Spirituality and Contribution Highlights ( November 24, 2009 ) Today in the LifeSpace Community we are highlighting ways to continue your growth as a person and in your community. With the holiday spirit in mind, we are providing articles on giving and receiving: tips for finding your best-suited volunteer opportunity as well as learning how to become better at receiving. We are also highlighting some of the secrets to meditation to allow you to continue developing and strengthening your meditation skills.

Ideas, Articles and Resources:

	Tips for Volunteering Volunteering is a great way to give back to your community and to those around you. These tips will help you decide the type of volunteer work that may best suit you.
	Learning to Receive While a fulfilling life is often full of giving to others, one must be open to receiving as well. Here are some strategies for getting better at receiving the love, care, and help of others.

4 Little Known Meditation Secrets 4 secrets to meditation that will help you become more in tune to your meditation. Health, happiness, and self-awareness are soon to follow!

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Ram is working in a software company.

He developed a left shoulder back pain. I asked him whether he has any problem in the office. He replied that he has no role in the office and therefore, he is not working to his satisfaction.

The Message from his body is, “Because of your lack of interest, your contribution is less in the office. You are giving less than you are receiving. If you continue to do so, in the future you will get lesser appreciation. There may be a cut in the salary too. Even if you find a new job you will be paid less there. If you don’t want these things to happen then give 100% of your efforts”.  Otherwise your receiving will become lesser and lesser.

I asked him to affirm ‘I choose to find ways to give 100%. I stop resisting the present job. I accept it totally’.

Note

The moment he committed, the body pain was reduced. Please note that there is no right or wrong here!

Some months ago I was approached by the people at 20er about shooting their 2010 calendar.  The theme was “Asyl und Arbeit” which loosely translates into a study on the plight of asylum seekers in Tirol.  The topic is an important issue in Austria and the notion of shooting 12 black and white images for their calendar was also appealing so I agreed.

The majority of research that I did on the topic was via the internet…the United Nations, Caritas and other organizations dedicated to moving, housing and integrating refugees.  Just about everything I found began to reveal to me that the situation for asylum seekers in Austria is not such a good situation.  People wait for years in state sponsored ‘camps’ in hopes that they will be given citizenship.  While they wait they are not allowed to work and have only limited opportunities for language courses keeping them isolated and poor.  It’s not good for the country and it’s not good for the refugees and it’s amazing to me that things carry on this way.

In addition to research I also had the opportunity to visit one home for asylum seekers in Innsbruck.  A dear friend volunteers German classes so I wandered the halls and talked to some inhabitants while she taught.  They were eager to show me their deteriorated living conditions and to offer their stories. You need to visit your local 20er sales guy to pick up one of the limited edition calendars to see all the images.

What I hoped would be an optimistic picture of untapped potential ended up being a pretty isolated and sad perspective on people that are kept separate and in a kind of purgatory.  It was a challenging and important assignment and I was honored to participate.

New York’s small businesses are dropping their health insurance at record pace because of massive increases.  Are other businesses in other states far behind?  We have a solution!  visit www.E2BeneFlex.com for more information and resources on Employer Defined Contribution.

Hard-pressed small firms drop health insurance

By Barbara Benson

Cancellation rates run as high as 50% at Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield as rates continue to rise in the face of the economic downturn.

Empire BlueCross BlueShield is reporting a sharp increase in small businesses terminating coverage that started around the first quarter of this year.

“They just can’t afford it anymore,” said Empire Chief Executive Mark Wagar, who says that between 30% to 50% of businesses are dropping coverage altogether.

“They are not going to a competitor [of ours],” he said. “They’ve just had enough.”

Calling the cancellations a “very aggressive trend,” he notes that normally about 10% of small businesses change insurance carriers in a year and that “only 10% of that 10% would drop coverage.”

Empire’s experience with the small-group market highlights how sensitive small businesses are to increases in premium prices. Nationally, small firms are finding that when it is time to renew their policies, premium prices have jumped by as much as 15%. In contrast, total health benefit costs for active employees rose 7.7% in 2009 for large businesses, according to Mercer’s 2009 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.

The lack of affordability in the small group market means fewer firms are offering health coverage to their workers. In 2007, only 25% of employees in small businesses had coverage through their own employers, compared with 74% of workers in large firms, according to the Commonwealth Fund. About one-half of workers in small businesses were uninsured or underinsured in 2007, compared to 26% of employees in large businesses, says the group. That trend has only accelerated with the recession this year.

Empire’s small business drop-out rate has significant policy implications for New York state as it grapples with its budget deficit, says Mr. Wagar. Lawmakers are toying with the idea of adding more surcharges on patient services, as well as other health taxes. That would only increase premiums, say insurers.

“That’s why it is so important that we not tax health insurance benefits—10% of every premium dollar already goes to taxes and fees to the state,” said Mr. Wagar.

“I must learn to love the fool in me the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries”

One of the most vivid memories I have of the period that’s about to start (see: holiday season) are the countdowns: the top 100 songs of the year, the top 20 cities of the year, the top 50 bestsellers of 2009, the top 10 celebrities’ quotes, the list of things to achieve in the year to come, regrets about the year that’s just gone by. The movies, the songs, the images…a constant battle against time…only this time, it’s backwards: we start the year by dreaming of how we want it to evolve and end, before we can start a new one, assuming we will- at all costs.

Today is the 19th of November, and between Christmas Day and today, there are a total of 36 days (43 to New Year’s) separating us from the bombardment of long lists on radio stations, TV, the internet, friendly circles, work etc.  So here’s an idea – 36 days which correspond to 5 weeks for Christmas (6 for New Year’s) – 5/6 original lists, lists that we have not heard of before, lists that we get to determine.

Who ever makes the most valuable and memorable contribution -based on open and public voting- will be awarded a copy of a book of their choosing – but here’s the twist: We’ll do it in a pay-it-forward manner; who ever gets to participate in this (either to contribute or to vote) gets to sign the book, on an international trail around the world (Like the traveling pants- our book will travel the world via mail from signatory to signatory, so we all get to sign and dedicate the book to the winner, prior to the winner receiving it via FedEx to its final destination.)

I will be announcing the list titles week by week and whoever makes the most memorable contribution -again based on public vote- will be proclaimed the winner, on New Year’s and will receive his/her prize soon thereafter.

The word for the remaining of the year: Universality.

The world is a beautiful mosaic- let’s dance on it.

After working in jobs that only mildly peak our interest, after spending years counting down the days to the weekend only to go out to the same place, drinking the same amount of alcohol. Follow that up with spending the weekend in front of the TV, it seems logical to ask “why are we here?”

Many of us, at some point, feel dissatisfaction with the life we have created for ourselves, with the endless cycle of 9-to-5 existence. We feel disconnected but continue to plod on as “that’s what everyone else is doing”.

Thanks to the Global Financial Crisis many have been forced into a situation of change and have used this as a chance to work out what their real purpose is. I am not talking about joining the flock on a religious pilgrimage, more asking who am I? What do I really enjoy? What are my core values? Are they aligned with what I am doing now?

Most of us have no idea what we want to do with ourselves, nor do we get any real guidance at crucial decision times during education. Now is as good a time as any to gain some clarity!

These 2 resources help immensely to reevaluate, or simply confirm, that the path we have chosen is fulfilling for us as an individual:

Personality Type Sorter: The respected Carl Jung broke down personalities into psychological types. The main benefit of completing the quick test is knowing who we are, accepting it and encouraging it to flourish. Find it here

Example: After being so positive, thriving off the energy of meeting new people, intent on seeing positive social change, it was both interesting and assuring to be notified of  the result ENFP or Champion Idealist.

Second resource:

What Colour is your Parachute: (available in most book stores)

Still the best-selling job-hunting book in the world, What Color is Your Parachute? is the most complete guide for first-time job seekers as well as second and encore careers changers. Updated every year with new examples, instructions, and cautionary advice, Parachute is, to quote Fortune magazine, ‘the gold standard of career guides’.

Of special mention is the exercise ‘The Flower” – an exercise that breaks down what you really enjoy and puts in on paper.

As a wise person once told me: If a thing turns you on you will be good at it, if it doesn’t you won’t”. If we enjoy what we do won’t this cause a ripple effect to all other parts of our life?

Have you ever spent time evaluating this? What has helped you work out why you are here? What were your results of the personality test?

If you’re looking for a tax break this year, there’s still time to open a Solo 401(K). But do your research and seek experts to help you understand the plan, how to manage your account without the need for a custodian which amounts to extra fees, and how to transfer your existing new plan. You’ll find the options for investing and maximizing your contributions are plentiful but the clock’s ticking—you only have until December 31st to open one for 2009.

One of my students today wanted to know how I calculated grades in wiki work.

“Well,” I said… “it’s not an exact process. But I go into the wiki, do a search for each student’s name, and and do a quick assessment of the quality of your work. And then I assign that a value based on a 50-100 scale.”

“So do you have specialized editorial tools and search tools to do that? Can you show those tools?”

“sure!” I walked behind his computer, and pointedly ignored the dirtbike game he had running on his screen rather than the wiki.

“no, I meant on your computer. On the projector. I want to see your analysis tools.”

“I’m showing them to you.” I called up the wiki on his screen, got him to sign in (where he was supposed to be), and called up the search functions. Then I typed in his name.

“Whoa!” he said. “I’ve made 38 edits in the last two weeks?”

“right,” I said. “Comments get tracked separately, so I do those as a different grade. But yes, you’ve made or edited thirty-eight pages.”

“what about me?” asked another kid. “Mr. Watt, come show me.”

I turned away. “Ted*, show him how to search his name.”

Ted did. Charlie* began howling. “Nine pages. Only nine? I’ve done a lot more than that! That’s gotta be wrong.”

Little by little the outrage and pleasure filtered through the room as one student taught another taught another. I practiced with my contact juggling ball.

One kid eventually moved to the lead with 67 edits or new pages. He preened a while, decided he wanted to rub it in.

“Hey, Mr. Watt. We never see you editing pages. You always talk about how important it is to be a contributor and a reliable source online. But where’s your stuff?”

“I’m in there,” I said. “you can search me just like anyone else.”

Sounds of furious typing around the room.

Jack* got there first. “Mr Watt has 257 edits or new pages.”

Something like a sigh went around the room. “I know the rumors all around school,” I said. “I know you think I’m not reading and checking up on your work. Now you know: if you’re not constantly managing and improving your online image, you will fall behind.”

“And yes, Charlie. You have only made nine edits. You also have made six comments where you should have 15.”

The bell rang. “grades close Tuesday, people. Right as your final exam starts. Be ready.”

In our quest to seek to innovate, the management in the school agreed up to 2 years ago that we were not wholly satisfied with the benefits that were coming out of students’ involvement in SUPW (Socially useful Productive Work). This is a mandated part of all children’s learning in ICSE and ISC schools. It requires children to spend some time understand the challenges in life for those less fortunate and contributing in some meaningful way to improving the lot of others.
We were pretty clear that there were some faults in the old approach which saw our students goingon an out-station trip where they would engage in some ‘labour activity’ such as building a water tank for a few days, stay in very basic accommodation and then return to their cozy comfortable lives relatively untouched by the whole experience.
a)Firstly, we felt that SUPW is nothing if just treated on the basis that a student must ‘put in’ a set number of hours.
b)Secondly, we wanted, in the long term, for students to have access to a far bigger array of choices about how they help others according to what really interests them -not just a ‘one size fits all’ project.
c) We wanted an involvement that stretched over a longer period of time, so that the student would be more immersed in the experience and would feel more attached to the project.
d) To satisfy the other requirements and also to ensure that students are really aware that life challenges exist for many right in their own, home environment, we wanted to engage them in projects which are local.
Over a year ago the senior School Principals wrote to a variety of NGOs offering the services of our young, vibrant, enthusiastic students to make a contribution to their activities. The result – complete silence from the NGO’s. For a short while we scratched our heads as we tried to work out why they hadn’t responded with unbridled enthusiasm. Eventually, the penny dropped and we realised that the thought of receiving 30-40 school age youngsters, being responsible for putting them to work gainfully, supervising them, keeping discipline and ensuring their safety.
So, what to do next? Should we just give up on the goals and settle for status quo? Fortunately, a meeting with some senior executives from the company GE suddenly brought new possibilities. They have an in-house CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) programme under which employees of their company become GE volunteers. The idea that came to us was all too simple – why not put a group of students under the guidance and mentorship of a corporate volunteer? Now, the mentor volunteer gets a new and different experience as they can multiply up the value of their time contribution through the students. And, the NGO’s concerns are addressed because responsibility, student management and discipline are all looked after.
We decided to start with a pilot project working with an organisation with which both TSRS and GE already had ties – The Vidya Comfort School. Vidya Comfort have just made the daunting leap to their own purpose built campus coming up in DLF Phase III. Eventually, it will have the capacity to cater to 1,000 students. The school is in its first year.
With their typical enthusiasm and ‘can-do’ spirit Vidya jumped at the chance to work with us on this and so, two weeks ago the pilot started. A group of students under their corporate mentors are visiting the school twice a week, getting involved with teaching the children. In time, there will be opportunities for those who want to get involved with other aspects of helping the school to get itself in shape.
If the pilot works we will look to replicate the programme with other NGOs and other corporate. I would love to hear from parents who are with either NGOs or Corporates that they think might want to be a part of this in the future.
Over time, i’ll report further on how the programme is progressing.

Calamity follies

The impact of the tsunami in Thailand and Indonesia, Bangladesh et al, Hurricane Katrina in the US, Typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng, Frank and Lupit in the Philippines reveals a pattern of serious defects in the political, economic, cultural, psycho-social institutions that direly need to be addressed in the present time without delay.

More about this post here

“True success is always accompanied by peace of mind.  As long as you express fear, resentment, criticism and other negative emotions—which result in a lack of peace—it is not possible to attain very much in life.  The act of blessing brings peace within and without.  You can be a peacemaker to any situation by blessing it, rather than condemning it.  So bless pain, financial problems, trouble-some personalities, or worrisome conditions with the thought, “Peace. Be still.””  Catherine Ponder

 Take a look at how you are living your life today.  Do you feel successful? Do you feel peaceful?  There is a correlation.  Does your life express fear and criticism or trust, promise, and hope?  When we create our businesses and our life from a place of peace rooted deep within—the world senses this.  We form an immediate attraction which draws people and experiences to us.  In order for us to create lives and businesses that make a contribution and bring happiness to our own lives we must be clear about our mission, our offer, and our desired outcome.  Only through clarity can we reach satisfaction in our life.  Peace is cultivated by conscious living and conscious decisions.  In November and December we will be focusing four webinars on this topic and on how to create success and live a life of influence from the inside out and from the feminine perspective http://tinyurl.com/Register4InfluenceAndSuccess.

Women have a natural ability to lead while they value peace.  We are most comfortable in environments of harmony and are often ones to create harmony and peace in our work environments and in life.  In no other time in history has it been as crucial for women to build businesses and live lives that reflect these very important core values and gifts of the feminine.

I recently finished reading Marcus Buckingham’s latest success, Your Strongest Life.  Ever since I was introduced to his perspective on Strengths when he was with the team at Gallup, I have been absolutely sold on the concept.  Check it out.

That being said, I waited until I’d finished the book because an alternative perspective occured to me early on based on research points he shared in deriving his own material.  I wanted to see whether he happened upon it at some point in the book, which he did not, so here I am.

The research points Marcus reported that had an impact on my thought process were as follows:

• As a result of having better education, better jobs, and better pay, women today are [not] happier and more fulfilled than [we] were forty years ago.  In fact, surveys of more than 1.3 million men and women reveal that women today are less happy relative to where [we] were forty years ago, and relative to men.
• Women would [not] prefer to work for other women.  …Almost twice as many women want to work for men rather than women; 40 percent compared to 26 percent, with the remainder saying they wouldn’t care one way or the other.

In addition to these, I take into consideration these other observations:

• In matriarchal societies and in current diversity studies, the natural collaborative tendencies of women are quite evident in how goals and tasks are addressed and completed.  Each woman simply brings her talents to bear in a situation, filling in where needed, instinctually understanding what needs doing in any particular instance, most often not requiring structure or process and quite often with a preference for fluidity to address the unique qualities of the situation.
• Our business practices coming out of the industrial age are highly influenced by what worked for those coming out of the military and starting businesses, which was a considerably great majority of men returning from two major wars occuring within decades of each other.  Quite simply, what resulted is a hierarchical structure to ensure compliance to the goals and tasks at hand.

I agree with Marcus in his conclusion that women are overwhelmed with choices in life, more to juggle and balance, as this is my experience.  It just also occurs to me how we, as women, with a generally different way of working, in our quest for equality, have been molding ourselves into a primarily male construct, as it were.  Not that this is right or wrong, mind you, it just is what it is.  I submit that our choice to plug in to something less natural for us has left us, generally speaking, much less than satisfied even though our quest for freedom to contribute to society is being addressed.  This likely explains why so many businesses are being started by women in our more current day and age as a way to more freely do as we do.

I like to believe that now that women are in the workforce in force, we are having an affect on the overall construct of the workplace and how we do business in general.  It is my belief that by businesses actively appreciating what women and myriad points of our diverse population bring, will our US of A meet with true success in leading the global economy.

Photo by VC Ferry

“A good poem is a contribution to reality.
The world is never the same
once a good poem has been added to it.

A good poem helps
to change the shape of the universe,
helps to extend
everyone’s knowledge of himself
and the world around him.”

Dylan Thomas

“You are a human magnet and you are constantly attracting to you people whose characters harmonize with your own.” -Napoleon Hill

What you imagine you can create. Within our imagination we hold the power to recreate our lives and manifest far more than we believe on a day-to-day basis. The art of manifesting includes one’s ability to clearly define a desired outcome or way of being and to believe and work towards this on a daily basis.  Setting a clear intention is the first step in creating a new reality.  Never be afraid to think big and design this new reality to include things that both feel good and provide you with opportunities for growth. We often beaver away in our own world, viewing life from a set of limited lenses.  Expand your vision to include seeing the world in a whole new way.

 There comes a time in life where we know we have to take ourselves to the next level; the next level of adventure, accomplishment, exploration or achievement. When this feeling sets in we often feel a questioning of our abilities to take our life to the next level-whatever that may look like for you. Some may chose never to move past a certain level of development or living and remain in a state of entropy. It takes great self-confidence to move throught theses challenging times; to stretch ourselves and move to new levels of living expression or achievement.  It is easy to spot those who old back and show a lack of confidence, as this lack of confidence shows up in the words they speak, the way that they hold their body and the way that the repel rather than attract others. Today’s economy and the state of the world can shut people down and make them question their self belief. On the other hand, these times that we are living in can offer one an opportunity to stretch beyond limiting thoughts and beliefs and to live with a new level of confidence. What’s your choice?

 The clearer we become about what our life is meant to express, about our talents and our gifts, the more powerfully we will be able to attract allies, guides, friends, and supports to help us on our journey.  When Socrates spewed the famous quote, “know thy self,” the importance of his words carried throughout the ages. I believe that this quote carries such importance because as humans unless we “know thyself” we miss a tremendous opportunity to live fully alive lives, to create at a truly high level and to manifest and contribute in powerful ways. The first true step to powerful manifestation is to truly know what we value what we believe and what we would like to create. From this simple knowledge we can go forth into the world with this powerful inner-knowing and understanding and manifest far beyond what we ever envisioned.

I contributed to the O.K. Periodicals Issue 3 (REPEAT Issue) special crowdsourced cover — the first one in the world! Over 400 people got their own square of the cover to recreate (fitting the REPEAT theme). I’m on the back cover.

O.K. Periodicals is published twice a year out of the Netherlands.

Front Cover - Image © O.K. Periodicals (Please click on image to visit their site)

Back/Front Cover - Image © O.K. Periodicals

Be sure to check out O.K. Periodical’s press release for more information this exciting and impressive project.

Most of us spend all our lives searching for fulfilment.

Why do we do what we do and how can we do it better?

This video is an inspiration. I have never been to a seminar or read any of Tony Robbins books but after watching this video I realise why he has made such an impact on this world. He is not a motivational speaker, its more a search within yourself to understand what makes you who you are….

Enjoy and make sure you watch till the end:

alphainventions

On my October 14th blog, titled, “Toronto Star – good article on development charges” Dan McIntyre has left a very enlightening comment concerning the City of Toronto.  He has broken down the political contributions to local politicians into two categories:  Landlords and, Developers/Other business.

It is interesting to see who is on the list with the most donations from these two groups and, who is on the small contribution side.  You might find some of the names surprising.

I only wish we had this for Halton.  Would be an interesting breakdown and interesting to see how the vote goes this November 12th and subsequent dates for the development charges between Halton Council, Mattamy Homes and some other interests such as BILD..

I appreciate the time he took to build this list and for sharing it with us.  Lots of money out there and how it affects the decision-making is up to speculation.

- – - – - – - – -

City politicians who took campaign contributions from landlords, developers and other businesses in 2006.

THOSE WHO TAKE LITTLE MONEY

Ward Candidate Landlords/Dev Other Businesses
Mayor David Miller 0.0% 0.0%
1 Suzan Hall 7.8 20.6
4 Gloria Lindsay Luby 12.3 10.5
8 Anthony Perruzza 10.3 5.8
9 Maria Augimeri 13.5 11.4
14 Gord Perks 0.6 0.0
15 Howard Moscoe 6.5 13.9
18 Adam Giambrone 7.8 1.6
19 Joe Pantalone 0.0 0.0
20 Adam Vaughan 0.0 0.0
21 Joe Mihevc 0.0 0.0
22 Michael Walker 0.0 0.0
23 John Filion 6.5 7.0
25 Cliff Jenkins 0.0 0.0
27 Kyle Rae 0.0 0.0
28 Pam McConnell 0.0 0.0
30 Paula Fletcher 0.9 0.0
31 Janet Davis 0.0 0.5
32 Sandra Bussin 0.0 11.1
33 Shelly Carroll 11.1 12.0
35 Adrian Heaps 0.6 2.8
38 Glenn De Baeremaeker 10.4 8.3
40 Norm Kelly 6.2 14.7
41 Chin Lee 1.6 9.8
42 Raymond Cho 0.0 3.2
44 Ron Moeser 0.0 1.4

THOSE WHO TAKE LOTS OF MONEY

2 Rob Ford 32.5 24.2
3 Doug Holiday 24.0 28.3
5 Peter Milczyn 41.7 26.4
6 Mark Grimes 22.6 18.8
7 Giorgio Mammoliti 41.4 26.0
10 Michael Feldman 29.6 16.1
11 Frances Nunziata 39.1 32.9
12 Frank Di Giorgio 39.5 27.5
13 Bill Saundercook 17.5 31.4
16 Karen Stintz 47.0 2.0
17 Cesar Palacio 37.4 2.1
24 David Shiner 25.5 21.3
26 John Parker 25.4 17.4
29 Case Ootes 28.1 30.2
34 Denzil Minnan-Wong 32.5 30.0
36 Brian Ashton 30.4 15.6
37 Michael Thompson 20.0 28.9
39 Mike Del Grande 37.5 10.7
43 Paul Ainslie 27.3 24.0

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alphainventions

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