Celebrating Individual Differences, Do No Harm

By Amy Price PhD

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In many respects we are strengthened by celebrating the differences in those we meet in life rather than expend useless energy trying to make them more like us.Conflicts in homes and at the workplace come because others work to exhaustion,trying to be what we want instead of who they are. This video describes the fallout and invites us to consider solutions.

It is important not to stress shortcomings to the hurt of recognizing strengths even in ourselves.

People are far more than the face they show to a group. To draw out their full
potential they need validation and celebration. Communication comes from
listening using all our senses with an attitude that is willing to hear, help
and accept change. There is a proverb that says "When the vision is delayed the
heart becomes sick" Working in arenas circumstance or others dictate but we have
not chosen to the loss of following our destiny can bring bitterness and hurt.


Ask yourself in working with others:


Am I giving orders or supplying direction?
Do I know what my family and employees care about?
In conflict do I know the whole story or just my/my freinds side?
When is the last time I was really thankful and said so to those I love or work with?
Do we laugh together?
If I was in the other persons shoes would I feel good about coming to me?

Now what can you change? When you supply value to others it will be multiplied
to you. Why not take time to do something that is important to you and your
dream and while you are there give some of your time as a gift to help some one
else take a step to their destiny.

Freedom From Inside Out

By Amy Price PhD

For freedom to have real meaning it needs to be defined from the inside out. A lot of what we do is to please others and to carve a place for ourselves to be loved and accepted or at least respected. Regrettably it seems that those we need to prove ourselves to are the ones least likely to extend the sceptre of acceptance. I am always surprised that when people comment on why they value me it has little to do with performance or making accurate choices but it has more to do with providing sanctuary and solutions. I am content with this we can always buy machines to do tasks!

I most admire my late cat, she came into our lives as a stray and refused to leave or believe she was not wanted. Because of this, we fed her, loved her and appreciated her, she gave back by being herself. I have a PhD, (I am working on another one in cognitive neuroscience and executive function) but I only wish I was as smart as the cat!

I like this quote ”Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken! Always be yourself because the people that matter don’t mind, and the ones who mind, don’t matter”

As an employer I must confess that I fired no one and we had hundreds of people working for us during our lives. I always found something else they could do and they often helped me find some one to do the job they could not. There seems to be two philosophies one being a mistake has to be someone's fault and heads must roll or my preference,let us work together without blame and find a solution...the first imposes fear and anger the second infuses hope. I want to be in the land of hope and create that for those I work with.

“Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless” Thomas Edison.

You've Got Mail!

By Amy Price PhD

Email can be a gift that allows you to communicate across continents, collaborate on projects, keep in touch with loved ones and make friends from all over the globe. It is also a two edged sword with a blade that just doesn't cut it.

I am usually diplomatic, tech savvy and have even done years of Post Graduate training online. Occasionally things just go wrong and something you write or recieve is taken out of context or misunderstood and suddenly there can be a negative spiral there is no digging out of.

I used to play the game and send the reply to all, explain, justify or crawl. Not anymore after two negative exchanges I meet face to face or pick up the low tech telephone and I call and talk things through. Those who don't 'have time' are not worth wasting my life on and with a quick mental next please, I move on!

I used to think I was obligated to the communication medium chosen by the one who initiated the communication but not anymore. I learned from friends high up in national security that they are instructed to pick up the phone or pay a visit after the second negative email response. This makes sense as email is never truly listening, it is forced talking from your own perspective one person at a time or in the reply all situation it can be like gang warfare!

Surveys report that 95% of us get at least one misunderstood email a week that causes future issues. Perhaps it is time to recognise that people need eye contact, touch and even smell to be at their best as communicators. A huge amount of communication is non verbal and words just establish what is already understood. We pick up cues from each other and our surroundings. With emails we miss the neurotransmitter connections and the hormones like oxytocin that lead conversation to be a pleasurable experience. We miss out on smiles that crinkle up to the eyes or real laughter and loyalty between friends. We can't even say I don't want to talk about this right now because there it is...all over the page expecting a response

I recently had my personal email account hacked by a group I had known for years. The emotion I felt paralysed me, I felt more afraid and violated than when I was confronted with firebombs and my life threatened on the mission field, at least there the enemy identified themselves upfront! No email security is 100%. Put nothing in an email that you could not live with if it showed up on the local news!

So to recap...email is a tool it is not your master. You can choose the response and the medium. Loving people is the best use of our time and it is never wasted!

The Power of Intention

This is a guest Post from The Best Daughter in The World

"Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure."- Napoleon Hill: Author, Think and Grow Rich.
Posted by Kathleen

“You are what your deepest desire is. As your desire is, so is your intention. As your intention is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.” ~ Upanishads

Intention is the starting point of every spiritual path. It is the force that fulfills all of our needs, whether for money, relationships, spiritual awakening, or love. Intention generates all the activities in the universe. Everything that we can see – and even the things we cannot – are an expression of intention’s infinite organizing power.As the ancient Indian sages observed thousands of years ago, our destiny is shaped by the deepest level of our intention and desire. Once we plant the seed of an intention in the fertile ground of pure potentiality, our soul’s journey unfolds automatically, as naturally as a bulb becomes a tulip or an embryo becomes a child.

Who Says You Can't?

This entry is contributed by Rev. John Horton who is also a world class photographer.

There's an old Air Force saying, "The difficult we do first, the impossible takes us a little longer."

This young lady never listened to those who said, "Oh, you can't do that." Thank goodness she and her mother had the faith.

An amazing story from Korea . Hee Ah Lee was born with several physical deformities. She only had two fingers on each hand. And her legs ended at her knees. Her doctors didn't expect her to live. But she did live. At the age of six she started to play piano. At the time, her four fingers were very weak. She couldn't even hold a pencil. Her mother hoped playing piano would strengthen her grip.It worked. But more than that, Lee found a calling. She now tours the world, playing for stunned audiences. She plays pieces that would be difficult for able-bodied pianists. You'll love hearing her play. Click on her picture above to hear

Dress to Kill

We live in a world where body schema is determined by advertising whims. Women wear high heels for a temporary slimming, bottom lifting and calf tightening effect at the expense of freedom of movement and longterm health of the feet and legs. We put on nylons that make us freeze in the winter and smell in the summer...but someone called them 'appropriate' and we dutifully pull them on like sausages waiting for their casings. We value 'rocks' in the form of rings like the predessors of cavemen and see them as forms of approval and the bestowing of favor. We spend money on wrinkles no one cares about and forget that inside the package is the most precious gift of all..yourself. Nevertheless we live in a world where convention delivers financial comfort and even we are influenced by what we compare ourselves too...

What you see affects what you believe about yourself. It also influences how others perceive you. Make the best of what you have. Most of the commercial world is airbrushed so look at people rather than magazines find a personal style and celebrate it. Remember that true beauty comes from the inside out but it doesn’t hurt to market what you have got. Be yourself…no one else can do it better!

Motivation from the inside out

USA today reported that happy people live 17% longer. Laughter and humor is associated with better health mental and physical, more efficient learning and better choices. Most people in the city will influence 50 people on the way to work. This can have a knock on effect. Atmosphere matters, you have the power to create atmosphere and influence destiny. Think about the power you have rather than what has been taken from you. The way you think can deliver keys to your destiny.



Some reasons why include the way neurotransmitters in our brains work. Your brain was programmed to produce happy chemicals. Drugs sex and rock n roll are a poor and temporary
substitute.