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This is a very profound yet simple word of wisdom, which I got on my iGoogle words of wisdom gadget today.

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. – James Allen

While this may seem pretty self expletory there are a couple of important things to keep in mind here.

One calmness of mind should not be mistaken with passivism, for it is not passivism. Rather, it is well thought out and strategically timed bold action executed in accordance with a plan, and not out of desperation. The other thing to keep in mind is that there will from time to time be certain situations that no calmness can master, but can only ease.

This quote is an except from James Allen’s famous work As a Man Thinketh. This quote, along with many other parts of the book explain there is a lot of change that can be affected by positive thinking, however as a final word of caution there are limits on what positive thinking can accomplish.

We do not create reality with our thoughts, nor attract reality, we simply enable God to work through us, as we are nothing more than a vessel that must first act in accordance with our thoughts and enabling for reality to be affected beyond us. Accordingly, this should never be taken to the radial and extremely destructive notions presented in more postmodern works such as The Secret, which postulate that we are all essentially gods and able to create reality through our thoughts. You must have a trust in God and His workings in order to fully benefit from positive thinking.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

Worry comes from a word meaning “to strangle”. Although, this may not be what we think of when we think of the word worry today, if we are really honest we can recognize the fact that worry can indeed strangle us.

“Word History: Worrying may shorten one’s life, but not as quickly as it once did. The ancestor of our word, Old English wyrgan, meant “to strangle.” Its Middle English descendant, worien, kept this sense and developed the new sense “to grasp by the throat with the teeth and lacerate” or “to kill or injure by biting and shaking.” This is the way wolves or dogs might attack sheep, for example. In the 16th century worry began to be used in the sense “to harass, as by rough treatment or attack,” or “to assault verbally,” and in the 17th century the word took on the sense “to bother, distress, or persecute.” It was a small step from this sense to the main modern senses “to cause to feel anxious or distressed” and “to feel troubled or uneasy,” first recorded in the 19th century.” Dicitonary.com

Considering this negative etymological connotation of the word worry we can say quite confidently that worry is not generally a good thing. Although, there are certain contexts in which worry is positive in the sense that it is a deterrent form wrong action, such as when you worry because you are doing something wrong or have an unsettled feeling about a wrong choice. Also worry can be positive when it applied to the essential; not the incidental, which is usually out of our hands anyway. However, when worry does not lead to a positive action or pray; and there is simply nothing that can be done to change the situation it is only detrimental. Worry has this uncanny ability to bring out the worst in us by triggering our emotions and producing anxiety. Anxiety being the physiology state produced by worry; including symptoms such as increased blood pressure and heart rate, sweat, nausea, chest pain, headache, decreased immune function, and the overall stress placed on all our body systems by disturbing homeostasis. Psychologists often term this disruption of homeostasis that brings about anxiety a fight or flight response. This literally put our bodies on edge, which can be helpful if we are facing a life or death situation and really need to take action; however most of the time that is not the case. So, there really is no sense in worrying; for unnecessary worry just produces stress, caused distraction from the task at hand, impairs our ability to function properly, and leaves us torn apart emotionally.

An average person’s anxiety is focused on :
40% — things that will never happen
30% — things about the past that can’t be changed
12% — things about criticism by others, mostly untrue
10% — about health, which gets worse with stress
8% — about real problems that will be faced

“Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” Henry David Thoreau (American Essayist, Poet and Philosopher, 1817-1862)

Bill Belichick gave his team a mental exercise a few months ago. He told his players to imagine a two-by-four on the ground and think about walking across it while keeping their balance. No big deal, right?

Then he said to imagine the same piece of wood suspended 300 feet above the ground. Suddenly, walking the plank seems a lot more daunting.

“You shouldn’t [feel more pressure], it’s the same two-by-four, but your mind is letting you know that if I slip or I fall, any miscalculation of a step, that’s it for you,” Patriots receiver Donte’ Stallworth said. “You stay focused on walking across that two-by-four, and then there’s no pressure.” (newsday.com)

Right now the New England Patriots are not worrying, because they have built their castles in the air, and are now prepared to build their foundation under the castle of Superbowl XLII. Donte’ Stallworth will be approaching the Superbowl just like any other game. He said he is always able to block out pressure(ie worry), and that you can’t worry about how big the game is, but you just have to go out there and play like any other game. Tom Brady talked the other day of resting and not allowing the anxiety to get to him throughout the day as he prepares for the game. He said the game can be very emotionally draining, and so he does not want to drain himself before game time. When we see that the pressures of the world are on our shoulders it is so important for us not to become overly worried about what the future may hold, or what the past held, because it will just drive you crazy. I know when I start thinking ahead about all these things which I am facing in the future it becomes very overwhelming. When I am able to tune all those worries out and focus solely on the situation at hand it always comes out better in the end. We cannot live on yesterday’s successes or failures, for we can never know the ifs of tomorrow. Every day is a clean slate, and a past failure holds no psychological bearing on today unless we allow it to, just like a success of the past will not guarantee you any future success today. The old adage of approaching it one day at a time is so true, for each day holds enough worries. We can only take it one day at a time. The past cannot be moved and the future cannot be known.

We can easily manage if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed to it. But the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday’s burden over again today, and then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it. ~John Newton

There are two days in the week about which and upon which I never worry… Yesterday and Tomorrow. ~Robert Jones Burdette

How to conquer worry:
Get plenty of rest; troubles often look smaller as you get closer; distinguish between those parts of life you can control and those you can’t; check your goals–are you worrying about unrealistic ambitions? Depend on God. .
(Happiness is a Choice, p. 171.)

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy. ~Leo Buscaglia

Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight. ~Benjamin Franklin

If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep. ~Dale Carnegie

I’ve developed a new philosophy… I only dread one day at a time. ~Charlie Brown (Charles Schulz)

Troubles are a lot like people – they grow bigger if you nurse them. ~Author Unknown

If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today. ~E. Joseph Cossman

You can’t wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time. ~Pat Schroeder

Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere. ~Glenn Turner

If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times. ~Dean Smith

As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey. ~Thomas A. Edison

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow. ~Swedish Proverb

It is the little bits of things that fret and worry us; we can dodge a elephant, but we can’t dodge a fly. ~Josh Billings

Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is to small to be made into a burden. ~Corrie ten Boom, Clippings from My Notebook

A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work. ~John Lubbock

As a rule, what is out of sight disturbs men’s minds more seriously than what they see. ~Julius Caesar

No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear. ~George MacDonald

We are, perhaps, uniquely among the earth’s creatures, the worrying animal. We worry away our lives. ~Lewis Thomas, The Medusa and the Snail, 1979

There are people who are always anticipating trouble, and in this way they manage to enjoy many sorrows that never really happen to them. ~Josh Billings

Only man clogs his happiness with care, destroying what is with thoughts of what may be. ~John Dryden

Love looks forward, hate looks back, anxiety has eyes all over its head. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook, 1960

Worry is interest paid on trouble before it comes due. ~William Ralph Inge

“Worry is spiritual short sight. Its cure is intelligent faith.” Paul Brunton

“It only seems as if you’re doing something when you worry.” Lucy Maud Montgomery quotes (Canadian Writer, 1874-1942)

“If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of troubles” Elbert Hubbard quotes (American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915)

“If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn’t ask me, I’d still have to say it.” George F. Burns quotes (American comedian 1896-1996)

I hope that your 7/7/7 is going well and I just wanted to leave you with a special list related to the number seven:

Today is the 7th day of the 7th month of the year 07 of the 3rd millennium AD. This day is a very unique day that will not come again for another 100 years, which for most all of us means we will not be around the next time this date comes around. As you might imagine many people have jumped at the chance to be married today, and many will be married today. Also, many mothers have planned their C sections for today, and of course Al Gore’s Green concert which is also today, and will require the equivalent of 7,000 people traveling over the Atlantic by airplane, in carbon and other emissions, just to get people to the concerts in New York and London alone. I suppose a little waste is worth it for a huge event stretching seven continents (including a band of Scientist in Antarctica), and featuring more than 150 artists. Just don’t expect us to pay a higher premium for the soon to be lower supply of gasoline.

So what is the significance of 7-7-7? Well 7 is the only dimension, besides the familiar 3, in which a vector cross product can be defined. However, most people will not really realize what that mean, so in layman’s terms it means that the number 7 represents completeness. The number 7 occurs throughout the Bible and in other religious mythology, and is always used in the Bible as a symbol of completeness. Now, not only is there seven today, but rather three sevens. 3 is another very significant number, which establishes intention, or purpose. For example, 3 sides are needed to form a triangle which is the stronger shape because each side stands on the other, also a rope is formed from 3 strands in order to make it strong, and on the side negative 3 strikes and you are out, and repeating something 3 times signifies intention. Hence 3 signifies purpose along with the completeness of the number 7 and we have possible the luckiest day in our life times today. Other examples of seven’s importance can be seen in the 7 seas, 7 days of the week, and God’s number 777 the antipode to the beast’s(Antichrist’s) number of 666. I will leave you with an excerpt from Revelation demonstrating the use of 7 as symbolic in the Bible:

Revelation 1:12I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,”[b]dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

19″Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

I believe flip flopping is just a natural result of the passage of time and the maturing of a candidate. Everyone makes mistakes, and as people mature it is reasonable that they may change their mind. For example, all those that voted for the war prior on the basis of WMD’s could claim that by learning the fact that there was no serious fact they may now feel opposed to this war. This is a flip-flop, but not an opportunistic flip-flop. opportunistic flip flops do exist, and they are a problem. However I don’t believe a voter should get too mad over opportunistic flip-floppers. There is no evidence that modern politicians are more prone to make a flip flop than in past years. In fact, since the beginning of politics, politicians have been parts to large organizations, whether religions, industrial, or social, very seldom was a politician truly independent, a large percent of the time his actions are representative the organization the politician stands for. Voters need to accept that politicians will flip flop, however it is no reason to lose faith in a candidate or become a political hermit. It is necessary to look at the backing of the candidate and decide where their interests lie and where your interests lie, by doing this you can choose the right candidate. A voter can look at the unions, businesses, and other major social/cultural institutions that support and more importantly, fund the candidate. The heart lies within the wallet. If your interests overlap with those of several organizations supporting the candidate than that may be a good vote for you. For instance, if you are against the war, a politician funded by businesses that want an end to war, or social organization seeking the end to war, than it is relatively safe to assume the candidate will end the war as soon as logistically possible.

The biggest problem with flip-floppers is the adverse effect they have on the psyche of the modern voters. Voters, especially new voters become overwhelmed by the politicians and their ideologies. They come to distrust the process because they feel betrayed by the actions of politicians. Upon this happening, undeserved pressure is placed on the candidate to remain steady, or else suffer the consequences. A politician at that point is dominated by his contingency in a bad way. The voters should control their candidates, but they should not prevent the politician from following his/her natural course. Because once a politician become an artificial puppet of fear, we can no longer trust his/her future action and when he/she may change. The population could consistently reelect a politician only to learn that he may not side with their majority opinions. It is necessary to learn when a politician has done this so the population can elect a new representative. However the pressure they place on the system to follow certain taboo rules prevents the population from knowing has the politicians views change and develop. For as stated in the beginning, a person matures and his opinions will change. Therefore it is necessary to know those changes and how frequently the politician may change, so we can better make our choices. By putting this pressure to remain behind one position we cannot know the true character of the politician.

This post is about flip-flopping in general and does not specifically relate to any one person or situation. The example about the Iraq war is just an example and does not represent any specific opinion. Leave a comment with your opinion, and I shall present mine to the extent required to answer.

This post is for miscellanies comments and any topics of interest, or questions.

Our achievements are shaped by the terrain of our lives and the strength of the foundation we set. In building the life we’ve imagined, we must be true to our beliefs, dare to be ethical, and strive to be honorable. For integrity is the highest ground to which we can aspire.

In reaching our goals it is of the utmost importance to maintain our integrity. For what profit is achievement if we fail to maintain our integrity. It is no profit at all, for without integrity it does not matter what you have. Without integrity our achievements may be remembered, but we certainly will not be remembered in a positive light. Lets that a case in point of Benedict Arnold. Benedict Arnold was more than likely a great general, but he was not remembered for the achievements he obtained in battle. He was membered as a traitor and in fact his name has become synonyms with the word traitor.

Vision is not about see things as they are. But as they will be.

Everyone has potential… It is an infinite resource that cannot be exhausted, but can be lost in the clouds of fear and complacency. It may take courage to embrace the possibilities of your own potential, but once you’ve flown past the summit of you fears, nothing will seem impossible.

M. H. McKee

It is so important for us to realize our potential. But if we never take risks how are we supposed to realize that potential. We must be willing to step out of our comfort zone and that those risks in-spite of our fears. Remember the greater the risk the greater the potential reward for taking that risk. Even if it seems hopeless at times, and it will, we must be pushing past our fears to realize the full potential God has for us. It is ashame some never do. You will regret more the things you did not do than the things you did.

Leadership

Leadership is about capturing the imagination and enthusiasm of your people with clearly defined goals that cut through the fog like a beacon in the night.

The Essence of Leadership

A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. In the end, leaders are much like eagles… they don’t flock, you find them one at a time.