As a Christmas gift my mom gave me 4 small books on passion, leadership and life. It had been years since someone had given me these types of books to read. Previously it had only been from my father and he has been gone for 8 years. So, to receive one from my mother was a welcome surprise.
As I review these books I am reminded of my first “reading assignment” from my father when I was 13 years old. He handed me the book by Norman Vincent Peale called The Power of Positive Thinking. My dad was always sharing with me how powerful our thoughts are, how they are the key to what our mind, our bodies are being instructed to do.
When I was 24 years old my father started a class to teach a small group of 20 people about leadership, it was based on the book, The Laws of Success by Napolean Hill. It was 16 lessons of dense reading that took 6 months for us to finish. I joined the group along with 6 of my friends - not fully understanding what we were getting ourselves into. The long hours of reading, assimilating and preparing for the next weeks class often felt more grueling then any class or workshop I had taken. In retrospect that series of classes has become my foundation - the toolbox for leadership, communication, motivation and team building that I have used for the past 2 decades of my career.
So, when my mom gave me these 4 coffee table books, it brought me back to a time when this kind of reading was a regular activity of mine. When writing down my hopes and dreams were done on a consistent basis. Very early in my life I committed to myself to live a passionate conscious filled life focused on giving, compassion and service to others. Now, reflecting back to those early days, over 20 years ago, when I made that commitment i now realize i have been on “auto-pilot” for some time. Not really consciously updating those goals, making course corrections, and redefining them as i’ve grown and changed. Its time that I do that again.
I read one of the books yesterday called The Dash, Making a Difference with Your Life by Linda Ellis and Mac Anderson.
Linda Ellis - Author, Poet, Columnist
The Dash
copyright 1996 Linda Ellis
I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning…to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth…
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars….the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.
So think about this long and hard…
are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
to consider what’s true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we’ve never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile…
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.
So, when your eulogy is being read
with your life’s actions to rehash…
would you be proud of the things they
say about how you spend your dash?
***
As i look into the new year which will be filled with many passionate dialogues with individuals related to civil rights i am reminded again of the words from my father: that I am to always lead with love. During a time when there is so much anger in me related to the issues surrounding Prop 8, it is important for me to focus on the basics that have been taught to me throughout the years by my parents. This thoughtful gift from my mother has reminded me of that.
During my research yesterday afternoon I also came across an inspiring talk called The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I hadn’t heard of him before since most of my reading has been of individuals that wrote about these topics well before the money machine of motivational speakers, OD consultants and books on leadership kicked in during the 80’s with Tom Peters and those that followed. I decided to look on You Tube to see if i could find the original talk. I did find it, as it appears 8,000,000 other people had. The hour long lecture was simple and filled with gold nuggets that we can all learn from. Its an hour long, so grab a cup of coffee or tea, find a comfortable chair and enjoy… it is well worth the time.
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