08Nov 2012 by CJ

The way in which you conduct yourself is an example of leadership

Information & Education, Life & Living
From politicians to employers to heads of households – every one of us has a basic understanding of what an example of leadership truly is. For many of us however, I think we have the wrong impression. When we think of someone being the “leader” we often think of descriptive words like dominance, control, power and sometimes even fear. But a true, effective leader comprises much more than that, and Jim Rohn sums it up best. "The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly." Sadly we won’t stumble upon many such individuals who understand this balance as…
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07Nov 2012 by CJ

Social assumptions can often do more harm than good

Life & Living
I maintain my company’s Facebook page – often trying to keep the content inspiring and lighthearted in an otherwise demoralizing society ripe with social assumptions. With the prediction of snow in and around the east coast, I posted the following passage: The weather stations are all predicting SNOW for the tri-state area. The first snowfall can be beautiful - especially enjoyed by an open fire engaging in meaningless conversation with someone you hold dear. Now you all have a plan for tonight. And if you don't have a fireplace, light a whole bunch of candles - the flickering flames will still do the trick. One young gentlemen fired back at me saying “it’s obvious you guys don’t care about poor people…talking about enjoying time in front of a fire place.”…
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06Nov 2012 by CJ

To improve the world, we have to improve ourselves

Information & Education, Life & Living
Robert Pirsig once wrote that, “The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands.” To improve ourselves. Regardless of what so many of us might believe, a perfect human being will never be created. All of us have one fault or another, and at some point will have to make the decision to either stay as is or make a positive change - to improve ourselves. Not an easy call believe me. But if we’re ever really going to change the world, shouldn’t we take the time to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask, am I doing the best I can? Am I being respectful and mindful of others or just meandering through life as though my beliefs and understandings are…
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01Nov 2012 by CJ

Nothing is ever lost by courtesy in life…or is there?

Generosity & Kindness
Sometimes I'm not sure it always pays to offer courtesy to others in life - even when it's a practice you often do. There’s a large tree in the back of my house that was tossed and thrown around like a rag doll during Hurricane Sandy. My wife and I cringed every time a strong gust of wind came barreling through our area. But I’m happy to report, amazingly, we only lost a dozen or so branches in varying sizes during the historic weather event – none of them hitting any structure on ours or our surrounding neighbor’s property. The tree is in fact in my yard, so I do feel obligated to at least retrieve whatever limbs might have fallen on my neighbor’s property. After all, it was a…
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31Oct 2012 by CJ

Hurricane Sandy sends us a warning about how fragile life truly is

Information & Education, Life & Living
It often takes something catastrophic to occur in the environments we live in for us to realize just how fragile and valuable life truly is. Hurricane Sandy has certainly been the impetus needed to remind us all of that reality. I find my mornings are now filled with an enormous amount of gratitude for the many blessings I’ve been bestowed – especially through one of the worst hurricanes the tri-state area has ever seen. I can’t help but feel that the cosmos is trying to send society a message – a message designed to rearrange what we deem so important in this life and focus on what should be our priorities. How many of us are infatuated with a materialistic lifestyle, which oftentimes leaves us in financial ruins just to…
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