How it Works

WITH ALL the earnestness at our command we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start.

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THE AA MANTRA above outlines the secret truth for so many who struggle with substance use and abuse problems. It goes on to say, "Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely."

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"Cunning, baffling, powerful." These are the adjectives of the effects some things that hold us have!

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Watching "The Hurricane" recently, Rubin Hurricane Carter's character (played by Denzel Washington) says as mentor to Lazra, "We must transcend the things that hold us."

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The 12-Step program is famous for assisting not only alcoholics, but anyone in desperate need. We need not be a drug addict. I see many around me who could curb their life practices for their betterment.

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The key it seems is fear. Not fear we're used to thinking about... it's a different sort of fear.

This fear is a 'right fear' based in the uttermost respect. It is so much respect that it is fearful of the dire consequence of submission to that 'thing', 'situation', or 'person' that holds us. We need to be free of these things that 'hold us'.

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Jesus said if we do what he commands we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. Truth and Freedom. "Ti estin alethia;" -- What is truth? Pontius Pilate was famous for saying this in response to Jesus. Truth is an elusive concept. Yet it is so simple. We seem to be fooled more often than not to believe lies. Whenever things have turned pear-shaped we've not attended to the truth, pure and simple.

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Freedom. It is attending to the truth. When we suffer because we go 'truth's way', we suffer only because our faith is in lies! In other words, it is because we've temporily believed the lie again. We have to stick with the truth and ignore the pain. Pain might be true, but there is a thing beyond pain; we must transcend the thing that holds us. This also requires courage.

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Courage. We must take 'that' step of faith and that requires courage, or is it the other way around? A step we take that is courageous requires faith. Either way, we must move to transcend that thing that holds us; the thing, or the lie of a situation, or the person that keeps us in bondage.

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It takes discernment to truly see the truth, and faith and courage to act. Together these bring us close to freedom. But to even get a sniff of this freedom we really need a lot of strength to "pull away" from the forcefield of habit. What were those words again...?

"With all the earnestness at our command we beg of you..."

CLASSIC

MY STORY is a classic. All our stories are. Our stories contain miracles, disasters, travesties, cliff-hanging suspense events, and of course, the more routine everyday life events, that promise simple boredom.

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People's stories are becoming more of a commodity these days, in the age of reality TV. What makes these stories interesting is they are so etched with reality. They are so "real". Everyday battles. If not with people or situations, blocked goals and circumstances, it is with the self. We all battle. We all struggle with life.

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To be continued...

the mouth - the outcome

Reading Proverbs recently, it came to my attention that the mouth plays a HUGE part in our anatomy. Think about it...

What do we put inside it? Whatever gets "near" the mouth invariably gets eaten, moulding our body.

What comes out of it? Whatever comes out invariably highlights the "seat of intentions" - the heart. The Seat of Intentions (our heart) simply proves our motivation, what drives us, our values etc.

If our heart is rotten, then what we have to say will not be clean; if our heart is pure, we'll say things that edify and build-up...

It's all about the mouth. It's the outcome, or business end of things.

If it matters to us, we must control what enters the mouth, and what leaves the mouth. This takes enormous discipline and years of practise.

Death is an Amazing Thing

WHY IS IT that funerals bring out that uncomfortable feeling that we’re not here for ever; that, one day in the future, we’ll suffer the acutely tortuous loss of a loved one? For many of us, this has happened, and perhaps many times, but that doesn’t prepare us for the loss in the future—we’re never prepared for it—each of us will be sadly missed. At these times, we also think of our own death; or perhaps better put, how fragile our life is and how short the journey could be, or simply just is. We are brought into contact with emotions that well-up and take us over; we see responses to loss in others that overwhelm us. AND, we see real humanity, and unity.

It was a real sense of unity that I felt at a young man’s funeral yesterday. He was aged only 24 at death; his mother, a work colleague and friend—a lovely and genuine lady, was gutted as she spoke glowingly of her son’s love of life, his humour, his beautiful and handsome looks, and how she fell instantly in love with him on the 23rd of February, 1983. One word described her demeanor: heartbroken.

Her sense of grief was so evident after the service as she desperately sought the loving embrace of her husband—the family. Goose bumps invade my body as I recall the deep sense of unity within her family; they simply desperately needed one another during that time, and this will be true also for the time to come. It will make her family unit even stronger though—the silver lining.

My impressions of John, having never known him… what an amazing man. Adversity was a friend for this battling inspirative. A keen and highly talented sportsman, a lovely and grace-filled man; a man loved by his family and friends and missed from now on… rest in peace with God, John.

WorkSafe Forum 2007

"I don't think we can eliminate human error."

- Dr. Albert Boquet (keynote speaker)

SUCCESSFUL & VALUABLE. Those are the words I'd use to commend WorkSafe WA for their 2007 showcase targeted at the Safety and Health Rep. Six hundred delegates were present and involved in the theme, Creating a Safety Culture at Work. Fremantle Ports sent eleven people to the Forum including four safety reps. [FP sent invites to all safety reps, and further to all employees.]

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There were three (3) great plenary sessions including a rev-up from Tony Cooke (Chair, WA Commission for OSH) preaching the Safety Is No Accident message. He related that he first saw the slogan and 'stole' it from the Graham Farmer Freeway, though I suspect the first time he actually saw it was at Hamersley Iron in the 1980's where "Safety Is No Accident" was their by-line. Tony's impassioned message was very pertinent and a perfect note to end the day. "We need real (collaborative) effort." His plea was for managers and supervisors to get the same training as their safety reps. Another key message was looking back 'we've come a long way' from the negative days in the early 1980's. Since Robens the OSH landscape has gradually improved... there's still much to do as evidenced by the amount of people killed and maimed each day, month, and year from injuries at work.

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"Every statistic is a broken body."

- Tony Cooke

Tony also went on to say that injuries and illnesses cost Australia approx. $8 Billion per annum ($3 Billion in known Workers' Compensation and Injury Management); and an estimated $5 Billion through tax system liabilities (when the worker goes onto sickness benefits etc) and the uncharted family costs------of course we all should know that injuries and illnesses arouse costs in the non-monetry sense, particularly suffering.

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Keynote Speaker, Dr. Albert Boquet from the USA spoke on human factors involved in accidents. How many of us have driven tired (lots)? How many of us have had crashes due to tiredness when driving (not many). His point was people make mistakes all the time, yet our systems never capture this data simply because the workplace environment doesn't embrace the fact that humans make mistakes--it's frowned upon. The prevailing culture in industry is to 'hide mistakes'.

S

Our challenge is to make better use of "human error events" and design our systems so that these are reduced, or so when errors are made they do not have catastrophic consequences.

Dr. Boquet lamented that the systems approach to safety is backed by "fact-driven research" but the human factors approach to safety was often based on "fad-driven research." The typical response to incidents is that human factors are rarely captured and the fix is normally "more or better procedures"--this approach fails nearly every time.

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The Human Factors Intervention Matrix is a cube model covering both systems, human factors and practicability measures and would be an ideal addition to our incident management systems.

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If we have fatigue problems we need to address the human factors front on, and talk about the elephant-in-the-room issues, like napping and low risk tasks restrictions etc.

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"Everyone makes mistakes."

- Dr. Albert Boquet

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It is time our systems tackled this fact and began 'engineering out' the human factors element as far as possible.

A Passion for Living: 2

WE WATCHED Dr. John Tickell again yesterday or part thereof. The great thing about learning is it is inclined to "stick", at least in the subconscious where the good Lord might have his way through our conscience.

I'm pondering a thing or two about moderation in my lifestyle, and the dissatisfaction level is rising--which is all very good. I'm a subscriber to the theory of:

CHANGE = D + V + P

(D = Dissatisfaction with Present Situation, V = Vision for Change, P = Process to get there)

On Nepotism

IT IS PECULIAR what we are led to read and watch. Why do we pick up certain books or watch certain things? For instance, this morning I went to the toilet to read (what else would one do in the toilet?) and on the way I selected a book called, Characters Around the Cross by Tom Houston. Thumbing through the book I stumbled across the theme of Nepotism; Chapter 4 is called "The Nepotism of Caiaphas".

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Nepotism has roots in the Latin, 'nepotes' which means 'nephew', and the long and the short of it is, people who engage in it favour members of their own family, often at the expense of others perhaps more deserving/capable (but outside the familial context).

SThe family of Annas (Caiaphas' father-in-law) had six members hold the High Priest position in Jerusalem--the ruling position of the Jews--over about a fifty-year period, during the period in which Jesus of Nazareth was alive. This implies that either Annas' family were incredibly gifted for politics or perhaps situations were manipulated for them; this is what Houston writes about--the fact that the second issue was relevant--in fact, the situation of nepotism in Annas' family was referred to by Josephus, the Jewish historian, and it was even recorded in the Talmud--the adjunct reading to Torah, the Hebrew Bible:

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Woe to the sons of Annas, themselves High Priests, their sons treasurers, their sons-in-law assistant treasurers, while their servants beat the people with sticks.

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Jews in the High Priest position had enormous influence and were incredibly wealthy--estimated at about $25 million per annum... now that is royalty!

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"Nepotism's great concern about its own leaves little sympathy for those outside the circle." It is consumed with grasping for one's own kin. The reverse can also occur. When politicians rise to power, or others with influence, relatives can also grasp at opportunities to maximise and rort the environment for their own ends.

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I see it. I see it in the workplace; I see it in familial situations. I see its injustice, and it reveals a weakness in those to whom engage in it. I know it doesn't appear to be a great sin, but the fact is it is so unnecessary. We can love our family members and those we have allegiances with very adequately without resorting to favouritism.

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The great thing about the Universal Law is that it holds basically all the time. We really do get what is coming to us... eventually.

“Loose Lips Sink Privilege”

WE LIVE IN A WORLD of “all or nothing” at times, don’t we? For instance, the legal world operates this way around the subject of legal professional privilege (LPP)—the right to seek legal opinion and to protect information, and the advice sought. But, there's a catch...

Give a little away, and you give the lot away.

The problem is LPP can be waived. This ‘privilege’ can, in other words, be given up. Waiving LPP by disclosing information (even only a little information) is quite a foolish business or personal practice, and is often only recognised in hindsight.

To illustrate the matter, the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), in its dealings in Iraq, appears to have made important information, which could have been subject to LPP at a later date, available for subpoena by the Federal Court; all because it divulged the ‘gist’ of its findings and advice to the Commonwealth Government and the Independent Inquiry Committee of the United Nations (IIC) after commissioning its own internal inquiry into the scandal in 2003.[1]

Contrary to the many who might think the law is an ass, it seems to me that the law is a complex system set up on the ‘rules’ of wisdom, rules that can often appear invisible until it is “too late”--without the crucial benefit of 20/20 hindsight.

The core of the matter seems to be around comments made relating to courses of action that may or may not be taken from the legal advice that is given. Commenting that a particular course of action is taken because of advice would threaten LPP; the protection of the information. The general message is, ‘The less said, the better LPP is protected.’ Government personnel seeking legal advice are often referred to the State Solicitor’s Office, so LPP can be protected. It is almost a case of “getting advice before getting advice.”

In the biblical wisdom of Proverbs, King Solomon is attributed for saying words to the effect,
“All who act prudently protect knowledge, but fools expose their folly.”[2]

Further again, Proverbs 14:8a says,
“The Wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways.”

And at risk of overstating the point, we find written again in Proverbs 12:23,
“The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.”[3]

The central message seems to be that we can act in one of two ways[4] when it comes to knowledge. We can either act in consideration of known factors, and more importantly, in consideration of unknown factors, or we can simply exercise some level of blind faith, which implicitly is not qualified in knowledge[5] but may be supported in some other level of ‘truth’—for instance, one’s (often) skewed perception.

Giving ‘thought to one’s ways’ implies a humble honesty[6] and a healthy guarding, and respect, of the truth, or at least one’s view of the truth i.e. perception. In other words, it is acknowledging that one’s perception is often skewed, even slightly. In response, it is prudent to give thought to one’s ways—not doing so is dangerous.

Perhaps the illustration of LPP is really about having foresight of potential consequences; of future outcomes. Isn’t foresight inherent in wisdom?

So, what is the general message here for us? We might not all be in the position to need or require LPP in our daily affairs, however, we will often assert a particular position out of a lack of prudence.

Perhaps one further Proverb would be an appropriate place to finish:

“The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.”[7]

[1] See R. King, “Loose lips sink privilege” in Government Risk Management (Vol. 8, Iss. 15, August 2007) p. 8-9.
[2] See Proverbs 13:16 in the Today’s New International Version. The actual rendering in the TNIV is, “All who are prudent act with knowledge…”
[3] Both 14:8a and 12:23 are from the TNIV.
[4] Refer to P.E. Koptak, NIV Application Commentary: Proverbs (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2003), 343, 360, 375.

[5] The distinction here is “knowledge” means something that is actually true.
[6] Koptak again, 340-43.
[7] Proverbs 22:3 TNIV.

Made by God

I HAVE married someone so wonderfully talented. This is one of her works:

“When I think of ‘made by God’, I first think of ‘God made the whole world and everything in it’ as in Genesis 1. But then I take just a moment longer and think of the tiny flowers on a bush, each petal shaped and coloured by God; the different shades of pink, purple, orange and red in the clouds as the sun sets on a cold winters afternoon; the soft lighting in a cave delicately colouring the slowly forming shapes of a world beneath the earth’s surface; the many shades of yellow of a golden summer sunset; the bright dashes of yellow on little birds flitting around in the warm spring air">spring air; the stillness of a cold, lightly misty winters morning, with a river so still, the reflection could be mistaken for the real thing; the bright blues and many shades of orange of new coral growth below the surface of the ocean; and the many different people with such a variety of different shades of appearances and personalities that no two people are the same—they are totally unique.

And that’s just the start of what God has made. Consider also the dark dusty reds of the desert; the luscious green of the paddocks in winter that turns to a crunchy golden brown in summer; the carpets of flowers in the warm spring air; the wonder of a new born">new born child, and a child laughing at the simplest of things like touching a parents face.

The things that look so simply beautiful, are also amazingly complex and interesting. The simple beauty is supported by some pretty amazing biology and ecology that humans have been able to understand so much about, and yet still have so much more to discover and understand. How amazing is this world that was made by God?”

The Virtuous Life

WE MAKE the choice early in life to either head the good way or the not so good way. We choose a way and then behave in ways more or less consistently with our modus operandi. Is it really that simple though? Do we really choose a life of virtue, or a life of vice? Is it really that clear-cut?

The goal is to identify the makings of this ‘virtuous life’, and the things that contribute towards the attainment of a virtuous character.

It seems to have been my goal for as long as I can remember to seek the virtues and a character that reflects the virtuous life. I’ve always wanted to be seen as responsible, trustworthy, courageous, among other things. Yet, there’ve been times when I missed the mark so much that I’ve literally floundered in my seeking of these things.

I feel like I’m almost unique in my quest for wisdom and virtue. I feel no-one else I know spends the amount of time I do on trying to ‘get wise’. (I am sure there are others.) Why is there such an in-built or innate drive to acquire these virtues?

Even more frustrating in this ‘quest’ is this issue of ‘missing the mark’—namely, Hebrew meaning for the word “sin” i.e. hattah. Why is it that someone who tries so hard to become wise and virtuous struggles so hard with the seemingly easy and obvious things that bring one down?

Take eating for example. I am told, certainly in the Scriptures, if not through Dr. Phil or Weight-Watchers or from a myriad of other sources, that over-eating is not only not wise, but it is sin in the form of gluttony. I tend to be an over-eater and do it in little binges. I can do it with healthy food, but invariably it’s with the unhealthy, ‘very tasty’ variety of (BONUS) food I do it with. And, have you ever noticed how these foods usually don’t satisfy? I mean I just go back for more and more and more. Can you do that with salad? I suggest not. Eat it slowly, then you're done. The irony is you can eat as much salad as you want and you just get healthier!

So where’s the answer from the virtuous life that counteracts the urges and desires of over-eating? Even though I know the theory that comfort-eating is a symptom of a larger, deeper problem, it brings me no closer to the solution.

Where’s the magic bullet, or ‘the secret’ to help heal me of this disorder, and more appropriately, heal me painlessly?

Was life really designed to be so hard? Why can’t it be easier? Why does it mean that because I want to do something easy, or perhaps, I want to not do something hard, all of a sudden I feel the ‘guilts’ and feel that voice within calling me a failure, when I succumb to the pressure of doing something lazy or not doing something that would require diligence?

Where is this magic bullet?

For some people within this world of ours, spirituality is the way to it. Some others are destined to always rely (often successfully!) on their self-discipline (and, some are ‘stronger’ than others), while others again are perennially weak and never really try at all!

What makes some successful and others not? Is it really as easy as some ‘getting it’ whilst others simply not? (If it were so easy, it could be suggested that not as many would grapple with the reality that sees many miss the mark.)

If it is a magic bullet it sounds lethal. Is it simply something cool sounding to use the phraseology of ‘magic bullet’? Bullets are quick and can’t even be seen by the naked eye—do we want our fixes and wisdom correctives to be that quick? We’d also want them to be painless, right? Quick and painless... okay, it sounds good.

Yet, (...and there’s always more ‘yets’) those of us who have any idea will know that wisdom and the life of virtue is a lifelong quest, a pastime, a venture requiring our diligent and steadfast focus each day. Doesn’t sound like a quick-fix to me!

Why do some just seem to have it; wisdom? Why do some others (like me) seem to struggle for years, in fact all their lives? There are so many questions and so many things to ask, it is wearying. (Edit.--do some just seem to have it without having to work for it; I suggest not.)

I need a simple approach—I need to keep it simple. More and more these days we see ways of dealing with all sorts of things that just seem to complicate what was always designed to be just plain simple. Yet, we complicated it to make it look good, or to make ourselves look good, or did it for some other “look good” reason.

Who else needs a simple approach to living wisely, virtuously, and simply living well?

Let us revive the idea that the simplest and best goal of human endeavour is to live the virtuous life!

[Originally written on the 25th of September 2007]

[The virtue highlighted here by the way is that of TEMPERANCE... wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, and transcendence are the others according to at least one writer. Christian virtues of faith, hope and love need also to be considered.]

A passion for living

Dr. JOHN Tickell is an Australian, a doctor for sure, but first an entertainer.

His presentation, A Passion for Living is a very persuasive, no-nonsense, and highly entertaining health promotion and communication tool. Dr. Tickell has not only delivered 600 babies, but he's also a "pioneer of health management clinics"--so he's the one we can blame!

What makes his method so revolutionary is that it is so SIMPLE. He makes a myriad of points in less than an hour, covering seemingly the whole gambit of health (including eating, exercise, sleep, relaxation and stress--even AIDS).

So, what does he say?
Eating: plant foods are great; eat them. Stick to the "2/3, 1/3 rule". 2/3 of your plate must be plant food, cereals, grains, fruit. Next, there are only two (2) food groups... BASIC and BONUS. Eat the BASIC foods nearly all the time, then you can have the BONUS foods only rarely. We know what BONUS foods are, right? Want to snack? Get an apple, a carrot, or a plain slice of bread.

The book that comes with the VHS presentation presents all sorts of tips... like trying to think of two things at once to get to sleep for us insomniacs (as I type it is 2324hrs!!). Say the word "one" repeatedly, whilst doing a task like simultaneously subtracting seven from 200 and so on... 193, one, 186, one, 179, one, 172, one... it blocks out the world that keeps us awake and we're asleep in no time.

Exercise: we need to spend 1% of our time exercising... 168 hours in one week means 1.68 hours; 100 minutes per week we need to be active. We can do 2 x 50 minute or 50 x 2 minute workouts--it doesn't matter... we also sleep better when we've exercised.

Dr. Tickell says a fair bit about stress and how to manage it. Worry: CAN'T DO'S versus CAN DO'S. Why focus on CAN'T DO'S??? If you like to worry, set aside 20 minutes per day to do just that, then get on with affecting things you CAN DO, by doing them. There's a lot to be said for ACTION. We can do our mental and emotional health a lot of good by actually doing things rather than worrying about things we can't do, or can't influence.

MODERATION is the secret. Everything in moderation; well, everything that is except for laughter, sex, vegetables and fish--and not all together, as it gets very messy! (One of John's very own jokes there!) We can have as much laughter, sex, vegetables and fish as we want; they are apparently very good for us.

There is really too much to comment on, and that is why it is worth revisiting this as it is one of those presentations that you don't get everything from first time.

MODERATION; it is easier said than done, but it is possible. What is possible is achievable.

Death comes...

DEATH comes to us all. It's a fact that there is one thing everyone gets the right to, in equal proportion: time.

Time is the same for all--it seems to go slowly, but the fact is it goes; it goes forward, and never stops. As the saying goes, "time waits for no man (or woman)".

When I reflect on the deaths--famed people--this year (Chris Mainwaring for one), the fact remains; no matter how much I may have envied these people and their lives, for their fame and achievements, I am still alive and they are not--death is an incredible equaliser.

YET my time will inevitably come. Eventually it WILL come. The Shaman (American Indian) warriors have a philosophy (love of wisdom) of death... "Without the awareness of death, everything is ordinary, trivial."

For the Shaman's, death stalks them.
Are they obsessed or pre-occupied by their death?--Yes and No.
Yes in that the very process of death makes life a mystery, and no, part of the challenge of life is to elude death (we might call it wisdom).

Perhaps there is much to be learned about life (and importantly, how to live life prudently) through the scope of our imminent death?

Play it out...

It seems to me that one of the skills of life is to know when to simply let a situation play itself out.

I mean, sometimes things happen, quite external to our own influence, and how do we deal with it--often it's a case of 'getting in the way' of progress by foisting our opinion or by acting in some bold (but often later found foolish) way.

Whilst driving home yesterday I felt compelled to scribble down,
"Whatever the situation in life, SIMPLY play it out...".

I have found so many times in my life that by simply waiting and watching, things have often worked out far better than they would have had I intervened. It's at these times I have often thought, "Wow, I didn't even need to do anything!"

What I have done in those situations is exercise some patience and humility to know that I don't know it all. It is humbling to know the countless times I haven't exercised this sort of divine foresight, and I think that is why it is great when it does work. It really does work!

It isn't just the virtues of patience and humility, but also the quality of prudence.

I think I'm learning to be more prudent, one day at a time.

Just "be-ing"

Sun, water, warmth, the freedom of the weekend. It's an amazing life, just pondering it all.

Acts of the Prudent

I've been doing some research on some very interesting qualities (traits) and ways of operating in life (M.O.). The first one that I feel led toward is becoming more "prudent". (Other words bubbling through my heart and mind at this time are: "scarcity" - the value of it in relationships; diligence; and the old Hebrew word, "shalom".)

The prudent person,
Overlooks an insult,
Keeps their knowledge to themselves,
Acts out of knowledge (which are established facts),
Gives thought to their ways (and steps),
Is crowned with knowledge,
Takes refuge in the sight of danger,
Keeps quiet in times of trouble, and
Heeds correction.

In my reading of wisdom literature, it seems that there is another word linked with "the prudent," but it is its opposite.

The simple require prudence.

The "simple" person:
Believes anything,
They inherit folly, and
Keep going (in the face of danger) and suffer for it.

Proverbs 8:5 directs the simple... "You who are simple, gain prudence."

One opposite I read of for prudence was rashness. Does this mean that the simple (that are described here) are rash, and act without care? I think so.

Increasing your influence

Why do some of our plans that involve relationships fail?

Most of the difficulties we face are because we 'fell down' in our approach somewhere, or we didn't consider something that in hindsight was quite obvious... you may even be a little embarrassed in retrospect!

Here is something I have been musing over and could be used as a coaching tool, and as a means of adding to our influence, creating better chances of success and mutually agreeable outcomes.

This is inspired from Stephen Covey:

↑ Influence – ethos, pathos, and logos[1]:

“[There is the] Greek philosophy of influence called Ethos, Pathos, Logos. Ethos is credibility; the faith people have in your integrity and competence. It’s the trust you inspire. Pathos is empathy. It means that you are emotionally tuned in to the other person’s needs and what they are trying to communicate. Logos is logic, reasoning. It’s your objective, proposal and presentation … pay attention to the sequence—ethos, pathos, logos—first character, then relationships, and finally, the logic of your presentation.

To have real influence, you must have credibility. You have to be productive, honest and transparent. If you’re always late, over-promising and under-delivering, you won’t be taken seriously.

If you have an honest motive, your display of empathy will be recognized as genuinely caring and wanting to understand your boss rather than manipulate him. Use [their] position as a point of departure. Try to solve [their] problems. Take heed of the social and cultural and political realities of your organization.

Finally, you must have patience and an awareness of the process. Nothing will change overnight. And this means you’ve got to work on yourself as well. Once you’ve got the ethos and pathos, you will have the wisdom, sense of timing, and courage to be effective with your ideas.”

- Stephen Covey.

Now, the challenge…
· Identify an issue at work or at home that deeply concerns you. Choose one that you believed was outside of your ability to change.

· Identify the key people you will need to influence in order to accomplish the change.

· Analyze where you stand in your ethos with them. Develop a plan to increase your ethos, if necessary, and

· Then to pay the price of pathos before you present your well thought-through logos.

· Remember to be patient and open to influence in the process.

Most textual highlights (incl. bullets) have been added.

[1] Adapted from Stephen Covey, Increase Your Influence , Inside-Out e-newsletter, August 2007. Available online at: http://www.franklincovey.com.au/store/insideout/2007/08/Increase-Your-Influence-Ethos-Pathos-Logos.asp

First one!

I'm into the world of blogging!


I love to observe, model, create, coach, explore, improve, facilitate and encourage. I am into the Virtuous Life.

This Blog will be used to express some of the wellspring of the creative thought within me as I adapt other works, and create my own.

Epitome is from the Greek epitemnein, and the related word, epitomical is summarised in synonyms... embodiment, exemplification, model, typification, quintessence. [Latin epitomē, a summary, from Greek, an abridgment, from epitemnein, to cut short : epi-, epi- + temnein, to cut; see tem- in Indo-European roots.]

I want to be the epitome of the Holy One, and help others do the same. Even if people don't believe in God, most people want to be happy; I want to be involved in happiness.