November 27, 2011

Are you Trustworthy?


Humility is the quality of being respectful to yourself and others but you only can attain it when you can get free from the demands of your ego. I learned that when you practice genuine humility, you will find enormous power.

It’s a must to get beyond the desire to control others, and only then can you improve your ability to control your own actions. Let go of the need to be right, and you open yourself to experience new truth.

Don’t you just hate listening to people who are constantly boasting, bragging and valuing their opinion above others? Ugh! So, why don’t others give up the thought that they are better than everyone else?

Don't you think if everyone lived each moment with humility, love, respect and gratitude, everyone will find a treasure that has no end? 
 

Do you ever watch and notice how others treat other people? I always appreciated seeing someone treat the elderly or children no different than other people. Treating each person as someone of value despite their position in society, profession, age or economic status certainly demonstrates great humility.

Before retirement, I used to love to spend my lunch hour out on a park bench near work eating my sandwich and “people watch”. I still “people watch” whenever out in a restaurant or at a gathering. Amazing how many people make an *ss out of themselves.

How do you treat yourself? Everyone should value themselves but not spoil yourself. Everyone knows there’s nothing worse than a spoiled child, a person who gives into their own desires continually develops self-centered behavior patterns.  It's just insane!


Humility allows people to see you as “Trustworthy”. 

November 13, 2011

Thanksgiving is Approaching!


“Thanksgiving”…………the word alone creates images of family reunions, roasted turkey with stuffing and of course the pumpkin pie………and, if you are Italian like me, all this turkey stuff comes after you have had your lasagna, meatballs and gravy, antipasto, etc. LOL

Let's not forget the football games!

Italians living in Italy do not celebrate Thanksgiving as we do here in North America although they do have many holidays called La Festa del Ringraziamento (Festival of Thanks). These holidays, or "feast days' refer to a variety of religious holidays held throughout the year to honor patron saints.


Giving thanks was, and still is, the primary reason for ceremonies or celebrations.

Here is what I think everyone perceives of Thanksgiving: It's less about focusing on giving thanks than it is about gorging on turkey and stuffing. Ironically, perhaps, during the same week as our Thanksgiving, my girlfriend who lives in London said that they celebrate National Thank You Week. It's not just about this vague notion of thanks -- it's aimed at helping us thank the people we encounter every day.


Thanking people isn't simply a matter of common courtesy. Yes, there was a study on this topic; does that surprise you? There is a study on just about everything these days. A 10-year study of 200,000 managers and employees showed that saying "thank you" correlates with bigger profits. This isn't surprising, because giving thanks is a great motivational tool; who doesn't like to be thanked? What is surprising is how hard it is to do the thanking.

For example: Lawyers should be thanked. I’m not joking! The American Bar Association estimates that nearly three-quarters of all lawyers provide free services to disadvantaged people or the organizations that serve them -- about 20 million hours a year. Let's say these lawyers usually bill about $250 an hour. That's about $5 billion a year in donated value to the not-for-profit sector -- an enormous gift, and especially for small shops without huge corporate accounts to rely on, a big strain.

So think twice before telling a lawyer joke. And if your group gets pro bono help, try to steer your lawyer some business that pays.