Resilience

By Elena Blume

When I think of the word resilience, I think of the art of bouncing back. For instance, a person is rolling along in their life with a certain momentum. Suddenly an unforeseen force is applied pushing its way offsetting that person’s momentum. Then that person moves back to the momentum he or she had before. I would say the person who does that relatively simply is skilled in resilience.

In the past, it was challenging for me to go through the grieving process. Let’s face it, grieving is not fun. It can be difficult and challenging to move through a variety emotions from anger to sadness; denial to acceptance.

This past week was filled with funeral arrangements and fulfillments of my dear father. He lived an exceptional and extraordinary life. His life was long and in the end tapered off slowly as his memory waned. Selfishly I want to feel sadness, however inside all I can feel is gratitude. How was I so fortunate to have such a magnificent father? Wasn’t I blessed to get to spend so many hours with my father?

My father was a soccer coach. He was a coach of other coaches as well as thousands of kids. Moreover, he was a life coach. Through his soccer he taught many incredible life skills. Certainly no less was his lesson regarding resilience. He taught us when we were down on the ground to get up! He taught us when we missed a goal to shoot towards the goal another fifteen times.

If something gets you down, it is ok to be more than resilient. Aim at having the forces propel you fifteen times further than where you’d have been otherwise. It’s ok to work fifteen times harder or smarter to achieve your goal or dreams. Let that force that interfered with your roll be more like rolling the dice along the side wall of a table. Roll doubles.

How observant are you?

By Elena Blume

When going into an experience, do you observe the positives, the negatives, perhaps a little of both?

Recently I looked at a beautifully elegant photograph of a scenic Italian view.  The buildings stretched unto the horizon as the steeples peaked beneath the golden sunset.  Having been to Rome, myself, immense and treasurable memories wandered through the cobblestones of my mind.

The person who posted the photograph mentioned requesting a room with a view and humbly was granted his wish.  While the room was magnificent and his view spectacular, the rumbling of the elevator behind his wall was at times understandably objectionably unsettling.

Perhaps he was given the magnificent room next to the Elevator shaft, in order to encourage him to see the rest of Rome and not temptingly stay in his elegant room too long, for in Italy there is much to see.

An elevator is significant in many ways when you think about it.  There are people in the elevators who go up and who go down.  Sometimes there are people who work in the elevators guiding the ride and pushing the buttons.  It can be an excellent form of transport.  Some elevators skip certain floors alluring mystery.  An elevator can bring awkwardness or clarity.  Sometimes you may select the floor of your destination.  Generally this is the case.

Elevators are containments so to speak as well, the carrier of our body as the body carries our soul.  It is good to get off on the correct floor. Sometimes that might be the workout floor, sometimes the restaurant, sometimes the sky bar.  Maybe it’s the Lobby, or your room that you chose to request.  It could be the Ballroom, or even the Conference Meeting area.

The point of the story also reminds me of a man I knew and will not ever forget, the father of a friend.  He rode with me up a very popular avenue during the Holiday Season.  The lights were atop every building.  There were many holiday decorations up and down the avenue.  During twilight, there were lit Holiday Trees every twenty feet or so lining both sides of the drive.  The only thing my friend’s father noticed, however, was the one tree that had shorted out.

It was very poignant. It saddened me deeply how he could not see all of the immense beauty surrounding everyone.  I once, myself, had a limited view.

Knowing him, however, and thinking about this over the years as time has passed and I have grown, he probably contacted the city and had the light on that tree lit in a matter of moments.  Perhaps while he only commented on the shorted out tree, he did in fact notice everything with the understanding that every tree on the drive was important and valuable.  Hard to guess at this point.  I’ll hope for the latter and for his genuine happiness.

Sharing such a magnificent view can be enlightening.  I will choose to look with gratitude towards every view, even when it may be a bit challenging.  When focusing on a glass of milk, however (and in my case soy milk), I will choose always to see the glass half full.

arrivederci 

+EXCITEMENT

By Elena Blume

How can you stir “excitement”? 

PLANT EARLY SEEDS

Learn about New Trends and Topic Interests

Make Contacts in Advance

Get the Word Out

Visualize and Design Plan

Reserve Necessities

COMMUNICATE

Let people know Changes and Updates early and often

Idea Exchange

Decorate with Theme a bit early

Encourage participation

"Variety is the Spice of Life"¹ with Communication Modes

Engage SENSES

IMPLEMENT

Select Best People for Roles

Make it Fun!

Create Great Teams

Plan and Communicate Layout and/or Program

Be Available

Foresee and Preempt any grievance where possible.

¹ ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "variety is the spice of life." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved March 11, 2011 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-varietyisthespiceoflife.html

+RESPONSIBILITY

By Elena Blume

+RESPONSIBILITY

Increasing in Demand.  Decreasing in Supply.  +RESPONSIBILITY

In College Economics there was a silly graph which taught Supply and Demand.  Never really thoroughly understanding or agreeing with the theory, being the creative that I thought I was in college, I believed imperatively that Demand could be created and thus increase Supply.  Probably why I made an unspeakable grade in Economics during my University Years.  Also why I never went back to class that entire semester.  Architecture was my passion and major.  Major meaning, my world and dreams as a young woman.

Fortunately I did substantially better in Environmental Design in the College of Architecture. 

Thus said, Responsibility seems to have been on the decline over the past decade or so.  Nobody likes to take Responsibility generally, particularly if Responsibility requires cost. 

Today when dollars are somewhat limited, +RESPONSIBILITY is something of a free asset which can be created and also increased.  Perhaps there is a deep correlation between +RESPONSIBILITY and the Supply and Demand curve which could be carried across to business.  Certainly there is a value attached whether personal or in business.

How do you create +RESPONSIBILITY in your business?  Do you also do that in your personal life?  There is something quite valuable to be said of Integrity. 

Start with honesty, capability, reliability, and trustworthiness.  These are four core values not to be underestimated on any scale, chart, or graphic.

 

Synonyms for “responsible” include Honest, Capable, Reliable, Trustworthy

*"responsible." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 10 Mar. 2011. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/responsible>.

+HUMILITY

By Elena Blume

hu·mil·i·ty

/hyuˈmɪlɪti or, often, yu-/ [hyoo-mil-i-tee or, often, yoo-]

–noun

the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc.

*"humility." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 10 Mar. 2011. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/humility>.

 

Yesterday I learned a very dear friend took time from her tremendously busy schedule to cut hair for homeless people in the community who are living currently in tents.  She got her utensils ready and drew from her skills, sharing them with dozens of people so thankful for the opportunity to be with her and get groomed far better than imagined the day before.

Another friend organized a banquet and served a warm meal fit for kings.  Perhaps these kings just haven’t discovered their identity yet.  Who knows?  It is good to treat everyone like kings, because serving displays compassion¹ and compassion yields +HUMILITY.

Opening eyes to the world as disasters, be them weather related, politically related, even sometimes personally related, one is humbled.  Humility is a core value, a significant ingredient to the potential masterpiece which is you.

It is through Humility in which there is a strength unmatchable in any circumstance.  With Humility comes a deeper, more rich understanding and compassion for the world, situations, and unique connectedness we all share together.

Before achieving +HUMILITY, it is important to recognize Compassion as a key to integration.  Is it possible to be truly humble, to maintain a quality of Humility without having Compassion?

It first takes experiencing Compassion before a full sense of Humility is even possible at its riches state.  This is why many times those public figures that you see in the news and on television continue philanthropy over and over again.  They have had the opportunity to witness a pure state of compassion first hand through the foundations and charities for which they serve.

It has been fulfilling to them and in some cases addicting to learn the tremendous value of feeling compassion and taking action.  It further enables them to maintain the quality of Humility, as expressed through the look upon their face.  The actions which they take bring them one step closer to their own goals and achievements.

A person who has +HUMILITY does not require physical rewards and public achievement recognition for their acts of compassion, because they find a tremendous richness which is unmatchable by any other standard.  Still *CELEBRATE THEM*!

A person does not have to have financial wealth to obtain +HUMILITY.  As a child for instance, no matter how much or how little money, we always had enough to give at least one filled grocery sack to the local food bank.  It takes no money to teach another person how to read.  In many cases, compassion just takes a moment of time to visit or call. 

When you see someone in dire circumstances, for instance living with AIDS, Cancer, or other disease or suffering and you notice them smiling at you, they then too are feeling compassion even in their own despair and this brings them the magic of +HUMILITY.  Learn from it. 

+HUMILITY            HUMILITY²            HUMILITY¹⁰⁰⁰

Look for those who you feel maintain the greatest level of +HUMILITY in your life and *CELEBRATE !*  Share in compassion with them and you have HUMILITY²! Build a Group together sharing in compassion and you will feel HUMILITY¹⁰!

Do you direct a Business?  Help your staff and business partners share in compassion!  If you have thousands of employees, then guess what?  HUMILITY¹⁰⁰⁰!  Go for it!

 

¹compassion — n

a feeling of distress and pity for the suffering or misfortune of another, often including the desire to alleviate it*

*"COMPASSION." Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 10 Mar. 2011. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/COMPASSION>.

Triangular Focus

By Elena Blume

Did you know that Light is observed differently when going through a Triangle?  It is true as stated by Brazilian researchers.  “Light can carry “orbital angular momentum,” a kind of rotation that is more like a planet orbiting the sun than like the planet spinning on its own axis. Measuring this property is tricky, but in the 30 July Physical Review Letters, Brazilian researchers show that shining a beam through a triangular hole creates a triangular array of spots that directly indicates the orbital angular momentum of the beam.”*

So what?  Right?  Not too Scientific?  Neither am I, but when I did a search for Triangular Focus, this was the article that I found.  So wonderful since I love light so much and also orbital angular momentum.  Wow!  Eureka!  So fascinating.

If I apply this type of theory (which I am not a Scientist but today a Theorist) to Goals and Desire, I see the Triangle as having three sides, The Goal, The Dream, The Desire.  I see the Achievement as the Light passing through the Triangle.  I see the feeling of Achievement as the added torqueing of light passing the triangular hole.

And so Achievement looks as such:

Further if we apply ourselves as light passing through the triangle, we pass through much more like a planet revolving around the sun versus a planet spinning on its own access.  As such it would be wise to seek others when working to achieve dreams rather than simply keeping to ourselves.

If we apply ideas and innovation as the light passing through the triangle, far better to share those ideas with others than keeping them so tightly within oneself, for once the idea is shared, then that idea may gain momentum plus torque.

When such ideas are Forward Positive, they are pure Light.  So…  keep yourself, your ideas and thoughts, and your Dreams Forward Positive.

It is then when you will achieve Forward Positive Momentum.

*Unveiling a Truncated Optical Lattice Associated with a Triangular Aperture Using Light’s Orbital Angular Momentum
J. M. Hickmann, E. J. S. Fonseca, W. C. Soares, and S. Chávez-Cerda
Phys. Rev. Lett.  105, 053904
(issue of 30 July 2010)

*Don Monroe  http://focus.aps.org/story/v26/st5#author Don Monroe is a freelance science writer in Murray Hill, New Jersey.

Increase Value and Quality of Social Networking Group Site

Increasing the value and quality of a Social Networking Group is becoming ever more readily important. As more and more information is disseminated through the various Social sites, it becomes that much more difficult to ascertain where time is best spent. Whether you are starting a Group yourself, or becoming a Member of a Social Networking Group, pace yourself. Require Value. If moderation becomes a topic of concern within the group, then maintain more control by limiting Discussions to certain members or requesting submissions. Set forward Guidelines for Discussion submissions early and often. The group will appreciate it and goals will  be easier accomplished.

With a steady flow of emails, newsletters, websites, online just about everything, calendars and more, with your group ensure Value and Quality to every Group Member. Align posts with the goals of the Group. Provide useful knowledgably credible information or things to think about. Write for inspiration, not perspiration. When you support and encourage your Group Members, your Group Members will more readily support and encourage you! Broaden awareness for the individual member of the group by providing useful information pertaining to the Group and the Group’s missions as a team.

Promote your Group’s Dreams. Set new Goals together and accomplish them. Celebrate Achievements together, whether as the Groups, other Groups, or the Individual Group Member or even nonmember as relevant to the Groups mission. Work together, encourage open communication while instilling and maintaining still control over Group topics and influence. Be open to ideas and thoughts of others.

How would be a good way to keep others engaged with the group? By instilling Self Esteem and increasing Knowledge about important topics, improving communications becomes much simpler. Streamline often. Envision together. Inspiration is a key to a winning collaborative team. It is the breath that keeps one going. In order to increase the value and quality of a Social Networking Group with others, Share often and Volunteer where possible.

Connecting and using resources wisely through Groups can be fulfilling. Visualize, Actualize, Realize, you’re a Social Networking Group and may you have Forward Positive Momentum always supporting and encouraging you!

Awareness

By Elena Blume

Awareness is important because it helps us be acutely familiar with the proximity surrounding us encouraging appreciation and thus internal happiness. Once we observe something intuitively or through one of our senses, be it by way of touch, taste, audial, sight, or smell, if we draw that observation into our realization, that observation begins to have a direct impact.

An excellent example is the simplistic visualization of a butterfly alighting upon one’s shoulder. Perhaps a blue bird, if you will. It brings the feeling of enchantment, excitement, emotion which is compelling when it comes to motivation. Emotions for which Awareness brings can be that which moves us into a Forward Positive Momentum. For even in our stillness of a single moment, contemplation creates an impact propelling one forward into the next moment.

With that in mind, to create the most positive next moment, it becomes important to utilize determination and good judgment thus creating a better self. This does not mean in correlation with another self. This means determination and judgment to better oneself.

Once one has made an observation, realized that, and had a direct impact creating awareness, one may then, using determination and good judgment, move into a positive next moment. Determination requires persistence, while good judgment requires positive and affirmative evaluation. In order for one to better oneself, one must ensure each decision is a wise decision for the optimum good of the self and all others.

As acute awareness takes hold it is like the crystallization of an atom. It is the beginning of the highest, purest energy source available.

Awareness = Observation > Realization> Impact

Visualize. Actualize. Realize.

By Elena Blume

As the Pendulum Oscillates

By Elena Blume

A pendulum will not oscillate until given motion. As it swings forth so also there goes a moment in time and space as it travels forward in positive momentum. In the past before clocks, the Pendulum was used to measure time. It was the most accurate measurement of time and also is the early basis of many critical scientific tools which are used today to measure everything from Earthquakes to Acceleration. While the pendulum’s aperture is readily stable, it is still in fact rather crude in that the effects of friction and even temperature slows it down steadily and slowly until it eventually stops.

Once given motion, however, the Pendulum will move rather consistently given similar circumstance and environment. Let’s call this motivation. It is motivational energy and it is created by a force applied to the weight attached to the massless cord or rod. Once set into motion, the weight will swing back and forth depending on the length for some duration.

How do you define your swing? What moves you? What is it that drives you into your next moment? How can you apply that same motivational energy to yourself again and again to carry you forward?

Prepare for Optimal Motivational Energy

• Mind
  
  • Diet – Feed your Brain
    
  • Lifelong Learning – Learn from whatever you can find about the topics that most interest you.
    
  • Meditation – Rest your mind and release stress through Visualizations during stillness or exercise.
    
• Body
  
  • Diet – Feed your body nutritiously. Do not put things into your body that are not good for your body.
    
  • Exercise – Build / Maintain muscle. Lose fat.
    
  • Anti-aging – Avoid exposing your body to harmful substance, be it the sun without sun lotions, chemicals, smoke.
    
• Spirit
  
  • Spirit of Place – Genius Loci (find the place that brings you peace).
    
  • Spirit of Soul – Find your higher power and connect.
    
  • Spirit of Journey – Envision where you will go next and be open to the journey.
    

Once the Pendulum has reached the forward most motion, it is then pulled towards its equilibrium position once more. This pull is not coming from the same force of the original energy which pushed it forward. This force is generated internally within the central mass of the weighted object via centrifugal force. This is a force not easily explained and also debatable, questionable, and apparently open ended in the scientific realm. What is it?

Well, it is not the Pendulum that is so important, or a lack of understanding of the pendulum. You are. You are important and that bit of Motivational Energy, right at that point that becomes automatic and one within you. That point where the Pendulum swings upon its own for the first time is kind of like riding a bicycle for the first time as someone holds the back of the seat until you are pedaling and riding yourself, completely balanced and moving forward. It is the Merry-Go-Round. It is the Carousel. It is the Barrel of Fun. It is the Magic within you that makes things happen. *THAT* is the Motivational Energy that will rock your world. It takes Motivational Energy to get to that point of flow. Create Positive Motivational Energy for yourself. Even better yet… create Positive Motivational Energy for others.