On the pulse of Morning

"The Pulse of Morning"
- Maya Angelou

A Rock, A River, A Tree
Hosts to species long since departed,
Marked the mastodon.
The dinosaur, who left dry tokens
Of their sojourn here
On our planet floor,
Any broad alarm of their hastening doom
Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,
But seek no haven in my shadow.
I will give you no more hiding place down here.

You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness,
Have lain too long
Face down in ignorance.
Your mouths spilling words
Armed for slaughter.
The Rock cries out today, you may stand on me,
But do not hide your face.

Across the wall of the world,
A River sings a beautiful song,
Come rest here by my side.

Each of you a bordered country,
Delicate and strangely made proud,
Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.
Your armed struggles for profit
Have left collars of waste upon
My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.
Yet, today I call you to my riverside,
If you will study war no more. Come,
Clad in peace and I will sing the songs
The Creator gave to me when I and the
Tree and the stone were one.
Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your
Brow and when you yet knew you still
Knew nothing.
The River sings and sings on.

There is a true yearning to respond to
The singing River and the wise Rock.
So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew
The African and Native American, the Sioux,
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek
The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh,
The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,
The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher.
They hear. They all hear
The speaking of the Tree.
Today, the first and last of every Tree
Speaks to humankind. Come to me, here beside the River.
Plant yourself beside me, here beside the River.

Each of you, descendant of some passed
On traveller, has been paid for.
You, who gave me my first name, you
Pawnee, Apache and Seneca, you
Cherokee Nation, who rested with me, then
Forced on bloody feet, left me to the employment of
Other seekers--desperate for gain,
Starving for gold.
You, the Turk, the Swede, the German, the Scot
You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru, bought
Sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare
Praying for a dream.
Here, root yourselves beside me.
I am the Tree planted by the River,
Which will not be moved.

I, the Rock, I the River, I the Tree
I am yours--your Passages have been paid.
Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need
For this bright morning dawning for you.
History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, and if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.

Lift up your eyes upon
The day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream.

Women, children, men,
Take it into the palms of your hands.
Mold it into the shape of your most
Private need. Sculpt it into
The image of your most public self.
Lift up your hearts
Each new hour holds new chances
For new beginnings.
Do not be wedded forever
To fear, yoked eternally
To brutishness.

The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.
Here, on the pulse of this fine day
You may have the courage
To look up and out upon me, the
Rock, the River, the Tree, your country.
No less to Midas than the mendicant.
No less to you now than the mastodon then.

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes, into
Your brother's face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning

To me, the poet's life is more interesting than the poem. Maya Angelou recited the above poem at the inauguration of Bill Clinton's presidential term. This is one interesting story of her life that I found in the book, Searching for God know what -

In the interview she(Maya Angelou) talked about the time, as only an eight-year-old girl, that she was raped by her mother's boyfriend. She spoke about having to heal from the crime, but also about how she told on the man, and how he had gone to prison and, shortly after being released, was beaten to death by men in the community. Angelou believes she was the one who caused the man's death because she told about the rape...after the beating, the terrified young child didn't speak for years. It was much later, during a walk with her mother, that she would find the source of her life of freedom, beauty, and creativity. Walking down a street near their home, Angelou said her mother stopped, turned, and spoke to her:

"Baby," she said, looking the young woman in the eye. "You know something? I think you are the greatest woman I have ever met. Yes. Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt, my mother, and you - and you are the greatest." Maya Angelou said in the interview that she boarded a streetcar with tears flowing down her cheeks, stared into the wood paneling of the car and thought to herself, Suppose I really am somebody?

Her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was nominated for a National Book Award and her collection of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diie was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Laws of Lifetime Personal Growth

At what age did you stop growing taller? The average age when the human body stops getting taller is debatable, but it's generally between the agesof 16 and 21. I often wonder at what age most leaders stop growing.Unfortunately, most people settle into average by the end of their 20's. Rarely will you find a person committed to a comprehensive personal growth plan into their 30's, 40's, or beyond.

As children we grew year after year, sometimes in spurts, sometimes imperceptibly, but our bodies were always growing. The growth of a leader can be similar. At times, it may feel like the wheels are spinning and no headway is being made. In other seasons, new break throughs and victories are clear indicators of a growth spurt. To grow consistently, the key is to manage your daily agenda. I wish I could pass along an easier solution or secret formula for leadership growth, but daily discipline makes all the difference between growth and stagnation.I would like to pass along a few growth principles to guide you in your daily journey of leadership growth.

Law #1 – Always Make Your Future Bigger Than Your Past.
"The past is useful because it is rich with experiences that are worth thinking about in new ways-and all of these valuable experiences can become raw material for creating an even bigger future. Approach your past with this attitude, and you will have an insatiable desire for even better, more enjoyable experiences. Use your past to continually create a bigger future,and you will separate yourself from situations, relationships, and activities that can trap you there."- Sullivan & Nomura

Thoughts about the Future:
Abraham Lincoln said, "The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time." The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda. We spend each day either repairing the past or preparing forthe future. We can try to fix our past, but we can't rewrite it; we can only author our future.The future is that time when you'll wish you had done what you aren't doing now. Don't fear failure so much that you refuse new things. The saddest
summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.

Law #2 – Always Make Your Contribution Bigger Than Your Reward.
"As you become more successful, numerous rewards will come your way: greater income, praise, recognition, reputation, status, capabilities, resources, and opportunities. These are all desirable things, but they can be growth stoppers. They may tempt you to become fixated on just the rewards, rather than focus on making still greater contributions. The way to guarantee that rewards will continually increase is to not think too much about them. Instead, continue making an even more significant contribution."- Sullivan & Nomura

Thoughts on Contribution
To make your contribution bigger than your reward, adopt an anti-entitlement attitude. Believe you must give before you receive. Expect to serve before feeling like you deserve a reward. Determine success by the seeds you sow rather than the harvest you reap. Each morning, I ask myself, "Who can I add value to and how can I do it?" It's amazing how much I've been able to contribute by answering this simple question each day and following through to help a friend or colleague.

Law #3 Always Make Your Performance Greater Than Your Applause.

"The greatest performers in all fields are those who always strive to get
better. No matter how much acclaim they receive, they keep working to improve their performance. Continually work to surpass everything you've done so far, and your performance will always be greater than your applause."- Sullivan & Nomura

Thoughts on Performance
To make sure your performance stays a step ahead or your applause, be growth-driven instead of goal-driven. I'm not criticizing goals, but if we aren't careful, they can limit our growth. If we set them too high, they de-motivate us. If we set them too low, we are tempted to relax when we hit them rather than pushing for our best performance. Growth is a long and consistent process. No substitutions can be made or short cuts taken which avoid the day-to-day process of growth.

Law #4 – Always Make Your Gratitude Greater Than Your Success.
"Only a small percentage of people are continually successful over the longrun. These outstanding few recognize that every success comes through the assistance of many other people – and they are continually grateful for this support."–Sullivan & Nomura

Thoughts on Gratitude: We see the value in people and things through proactive gratitude. Once we see this value, we naturally treat these people and things with greater respect. People and resources are drawn to where they are valued most. The world responds to gratitude by making more of everything we appreciate available to us. To adopt an attitude of thankfulness, Oprah Winfrey keeps a gratitude journal. She recommends her habit to others: "Every night, list five things that happened this day that you are grateful for. What it will begin to do is change your perspective of your day and your life. If you can learn to focus on what you have, you will always see that the universe is abundant; you will have more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never have enough."

Searching For God Knows what 1

This is here to stay - I'm currently reading this book which though, very informally written makes a lot of sense. Here's a couple of issues(& funnies) I found -

'' My friend Penny's dad says he thinks God was angry for a while after the Fall, then got over it, sent His Son, and now is pretty well adjusted and forgiving...John pointed out that it takes God hundreds of years to finally get angry enough to lay any sort of punishment on His enemies. He's like France in that way."

The author continues about how people try to create God in their image..and try to define him..he talks of one conservative acquaintance...

'His Jesus was just an invention of his imagination, someone who more or less justified his position concerning a lot of different political opinions. Sitting there listening to him made me feel tired. People like that should have an island.'

Week 2, February 2009

Okay, so the book I'm reading now is 'Searching for God know what' by Donald Miller. Strangest writing I have ever seen though. The quality I don't know about, but the style is like a written version of me talking - too casual for a publication. Then again, what do I know about writing...and who am I to complain when he makes sense and when I enjoy the read.

Here's one I lol.ed at.
'I had terrific ideas; I really did. I was going to write a story about a nun who takes over small third-world countries by causing their evil dictators to fall in love with her, leaving a trail of megachurches and democracy in her wake. The book was going to be called Sister Democracy, Show some Leg!'