The Invisible Mentor

Archive for the ‘Poem’ Category

My mind wandered back to several years ago when I was feeling down, and as if all my efforts were in vain. During that period, one day I was in a Hallmark store and was led to the poem Don’t Quit. It was the first time that I had seen that poem. The poem gave me the answer I needed, and I felt comforted. I felt like the universe was telling me that I needed to continue what I was doing, and to keep the faith. Have you ever felt that way? If yes, what do you do to keep going? What do you do when things are taking much longer that expected? What do you do when nothing seems to be going right?

I am not sure why this popped into my mind because I have no intention of quitting, neither do I feel the urge to quit. I know that I am on the right path, yes I have taken detours at times, but it has made for a more colorful life.

The image to the right gives a great perspective with the graying out of the words so that the focus is on DO IT, instead of Don’t Quit. Maybe I am led to write this post because this is a message that you need to hear today. Perhaps you need comforting. So, take a break, read the poem below and listen to the Bob Marley song Three Little Birds (Don’t worry about a thing, cause every little thing is going to be alright.) More importantly is that I have learned to trust my instincts, so I am writing this post because it needs writing.

Don’t Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

- Author unknown

If you cannot view the You Tube video of Bob Marley please click here.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, click on the comment link below and leave a note for me. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Photo Credit: Yahoo via Apture

Video Credit: You Tube

Next week I will have two interviews. I am experimenting with something new, so stay tuned!

I know that you must be wondering,”What an odd name for a post.” I do not think that I have ever related the story behind the name Mentor.

In Homer’s Odyssey, when Odysseus also known as Ulysses, the Greek King of Ithaca, left to fight in the 10-year Trojan War, he left his old friend Mentor in charge of his household and his young son Telemachus. Mentor as himself is not mentioned that much in the Odyssey, which I have read. However, it is interesting that in this epic poem, the immortal Goddess Athena, disguises herself as Mentor, and encourages Telemachus to stand up to the men who are courting his mother Penelope. The goddess also encourages the youth  to go abroad to seek word about what has happened to his father, who at the time had now been away for almost 20 years.

Athena also acts as a “mentor” to Odyssey as he goes through the many trials during a very saga-filled return to Ithaca after the war. The modern usage of mentor – trusted friend, counsellor, guide, or teacher – first appeared in François Fénelon’s Les Aventures de Telemaque in 1699 Wikipedia  (2009).

Have you ever read Homer’s Odyssey? What are your thoughts? Who was more of a mentor to Telemachus, Mentor or Athena? In the modern sense of the word, who could you mentor, who could you take under your wings? Though this isn’t a book review, I do recommend that you read Homer’s Odyssey, it’s quite a tale. This book teaches a great lesson in perseverance. Many obstacles were placed in front of Odyssey, which delayed his return home and it makes you wonder how much is enough. How persistent and resilient are you?

What are your thoughts on Greek Gods and Goddesses? Overall, do you think that they were fair in the way they dealt with others? If you haven’t read any Greek Mythology, it would be worth it if you checked them out on Wikipedia. I recently saw Clash of the Titans, which involved some Greek characters as well, have you seen that movie?

Please keep the conversation flowing, click on the comment link below and leave a note for me. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia via Zemanta

Today the Desiderata popped into my head so I thought that I’d present it here and see what lessons we can learn. I’m not sure if you have heard of the Desiderata before, but it’s a poem written by Max Ehrmann, who was a poet and lawyer who lived from 1872 to 1945. The poem, written in the 1920s is a lesson in life and it’s very hopeful. When I read the Desiderata, I wondered why Ehrmann wrote this poem? What was going on in his life at that time? What did he hope to achieve from writing it? What questions do you have? What I have read suggests that Ehrmann wrote The Desiderata because “I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift — a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods.” Though this poem was written decades ago, after you’ve read it, you’ll agree that it is still applicable today.

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

Source: Poetry Animations

Source: MsVerparacreer

How does this poem make you feel? What lessons can you glean from it? Here are a few of the lessons that I gleaned from this timeless classic:

• Silence can be golden
• Learn to get along with others
• Listen
• Enjoy your achievements
• Conduct due diligence
• Be gentle with yourself
• Let go of cynicism
• Be fearless
• Be at peace
• Be at peace
• There is beauty everywhere
• Strive to be happy

Which of the lessons do you need to learn? For me I need to learn to be gentler on myself as well as to enjoy my accomplishments. Which versions of the YouTube videos do you prefer? Both are great but as I was reading the poem, the song was playing in my head, so I would choose the second. Please keep the conversation flowing, click on the comment link below and leave a note for me. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

A few years ago while I was conducting interviews for my book Tales of People Who Get It, I asked a CEO what his favourite quotation was and why? His response:

“I like ‘If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you’ from the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling because it teaches you not to panic and to stay in control when bad things happen. Don’t be impulsive and think that you have to do something. Sit in a room for a while and be quiet and let the world go by while you think about things.”

Reading the poem below is more poignant now than it was a few years ago. I have been taking Raja yoga classes, and the first three lessons are on The Art of Self Mastery, and the final five on The Ancient Study of Raja Yoga Meditation. I have taken two of the three classes on self mastery and I can feel a big difference. I am feeling calmer and more peaceful. The classes are to help me get peace of mind and much more. The big thing for me for taking the classes was to learn how to let go.

After the first class we were given a handout, Our Mighty Powers: The Most Effective Powers in our Lives for us to study the nine powers: Tolerance, Truth/Honesty, Co-operation, Humility, Accommodation, Discrimination, Love, Judgement and Withdraw. And the words and their meanings in Raja Meditation are different from their traditional English meanings. Each day I read the handout, which includes the meanings of the nine powers, and I see something that I did not see before. I feel a sense of calm wrap itself around me like a well used blanket. I am slowly letting go (Withdraw) of the things that hold me back, and the interesting thing is that I now truly understand what the other powers mean because I can feel them in my soul.

Now I truly understand what the CEO meant when he quoted an excerpt from “If.” Read the poem and just BE.

If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!

What do you feel right now? What does this poem mean to you? How easy is it for you to sit still for a while? What techniques do you use when you want to experience a sense of peace?

Source for the poem If

Photo credit: Avil Beckford (Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada)

“Work is love made visible,” says Kahlil Gibran. Reflect on that quote again for a minute. Now read the poem Work below and reflect on it. What does the poem mean to you? What emotions do you feel? How do you feel about Gibran’s quote?

Work by Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933)

Let me but do my work from day to day,
In field or forest, at the desk or loom,
In roaring market-place or tranquil room;
Let me but find it in heart to say,
When vagrant wishes beckon me astray,
“This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;
Of all who live, I am the one by whom
This work can best be done in the right way.”

Then shall I see it not too great, nor small,
To suit my spirit and to prove my powers;
Then shall I cheerful greet the labouring hours,
And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall
At eventide, to play and love and rest,
Because I know for me my work is best.

Now read and reflect on this quote by Henry Van Dyke ” Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.”

How can you relate the  two quotes to the poem? Are you doing what you love? Are you using your talents to the fullest? Is work “love made visible?” If you loved what you did for a living, would your life be more fulfilled? I am also asking myself  these questions. Think on these things!

Photo credit: Wikipedia, image of Gibran

Perseverance

Tony started bright and early, cleaning up his room,

Soon he found he had to stop and make a little broom;

So then he went into the yard to get a little stick,

But the garden needed weeding, so he set about it, quick!

Then he found his wagon he intended to repair,

So he went into the cellar for the hammer that was there;

He’d just begun to build a box, when it was time for dinner;

And that’s why Tony’s father called his son a  ”good beginner.”

Source: Goops & How to be Them, Gelett Burgess, page 81

Are you like Tony a good beginner, or do you always finish what you start? How many projects have you abandoned because you kept on moving from one thing to another? How many books are on your night stand? What tips do you have for being a good finisher?

For me, I am not big on multitasking, and I try to focus on one thing at a time. I tried to read several books at a time and I couldn’t finish any, so I went back to reading one book at a time. And, if I am reading a book that I have to, that I find boring, to ensure that I finish the book, I develop a strategy where I read X number of pages a day and do so in one sitting. My strategy may not work for you, but that’s what works for me.

Having stick-to-it-ive-ness in life is not easy, but for those who want to excel in life, it simply is a must. What strategy do you have for stick-to-it-ive-ness?

Book List: Goops & How to be them: A manual for polite infants with 90 drawings

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What do you do when you want to clear your mind, when you you want to let go of all that “stuff” that gets in the way? To be the best that I can be, and unleash my inner genius, I reflect on my life a lot to make adjustments when necessary. And, I also read and write. Last summer I wrote a series of poems, and I would like to share one with you. Let me know what  you think.

A Daughter’s Farewell by Avil Beckford

I can’t remember you ever hugging me.

I can’t remember you telling me you loved me.

I can’t remember you kissing me.

But I clearly remember you criticizing me,

Leaving me, even when I was scared.

You weren’t there, even when you were there.

You were emotionally distant.

Sometimes I wonder if you were a figment of my imagination.

You must have been real, because you were my father.

The battle within me rages because I was invisible to you.

I no longer want to be invisible.

I want to be a real person to you.

Just once I would like you to tell me how you feel about me.

Just once, I would like to hear you say “I love you”.

Just once, I would like to feel your arms around me.

But you can’t really do that, can you?

You died before I got to know you.

You died without asking for my forgiveness.

You died before I forgave you.

I try to make sense of it all,

All the wasted moments, all the wasted years,

Both of us waiting for the other to extend a hand, a forgiving hand.

Our stubbornness got in the way, and now you’re gone.

If I got one more chance to see you again, what would I do?

Would I hug you?

If I got one more chance to see you again, what would I say?

Would I tell you I love you?

If I got one more chance to see you again, could I forget past hurts?

Could I forgive you?

Since I do not have the chance to see you again, I say,

“Farewell my father, rest in peace knowing that I love you.

Farewell my father, your daughter has finally found peace.”

What are your thoughts about forgiveness? What kind of relationship do you or did you have with your father?

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What does the word contemplation mean to you? How often do you take time for contemplation? Once a day? Once a week? Never?

How do you know if you are on track? How do you know if something in your  life is working or is not working? Do you ever take time to reflect on the things that you hear, see, feel, sense and taste? What do you do to engage all your senses?

Achieving success and unleashing your inner genius requires nuturing your soul, as well as feeding your mind. You have to take care of all of you, both the inner and the outer, the seen and the unseen.

Below is a poem about contemplation by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the German writer who lived in the 18th and early 19th century. Is the poem really about contemplation, or is it about something else? What do you think?

Book of Contemplation – Five Things

WHAT makes time short to me?

Activity!

What makes it long and spiritless?

‘Tis idleness!

What brings us to debt?

To delay and forget!

What makes us succeed?

Decision with speed

How to fame to ascend?

Oneself to defend!

By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Now that you have read Book of Contemplation – Five Things, what are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with the point of view? Now read the quotation below by Heraclitus, how do you feel about it?

“Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.” Heraclitus

Are people with a good character likely to manage their time effectively, and make decisions quickly and decisively? How would you connect the poem and quote? There are no right or wrong answers. The point of this exercise, is to look at life more broadly and with different lens so that when you are faced with challenges, you will identify solutions that are superior because you have such a unqiue look on life.

Combining works by Goethe and Heraclitus, or other great thinkers, can only lead to superior thinking. Try comparing and contrasting the works of other greats thinkers, what discoveries do you think await you?

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Photo Credit: Avil Beckford

Purple Cow

Ideas abound and are everywhere. You will see them if you are open.

Where do you get your ideas from?

My friend Elizabeth Winter from Contact Professionals Alliance read my blog entry about Gelett Burgess‘ poem The Purple Cow and suggested that I do a follow-up post. Burgess became associated with the poem and he was not happy about it, so he wrote a follow-up verse to The Purple Cow.

If you remember from yesterday, here is the original poem:

The Purple Cow: Reflections on a Mythic Beast Who’s Quite Remarkable, at Least

I never saw a purple cow
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one!

And here is Burgess’ follow-up:

Confession: and a Portrait Too, Upon a Background that I Rue

Ah, yes, I wrote the “Purple Cow”—
I’m Sorry, now, I wrote it;
But I can tell you Anyhow
I’ll Kill you if you Quote it!

When you read  Confession: and a Portrait Too, Upon a Background that I Rue, what comes to mind? For me, I immediately think of regret. How many times have you done something that you later regretted doing? Or are you someone who doesn’t believe in regret?

If you did something remarkable, something pioneering, in the eyes of others, and you gained “notoriety” for it, would you be able to deal with all the attention? Do you think you would later regret your actions? Think on this! Do you think Burgess’ response to being associated with his poem is reasonable? If you were Burgess, what would you have done differently?

Related Post

What Does Gelett Burgess’ Poem The Purple Cow Mean?

Photo Credits

Avil Beckford & Clarecia Christie

A Poison Tree by William Blake

 I was angry with my friend.

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe.

I told it not, my wrath did grow;

And I water’d it in fears,

Night and morning with my tears;

And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles;

And it grew both day and night

Till it bore an apple bright,

And my foe beheld it shine,

And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole

When the night had veil’d the pole.

In the morning glad I see

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

When you read the William Blake poem above, what emotions does it evoke in you?

I felt sadness when I read it. We so often wear our anger with righteous indignation. If you are completely honest with yourself, on a scale of one to 10, how do you score on letting go?

Letting go is something that I struggle with. Because of this, I work harder at it – negative emotion cause stress, which kills. So whenever I am feeling angry, anxious, worried or fearful, and feel that accompanying tightening in my chest, that’s my cue that I need to let go.

I quickly go into Alpha and slow down my brain waves. The deep breathing also calms me down. There are times when I will call a friend to talk through the situation, and I often see another completely different perspective.

What techniques do you use to let go, or even diffuse anger, fear and anxiety? If you don’t have one, talk to a friend to get another perspective or go into Alpha. If you have techniques at your fingertips, the next time you’re angry with someone you can easily resolve the situation instead of wishing them ill will.

You cannot truly be creative if you’re angry, anxious or fearful. And you cannot be your best self if you’re are distracted by anger, fear, worry or anxiety. This poem is a reminder to me, and it is a reminder to you, to practice tolerance, be kind, forgive and always try to find your center.

Click here to read other William Blake poems.

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