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Healthy Wednesday ClubNewsletter Issue 22July 2nd, 2008A few interesting reactions to the article last week. Many found Chris Jordan's piece to be as interesting as I did and some even forwarded the message on. That is an important aspect of receiving a newsletter like this. If you think others may be interested please forward on the interesting bits and, better still, the whole newsletter. You'll see there is a link for new people to register their email and become connected. Please encourage this when you can. Just check out the tree below. It is in South Africa and is an amazing mix of natural and human art. Quite extraordinary. The TED talk this week is by Benjamin Zander, classical conductor. You will never think of music the same again! The article discusses his theme of 'creating shining eyes'. Who are we, as individuals, in the process of inspiration, guidance and leadership? Recipes and exercises are there for your pleasure and personal enrichment. Give them all a go! | |
The Most Amazing Tree
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Easy low fat and low GI sauces & dressings- for that extra yummy flavour For fish, tartare substitute150 grams low fat natural yoghurt 1 tbsp capers, drained and finely chopped 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped Combine the ingredients together and serve with salmon or chickpea patties or grilled fish Lemon and Garlic Sauce:
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Low GI Cream Sauce.
125g (4oz) low-fat cottage cheese 2 tbsp light cream cheese 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese 1 small clove of garlic crushed 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg 1/8 tsp pepper liking. In a food processor, puree all the ingredients until smooth With either chicken and/or bacon and asparagus cut into pieces with a few button mushrooms |
HEALTHY WEDNESDAY ACTIVITIESMind: Here is an exercise apparently set for 2nd grade computer students in China. The idea is to get the frogs on the right hand side over to the left hand side and vice versa. Frogs can't share the same rock, but they can either jump over another frog or just to the next stone. They can't go backwards and, yes, you can start again. To make it more devilish, there is a 2 minute time limit. Mmmmm… have a go - FROG JUMPING! Soul:Before you start the physical tensing and relaxing, utilise the 2-Hand technique to clear away the troubles of the day. As you lie on your back focus on your hands. Choose one hand as the receiving hand and try to send all the yucky things from the day down to that hand. When you feel like something is in your hand, shake the yucky stuff away. When you do the tensing exercises, send more of the days stuff out of your body each time you relax. Every time you relax let more and more flow away. Enjoy your sleep! |
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Leadership is a complicated thing. Being part of a team may well be just a complex.
I think the thing that is easily forgotten is that no matter what the makeup of the team, the
leadership, the goal, the journey, the task, the endeavour, we must remember that at some point,
in every experience, you must also lead yourself. Whether you are at the head of the team or
shuffling in the protected centre, the true outcome of every experience are the emergent qualities
that come from within you and become an outward part of your life. Things you never knew were there.
Things that were only half out and finally emerge in full.
In a recent TED talk by Benjamin Zander, classical conductor, he revealed some wonderful insights into the marvels of leadership. As a conductor of an orchestra he came to the realisation that he doesn't make any sound. All the music, excitement, passion and rhythm is something he evokes from the players that sit before him. Two amazing revelations changed his life. The first is that he knew when the orchestra was playing well because he could see the eyes of the players shining. It is that look of wonder and power that emerges when we find that we are creating something that is a clear expression of who we are. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi talked about this in his book about 'flow'. Put simply, flow is when we become totally immersed in what we are doing because we are using our developed skills and there are rapid rewards and satisfactions as the experience unfolds. Zander knew that his task was to create this shining in his players. When it wasn't there he stopped asking the question, What is wrong with them? He asked himself, "Who am I being that my players' eyes are not shining?" This is a wonderful platform for humility and also for interpersonal creativity. The purpose of the player and the leader is to combine to create something more than they can be individually. In his second realisation, Zander found the perfect corollary: "It is one of the characteristics of a leader, that he not doubt, for one moment, the capacity of the people he is leading to realise whatever he's dreaming." Listen to this talk at the end of this article. (or go to theTED website www.ted.com) Can we take these realizations one step closer to us as an individual? I think so. Are we not also the leader of the player within us? Of course. That is the purpose of life, as Joseph Campbell describes - to participate in the experience. The extension that I have made to this idea in my book is - to creatively participate in the experience and in doing so make something more that can change everything. |
What is the excitement of being alive, other than to discover what more we can become? This has been
the wisdom for thousands of years. Still we don't get it. Still we strive to be something that
measures up to external standards. Still we feel lesser, disappointed, a failure when the 'real
world' is dissatisfied with our performance. Zander has seen the answer - who am I being. This is a
question our culture never asks. That is because our culture is not a sentient being. Our culture is
an organizing system that emerges from the people within. Is the 'real world' of dogged competition,
stress and anxiety really what we wanted to create? I must admit that I don't see too many 'shining
eyes' in the world today. Mostly I see people with their head down, hoping that they make it.
So, it seems we end up back at a place that many have been before - it is up to each of us to be the change we want in the world (to paraphrase Gandhi). If our eyes are not shining, we are asking ourselves what it is that we could be that is different. The relevance of my 'winner/loser world' theory is to show that the 'real world' forces us to be a certain way because it changes the way our brain and body function. In the winner/loser mindset it is almost impossible to have 'shining eyes'. In the 'creative world' mindset, however, the shining is just a moment of inspiration away. I watched Benjamin Zander speak and rose to his inspiration immediately. I hope my book has the same effect. I hope this newsletter has that potential, too. These things are important because we are now discovering that not only fear and failure can turn our mind, but also the 'disease of excess' that wasw discussed last week. I wonder what you are feeling now and who you would like to be in order to have no, "… doubt, for one moment, (of your) capacity to realise what (you're) dreaming."
Share your thoughts and suggestions? richhill@iinet.net.au
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Looking forward to sharing more thoughts, suggestions, news and making a very Healthy Wednesday connection with you! Take Care, Richard, Susie and The Healthy Wednesday Team
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