Patience and Polishing

I used to be a mason. I laid brick and stone; I plastered and poured concrete. It was messy, hard and sometimes downright painful work.

I remember though, that there would be occasions where I'd come 'out of the field' (off a job site) and into the workshop to do some more, fine work. One of the things I did occasionally was polish a stone countertop or the like.

Without giving a lesson on stone polishing, let me say this: It was fun, dignifying and very difficult in a different way. Working on yourself is like polishing a piece of stone.

The essence of polishing a piece of stone is that you have to use ever-decreasingly abrasive materials while increasing the speed of application so you can smooth and reveal the true color and shine in a stone -its identity of sorts.

Being the craftsman selected felt great but following through on the expectation of the finished product demanded dedication to a very high standard of quality and consistency not to mention the strength and persistence to carry out the task.

Isn't that like life?

Here you are the craftsman or craftswoman. Will you hold a high standard and patiently exert your strength and will to reveal your identity -the best of who you are?

Affectionately Bonded,

RR

What is Integrity?

Madame Dictionary says integrity is: the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. I get that. I think we all think of integrity this way.

Even better though is the second definition: the state of being whole and undivided. Yes!

When we breach our integrity, we undermine who we are at our best -which is who we really are, and we establish ourselves as something else. When we compromise our word/integrity we create a division between our world and who we are. That means our happiness and effectiveness.

Once divided, we are more apt to say and do things that don't reflect who we really are. At best unnecessary struggle begins, and at worst, the race to the bottom begins.

However, as we stand firm and live consistent with what we say we say is important to us, not only do we enjoy the results of being men and women of our words, but we grow in our dedication to being that man or woman. That dedication equals strength and motivation to keep making good decisions.

You are successful and fulfilled to the degree that you'll live out your integrity. Better know what you stand for then, huh?

RR

The Great Compromise

What are you compromising?

When you really let yourself dream, how do you see yourself living? Yeah, the car, house and all of that crap -but I'm talking about who you are...and how then you enjoy your life.

People compromise by spending their lives doing things the don't really want to do, doing them in a way that doesn't fully reflect the level of commitment to integrity and collecting money for these compromises! Where is the fulfillment or success in that??

People compromise in relationships (the ones they're in and how they are in them), people compromise by sticking around places they don't belong and people compromise by simply punching the clock and doing what they've done and day by day and moment by moment. How sad. You have a choice, live compromised or uncompromised.

In your wildest dreams, who are you spending the majority of your time with? What kind of man or woman are you, at your best? Don't you want that person's life?

What could a group of uncompromised, ambitious and action oriented people create or change??

Wouldn't you like to know?

RR