"And if you cannot work with love..."

We're in the last quarter of 2011 and I can't believe how turbulent it's been. In this 9th month, I'm looking back at months of loss, death, fatigue, mistakes, and worst of all betrayal by people who I thought were compassionate human beings. I feel as though I was born all over again, at 43; as though I just arrived on planet earth; as though I was made to learn some of life lessons from scratch, like a new born.

 

And most of the turbulence this year has been centered around work - or from people at work, or from the fact that there is so much work, that I can't ever seem to get a break from work, or that people don't want to pay for work, or that people disrespect my work. Rarely a minute to exhale. I do understand why some people seek refuge. Some do it by partying, with addictions, through seclusion. We all need exit routes.

 

But then Khalil comes to mind. He has been a source of clarity since I was introduced to him by my father in my teenage years. I hope this excerpt from The Prophet helps you as it did me this morning.

...Speak to us of

Work.

And he answered, saying:

You work that you may keep pace with

the earth and the soul of the earth.

...

You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.

And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,

And all urge is blind save where there is knowledge,

And all knowledge is vain save where there is work,

And all work is empty save where there is love;

And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.

...

Work is love made visible.

And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

For if you break bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger...

-- Khalil Gibran

Lebanese Poet, Philosopher, and Artist (1883 - 1931)

Quote of the Week: Rumi

"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do."

Rumi

Thanks to Mo Beasley for introducing me to Rumi.

Quote of the Week (from The Wiz)

"...and the world has got no shame..."

Quote of the Week: Immortalize Yourself

"We only live once. Since we are given the gift of life it should be our persistent endeavor to immortalize ourselves. No matter what field of endeavor we choose." ~ Michael Jackson.

Quote of the Week: Sekou Sundiata

"Good things come to those who wait.
Better things comes to those who don't."
~  Sekou Sundiata

Quote of the Week: James Baldwin

It is very nearly impossible... to become an educated person in a country so distrustful of the independent mind.
James A. Baldwin

Quotes by Harriet Tubman (In Honor of Her Birth Month and Women's History Month)

“Oh Lord, convert master! Oh Lord, change dat man's heart!' …Oh Lord, if you ant nebber gwine to change dat man's heart, kill him, Lord, an' take him out ob de way.” - - Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman by Sarah H. Bradford (1869)

[same quote with less dialect]
“Oh Lord, convert master! Oh Lord, change dat man's heart!' …Oh Lord, if you aint never gon’ to change dat man's heart, kill him, Lord, an' take him out of the way.”

“I freed thousands of slaves. I could have freed thousands more if they had known they were slaves.”

“The Lord who told me to take care of my people meant me to do it just as long as I live, and so I did what he told me.”

“I started with this idea in my head, "there's two things I've got a right to...death or liberty.”

“I grew up like a neglected weed, ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it. Now that I've been free, I know what dreadful condition slavery is.”

“I never ran my train off the track. And I never lost a passenger.”

"Happy Birthday To You" (Sing it like Stevie)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. whose birthday is today. He would have been been 81.

A favorite quote of mine from him:

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.

Quote of the Week: When Hiring...

Best quote of the day:

"You can buy someone's time, their talent, and their skills, but you can't buy nor train some one to be dedicated."

- E. Omar Silver

Wow.

Get Affirmed ;-)

Second best quote of yesterday (and I'm paraphrasing):

"Some people look at great success stories and get inspired...that's it. They never actualize what inspires them. Their response is emotional. Others look at great success stories and get affirmed because they are already en route to their own version of that success."

E. Omar Silver (at it again!)

Quote of the Week

"Nothing replaces diligence and discipline in the pursuit of growing your business...not hope, not good intentions, not luck. Nothing."

~ April R. Silver

Quote of the Week: "On Children" by Khalil Gibran

Khalil Gibran is a poet, philosopher, and artist...born in Lebanon (1883 - 1931). He is one on my favorite poets. My father introduced me to him when I was a child.

On the ocassion of Byron and Kenya's baby shower today and because they asked me to offer a blessing or a prayer, I hope to share this poetic prose from Gibran at the gathering. It is from "The Prophet." The Prophet of God, Almustafa, left these parting words of wisdom for the people of Orphalese before he returnd to his homeland :

"And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's long for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from wich your children as living arrows are sent froth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swit and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Quote of the Week: Powerful People

"Powerful people never have to prove anything to anyone, and by extension, powerful people never apologize to powerless people for the actions they take in order to stay in power."

~ John Henrick Clarke (Historian, Author, Professor)

Quote of the Week: "Closer" (From My Daddy)

"You're closer to your goal today then you were yesterday, baby."

That's what my loving father used to say as words of encouragement to his weary daughter trying to get through college. Thank you, daddy. That helped more than you know.

Quote of the Week: "You Look Like a Hoochie Mama"

That's what one of my mentors
told me upon seeing this photo:

"It's the boots." she said. I hollered!

It's a different look for me, yes (for those who don't know me, I'm a jeans and tee-shirt kind of woman). But hoochie mama...don't think so. In fact, only two women that I know objected to this image. And one male colleague was not to sure and expressed concerned. Everyone else in my world (male and female), if they commented at all, was "thrilled" to see the new look and "inspired." Their words, not mine.

So what do you think? I ask the question not to focus on me, but to bring to the fore what this image triggers: wrong dress code for business, empowerment...what?

Quote of the Week: Life Lessons from Jenny B. (Moms)

"You can't say you love me and *?@! me over at the same time."

"Call it crazy when you see crazy coming!"

"You have to deal with some people with a long-laddled spoon so they won't bite your finger."

Jenny B. on the finer things in life: One day I'd asked my mother about the pros and cons of buying a new or used car. In one of her classic witty comebacks, she said, "I never liked the idea of used cars. I've always bought new ones. If it becomes time for me to get another one, then what would I want with a used car? I already got a "used" car!"

- Jenny B.

Quote of the Week: "You must be the change..."

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
~ Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (aka Mahatma Gandhi)

Quote of the Week: Your Data

"Back it up!"

~ everyone who has every lost their computer files

Quote of the Week: "Always Do Your Best"

Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse, and regret.

~ Don Miguel Ruiz
"The Four Agreements"


* I LOVE this book!

Quote of the Week: "Don't Make Assumptions"

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and dramam. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

~ Don Miguel Ruiz
"The Four Agreements"


* I LOVE this book!