“Always be a beginner.” - Lou Paget
“Take the ball early, regular, or late, it is your choice,” Coach Rey told me today during my tennis session. I started following his advice and hitting the returns earlier, while the ball was still on the rise. “Whenever possible, step in, don’t step back”, he said, “take the benefit from coming in early.”
Last night I bought an audio book on the topic of living with passion, from a famous American personal development guru. A few days earlier, two management coaches had remarked on my passion during a discussion about introducing the use of stories to get important messages across in our work. So when I saw the title of the audio book in the shop, my curiosity was aroused to find out more about living life with passion.
I won’t mention the name of the book’s guru because it turned out that I found it hard to appreciate the vocal delivery. Thankfully there are no such problems when reading people’s books. However, the message was interesting. He explained about people having the freedom of choice to turn any experience into a good or a bad one, or anywhere in between, on a scale from -10 to +10. Sounds logical, but in fact it is an extremely valuable concept for daily practice.
And he illustrated this message with …. yes, stories, a host of them. Enough stories, in fact, to fill one CD with just this message. Still, I am going to listen to the other CDs in the package, because I am interested to discover and use more concepts and tools that work, for myself, and in helping people I meet on my path.
I chose to take yesterday off from the office to refresh myself, to sharpen the saw as Covey called it in his classic on the habits of effective people. I spent a delicious sunny morning and cloudy afternoon reflecting on life and work, and I read and wrote about it. A good choice, I realized.
Books are always a source of inspiration for me, so I keep reading and buying them. They open my door to a rich variety of messages, which seem to come to me according to my needs and my readiness to learn something new at any particular time. I rarely finish books. With the whole universe at hand to be experienced from within, I found that I can tap into useful messages as I choose. Books do the trick most of the time. Meeting inspiring people also helps.
A friend remarked recently that relationships and money seem to be central in people’s lives. The second topic is getting more headlines during this time of financial crisis, with this week’s edition of The Economist proclaiming “All you need is cash – Managing in the downturn,” and underlining that there is “No time to waste” when it comes to making choices about American fiscal policy.
I spent more time reflecting on the first topic, that of relationships, and the enduring mysteries of attraction and love between people. And I chose to open a book that I have had on my shelf for years; apparently it was the right time. In it, author Sarah Litvinoff defines four types of people: romantic, sensual, imaginative, and emotional. She explains that people are more or less hardwired with a specific outlook and way of relating with their partner, according to these types, or a combination of them.
Last night I bought an audio book on the topic of living with passion, from a famous American personal development guru. A few days earlier, two management coaches had remarked on my passion during a discussion about introducing the use of stories to get important messages across in our work. So when I saw the title of the audio book in the shop, my curiosity was aroused to find out more about living life with passion.
I won’t mention the name of the book’s guru because it turned out that I found it hard to appreciate the vocal delivery. Thankfully there are no such problems when reading people’s books. However, the message was interesting. He explained about people having the freedom of choice to turn any experience into a good or a bad one, or anywhere in between, on a scale from -10 to +10. Sounds logical, but in fact it is an extremely valuable concept for daily practice.
And he illustrated this message with …. yes, stories, a host of them. Enough stories, in fact, to fill one CD with just this message. Still, I am going to listen to the other CDs in the package, because I am interested to discover and use more concepts and tools that work, for myself, and in helping people I meet on my path.
I chose to take yesterday off from the office to refresh myself, to sharpen the saw as Covey called it in his classic on the habits of effective people. I spent a delicious sunny morning and cloudy afternoon reflecting on life and work, and I read and wrote about it. A good choice, I realized.
Books are always a source of inspiration for me, so I keep reading and buying them. They open my door to a rich variety of messages, which seem to come to me according to my needs and my readiness to learn something new at any particular time. I rarely finish books. With the whole universe at hand to be experienced from within, I found that I can tap into useful messages as I choose. Books do the trick most of the time. Meeting inspiring people also helps.
A friend remarked recently that relationships and money seem to be central in people’s lives. The second topic is getting more headlines during this time of financial crisis, with this week’s edition of The Economist proclaiming “All you need is cash – Managing in the downturn,” and underlining that there is “No time to waste” when it comes to making choices about American fiscal policy.
I spent more time reflecting on the first topic, that of relationships, and the enduring mysteries of attraction and love between people. And I chose to open a book that I have had on my shelf for years; apparently it was the right time. In it, author Sarah Litvinoff defines four types of people: romantic, sensual, imaginative, and emotional. She explains that people are more or less hardwired with a specific outlook and way of relating with their partner, according to these types, or a combination of them.
Once we know our dominant type and that of our partner, she reasons, we can understand better about the choices we can make in daily communications to inspire the relationship. Somewhat to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the types, discovered my own combination, and gained more clarity how I can apply this new-found knowledge in my life.
Each time I realize the freedom of choice, it brings me forward to square one, and I feel as if I am liberated.
“Always be a beginner,” Lou Paget wrote in one of her famous books about relationships.
I agree, with a passion.
Photograph: Nice choice of views, Puncak, Indonesia.
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