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Food for Thought
"When we become more acutely aware of our personal power to make a difference, of the wonder of being an individual, and the unlimited possibilities each new day holds, it is a ceremony of innocence. This is a back to basics exercise in personal dignity and respect that frees us to once again believe that we can leave our footprints on the sands of time."©2008 Gail Pursell Elliott
Waking Up
"Wake up everybody
No more sleeping in bed
No more backward thinking
Time for thinking ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be
There is so much hatred,
War, and poverty"
The above are some lyrics from a song that was nominated for a Grammy Award almost 30 years ago. The singing group was Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, who hailed from my hometown of Philadelphia, PA.
Some people thought the song was insipid. Others took it as a battle cry to make the world a better place. The song pointed out that we couldn't do it alone, that everyone was needed regardless of race or creed.
The concept of waking up is often an admonishment to see things as someone else does.
Such as the expression, "Wake up and smell the coffee."
But there is more to it than that. Each of us has an interpretation of what waking up really means.
When we wake up in the morning, sometimes we feel groggy for a few minutes, but then realize where we are and what we are about. We can become acutely aware of the present moment and our true identity, unless we allow ourselves to be distracted by other thoughts.
On his deathbed the Buddha said that he was "waking up."
Walt Whitman wrote, "I must not be awake for everything looks new as it never did before. Or I must now be awake and everything I saw before has been a dream."
Some may think that the world we live in has a nightmarish quality to it and long to wake up from what seems to be a bad dream.
Some whose lives are going very well might say, "Pinch me. I want to make sure I'm not dreaming."
Others of us have spoken of dreams that we have that we wish to realize in our lives or may describe a situation or relationship as "a dream come true."
When we truly wake up our dreams can become reality. Everything looks new not because it has changed, but because we have changed. When we change our perspective we change what we see as reality and choose a different relationship to it.
What would you like to wake up to today?
If it is a greater awareness of your connection to all that is beautiful and positive, then hold that thought in your mind and heart and connect yourself to what is beautiful and positive within you.
Stop taking negatives personally. They have nothing to do with your true self.
Get in touch with the reality that you are created with intent and have purpose.
Wake up to the realization that you have more power than you can possibly imagine to make a difference right where you are.
This very moment, you are where you are supposed to be to make that difference.
Let go of backward thinking.
Let go of the dream that is the past and awaken to the present moment and the great gift that it holds.
Wake up to the awareness of the great gift that is you.
The greatest gift that you can give the world is your awakened self.
"Dignity and Respect must be for everyone or it winds up being for no one. Including us. Treating each other with dignity and respect or not doing so, seriously impacts the future for all of us."
Copyright 2008 Gail Pursell Elliott. All rights reserved
Gail Pursell Elliott is "The Dignity and Respect Lady" Speaker, Author, Trainer, Consultant, and founder of Innovations "Training with a Can-Do Attitude"® Promoting
Dignity and Respect, No Exceptions in Companies and Communities Nationwide.
To receive weekly Food for Thought articles via e-mail, join our mailing list.
"Training With A Can-Do Attitude "
Innovations "Training With a Can-Do Attitude" ®
P.O. Box 552
Roland, IA 50236-0552
phone: (515) 388-9600
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Gail Elliott.
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