Inspire

Giving is great but empowering is much better.

February 12, 2017 By Kris

Empower to make a lasting impact

Lao Tzu, a brilliant Chinese philosopher of the 4th century BC and founder of Taoism once said “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime.”

He excels at the simple, elegant way of describing things that we need to take heart.

I recall trying to teach my son how to ride a bike. He was terrified of falling and did not want to face the prospect of hurting himself. He was holding onto me for dear life and refused to bike by himself. The fear of losing control was a filling him up with stress. He was crying and wanted to quit.

As a parent, it was difficult seeing my child crying and many times, thought about trying another day. But I knew that it was delaying the inevitable.

The only way for my son to truly learn how to ride a bike was to do it himself. No way, will he learn with me constantly on his side or even with training wheels. So despite his angry protest, I pushed his bike in front of me after a few seconds running alongside him.

He was afraid, as he wobbled along and with a screech, he fell to the ground. I ran over to him to help him up, and he looked at me with his big doe eyes with quivering lips started crying. He looked at me with an accusatory side glance but got back up on his bike again.

I suppose he realized falling on the bike wasn’t as life ending painful as he thought it was. Still, he felt betrayed by me, but I was so proud of him for trying again after falling. After that, it took him a total of two more tries before he mastered bike riding.

I remember his excited face as he rode his bike with increasing confidence. I asked him if he needed my help, but he imperiously shook his head very proud that he was able to learn to bike all by himself.

Lao Tzu’s Fish quote is a perfect reflection of this. To truly empower someone, you need to (despite protest sometimes), allow that person to try his/herself. Only then can that person grow and flourish. If we don’t do that, that person will forever be dependent and as a consequence never grow and see the light.

It is so tempting to want to help sometimes prematurely, and many times we lack the patience, but we must do this for the long term good of the person. They will thank you for it.

My son is now eleven, and also wrote a post on how to focus. He is fidgeter like me. Check out How to Focus: Guide from an 11 year old.

The Simple Message That Brought This Middle School Class to Tears

February 7, 2017 By Kris

Heartfelt message of Mother’s love and family

One of the most heartfelt messages I have seen in a while from Marc Mero a former WWE Wresting champion.

He was a tremendous success but lost it all and realized what is truly the most important thing in life is.

His message is inspirational and teaches gratitude and appreciation for family and value of time entrusted to all of us.

Check out his inspirational video to these middle schoolers.

Also, check out the Inspirational story of Nick Vujicic.

The two wolves in your mind. Which one are you feeding?

February 6, 2017 By Kris

Start your Monday positively. You got this!

What an amazing story. Wisdom from an old Cherokee story.

You decide. What will you feed? The negative destructive voice in your head or the positive uplifting one?

Whichever voice you listen to, it will come true. If you found a Genie and it was ready to grant your wish, will you ask negative things for yourself?

Imagine that your mind is your genie. Ask for positive things to your mind. If you believe, it will come true.

Source: Zenpencils.com

Below is the legend. Enjoy and keep it firm in your heart.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two “wolves” inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Sunday inspirations. I dreamed I had an Interview with God

February 5, 2017 By Kris

I Dreamed I had an Interview with God.

We live such busy lives. Even weekends are littered with errands, to-dos and catch ups.

We lose sight of the fact of what we are living for and before you know it, it is too late.

Time is a resource that we have a limited amount of. How will we spend this precious resource?

Interview with God is eye opening. Enjoy!

Interview with God

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time”, I said … God Smiled.

“My time is eternity, … what questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered.

“That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up and then long to be children again”

“That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health.”

“That by thinking anxiously about the future, that they forget the present, such that they live neither in the present or the future.”

“That they live as if they will never die and die as if they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine and we were silent for a while. And then I asked.

“As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons that you want your children to learn?”

God replied with a smile.

“To learn they cannot make anyone love them, what they can do is let themselves be loved.”

“To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to other.”

“To learn that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.”

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love and it takes many years to heal them.”

“To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.”

“To learn that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply do not know how to express or show their feelings.”

“To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.”

‘To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven by others, but that they must forgive themselves.”

“And to learn that I am here … ALWAYS.”

The Mindset behind success Video

February 4, 2017 By Kris

What is your mindset for success and happiness?

Living your life with intention and with purpose and realizing you are the one in control of how you feel and what you attract to your life is critical.

Think positive and you will attract positive things and people to you. Do not let negativity convince you otherwise.

Visualize yourself as who would like to be. Visualize things that you want to have and as long as you believe that you will have it and act toward it, it will happen.

Seize the day!