Monday, April 23, 2012
Why is it that Los Angeles Lakers' Ron Artest wears "World Peace" on the back of his jersey and then acts like a thug by sucker-punching his opponent in a basketball game last week? Shouldn't Artest practice what he preaches?
The ugly truth is Artest is nothing more than a phony publicity hound. Yes, he's a good basketball player, but as a role model for "World Peace" he lacks the courage, fortitude and common sense required to wear such a lofty label.
Ron Artest should go back to wearing his name until he can measure up to a higher standard and champion the cause he purports to embrace.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Dalai Lama Brings a Message of Peace and Hope to America
by Tom Hinton
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, arrived in San Diego, California today and brought his simple, but powerful message of peace, hope and spiritual healing to thousands of people.
There is something both positive and serene about the 77 year-old spiritual leader of Tibet. His boyish smile and youthful energy hides his age and the many burdens he carries. Although he is a Buddhist, his love for all people shines through. His ability to forgive his enemies is profound. When the Dalai Lama was asked years ago how he could forgive the Chinese for invading his native country of Tibet and killing thousands of people, he simply replied, “It makes me feel better to forgive than to hate.”
There are many lessons we can learn from this gracious man regardless of our religious or political persuasions. Certainly, there is room in every heart for greater peace, understanding, forgiveness and love. This is his simple message and hope. How profound.
About the Author. Tom Hinton is the author of 10,000 Days: The Rest of Your Life, the Best of Your Life! Which is available at: www.Amazon.com Tom is a popular speaker on Work-Life Balance and Personal Growth topics. He also facilitates The Course of 10,000 Days retreat workshops. Contact: tom@tomhinton.com
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, arrived in San Diego, California today and brought his simple, but powerful message of peace, hope and spiritual healing to thousands of people.
There is something both positive and serene about the 77 year-old spiritual leader of Tibet. His boyish smile and youthful energy hides his age and the many burdens he carries. Although he is a Buddhist, his love for all people shines through. His ability to forgive his enemies is profound. When the Dalai Lama was asked years ago how he could forgive the Chinese for invading his native country of Tibet and killing thousands of people, he simply replied, “It makes me feel better to forgive than to hate.”
There are many lessons we can learn from this gracious man regardless of our religious or political persuasions. Certainly, there is room in every heart for greater peace, understanding, forgiveness and love. This is his simple message and hope. How profound.
About the Author. Tom Hinton is the author of 10,000 Days: The Rest of Your Life, the Best of Your Life! Which is available at: www.Amazon.com Tom is a popular speaker on Work-Life Balance and Personal Growth topics. He also facilitates The Course of 10,000 Days retreat workshops. Contact: tom@tomhinton.com
Monday, April 16, 2012
People Are Like Roses
By Tom Hinton
Not far from my front door is a beautiful park where I enjoy walking in the early morning just after sunrise. Frequently, as I’ve completed my morning walk, I’ve seen an elderly woman arrive with her flower basket and pruning tools in one hand and a small three-legged stool in the other hand. She comes to tend to the many rose bushes that grace our neighborhood park.
Along the south entrance to the park is an arching trellis that sports several bush forms of Hybrid Teas and Floribundas. Over the years, the flower lady has trained the long canes to grow in a horizontal position in order to produce more blooms. These climber roses can’t attach themselves to the trellis, so the flower lady dutifully ties the canes onto the trellis arch for support.
Over the years, my neighbors and I have enjoyed watching these beautiful roses grow as we meander through the park and appreciate the variety of roses including hybrids, ramblers, heirlooms and even wild species roses that sprouted many decades ago and continue to blossom each year thanks to the nurturing care of the rose lady.
From time to time, I’ve reflected on the life cycle of a rose because it closely resembles our own life cycle. Experts tell us that roses can live forever with proper care. They seed, grow and flower all in the same season. And, if pruned to about 12 inches from the ground in early spring, more roses will bloom in the summer. Although roses are perennials, most of these delicate flowers require the tender, loving hand of someone like the rose lady to rejuvenate and display their beauty.
From a spiritual perspective, people require the same attention and maintenance. Like roses, we must be nurtured, cared for, pruned and even disbudded from time to time in order to rejuvenate and blossom repeatedly. Our pruning process is dependent on our Ego, Emotions and Inner Spirit. It’s through the three legs of our human essence that we evolve and grow. But, just like the rose, we also must endure a disbudding phase when things don’t go our way and life throws challenges and barriers in our path. And, like the rose, we learn to overcome these setbacks and defeats only to grow stronger and more beautiful with each pruning life lesson.
The Course of 10,000 Days reminds us that people are like roses. The average human being lives about 30,000 days. That equates to just over 82 years. We go through three very distinct life cycles every 27 years or so. The Course of 10,000 Days refers to these three cycles as our Discovery Years, Fulfillment Years and Legacy Years. While a rose completes its life cycle seasonally, people take about 10,000 days or 27 years to evolve and mature through each cycle.
Our Discovery Years, ages 1-27, are typically spent developing our personality and ego, learning values, shaping our character and behavior, and creating lifelong bonds with our family and friends. It’s during our Discovery Years that we attempt to discover our gifts and talents, and exercise our creativity. We also learn how to assess risks, make mistakes and rebound, expand our minds, learn social graces, receive a formal education, plot our career path, forge our political beliefs and values, challenge the status quo, set goals and discover the power and pitfalls of money and romance.
Our second 10,000 days are our Fulfillment Years, ages 27-54. Most people spend their Fulfillment Years building their resume, acquiring money, searching for a life companion, starting a family, laying down roots, striving to achieve their goals, traveling and consuming all the world has to offer.
Ironically, as many people complete their Fulfillment Years, they come to realize they are, in fact, unfulfilled because they have failed to live their dreams or achieve their goals. Unlike the rose, which takes its shape, color and beauty from nature’s cue, people take their cue primarily from their ego. When we realize that our Fulfillment Years have been reduced to climbing the corporate ladder, chasing someone else’s definition of success, and keeping up with the Joneses, we yearn for all our yesterdays. It’s a stark moment in our lives when we come to the realization that we squandered our best years living someone else’s dream instead of pursuing our own. It’s distressing to realize that we are completely ego-driven and have little connection with our Inner Spirit, nor any satisfactory explanation as to who we really are and why we exist on a spiritual level.
When we arrive at this quiescent point in our life, it marks the beginning of a major transformation or a series of life changes. Just like the rose, which in the dead of winter appears dormant and lifeless, there is a strange phenomenon taking place deep within us. This is the point when we come face-to-face with our third 10,000 days, known as our Legacy Years. It’s at this moment – usually around our mid-50s -- that we realize something significant in our life is missing. Like the rose that seeks the earth’s nutrients and sunshine, we yearn for purpose, peace and a sense of passion in life. Only the gentle, steady guiding hand of our Inner Spirit can help us find these attributes within ourselves. But how do we reconnect with our Inner Spirit?
Ultimately, nature provides the way for us just like the rose. When we ask our Inner Spirit to help us find meaningful answers to life’s most difficult questions, we will be transformed. Like the rose that receives energy from the sun as winter yields to spring, our Inner Spirit is the nutrient that helps us discover our higher purpose and leads us to a life of happiness and fulfillment. But first, we must realize that our ego is incapable of answering life’s most humbling questions and guiding us to our destiny. Only our Inner Spirit is capable of doing this. It is simply part of our human design.
The natural cycle of life allows us time – 10,000 Days – to discover our higher purpose and find happiness and fulfillment. It’s during our Legacy Years that we can blossom into a spiritual being and, like the rose, allow our natural beauty to emerge. Of course, we must do this despite the fact that our ego will fight us. Like an ugly weed in the garden, our ego attempts to dominate our Inner Spirit in order to remain in control.
But, like the rose lady who appears faithfully several times each week to nurture and prune the roses in our park, you must strive to allow your Inner Spirit to be heard and act if you want to create a life worth remembering and live your dreams. That is what The Course of 10,000 Days teaches us and helps us accomplish.
Factors such as your age, gender, geographic location and education level have very little to do with your ability to succeed in completing this important transformation. More important is your commitment and willingness to open your heart and mind so that you can experience an inner awakening that will bring about those positive changes and results you desire. Ultimately, as our Inner Spirit surfaces and guides us, we are like the rose that emerges from a blanket of deep white snow to become a beautiful flower for all to admire. If we take the time to cultivate our Inner Spirit, we can realize our dreams and highest aspirations. This is how we create meaning and purpose in our lives and live a life worth remembering.
About the Author: Tom Hinton is one of America’s most respected authors and speakers on Personal Growth, Work-Life Balance and Achieving Your Human Potential. He is the author of four books including: 10,000 Days: The Rest of Your Life, the Best of Your Life which is available on www.Amazon.com For information, contact: tom@tomhinton.com
Not far from my front door is a beautiful park where I enjoy walking in the early morning just after sunrise. Frequently, as I’ve completed my morning walk, I’ve seen an elderly woman arrive with her flower basket and pruning tools in one hand and a small three-legged stool in the other hand. She comes to tend to the many rose bushes that grace our neighborhood park.
Along the south entrance to the park is an arching trellis that sports several bush forms of Hybrid Teas and Floribundas. Over the years, the flower lady has trained the long canes to grow in a horizontal position in order to produce more blooms. These climber roses can’t attach themselves to the trellis, so the flower lady dutifully ties the canes onto the trellis arch for support.
Over the years, my neighbors and I have enjoyed watching these beautiful roses grow as we meander through the park and appreciate the variety of roses including hybrids, ramblers, heirlooms and even wild species roses that sprouted many decades ago and continue to blossom each year thanks to the nurturing care of the rose lady.
From time to time, I’ve reflected on the life cycle of a rose because it closely resembles our own life cycle. Experts tell us that roses can live forever with proper care. They seed, grow and flower all in the same season. And, if pruned to about 12 inches from the ground in early spring, more roses will bloom in the summer. Although roses are perennials, most of these delicate flowers require the tender, loving hand of someone like the rose lady to rejuvenate and display their beauty.
From a spiritual perspective, people require the same attention and maintenance. Like roses, we must be nurtured, cared for, pruned and even disbudded from time to time in order to rejuvenate and blossom repeatedly. Our pruning process is dependent on our Ego, Emotions and Inner Spirit. It’s through the three legs of our human essence that we evolve and grow. But, just like the rose, we also must endure a disbudding phase when things don’t go our way and life throws challenges and barriers in our path. And, like the rose, we learn to overcome these setbacks and defeats only to grow stronger and more beautiful with each pruning life lesson.
The Course of 10,000 Days reminds us that people are like roses. The average human being lives about 30,000 days. That equates to just over 82 years. We go through three very distinct life cycles every 27 years or so. The Course of 10,000 Days refers to these three cycles as our Discovery Years, Fulfillment Years and Legacy Years. While a rose completes its life cycle seasonally, people take about 10,000 days or 27 years to evolve and mature through each cycle.
Our Discovery Years, ages 1-27, are typically spent developing our personality and ego, learning values, shaping our character and behavior, and creating lifelong bonds with our family and friends. It’s during our Discovery Years that we attempt to discover our gifts and talents, and exercise our creativity. We also learn how to assess risks, make mistakes and rebound, expand our minds, learn social graces, receive a formal education, plot our career path, forge our political beliefs and values, challenge the status quo, set goals and discover the power and pitfalls of money and romance.
Our second 10,000 days are our Fulfillment Years, ages 27-54. Most people spend their Fulfillment Years building their resume, acquiring money, searching for a life companion, starting a family, laying down roots, striving to achieve their goals, traveling and consuming all the world has to offer.
Ironically, as many people complete their Fulfillment Years, they come to realize they are, in fact, unfulfilled because they have failed to live their dreams or achieve their goals. Unlike the rose, which takes its shape, color and beauty from nature’s cue, people take their cue primarily from their ego. When we realize that our Fulfillment Years have been reduced to climbing the corporate ladder, chasing someone else’s definition of success, and keeping up with the Joneses, we yearn for all our yesterdays. It’s a stark moment in our lives when we come to the realization that we squandered our best years living someone else’s dream instead of pursuing our own. It’s distressing to realize that we are completely ego-driven and have little connection with our Inner Spirit, nor any satisfactory explanation as to who we really are and why we exist on a spiritual level.
When we arrive at this quiescent point in our life, it marks the beginning of a major transformation or a series of life changes. Just like the rose, which in the dead of winter appears dormant and lifeless, there is a strange phenomenon taking place deep within us. This is the point when we come face-to-face with our third 10,000 days, known as our Legacy Years. It’s at this moment – usually around our mid-50s -- that we realize something significant in our life is missing. Like the rose that seeks the earth’s nutrients and sunshine, we yearn for purpose, peace and a sense of passion in life. Only the gentle, steady guiding hand of our Inner Spirit can help us find these attributes within ourselves. But how do we reconnect with our Inner Spirit?
Ultimately, nature provides the way for us just like the rose. When we ask our Inner Spirit to help us find meaningful answers to life’s most difficult questions, we will be transformed. Like the rose that receives energy from the sun as winter yields to spring, our Inner Spirit is the nutrient that helps us discover our higher purpose and leads us to a life of happiness and fulfillment. But first, we must realize that our ego is incapable of answering life’s most humbling questions and guiding us to our destiny. Only our Inner Spirit is capable of doing this. It is simply part of our human design.
The natural cycle of life allows us time – 10,000 Days – to discover our higher purpose and find happiness and fulfillment. It’s during our Legacy Years that we can blossom into a spiritual being and, like the rose, allow our natural beauty to emerge. Of course, we must do this despite the fact that our ego will fight us. Like an ugly weed in the garden, our ego attempts to dominate our Inner Spirit in order to remain in control.
But, like the rose lady who appears faithfully several times each week to nurture and prune the roses in our park, you must strive to allow your Inner Spirit to be heard and act if you want to create a life worth remembering and live your dreams. That is what The Course of 10,000 Days teaches us and helps us accomplish.
Factors such as your age, gender, geographic location and education level have very little to do with your ability to succeed in completing this important transformation. More important is your commitment and willingness to open your heart and mind so that you can experience an inner awakening that will bring about those positive changes and results you desire. Ultimately, as our Inner Spirit surfaces and guides us, we are like the rose that emerges from a blanket of deep white snow to become a beautiful flower for all to admire. If we take the time to cultivate our Inner Spirit, we can realize our dreams and highest aspirations. This is how we create meaning and purpose in our lives and live a life worth remembering.
About the Author: Tom Hinton is one of America’s most respected authors and speakers on Personal Growth, Work-Life Balance and Achieving Your Human Potential. He is the author of four books including: 10,000 Days: The Rest of Your Life, the Best of Your Life which is available on www.Amazon.com For information, contact: tom@tomhinton.com
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Returning America to its Capitalism Roots
by Tom Hinton
It should come as no surprise that consumers remain frustrated and downright angry at corporate America. We’re especially angry with big banks and big oil. After five years of economic hardship and financial carnage not much has improved for the average consumer. America’s economic forecast is cloudy at best.
There’s a lot of blame to go around for the economic mess we’re in, but at the root of our financial problems is the growing culture of greed that permeates Corporate America and, specifically, big oil and big banks. The One Percenters, as they’ve been labeled by the Occupy Wall Street movement, have grossly misinterpreted what American capitalism is all about.
The growing number of greedy corporate vultures do not represent the best economic interests of our nation, nor the world. In fact, they represent what is blatantly wrong with America; and, their behavior is both disgusting and criminal. I do not use the word criminal lightly. The misdeeds and governance missteps by too many corporate leaders have undermined the basic freedoms guaranteed every American as prescribed in our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, our nation’s two most sacred documents. When the basic rights of Americans – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – are compromised by corporate malfeasance under the pretense of a company’s right to make a profit, government has both a responsibility and obligation to protect the interests of its citizens. Regrettably, this is not happening because our elected officials have been unduly compromised by lobbyists and brainwashed into believing a big bank, insurance company or automaker is too big to fail. Such thinking further undermines the basic tenets of American capitalism.
We all know who these corporate culprits are. Their corporate names are household words. Their signage and logos adorn many skyscrapers and buildings in every major city across the nation. Many of these companies are led by unindicted crooks who knowingly endorsed illegal programs, schemes and policies that undermined the housing industry – the most sacred cornerstone of the American Dream, created epic levels of unemployment and under-employment, and stripped millions of American of their financial dignity by manipulating investment markets that eroded retirement plans and savings accounts. Such actions are not only illegal, but sinful.
All of this happened under the blind eye of our federal government and elected officials. Our federal and state governments have done little to hold these corporate leaders accountable for their brazen abuses or protect consumers from another financial meltdown. While the nation’s attorneys general should be applauded for their efforts to sue big banks in an effort to help distressed homeowners, President Obama and the Congress continue to reward these corporate culprits with government bailouts and gentle slaps on the wrist. Is it any wonder that so many Americans have lost faith in their leaders and their ability to initiate meaningful change? Is it any wonder that consumers are frustrated, angry and bitter about their dwindling economic prospects let alone the economic prospects of our children?
Five years after the financial debacle was perpetrated by big banks with the approving nod of the Federal Reserve, SEC and other federal agencies, millions of Americans remain mired in the economic mud created by investment houses and big banks. It continues to be a very slow and painful financial recovery for millions of consumers; and, all of this is happening while big banks and big oil amass outrageous profits at the expense of struggling America’s consumers.
Can consumers do anything to stop this harmful trend besides transferring their bank accounts to credit unions and limiting their driving so they buy less gas? I think the answer is a resounding yes! Consumers ultimately control the power of the purse and the economic fortunes of a nation because we can choose where and how to spend our money. We can also choose to dethrone those elected officials who contributed to our economic misfortunes. In the final analysis, consumers can regain control of their economic destiny by standing up for what is right with America and demand big banks and big oil honor the true spirit of American Capitalism – making a fair profit while raising the fortunes of society.
About the Author:
Tom Hinton is a professional speaker and author of 10,000 Days: The Rest of Your Life, the Best of Your Life which is available on Amazon.com. Mr. Hinton is a popular speaker at corporate and association meetings on Reputation Leadership and Work-Life Balance. He can be reached at tom@tomhinton.com
It should come as no surprise that consumers remain frustrated and downright angry at corporate America. We’re especially angry with big banks and big oil. After five years of economic hardship and financial carnage not much has improved for the average consumer. America’s economic forecast is cloudy at best.
There’s a lot of blame to go around for the economic mess we’re in, but at the root of our financial problems is the growing culture of greed that permeates Corporate America and, specifically, big oil and big banks. The One Percenters, as they’ve been labeled by the Occupy Wall Street movement, have grossly misinterpreted what American capitalism is all about.
The growing number of greedy corporate vultures do not represent the best economic interests of our nation, nor the world. In fact, they represent what is blatantly wrong with America; and, their behavior is both disgusting and criminal. I do not use the word criminal lightly. The misdeeds and governance missteps by too many corporate leaders have undermined the basic freedoms guaranteed every American as prescribed in our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, our nation’s two most sacred documents. When the basic rights of Americans – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – are compromised by corporate malfeasance under the pretense of a company’s right to make a profit, government has both a responsibility and obligation to protect the interests of its citizens. Regrettably, this is not happening because our elected officials have been unduly compromised by lobbyists and brainwashed into believing a big bank, insurance company or automaker is too big to fail. Such thinking further undermines the basic tenets of American capitalism.
We all know who these corporate culprits are. Their corporate names are household words. Their signage and logos adorn many skyscrapers and buildings in every major city across the nation. Many of these companies are led by unindicted crooks who knowingly endorsed illegal programs, schemes and policies that undermined the housing industry – the most sacred cornerstone of the American Dream, created epic levels of unemployment and under-employment, and stripped millions of American of their financial dignity by manipulating investment markets that eroded retirement plans and savings accounts. Such actions are not only illegal, but sinful.
All of this happened under the blind eye of our federal government and elected officials. Our federal and state governments have done little to hold these corporate leaders accountable for their brazen abuses or protect consumers from another financial meltdown. While the nation’s attorneys general should be applauded for their efforts to sue big banks in an effort to help distressed homeowners, President Obama and the Congress continue to reward these corporate culprits with government bailouts and gentle slaps on the wrist. Is it any wonder that so many Americans have lost faith in their leaders and their ability to initiate meaningful change? Is it any wonder that consumers are frustrated, angry and bitter about their dwindling economic prospects let alone the economic prospects of our children?
Five years after the financial debacle was perpetrated by big banks with the approving nod of the Federal Reserve, SEC and other federal agencies, millions of Americans remain mired in the economic mud created by investment houses and big banks. It continues to be a very slow and painful financial recovery for millions of consumers; and, all of this is happening while big banks and big oil amass outrageous profits at the expense of struggling America’s consumers.
Can consumers do anything to stop this harmful trend besides transferring their bank accounts to credit unions and limiting their driving so they buy less gas? I think the answer is a resounding yes! Consumers ultimately control the power of the purse and the economic fortunes of a nation because we can choose where and how to spend our money. We can also choose to dethrone those elected officials who contributed to our economic misfortunes. In the final analysis, consumers can regain control of their economic destiny by standing up for what is right with America and demand big banks and big oil honor the true spirit of American Capitalism – making a fair profit while raising the fortunes of society.
About the Author:
Tom Hinton is a professional speaker and author of 10,000 Days: The Rest of Your Life, the Best of Your Life which is available on Amazon.com. Mr. Hinton is a popular speaker at corporate and association meetings on Reputation Leadership and Work-Life Balance. He can be reached at tom@tomhinton.com
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