A Summer Meditation

Summer Speaks

Here I am surrounded by trees filled with fruit, gardens filling up with ripening vegetables, flower beds in the prime of their life. This is my gift to those who embrace my warm, nurturing breath. I observe people basking in the radiant sunshine. They are enjoying the leisurely mood I have provided for them. As I become aware of their summer playfulness, I am content. I glory in the quality of life that has emerged from the abundance of my sun-saturated season. I have a passion for growth.

It has been a joy to watch you grow, also. From the moment you were conceived to the present moment, your life has been changing. Cycle upon cycle of growth has passed through your days- so much life, so much death. The cycle goes on. I long for you to embrace each new growing season. I want you to experience the passion of abundant life. Between the rising and the setting sun you live the seasons of your life.

Be attentive to my fruitfulness. Listen to my growing and continue to reflect on your own potential for growth. There is a fruitfulness about your life that you’ve not fully discovered. Implant your roots deep into your heart’s good soil where a treasure of nourishment waits for you. The roots of all that grows and thrives in my season have gone down deep searching for streams of water to assist their growth. You must do the same if you are to ripen and mature. Reach for that which will help you develop into a mature summer person with purpose and strength.

Reflect on your roots. They keep you grounded. Give them an image and call them by name: hope, faith, patience, joy, enthusiasm, gratitude, determination, endurance. Add others to this list. Envision these good roots spreading through your good soil, enabling your summer-like growth.

Believe in your root system. You have growing power in you. Enjoy the process. Let the roots of your growth reach out to the world on lovely greening tendrils. Play a little each day in the fields of your life. Enter into the abundance of the summer within you and around you. Be attentive. Use your five senses to help you live fully.

Ponder these questions and live slowly into the answers.

• How would you describe the fruitfulness of your life?
• Who or what is a source of growth for you?
• When are you most able to acknowledge your fruitfulness and taste its truth?
• In this season of abundance what is ripening in you?
• As you sit in the lap of summer is there any piece of growing that needs your attention?
• What are the names you would give to your central root system?
• If you were to choose a scripture passage that would be a summer text for you, what would it be?

Taken from The Circle of Life 2005, by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr. Used by permission of Ave Maria Press. All rights reserved.

Personal Development Disguised as a Business Opportunity?

You’ve probably heard it said that Network Marketing is essentially a people’s business. Some have also labelled it a people’s franchise because of the similarities between the business models of network marketing and franchising. Advocates of the industry name it as the ultimate people’s business and say there is nothing quite like it.

Of course people that are in network marketing will immediately respond positively to this whereas those that are not familiar with the industry, or have had some bad experiences might be strongly opposed to this idea. One of the unique characteristics of this type of business is that every individual distributor is in business for themselves but never by themselves. They will always be part of a larger organization and the compensation models are designed in such a way that every person can count on some form of support from their upline.

It is no secret that fortunes can be made in this type of business and many have done just that. Of course this is not the majority of network marketers, but every individual distributor does have the same chances.

Success or failure in network marketing is not dictated by politics, race, age, background or gender, but always by results. In that respect it is probably also the fairest business model in the world.

For many people however, the true value of their home based business is not directly in the financial return.

The lessons a person can learn while building his or her own network marketing business are truly priceless. Many people are totally transformed through the personal growth they experience as a direct result of their challenges in their MLM businesses. It forced them to get out of their comfort zones, grow, and in many cases become a better person.

So what is so unique about network marketing in this respect?

Doesn’t every entrepreneur have to deal with challenges? The answer of course is: Yes, they do. And they also experience personal growth as a result from this. However there is a significant difference. Most entrepreneurs are self made and many of them learned their trade largely outside of formal education. Either they were taught by a family member, a mentor or perhaps they learned everything the hard way: by trial and error.

Very rarely will you find an entrepreneur that has an extensive library of books and tapes on personal development. Most businesspeople don’t attend seminars and motivational trainings. They think it’s all a bunch of hype. While in some cases this can be true, there are many trainings and seminars that teach the principles of success better than any textbook found in business schools.

One of the great things about network marketing is that this type of education is built into the training systems of all good companies. There is no business on the face of the earth that places such a strong and direct emphasis on the importance of personal development as the network marketing industry. Many companies might argue that they spend a great deal of their budget on education; training employees and as such assisting them in personal development but in most cases what they are actually talking about is personnel development. Although the words are almost identical, their meanings are vastly different.

Network marketing is all about building people.

It is probably the best school on the planet if you want to learn about what it takes to be successful in life and you don’t need rich parents or some kind of scholarship to enroll.

 

 

Resource:  Achievement and Success Network