Chief Yellow Lark, a warrior of the Lakota Sioux Tribe, wrote a prayer that has always been special to me.
Oh, Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear
me. I am small and weak.
I need your strength and wisdom.Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes
Ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
The things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.I seek strength, not to be superior to my brother,
But to fight my greatest enemy, myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
My spirit will come to your without shame.
I am in the process of writing my first book, and what screams out to me, and the mission of my book, is the first sentence in the third stanza:
I SEEK STRENGTH, NOT TO BE SUPERIOR TO MY BROTHER, BUT TO FIGHT MY GREATEST ENEMY – MYSELF.
It’s not the opposition; it’s not the other team; it’s not the others in the office gunning for the promotion; it’s not our brothers and sisters; IT’S US… WE are the enemy. Steven Covey’s first habit in his best seller, “The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” is BE PROACTIVE. Which means someone is in charge of our life and our destiny. And we have a choice who that person is. It’s either US or someone else.”
Being proactive means we are in charge of our life. Being proactive is more than taking initiative. It is accepting responsibility for our own behavior (past, present, and future) and making choices based on principles and values rather than on moods or circumstances. Proactive people are agents of change and choose not to be victims, to be reactive, or to blame others. They do this by developing and using four unique human gifts:
• Self awareness
• Conscience
• Imagination
• Independent will
And by taking an inside-out approach to creating change. They resolve to be the creative force in their own lives, which is the most fundamental decision anyone ever makes.
There is a PGOW, an acronym that I invented, which stands for powerful group of words:
“The world is a looking glass, and gives back to every person a reflection of their own image. As we take control of our lives by being more proactive, being happier with ourselves and our lives, we will see the world we live in gives back to us these same virtues.
AND THAT IS A BIG DEAL.
