"It's kinda hard being humble in the belly of struggle..."
- Busta Rhymes
I have had an interesting week, to say the least...
It's amazing how much we all take for granted...our freedom...our ability to breathe "relatively" clean air and drink safe water. In the midst of my own difficulties, I have become acutely aware of the things that some of my friends are currently enduring...
Not only are they dealing with tremendous challenge and pressure, we are all struggling with the reality of disheveled dreams. This reality tends to blur the vision of our lives and we wonder if we are going to make it. But...
"...when all you can see is your pain, you lose sight of the most important things...pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly...and left unresolved for very long, you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place" (Young in 'The Shack')
Yes, it can be hard to be humble in the belly of struggle - Jonah, for instance, wasn't truly humble in the belly of the fish. But that does not excuse us from the effort. We are still required to put forth the effort, make the hard decision, and do everything we can to grow and improve. If we don't, we waste a potent opportunity to become more of the men, women, and children we were made to be. Winged...and able to fly
What's clipping your wings?
(c) 2009, Dr. Kozhi Sidney Makai. No part of this blog post may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system without the written consent of the copyright holder.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
A Voice in the Choir
Life takes a bit of time and a lot of relationship
- William P. Young in "The Shack"
"The world is your stage," I began.
"You have a voice. A unique one. One that will surely be missed if you do not speak or sing your lines."
This was my first lecture to my eager Introduction to Speech Communication students this summer. I was trying to get them to understand how their unique voice was necessary for the "Musical of the Earth" to be a runaway hit. I wanted them to note how their unique voice, set in the backdrop of the "choir" of the world, was especially chosen to sweeten the melodies and symphonies of life on earth. If they failed to speak or sing their lines, it would be nothing short of tragic...
And that same challenge, I now pass on to you...
You have a unique voice. You are, as one of my favorite authors put it, "YOU-nique." My experience on earth will be less than complete if you do not speak or sing your lines. How you raise your children, what educational and career path you choose, which outlook you venerate each day...all these, and more, have a direct effect on me and my experience of earth. You may be raising the next Bach, Van Gogh, Einstein, or George Washington; you may be the example in the office that a potential suicide attempt rests on; you may be the one person on the freeway that prevents a deadly pile-up.
Sadly, no one will ever know...
...not unless you first recognize how much of an asset you are to me...to all of us. How much I need you, just as you need me; how you don't have to be the lead for this musical piece, but the piece is incomplete without your voice...
Will you speak and sing your lines today?
(c) 2009, Dr. Kozhi Sidney Makai. No part of this blog post may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system without the written consent of the copyright holder.
- William P. Young in "The Shack"
"The world is your stage," I began.
"You have a voice. A unique one. One that will surely be missed if you do not speak or sing your lines."
This was my first lecture to my eager Introduction to Speech Communication students this summer. I was trying to get them to understand how their unique voice was necessary for the "Musical of the Earth" to be a runaway hit. I wanted them to note how their unique voice, set in the backdrop of the "choir" of the world, was especially chosen to sweeten the melodies and symphonies of life on earth. If they failed to speak or sing their lines, it would be nothing short of tragic...
And that same challenge, I now pass on to you...
You have a unique voice. You are, as one of my favorite authors put it, "YOU-nique." My experience on earth will be less than complete if you do not speak or sing your lines. How you raise your children, what educational and career path you choose, which outlook you venerate each day...all these, and more, have a direct effect on me and my experience of earth. You may be raising the next Bach, Van Gogh, Einstein, or George Washington; you may be the example in the office that a potential suicide attempt rests on; you may be the one person on the freeway that prevents a deadly pile-up.
Sadly, no one will ever know...
...not unless you first recognize how much of an asset you are to me...to all of us. How much I need you, just as you need me; how you don't have to be the lead for this musical piece, but the piece is incomplete without your voice...
Will you speak and sing your lines today?
(c) 2009, Dr. Kozhi Sidney Makai. No part of this blog post may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system without the written consent of the copyright holder.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Change and Renewal
"Reinvent"
- verb (used with object)
1. to invent again or anew, especially without knowing that the invention already exists
2. to remake or make over, as in a different form
3. to bring back; revive
If "necessity is the mother of all invention", then being "between a rock and a hard place" must be the mother of re-invention. As I watch the reactions and attitudes around me with respect to the economy, I cannot help but note how it's amazing what can happen when we're faced with no recourse but change...
For tax purposes, most businesses in the United States can be considered...people. They have a birthday...and, some, have a death day. They also have a social security number...a tax ID. For these businesses to survive, they must constantly change their orientation, business focus, configuration, etc. In short, their strategic outlook must be well-versed in the times. It makes little sense, for instance, for a metals production company to increase steel inventory when demand is low for steel, but high for copper. The company must change orientation and focus on copper production.
We are not very different from companies; we must constantly change our vision, plan, focus, orientation...configuration. Nothing shows us this requirement more than tragedy and challenge. As we enter a new era (what we hope to one day call the "Post-Financial Collapse of 2008"), it is those who have dedicated themselves to being fresh and strategic in their living who will own the day.
When was the last time you revised your life plan?
(c) 2009, Dr. Kozhi Sidney Makai. No part of this blog post may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system without the written consent of the copyright holder.
- verb (used with object)
1. to invent again or anew, especially without knowing that the invention already exists
2. to remake or make over, as in a different form
3. to bring back; revive
If "necessity is the mother of all invention", then being "between a rock and a hard place" must be the mother of re-invention. As I watch the reactions and attitudes around me with respect to the economy, I cannot help but note how it's amazing what can happen when we're faced with no recourse but change...
For tax purposes, most businesses in the United States can be considered...people. They have a birthday...and, some, have a death day. They also have a social security number...a tax ID. For these businesses to survive, they must constantly change their orientation, business focus, configuration, etc. In short, their strategic outlook must be well-versed in the times. It makes little sense, for instance, for a metals production company to increase steel inventory when demand is low for steel, but high for copper. The company must change orientation and focus on copper production.
We are not very different from companies; we must constantly change our vision, plan, focus, orientation...configuration. Nothing shows us this requirement more than tragedy and challenge. As we enter a new era (what we hope to one day call the "Post-Financial Collapse of 2008"), it is those who have dedicated themselves to being fresh and strategic in their living who will own the day.
When was the last time you revised your life plan?
(c) 2009, Dr. Kozhi Sidney Makai. No part of this blog post may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system without the written consent of the copyright holder.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Courage
"To courageously shoulder the responsibility of one's mistakes is character"
- Fortune Cookie
There's something especially humbling about failure; a quality that insufficiency evokes in us. It is at these failure turns, twists, and forks in the road that we discover our inadequacy, become fully acquainted with our fragility, and a heightened awareness of our mortality reveals itself. The manner in which we view ourselves and the world around us changes in the blink of an eye; we are touched in a way that morphs us into individuals with a deeper sense of purpose and a singular focus - to live life fully and wholly.
- Fortune Cookie
There's something especially humbling about failure; a quality that insufficiency evokes in us. It is at these failure turns, twists, and forks in the road that we discover our inadequacy, become fully acquainted with our fragility, and a heightened awareness of our mortality reveals itself. The manner in which we view ourselves and the world around us changes in the blink of an eye; we are touched in a way that morphs us into individuals with a deeper sense of purpose and a singular focus - to live life fully and wholly.
"It is the most liberating thing to not have to be perfect," I said to my 'Introduction to Speech Communication' students this morning. When we recognize that mistakes are inevitable - that they are part of the learning process - we become less averse to making them. And, when we do, we boldly and courageously shoulder the outcomes; knowing that we have mastered fear rather than been mastered by it.
I find that seeing my size in relation to the remainder of the world has potent "medicinical" purpose; introspectively and otherwise. When it is not always about me, I am more apt to see the needs and hurts of others. When the focus is removed from what can be done for "number one", I become viral in my ability to reach out to others. And this state of affairs is brought about most effectively by failure...by mistakes. And, honestly, it requires daily effort to shoulder the burdens and responsibilities associated with mistakes.
As we face another fiscal quarter with an ailing economy marked by almost 10% unemployment nationwide, we are forced to shoulder the responsibilities of good and bad judgment; of wise and unwise financial transactions; of choices made and unmade. Whatever our gains or loses, it is prudent for us to learn that our character as individuals and as Citizens of the World can only be sharpened if we consciously choose for it to happen. Sure, some of us will lose our homes, our vehicles, and, to a degree, our way of life. But make no mistake, my friends; if we, but, set our hopes on who we could potentially become, there will be no economy awful enough to quench the fires of creativity and growth we will stoke...
Is that a monkey on your back...or something else?
(c) 2009, Dr. Kozhi Sidney Makai. No part of this blog post may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system without the written consent of the copyright holder.
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