As stated in an earlier post, ”The Inspiration For Change,” Pain, not Pleasure, is more times than not responsible for seasons of Change.  Can one safely assume that the Black Plague that hit Europe like a tsunami during the 14th century was the catalyst responsible for birthing the Renaissance?  Let me know what you think.  

The book, HOW TO THINK LIKE LEONARDI DAVINCI, by Michael J. Gelb, is the primary source for both today’s post and this brief excerpt.   

“You can’t help but notice that change is accelerating.  How these changes will affect you personally and professionally, nobody knows.  But, like the thinkers at the end of the cataclysmic change caused by the Black Death, we owe it to ourselves to ask if we can afford to let the authorities of our time — whether church, government, or corporation — think for us.

It is safe to say, however, that accelerating change and increasing complexity multiply the value of intellectual capital.  The individual’s ability to learn, adapt, and think, independently and creatively, is at a premium. …

©Copyright by Michael J. Gelb.  All Rights Reserved.

Why did it take the Black Death to set the forces in motion that released the “surge of intellectual energy,” that was ”dammed for a millennium in ecclesiastical reservoirs, began to flow through the pestilence-inspired breach”?  Imagine how different our lives would be today had this “seminal event” not occurred over 500 years ago.  During 2007, what will it take to release a similar surge of intellectual energy that will begin to flow freely from the untapped brains of great people divinely destined to achieve greatness?  Pain, Pleasure, or Necessity.   

Quick question.  When was the last time you conducted an inventory of your intellectual property?  If you’re a creative person, or the resident idea person, you may be surprised to discover that, intellectually, you’re worth much more than you thought.  For reasons now known, don’t underestimate the power of your own words or the value of the intellectual capital that’s stored inside your brain’s memory banks.

©Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon.  All Rights Reserved.

LOVE was the answer to yesterday’s question. 

On day 44 of 2007, a profound passage from the book, THE 8TH HABIT, by Mr. Stephen R. Covey deserves our undivided attention until we know what to do with it.  Mr. Covey also wrote, THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE.  Hopefully what we read will challenge us all to do what we can to inspire our children to make their biggest dreams come true as we do something today to help the next gifted generation of leaders to achieve “Greatness” tomorrow. 

For reasons now known, I’m challenging each of you who showed up today, especially the educators, to walk through this book with me until God has gifted each of us with the wisdom and understanding we need to “know how to” properly apply the knowledge we seek and collect.  As you read the following passage from THE 8TH HABIT, please do so prayerfully and carefully.

When is the best time to learn the software that enables you to find your voice?  When in one’s lifetime is the best time to get the cultural overlay, the software, to be completely in harmony with our “hardwired” gifts?  I think we would all agree it is in our childhood — primarily, in our early home life.  But what if people have bad early home lives and learn the software of victimism, scarcity, and the metastasizing cancers of competing, complaining, contending, comparing, and criticizing.  Could one’s early home life take place at school?  Could a teacher or a school administrator become a surrogate parent to perhaps compensate for the dysfunctionality of the home when the children are very young and impressionable and innocent and uncorrupted? 

Better still, what if you could get a partnership between home and school so that there is continual reinforcement and alignment from both sides at all times with the child?  Can you imagine the result if the software and the hardware were aligned during those first few years of childhood — the kinds of people it would produce and the kind of achievements that would flow from their characters and competencies?

Think about it.  Only God knows where I’d be today had not my Creator gifted me with the tools I needed to keep overcoming my own dysfunctional, pathological behavior, something I must still do on a daily basis.  But by grace still go I.  I’m not content with just gathering knowledge.  Are you?  Besides, nobody really cares about ”how much somebody knows” until everybody “knows how much somebody cares.” 

 Clicking on THE 7 HABITS or THE 8TH HABIT will direct you to the Book Store that’s been recently added to the Home page of this ever-evolving site for your convenience.  I hope you’re still bringing your dictionaries with you.  As always, may the peace of the Almighty be with each of you today as we struggle to learn how to love, live, and lead like Jesus did — by example.

© Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

On day 41 of 2007, it’s my heartfelt desire that the following excerpt from, FAILING FORWARD, by Mr. John Maxwell will provide some insight about why it’s important to keep pushing past the pain. As we keep digging deeper into the place where our secrets hide, we will gradually unearth and expose the truth about what caused the painful moments of our past experiences.

By the grace of God, those of us with the inner strength of character to unearth the truth beneath “our deepest fears” will attain the wisdom and understanding needed to know how to transform painful moments into meaningful moments.

People who don’t get beyond the problems or the pain of the past eventually become bitter. It is the inevitable consequence of not processing old injuries and tragedies.

Wes Roberts, president of Life Enrichment, advises, “People do not have to remain victims of their pasts.” But when they do, they become prisoners of their own emotions. “Often as adults, those prisons are addictions — workaholism, alchoholism, sexual addictions, eating addictions. We place ourselves in prison.” In other words, we allow the past to hold us hostage.

©Copyright 2000 by Maxwell Motivation, Inc., a Georgia Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

As always, the choice to keep pushing past the pain is yours alone to make. Just know that you’re not alone. God is always closer than you think. So are the rest of your teammates.

©Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.(unless otherwise noted)