PEACE
Our Universal Connection and Our Competitive Nature
Most of my family, teachers, religious leaders and mentors never discussed with me at anytime the concept of our universal connection. Trees, plants, flowers, animals, people of other cultures, and the family pet all lived in separate lives that were obviously disconnected and unrelated. However, in my readings, I suddenly was able to see and believe that with all my connections with people plants and animals that there was a universal intelligence that was running through all living things. At first, I was in disbelief T could not believe that I never say this connection before.
I first saw this connection with my students in the classroom. They were waiting for me to get it. Then, there was my own family which circulated the most powerful vibrations and connections which at first, were over-powering because the activity was so close, fast, and intense. The more I detached and went with the flow, the more the family's positive energy soared. Simply, I was feeling the natural flow ofjoy and success and feeling that I was at just the place I was to be and doing just what I should be doing. I felt powerful, full of energy, and going with the flow. There was little resistance and little blocks to the flow of energy.
Success
Success Begins with one's vision of what is important.
Success is realizing through your thoughts
a plan for physically accomplishing your priorities fromday to day.
Evaluating your success has to be very personal and very objective.
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is the focus,
not believing your strengths and weaknesses.
Knowing is the main thing. Believing is not knowing.
Believing is what someone else tells you.
Wisdom and knowing is not thinking or believing.
Success begins with peace of mind, relaxation, comfort, flow, and high energy.
Knowing yourself means you stay in oour center at all times in all situations.
One's power is operating at all times from your center -
the place that cannot be divided.
Reflecting daily on thoughts, readings, pryaers, and the challenges for the day
are at the heart of success.
Exercising physically to keep the heart and body moving
with the rhythm of your mind is critical for maximum success.
L. D. A.
Competition is one of the buzz words of the post World War II era along with we're # 1. It is an instinctive response to be protective and competitive in the terms of survival. However, in the western culture competition means that one is striving to be a better person than someone else because they throw, hit, kick, and/or catch a ball. We are into entertainment and multitasking during our leisure time. Thus, those whom compete on a professional level become the center of the entertainment package for all ages. Competing for sport is one thing. Competing for money is another. Competing to entertain is yet another.
Our culture via television has become centered around the number of different competitive entertainment packages we can interact with via television, computer games, and electronic games. Many children have two or three competitive entertainment packages going on at the same time while on the telephone and/or watching their favorite television program.
In the classroom competition may be part of the motivation for some students, but the focus of the learning process has to be on how much better you are doing today as compared to yesterday. One is either improving or not improving. The standard of excellence is a personal one, not a competitive one. Being a competitive person can be a great thing, but clearly, it is not the most important thing. Parents, teachers and coaches need to put competition in its right place. Some would say the idea of competition at the high school and college level is out of control, and it is that way because the adults involved approve and enjoy it just as it is for some very personal and selfish reasons that could eventually be harmful to their own children.