True Wealth

My sister gifted this book to me for my birthday, along with a magnifying mirror:

Thus, I’m becoming knowledgeable about microcredit and I have a freshly tweezed face.

I’m only on page 28, but this is what I’ve learned thus far:

Mr. Yunus has been involved with working for the benefit of poor people in India for most of his life. He is now 77. Through his work, he has enabled the poorest of the poor to gain credit, become entrepreneurs and thus, productive members of society.

The American economic system works in the favor of the rich. This is plainly obvious. Our banks do not believe in our poor. We believe that given credit, the poor will never pay the debt back. However, Yunus says his experience is the opposite: his Grameen Bank “lends over $2.5billion in U.S. currency a year to 9 million poor women on the basis of trust only.” The repayment rate? 98.96%!

Grameen Bank has 19 branches in the U.S. with “86,000 borrowers, all women*, who receive business startup loans averaging around $1,000. As of 2017, the loans disbursed…total over $600 million, and the repayment rate is over 99%.”

Yunus believes our emphasis on GDP is inaccurate and incomplete. We are not taking account the “Whole Person” in our economy. Our focus is on the selfish and our system is based on rewarding the selfish. So what do we get? Corruption, inflation and more and more people in poverty.

This man’s work is proof that it only takes one person to make an enormous difference globally. The secret? See a need, work to fulfill that need to help others and do not focus on fame or wealth. (Never mind that Yunus has a net worth of $10million and he won the Nobel Peace Prize!)

*You might wonder why Yunus is loaning money to women: He wanted to help the poorest of the poor.

Faith

When it seems hopeless, envision this:

A man in his forties, dressed in his best gray suit, sits alone at the table. His eyes are on the door. Gorgeous flowers wrapped in cellophane stand stiffly in a vase of water. He’s anxiously waiting for her.

Does she show up?

We hope she does…

And if she doesn’t? Imagine him crestfallen. Imagine his disappointment. What would you want to say to him?

***

Next, a young teenage boy is at a fast food restaurant. He orders a #4 (cheeseburger, fries, and a drink) and a #6 (chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink). He takes them to a booth and spreads them out, neatly. He waits, nervously looking at the door every time it opens. People come and go. He checks his watch four times. Thirty minutes later, he realizes she (or he) is not coming. He throws it all in a bag and heads home, dejected.

Wouldn’t you tell him he will find that special someone someday? Wouldn’t you urge him to not give up on the good in life?

Well, we’re all rooting for you, too.

Something New

If you want something different, do something different.

Now.

Don’t wait.

No excuses.

Take baby steps if you need to, but do it.

By the way, you’ll have to make a sacrifice or two. You’ll probably be a little uncomfortable. This is why most people don’t reach their goals: They don’t want discomfort and they don’t want to give anything up.

Will you stand out?

Dogs Are Stoics

Dogs don’t complain, whine or bitch (pardon the pun).

Purpose and Passion

Passion* = a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something

Purpose = the aim or intention of doing something for a higher cause than oneself

According to research, which wins? Which will lead to more success and happiness?

Conducting work with strong purpose will always win over simple passion.

But of course, the ultimate work includes both passion and purpose!

*Merriam Webster dictionary definition

Source: Dan Heath, The Power of Moments

1-2-3

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I was preparing to do a backbend with pushups (yes, it’s just as fun as it sounds!) when I was filled with dread and doubt. But Jillian said, “One, two, three!” and I started bending my arms slowly, until my head touched the ground and then I straightened my arms. I did 15 of those. It was grueling. I hated it. I’m glad it’s over.

There’s something about counting…counting down or counting up, it doesn’t matter. Notice when parents tell their kids to do something and they start counting: “ONE…TWO…!” The kids hup to it before “THREE!” Why? They just know they better get going. It’s a weird motivator.

I love this Ted Talk from Mel Robbins. She says the key to success in anything is to know one thing:”You’re never going to feel like it.” You’re never going to feel excited to do those backbend pushups, you’re not going to feel like jumping out of bed to get to work first (well, probably not…) and you’re not going to feel like eating salad instead of cheesecake.

But in those areas of your life that are working, you are doing the things you don’t necessarily feel like doing. You’re exercising self-discipline. Robbins’ “Five Second Rule” is to take action no longer than five seconds from the moment you have the thought, I should…

I should get out of bed now…

I should go for a run…

I should send that email asking for a favor…

I should clean the fridge…

I should go to bed now…

Try it. The rule is, you have five seconds from the time you have the thought. Or make your own countdown!

You Can’t Make Me

You can’t make me wake up and prepare for the day,

through threats or rewards or anything you say.

You can’t make me study for the quiz or the test,

you can’t make me pay attention and do my best.

But you can nicely inquire about the songs I like,

or invite me out to to shop, see a movie or a hike.

Because building a union based on sincerity

will lead to a life full of jocularity

for you as well as for me.

To Suck or not to Suck – It Doesn’t Matter

baher-khairy-129107 — Photo by BaherKhairy

I volunteered tonight at my daughter’s symphony chair auditions. My task was to walk the children of the cello section from rehearsal to a small private room with a judge and back to rehearsal, one at a time. These kids’ ages ranged from 12 to 14 and there were eight of them.

They were nervous.

Six of them told me they didn’t practice enough. One of them told me he would fail.

I urged them to breathe deeply and think positively. But they weren’t having it!

Their pessimism surprised me. These kids attend rehearsal once a week, most coming from other cities 30 minutes away or more. They take private lessons.

It goes to show that two important factors necessary for confidence in performance: preparation and positivity.

Still, watching young kids work so hard to make beautiful music together warms the heart!

I love my friend’s reaction to her son when his audition was over.

He walked out of his audition, stretched his arms out and shouted, “I sucked!”

She said, “Well, let’s go out for ice cream then.”

And they did.

High School is Short-Lived

B is for Barbs

In high school, our mascot was “the barbs”

– that’s short for barbed wire – which was invented in DeKalb, IL.

barb = sharp, bristly, obviously unpleasant…

causing inflamation and swelling. High school was constant stress over

grades, posturing and “success,” whatever that was.

My home life was more of the same, pure misery.

I felt invisible all the time. Nobody saw who I was, they saw who they wanted to see.

(Mostly, they were disappointed by what they saw!)

But I survived. I’ve actually thrived.

And you will, too. Hang in there. High school is temporary.

barbed

Wave Your White Flag

Acceptance of what is real is one of the main precepts of freedom, according to the great spiritual thinkers. Most of us have not met complete inner peace because we resist reality. Our egos take over and react: We complain about things that “happen to us.”

Practicing full surrender to reality means accepting (completely) the fact that you have to take your car into the garage for the second time in two weeks (this time, to fix the tail lights).

It means that you are not disappointed or frustrated when technology fails, when your plane gets delayed or when you realize you sent the wrong email to the wrong person.

Full surrender means you accept that you just got canned and you’re now unemployed….you accept the sudden death of a loved one or that you lost your (fill-in-the-blank) competition.

If you can accept all that life brings you, then you are well on your way to true happiness.

Kismet

Daily Practice

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