Love is not just an emotion or an act of the will, Love is the very being of God Himself! Love is not just an option or a choice, Love is just being human with poise!
Love is operating in the nature of God, Love is being filled with the presence of God! Love is what makes us go the extra mile, Love is what helps to do with a smile!
Love is what makes the world go round, Love is what makes joy to resound. Loves is what makes it fully versatile, Love is what fills it daily with new life!
Love makes the routine a thrill, Love embellishes the mundane with a frill. Love makes the normal a work of art, Love enflames the natural with a spark!
Love is what made Him pay the price, Love is what caused Him not to think twice. Love will help us go on even when it’s risky, Love will enable us to trust even when it’s not easy!
If something is of God,
He’s committed to see it through.
Though it may seem delayed,
Yet it won’t ever be denied!
If something doesn’t really fit
I’d rather stand with Him in tryst.
When He’s shown me its His will,
I know He wants me to be oh still!
If things don’t seem to go very well,
I find it hard to sit quiet and just be still.
When I know I can get it done so well,
It really strains me to be resting, not run pell mell!
If things seem to go awry or bust,
That He’s still in control not what I distrust!
Its people’s lethargic ways I cannot digest,
Father, give me grace to walk in childlike trust!
If everything seems fine and naught to dread,
I still care not to rush where angels do fear to tread.
God’s in heaven there’s nothing to be worried,
He will take care to see everything is in good stead!
God’s timings are always very perfect,
Though it often seems impossible to be true.
He’s always on time in what He needs to do,
He won’t disappoint but always come through!
There was this guy who asked to be in my team for two reasons. One, he wanted to be part of the task we were handling. Two, he desired to be part of the team since few of them had become his friends. If people chose to be part of my group and request to be part of it, I generally will accept. I will check with their previous group head for an assessment, but will still take them in considering it a privilege that they chose to be under me. I may have reservations about them, but would wait to see their progress.
Now this guy did not come with great recommendations or experience. He quite new to it all and I was told that he may not measure up to standards. When I interacted with him, however, I sensed that he was one who had potential and content. I saw him as a raw recruit who could go either way and I would need to go the extra mile to train him. If he did not disapprove others’ negative report, I could end up with a question mark against my leadership. He was a risk to undertake.
Yet, I took him up and made him part of my team for two reasons – one, he was not tricky type of person but one with pure heart; two, I love a challenge, especially where everyone says it can’t be done. Call it my perversity if you want, but if it is said this is impossible, that’s when my hackles rise. I will take up the dare just to prove otherwise, more so if it is regarding a person!
It was not easy handling him for he was a live wire, very enthusiastic with high level of energy that would often exhaust me. Keeping him in line without getting unduly upset or angry was a challenge. To correct without breaking his spirit, to encourage experimentation without damage to others, to rein in his high hopes without destroying his outlook was an additional task over and above the project demands. What kept me going was the fact that someone chose to do that for me, paving the way for to be recognized as a leader.
It is very easy to take a top dog and polish him up or display him or her as a trophy of your skill. That is what is usual everywhere and leaders generally tend to be wary of the underdog. It doesn’t take much to polish a diamond with the right shaping and setting, but it tests your mettle to recognize a coal can be made into a diamond and be the furnace that would bring that transformation. It is easy to take a student with 80% marks and give the teaching and training to achieve centum, but to take a 50% or even a just pass case and make them achieve 90-100% is costly and time-consuming.
We often take the easy way for that is the seemingly smart thing to do. Yet, if the Lord had thought of any of us like that, we wouldn’t be where we are today. A story is told of Michelangelo, the greatest sculptor and painter of all times. His teacher presented his class with a piece of exquisite marble and asked them what they saw. Everyone commented on the texture, shape, size, its pristine colour and other aspects/attributes of the stone. Michelangelo said, I see an angel in it. His master’s reply: Go and release it!
That’s what confronts us when we meet people or are given a team to lead. To become a master craftsman is to have insight to see through the exterior of words, conduct, appearance and shortcomings and penetrate to the core. It is to draw out the hidden talents of the person, give room for errors, take responsibility for any damage that ensues and patiently endure even ridicule from your peers. It is a patient carving of a soul through the chisel of correction and the soft tapping by the mallet of discipline, taking care not to damage the costly marble – the precious human spirit.
David, the shepherd boy, was an underdog in the family. Born in a family of 11 (his father Jesse had 8 sons and 3 daughters), he was given the most in important task of all – acting for the sheep. When there was an important occasion, Prophet Samuel’s visit to his home, he wasn’t even considered important enough to be called home to be part of the feast. Samuel had to specifically ask for him before he was summoned. Yet this one who was considered the most insignificant of all was the one God chose to become king over the nation.
Beloved by God, the Psalmter of Israel, he became the forerunner of the true Shepherd of Israel, Jesus Christ. Slayer of a giant, Goliath, a mighty man of valor, worshipper par excellence, he rose to be the best ruler of all and henceforth, to be known as of his lineage was considered an honor and a privilege.
God saw the underdog and picked him up to be His own shepherd for the nation. Through him the country became consolidated and a power to be reckoned with. God saw his heart that was oriented towards Him and passionate for His glory and he earned the divine favor.
A leader must be sensitive enough to be able to look beyond the outside to recognize the potential within. A leader must develop intuition and discernment to be able to pick a gem hidden in a covering of dirt and then work hard to scrape away until it’s worth is seen. A leader must not reject, but be quick to identify, single out and nurture the underdog.
The guy I was speaking about rose to the occasion and proved his accusers and doubters wrong. He grew to be worthy of a team and I recommended him to be made a leader. What touched me much was his willing submission, ability to listen to reason, take correction and bounce back even from confrontation with renewed vigor and strength. He is one whom I consider a feather in my cap and I am always proud to refer to him as an example of what acceptance and care can do.
To identify potential and input for it to be released is exhilarating!
To care for the underdog is any day rewarding and refreshing!
The prime time or peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television programming. It is used by the major television networks to broadcast their season’s nightly programming.
Primetime television refers to the block of time when audience viewership peaks for programming during a defined period of time. In the United States, it is traditionally 8:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time in the evening, when most people are home from work and catching up with the news or their favorite shows.
In most Asian and Middle East countries, prime time consists of the programmes that are aired on TV between 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. local time. In India, prime time occurs between 19:00 and 22:00. Usually, programmes during prime time are domestic dramas, talent shows and reality shows.
Aging can be seen as unsettling and the prospect of retirement seem a scary aspect of life. Yet it doesn’t have to be so, for a wealth of scientific studies have found that youth isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There are plenty of cases in which human beings peak well into middle and old age.
Teenagers, for instance, may have vitality on their side, but older people are generally more psychologically stable. And so it goes with several phenomena people experience as they age.
Here are some benefits across the spectrum of older years:
1. Your understanding of other people’s emotions peaks in your 40s and 50s. Scientists found a long plateau in people’s 40s and 50s when the ability to correctly identify emotions based only on the eyes was strongest.
2. Arithmetic skills peak at 50 Sure, you learned your times tables in elementary school — but it turns out 50-year-olds are best at answering arithmetic questions on the fly.
3. Life satisfaction peaks again at 69. After a dip in middle age, life satisfaction peaked again at about 69 years old. Even more intriguing, people over 60 had better life satisfaction than people 55 and up predicted they would feel five years down the line.
4. Vocabulary peaks in your late 60s or early 70s. It turns out people’s scores on multiple-choice vocabulary tests keep climbing into their late 60s and early 70s. And you don’t need to sit around reading the dictionary all day to make it happen.
5. Men and women feel best about their bodies after 70. In a Gallup survey, two-thirds of Americans over 65 said they always like the way they look. Men’s self-perception appears to peak in their early 80s, while women’s rates is a little below 70% when they hit about 74 years old.
6. People really do get wiser as they get older. It turns out life really is the best classroom. A team of psychologists and scientists analyzed and found found that the oldest group they studied — people who were between 60 and 90 — did better than other ages on almost every count.
7. Psychological well-being peaks at about 82. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, scientists asked people to picture a 10-step ladder, with the best possible life on the top rung and the worst possible life on the bottom rung. The oldest group they studied (82- to 85-year-olds) gave the highest average rung number, about 7.
Most people dread the word retirement since it is an inevitable end to an active and often fruitful career. It is a setback for those whose identies are wrapped up in their work position or career rewards. It is a nightmare for those who income is totally contingent or dependent on their salary.
Retirement blues, post-retirement depression, etc are real for many, especially for those who haven’t built up the resources needed for this season of life and the strategies contingent to it.
Those who have spread themselves out a little more into social work or community service or hobby habits will only relish the opportunity and freedom to fully indulge and involve in them more than before.
Retirement actually gives more time for other activities such as community work, social involvement, charitable trusts, travel, learning new skills or even studying. Many make use of this time to enhance their overall know-how and personal improvement and grooming.
For sure, your health may not be at its peak and your vitality may have diminished. You may have to slow down and develop a more focused lifestyle for sustainability. Yet, without the trappings of hectic schedule, there is ample opportunity to expand, explore and experiment things, which you couldn’t due to commitments.
For many this may their best season of life as they pick up their laid-aside interests, oft-forgotten hobbies and longed-for aspirations. They are able to innovate without the burden and stress of failure. Free of a hectic schedule, they find time to travel, discover and renew relationships. Not being pressured to perform under the duress of a target can be highly rejuvenating and exhilarating. There is opportunity to impact without the fear of any repercussions or restrictions.
Thus, old age can become the prime time of life. It is a time when life is not being quantified and evaluated in terms of dollars and pounds, but in terms of quality and contentment of your being. It is a time to indulge in community involvement and personal growth. It is a time to relax and relish life, time to look back with thankfulness for making this far and looking forward to new endeavors.
A time to be able to sit and enjoy a sunrise, a sunset, a bird flying, a cloud passing, a flower blooming and a plant fading. A time to celebrate relationship and companionship for its a time without agenda or arrangement.
If you are a Prime Timer, you are not at the end of your age or life.
MULLINGSPICE 