Olina Qian

Marlena read this poem to us at the end of Fulfillment workshop. It is by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

I feel it is very true! And I wonder how many times you want to play small so that you won’t scare others? Hope it sparks some thought today for you!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

What is failure..Really?

I feel that I am failing my way forward all the time……

If you never failed, you’ve never lived!

Jewel had a great sermon in Unity church on Sunday, and I was invited there. The theme is Grow & Change. And the song come with it just hit my heart! Here is the Lyrics:

When I was just a little girl,
I asked my mother, “What will I be?
Will I be pretty?
Will I be rich?”
Here’s what she said to me:

“Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be;
The future’s not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be.”

When I was just a child in school,
I asked my teacher, “What will I try?
Should I paint pictures”
Should I sing songs?”
This was her wise reply:

“Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be;
The future’s not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be.”

When I grew up and fell in love.
I asked my sweetheart, “What lies ahead?
Will we have rainbows
Day after day?”
Here’s what my sweetheart said:

“Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be;
The future’s not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be.”

Now I have Children of my own.
They ask their mother, “What will I be?”
Will I be handsome?
Will I be rich?”
I tell them tenderly:

“Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be;
The future’s not ours to see.
Que sera, sera,
What will be, will be.
Que Sera, Sera!”

Sometime, you may get so stuck somewhere. Maybe you want to grasp something, but the truth is– you can’t grasp anything. Since it is not in your hand, it is in God’s hand! If you understand this, then you can relax and carry on! Do thing you should do, hope for the miracle, but prepare for the worst! And let whatever will be…. will be!

I just finished reading a book named: The Present by Spencer Johnson. It is such an easy book that I finished reading it in three hours. But I feel that I did learned a lot from it. Here is my grasp from it:

1. Living in the Present:

-The Present is not the past and it is not the future. The present is the present moment. The present is NOW!

-Even in the most difficult situation, when you focus on what is right, in the present moment, it makes you happier and give you the needed energy and confidence to deal with what is wrong today!

-Being in the present means, turning on distractions. And paying attention to what is important, NOW! You create your own present by what you give your attention to today!

2. Learn from the past:

- It is hard to let go of the pastif you have not learn from the past.

-As soon as your learn and let go, your improve the present.

- Anytime you are unhappy in the present or feeling less successful, it is time to learn from the past or plan for the future.

-Look at what happen in the past, learn from something valuable from it, use what you learn to Improve the present.

-You can not change the past, but you can learn from it. When the same situation arises, you can do things differently and enjoy a happier and more successful present.

3. Planning for the future.

- No one can predict or control the future. However, the more you plan for what you want to see happen, the less anxious you are in the present. And the more the future is known to you!

- Beginning today, picture what a wonderful future would look like.

-Create a realistic plan to help it happen and put your plan into action in the present.

4. what is your life purpose?

- How you respond depends upon your purpose.

-When you live and work with purpose, and respond to what is important now, you are more able to lead, manage, support, befriend and love!

-Success is becoming who you are capable of being, and progressign toward worthwhile goals.

-Each of us definie for ourselves what it means to be more successful.

In a nutshell:

Be in the present

–When you want to be happier and more successful.

–Focus on what is right now

–Respond to what is important now.

Learn from the past:

–When you want to make the present better than the past

–Look at what happened in the past.

–Learn something valuable from it.

–Do things differently in the present.

Plan for the future:

–When you want to make the future better than the present.

–What what a wonderful future would look like.

–Make plan to help it happen.

–Put your plan into action in the present.

-When you want to be happier and more successful, it is time to be in the present moment.

-When you want the present to be better than the past, it is time to learn from the past.

-When you want the future to be better than the present, it is time to plan for the future.

Ever wondering how to deliver a powerful speech? My friend Ruoyu just shared us her note after reading the book: The Power of Simplicity by Jack Trout. I find it is very helpful!

Summary:

1. Audiences “do not want complicated and emotionally complex stories that remind them of their own frustrations and powerlessness.” Columnist Richard Reeves

2. Good writing and speech can’t be confusing. They have to be clear and understandable, and the shorter the better.

10 Principles of clear writing:

· Keep sentence short

· Pick the simple word over the complex word

· Choose the familiar word

· Avoid unnecessary words

· Put action in your verbs

· Write like you talk

· Use terms your readers can picture

· Tie in with your reader’s experience

· Make full use of variety

· Write to express, not impress

My fellow coach Bob Poniatowski gave us a really powerful closing in Dale Carnegie Class this Wednesday. I definitely learned a lot from it:

1939. Springtime. World War II was about to start. The British government knew it, and they knew that when it started, their country would be attacked. Not just their troops, but their people as well. The Germans would attack Britain. Bombers would fly overhead, seaports would be blockaded, cities would be firebombed and many, many people would die.

The government also knew that if the British people lost their will to fight, their resolve and morale, the war would be lost quickly. They knew all of this before the war began, and so they started to plan.

It would be simple for the Germans to disable the mass media of the day. There was no television or internet, and people would be reluctant to gather in movie theaters, or anywhere in large numbers. Radio towers could be taken out easily. Even newspapers would be difficult to publish without supplies.

So the government commissioned a series of posters, designed to keep morale up. They printed millions of these posters and distributed them to every city and village throughout the country, with instructions to post them should war break out.

It did, and the posters went up – they were posted in libraries, grocers, train stations – everywhere. The first poster said ‘Your Courage, Cheerfulness, and Resolve Will Bring Victory‘. That’s a long message, but interesting that cheerfulness is in there. The second poster to go up said ‘Freedom is in Peril‘. Kind of laying it on the line for everyone, this is what is at stake. Freedom.

The third poster was held in reserve. City officials across the country had been told to hold this poster and only put it up if the Germans invaded Britain. If German troops set foot on British soil, the third poster was to go up. That never happened, the war ended, and the posters were all pulped up, destroyed and forgotten.

Until about ten years ago. A bookseller in England was digging through a box of old books he’d bought at auction and at the bottom of the box found a folded copy of that third poster. And this is what it said: ‘Keep Calm and Carry On‘. A simple message, but such a powerful one. Don’t panic. Don’t let your worries win. Don’t let them take away your way of life.

I keep a copy of that poster up in my office where I can see it every day. It reminds me that if the British people, faced with these horrible circumstances, the truly horrific things that were about to happen, could respond with ‘Keep Calm and Carry On‘, I can certainly handle a grumpy boss. Or a snippy VP. Or a project that’s a little behind schedule.

So I’d say to you, don’t give in to panic and worry. Keep Calm and Carry On.

This poem is from my Friend Nathalie Udo’s facebook. I like it very much. So I’d like to share it with you today –

Life is short,

Break the rules,

Forgive quickly,

Kiss slowly,

Love truly,

Laugh uncontrollably,

And never regret anything that made you smile.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance.

I’ve been working on my business website lately, so I asked my friend Stacie to help on my content. When we went through the whole list of each category, she suddenly ask me, who are you? What is the value you can bring to your client? So I ask her back: since you asked, what do you think who I am?

She thought for few minutes and came down the following list:

1. Connector

2. Compassionate

3. Driven

4. Thirst for knowledge and success

5. Always looking for the positive solution and action

6. Strive

7. Cohesion

8. Empathize

9. Understand struggle

10. Good listener

11. Caring to provide alternative perspectives and goals to find meaning and purpose.

I was shocked to see this list. I am surprised on how good she summarize it from the other person’s point of view. But I should admit that, it is me. She is right. Plus a little impatient, it describes a perfect picture of OLINA!