Balance of being and doing Rather than putting being and doing at two ends of a spectrum, I think there is a reflective kind of ‘doing’ that does not come from our drivenness, but arises out of a sense of purpose. The question is, “what motivates you”? If our motivation comes from a desire to prove ourselves we become slaves to our own and other people’s expectations. This makes us harsh critics of our own perceived performance and escalates stress when receiving feedback from others which we may hear in a negative light. Motivation is what gets me out of bed in the morning. I want to achieve and succeed, but it is how we measure ourselves which determines whether that is energising or deflating. Reflecting on this as I write stirs me to think how I measure myself. Most of us are performance driven – we have absorbed the mantra that we only as good as our last performance. We do need to be accountable, but I need to remind myself that getting things ‘wrong’ is OK, provided we learn fro
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Journeymen As my gift from the Soul Clinics group that I have been part of during my time in Nuneaton, I was given the book ‘Journeymen – A Spiritual Guide for Men’ by Kent Groff. I decided to start reading it last night. At the end of each chapter are some reflective exercises which I will use in the writing of this blog.
Esau and his birthright I have been contemplating today the story of Esau and his relationship with his brother Jacob. (Genesis 25) Esau is tricked into selling his birthright for a bowl of stew and bread. Jacob, the second born twin, has already been designated the child of promise, but he exploits his unfair advantage (a hungry brother) to get what has already been promised. One of the books I have brought with me was Post Christendom by Stuart Murray and I happened to be re-reading the part where he describes Christians in post Christendom being more wary about the perceived compromise of Christian truth through exposure to other Faiths than to the subtle erosion of values through complicity with secular society. The book is now 5 years old and I believe that perceptions have moved on, but it still makes the valid observation that subtle changes are harder to resist. Like the frog in the pan which is gradually brought to the boil, we don’t notice gradual change until it is too late.