“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Leaders inspire people to do better. Leaders imagine how things can be different and encourage people to contribute to that imagination. Leaders inspire us to be what we know we could be.
How have you been a leader? Who are the leaders who have inspired you?
Each of us experiences different kinds of love in different ways. Love, expressed in real and meaningful ways, connects us to other beings and fills our spirits.
Think of an experience of love in your life. How has it connected you to something greater than yourself?
“Praise the rain; the seagull dive
The curl of plant, the raven talk—
Praise the hurt, the house slack
The stand of trees, the dignity—”
-Joy Harjo, from “Praise the Rain”
(read the whole poem here)
Where do you find inspiration in the ordinary things around you each day? What are you praising today?
It is the lunar new year. In the Chinese calendar, today begins the Year of the Ox. The ox is associated with hard work, honesty, planning and persistence. The ox often hides its talents.
How do you summon the strength to persist, even when the task before you is difficult?
“O holy beings, I greet you this day with love, reverence, wonder, gratitude, respect and awe. Thank you for the blessings and protections of life, and for the challenges I face which teach me to grow and learn…. Now the web that connects you to all beings is my web of connection. Now your blood is my blood, your origins my origins, your spirit my spirit, your purposes my purposes.” from a Blackfoot greeting of the dawn (aatsimoyihkaan) by Darin Stevenson
How might you start each day with gratitude for all of the beings around you? How might you connect your spirit to the interdependent web of existence?
