|
Dalton
Roberts |
||
|
December 16, 2001 ROOSTER OR EAGLE? From
journal notes of 1989 When a storm
strikes, the rooster will just hunker down to the ground and pull in his
wings. He looks like a football with a comb. When the storm
strikes an eagle he spreads his wings and makes the storm itself carry
him high above the bluster. It's taken me
decades to learn that this is the bottom line in our spiritual
development: how we handle the storms. Whether we are a rooster or an
eagle. Or a turkey (but more on that later). There's nothing
really bad about being a hunker-down rooster. It's better that raising
your head and taking in so much rain you drown, like some turkeys have
been known to do. The turkey approach tell us not to take in the storm
– not to take it inside. If you hunker
down, don't let fear paralyze you. Just say, "I'm gonna hunker down
here and be quiet and still until this mess passes over. If the storm
gets me, at least I will die peaceful." The eagle plan is
better. Why? Well, for one thing you get a good ride out of a noisy,
nasty thing. By spreading your wings (conscious awareness) you get to
feel the situation on the outside without taking it inside. You do that
by spiritually detaching yourself, by realizing that no storm can change
your Essence, your Core, the Light Inside. And remember,
barely above the storm is calm. Even a few feet above a storm it can be
quiet. So get slightly above it and become the observer. CREATING "YOU" IMAGESFrom journal
notes of 1989 In ‘89,
Governor Ned McWherter sent me a Christmas card with a picture of a
vanilla wafer and a cup of coffee. The story behind
it is that in emphasizing his long record as Speaker of the House, he
said something like, "I know state government. The day after the
election I will be ready to eat a vanilla wafer, drink a cup of coffee,
and go to work." It was perfect
Ned image. It fit him to a tee. Whether we know
it or not, we have our own unique images. Maybe you haven't noticed
yours, but it is there somewhere in the many ways you see yourself and
even in how others perceive you. Sometimes others see our images better
than we do. On one of my
address labels, I have a drawing of me with a guitar. A guitar is as
much a part of me as my leg. An image should be true to you. It might be
amusing. I have address labels of me as a tree, one of me as a squawling
baby, one as a "marriage counselor" with Bill and Hillary
Clinton on each side of me. And others. What is the message they carry?
That I am a nut. That I couldn't survive without humor. Decide on your
own images and make sure they are true "you" images. Then have
fun with them. It may even be your path to great riches. Images have
made more money for people than anything. Companies spend
incredible sums of money for advertisers to develop an image that fits
them. An icon. So decide on the icons best describe you. Then design you
some fun stationary.
|