Monthly Archives: November 2017

Khalil Gibran

Khalil Gibran once said that people would never understand one another unless language is reduced to seven words.  What would your seven words be?

Before I share my seven words with you, I want to tell you a bit about Khalil Gibran.  He was born in Lebanon in 1883 and died in New York City at the age of 48 from cirrhosis of the liver due to severe alcoholism.  Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Laozi.  His best-known work is The Prophet, a book composed of twenty-six essays.  Since first being published in 1923, The Prophet has never been out of print.  If you haven’t read the book, do.  If you have read it, reread it.

A Foundation to Build On

As I was pondering this question, I remembered Tony Robbins Six Human Needs.  Tony identified six basic human needs with the belief that everyone is, or can be motivated by fulfilling these needs.

Here they are:

Need 1:  Certainty/Comfort

Need 2:  Uncertainty/Variety

Need 3:  Significance

Need 4:  Love & Connection

Need 5:  Growth

Need 6:  Contribution

Every day we are reflexively determined to meet these needs.  When these requirements are met at a high level, our degree satisfaction and fulfillment in our lives is abundant.  If these needs are met at a low level, we will experience life as being unsatisfactory and disappointing.  I think that we can agree that Tony’s philosophy of what lies at the root of human aspiration and the extent to which these needs are met make a difference

Are You Wearing A Mask?

Yesterday was Halloween also known as All Hallows’ Eve.  It is a celebration observed in many countries on October 31.  There is much history with roots in age-old European traditions of lighting fires and wearing costumes to ward off ghosts and remembering the dead.  In the second half of the nineteenth century, Halloween became a popular day of celebration in the United States.  Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday after Christmas.

Today as I was driving to work, it occurred me that Halloween is the one holiday when people can dress-up as anything or anyone that they want to and hide behind or play the part of that identity or mask all day long.  Now, I have to admit, I have seen some VERY creative costumes over the years, and I take my hat off to those people with such vivid imaginations.  But, back to the masks and dressing up; I wonder how many of us go beyond Halloween metaphorically being someone that we are not?  How many of us pretend to be someone other than our authentic self?  And, why would we?  Are we afraid to show up as the real us?  If so, what is it that we fear?  Is it not being accepted by others?  Is it that we don’t feel worthy?  Do we think if people knew who we indeed are, they would reject us in some way?  Do we lack