror

I'm asking him to change his ways

And no message could have been any clearer

If you wanna make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself and then make a change."

  

Michael’s song actually breaks bounds by departing from popular themes of love, sex and heartbreak as seen in pop music today and rather focuses on the efforts of an individual to improve himself and change the world.

  

We make dreams to change ourselves and the world but partly due to our own inequities, lack of focus, internally crafted factors both conscious and unconscious, compounded by external circumstances beyond our control work in synergy to make us fail with devastating consequences sometimes.

The world today suffers from a major men and women problem that has overwhelmed families, divorce courts, social services, schools, and the criminal justice system. It has so confounded gender norms that men and women alike lead lukewarm, often defeated, lives-and they hate it.

Michael’s "Man in the Mirror" remains popular as highlighted by the continued importance of the questions it raises: What is the individual's responsibility to society? Can we change the world by changing ourselves? What is the power of one person to create change? Whether it is homelessness, poverty, AIDS, nuclear weaponry, or war, Michael Jackson in that song inspires listeners the world over to do something about human suffering for longer than a passing moment.

A good starting point for us all Michael points out, is to look at the man in the mirror? All around us are people with attitude problems, people needing help, people without money, food or clothing, people who have lost hope and dreams. Yet we count our blessings just like Michael who references his favorite winter coat while turning a blind eye to the plight of the poor.

If we all start looking at the man in the mirror, then, we’ll end with a better vision for our lives after a proper diagnosis of our ways and adopting the requisite treatment plan and execution strategy.

Today, decide to …make that change.

A Stainless Steel Personality - Episode 04

Dear lovely people,

 

In Episode 03, we looked at the importance of breaking down your goals to daily achievable tasks. lets now in Episode 04 to the art of being visionary...

Episode 04

You have to remain Mindful & Visionary. Stay in the present moment, taking the very next little step towards your goal. Feel it, celebrate it, be mindful and aware of it.  You are taking action. At the same time, remain visionary about where each step is getting you to.  You need to be able to combine both present mindfulness with future vision.

Episode 05 will even be more appealing, stay tuned....