Wednesday 15 January 2014

HOW COMMON CRAYON MARKS KEPT AMERICA UNITED by Martin Udogie


* Martin Udogie.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), ranks as one of America’s most visionary Presidents ever. He is described as a “man given to big thoughts.”

In 1937 he summoned to the White House, a man by the name, Thomas “The Chief” MacDonald, the head of the Bureau of Public Roads.

The President picked up a crayon and on a large map of the United States in the Oval Office drew six broad lines. Three of them crossed the country from coast to coast. Three more ran up and down the country, border to border.

A while later, he drew two more north-south lines on the map, making a total of eight.

He turned to MacDonald and said these eight roads would “enable vehicles to travel for hundreds of miles at the highest of speeds, should be constructed to link America together properly, once and for all. How much will it cost?”

According to the book, THE MEN WHO UNITED THE STATES, by Simon Winchester, “This hastily drawn crayon-on-a-map plan of 1937 – lost to history, sad to say – was the exact moment of origin for the American Interstate Highway System.

Those who have driven on the American Highways can’t help but marvel and salute the stroke of genius and foresight of their creation. They are unrivalled, worldwide.

The project was supposed to take 13 years to complete, but instead it took 35 years, and would cost a total of $430 billion, becoming the greatest public works programme in world history.

“There would be 41,000 miles of highway – with the longest, the I-90, running without a single traffic light the 3,020 miles between Seattle and Boston. By comparison, Lagos to Maiduguri is about 1,532 kilometers (or about 950 miles only).

Roads would climb as high as two miles above sea level in Colorado and 50 feet below by the Mexican border in Southern California.”

“There would be 55,000 bridges and tunnels, 16,000 exit and entrance ramps, junctions where in time, new kinds of hotels, and venues for refreshment and amusement would grow up, changing in no small way the face of the nation”.

FDR collaborator, Thomas “The Chief’ MacDonald ran the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads with an iron fist from 1919 until his retirement in 1953, and wielded unprecedented influence with the seven U.S. presidents he served.

A staggering 3.5 million miles of road was built under his authority. Again, keep in mind, that Lagos to Maiduguri is about 1,532 kilometers (or about 950 miles only).

Proud, austere and scrupulous Thomas MacDonald was a very stern man. He wore a coat and a tie, even while fishing. And he demanded absolute respect always. He forbade anyone from calling him by his Christian name. He had his wife call him Mr. MacDonald, and his brothers and sisters address him as Sir. To his staff, he was simply Chief.

He once remarked that road building was “a calling of the greatest public responsibility.”

Thomas “The Chief” MacDonald was one of those whose efforts contributed a great deal to keeping America UNITED, through an interconnectivity of a super road network.

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Martin Udogie, Publisher, Trainer and Programme Host for the Radio Nigeria Network, wrote in from Lagos.

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Articles for publication must have full contact details, including name, address and telephone number of sender and sent by email to: onlinewoolwich@yahoo.co.uk.

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Monday 13 January 2014

Living the True Self: Leading as Love by Lucira Jane Nebelung


* Lucira Jane Nebelung.

What is life about?

Who am I, really?

What am I here for?

What calls to my heart?

What am I waiting for?

The answers are inside of you.

Each New Year brings renewed hope for a world of peace and prosperity. Peace and prosperity is not something “out there.” We are the creators of our experience and the world is a collective reflection of what is inside of us; we each contribute to what we see and experience.

During the past few months, life has reflected to me what I can contribute through my work. It is not some kind of “grand design.” It is what can be offered to individuals for their personal choice to be fully who and what they are as human beings.

I deeply appreciate all who have engaged with me as my mirrors in person, on Facebook, in private conversations, or in groups. It allowed me to acknowledge, accept and become more intimate with who I am, what I stand for and offer, and my own attachments. I see them more clearly as you invited me forward, were present and engaged, or opted to disengage. Bless you all.

It is not the outer form that changes; appearance changes by the nature of the inner being that fills the form.

~ Adapted from Ram Dass

The word “human” literally means, “God-man”: “Hu” was one of the original names for “God.” By fully living our potential as human beings, we be “God”, the infinite, universal consciousness, the divine intelligence of Love that permeates all things. All we need to “do” to “be” one with this consciousness is to live in integrated wholeness: body, mind, heart, and soul. Soul is our unique aspect of this universal or divine consciousness that creates all life. Our “God-self”, our soul, is made visible, made manifest in the physical through our heart, our mind and our body.

We all have had direct experiences of integrated wholeness that we both see and feel; some call it “flow.” Many of us have no context for these experiences to enable understanding and to facilitate repetition so they slip away. If we pay attention, life informs us in each moment that we are the creator – divine beings having a human experience – we are spirit in matter, we are both human and divine. How we chose to see and experience life is up to each one of us.

Last fall I wrote that life is “simple”: Its purpose is self-love and as a mirror, life reflects back to us the purity or “filtering” of this self-love. So I have brought together my own experiences into an offering called Living the True Self™. Living the True Self creates and sustains an inner “structure” for a life of peace and freedom, a life of sovereignty as the True Self.

The Elements of Living the True Self:

The first element of Living the True Self™ is called the Centerpoint for Being™.

This process is a refinement, adaptation and integration of two brilliant practices originated by others. One is the called the “Highest Goal,” developed by Michael Ray for the “Creativity in Business” MBA course at Stanford University. The other is called “Centerpiecing” created by Mel Toomey and the Center for Leadership Studies / Generative Leadership Group. Using these two practices together we can discover our unique energy and expression of divine intelligence in human form: body, mind, heart, and soul. This is the real meaning of our integrity and authenticity as a human being. The Centerpoint for Being is the footing and foundation of self-love and knowing our divine self in a tangible, personal way. There is nothing “woo-woo” about this.

A Relaxed Mind allows for a Knowing Heart; a Knowing Heart invites Engaged Action; Engaged Action establishes the Embodied Soul. The embodied soul’s expression is self-love. Each of the aspects of the Centerpoint are unique to each individual.

* The Circle of Life Model.

Soul – Mind – Heart – Body: The Circle of Life is complete and our Light, the movement of Love, radiates brilliantly into the world. The access to the soul is through the heart.

* The Centerpoint Diagram

The Centerpoint for Being is Our Unity, Our Oneness with Creation

A Love that is Ours Alone

Unique in both Form and Expression

The Centerpoint enables intimate relationships as a human being with oneself, all others and everything in life; to deeply know who and what we are without the masks of labels and roles.

Where we focus expands. The Centerpoint provides the focal point of our unique signature presence – the energy and power that comes with awareness of the mind, discernment of the heart, and choice for action in each moment. It is our higher purpose, our connection and contribution to life, our path for growth and mastery, and our sovereignty for true freedom of choice.

All leadership is self-leadership. The Centerpoint establishes our unique internal identity rather than collective identity and action based on external labels and roles. It is our personal mantra and “practice” for consciously leading our life – Leading as Love.

The Centerpoint gives us a comprehensive focus for our lives; it applies in all situations, in every moment. One may choose to continue or expand spiritual, religious or healing practices; they take on a deeper meaning and significance.

The Centerpoint awakens and connects us to the universal consciousness within bringing us into harmony with the ever-emergent, unfolding of creation. It is our Light, our unique expression of Love, the ultimate Self-Love that shines brightly. The Centerpoint for Being reveals, integrates and grounds each person’s uniqueness of body, mind, heart, and soul, the True Self. It is like a lock protecting something of great value that with the “right” combination, springs wide open. One person remarked, “For the first time ever, I feel my power (aka love).”

The second element of Living the True Self is the use of the Enneagram as a path to self-love.

The Enneagram can show us where and how we judge and separate ourselves from our Centerpoint for Being (as aspects of the inner triangle of the Enneagram symbol) and how we can become more perfectly attuned to its expression.

* The Enneagram Diagram.

This application of the Enneagram is based on many sources and much is available elsewhere, so I won’t elaborate here. I highly recommend the work of Russ Hudson and the Enneagram Institute.

The third element of Living the True Self is using Life as the Mirror of Creation.

Our life experience is a direct reflection and projection of the relationship within ourselves – the True Self – body, mind, heart, and soul. Looking into the mirror that is our life, through our reflection in others we can see what is inside of us, our thoughts, beliefs and emotions, etc. that amplify or block our Light. If we are defensive, justifying our actions or blaming others, we are cut off from our heart and soul and seeing life and acting solely from the mind. When we react in this way, without awareness and discernment, it is our buttons that are being pushed and has nothing to do with the other person. If it wasn’t inside of us, our own (un)consciousness, we couldn’t see it and it wouldn’t bother us.

What we believe is what we see. What we attribute to another is what we believe about ourselves. What we see in others is ourselves. Frequently, these are aspects of our life experiences that we suppress or disown, yet we are attached to these unconscious “wounds.” As examples, our anger towards what we see in others is anger towards ourselves for the “same” thing, anger is the “explosion” of shame/resentment for the past and anxiety for the future; how we judge or appreciate and what we say to or about others (the good, the bad, the ugly) is really judgment, appreciation of or saying the “same” thing to or about ourselves; we can be intimate (meaning without masks of roles and labels) in relationships with others to the degree we are in intimate relationship with our True Self. If held tightly, emotional attachments can eventually end up as physical discomfort, pain and illness. This is not “blaming the victim”; this is acknowledging that albeit unconscious, we co-create our entire life experience.

It takes courage and great humility to be in life this way, to recognize and release that which is inside ourselves. This is how we take full responsibility for our lives; we create it all, every experience, through how we perceive life and react or respond.

Living the True Self from the Centerpoint of Being gives a passionate life.

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Lucira Jane Nebelung is a Faculty member of the Center for Leadership Studies, The Graduate Institute, and Founder & Principal of "Leading as Love". She writes from Norwich, Connecticut Area, USA.

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