MaryAnn Dolezal - Willowcreek Section Leader for 103F at 9:00am Sundays

What's Your Manifesto?

This morning I was listening to Seth Godin’s "Tribes" and one of his challenges was to publish a manifesto. According to dictionary.com a manifesto is a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization.  Well, this manifesto is actually personal; it the way that I would like to live my life and I want to surround myself with people who also embrace these credos.  So here it is.  My manifesto is to:

• Live by faith not by fear. 
• Love people without judgments or conditions. 
• Let gratitude be the constant expression of your life. 
• Never stop learning, growing, creating. 
• Lead by example 
• Be transparent - Keep it real! 
• Commit to living in community; invest in others and let them invest in you! 
• Live with sustainability in mind; now and for the future. 
• Take responsibility for change starting with yourself.
• Create value wherever you go. 
• Listen with the sincere intent to understand.  
• Remember that it’s the small choices that make the big difference. 

This is certainly not an extensive list of credos for my life but I think that it’s a good start and of course I can always evaluate and adjust it as I draw closer to becoming the person I believe I was created to be.
Do you or your organization have a manifesto or credos? Please share them because they might offer inspiration to anyone reading this. Thanks!

This is Seth Godin's TED Talk on, "The Tribes We Lead".

Packing Seeds for Families in Need

Yesterday I was honored to be a part of a volunteer seed packing program through Willow Creek Community Church that will benefit families in Zimbabwe, Africa.  It was inspiring to see families from all walks of life come together for the common purpose of serving those in need; people who are hungry and often lack hope.  The seed packets that were assembled can provide a response to both.  Thank you section 103F 9am for packing close to 20,000 seed packs.  Way to go!

What is your legacy?

The infinity symbol can also be represented by the figure eight because of its continuous, perpetual path.  This is my world view.  We are all interconnected; humanity, creation and the Creator and we have a choice to join in the positive, life giving energy of the Creator/God or to strike out to find our own path, generated from our own energy.  

Regardless of whether or not we join the Creator in His plan or strike out on our own, our lives will have some element of impacting the infinity loop.  The impact of our lives corresponds with how much and the type of energy that we generate.  

So, in the best case scenario, we work real hard, we help some people along the way and we die.  Our legacy is what turns the corner and returns to the world of the living.  If we helped more than we hurt; gave more than we took, loved more than we feared than there might be a chance that a positive cycle will be perpetuated.  But if the opposite is true then our legacy or the impact of our lives will perpetuate negative cycles.  

When we join God and His plan then we are contributing to something much larger than ourselves.  As we learn to trust His plan then His strength and energy grows in us and positively impacts those around us.  

All of this might sound a bit mystical but here is another way to put it.  I believe that we are all born into this world with the seed of the Creator inside of us.  As we grow and become more self-aware, we long for connection, purpose; to make a positive contribution.  The Creator seed can only grow once we die to ourselves and the Creator seed is the key to connection to Him, others and all of creation.

What do you think about the idea of the Creator seed?  Does it make sense that we first need to die in order to live?

Finding and living out your passion in life!

Excellence - overrated or integr8ed? What does it mean to be “excellent”? Why isn’t mediocre good enough. Well, in some instances it may be but if we are to become the people we were designed to be then we should embrace an attitude of excellence. 

The root of excellence is excel which means to rise up or surpass. You might ask, “what are we rising up from?” We are rising up from all the things in this world that say, You can’t do it; you’re not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough; You’ll never amount to anything; If people knew who you really are, no one would listen to you, follow you, buy from you, be your friend. 

Living excellently or exhibiting excellence in your workplace, your home, in your community or place of worship means rising above the negativity found in those places and offering your best. It’s true that sometimes our best falls short, but when it does we have two choices; we can feel defeated or we can learn from our failure, grow from them and use them to our advantage in the future. 

Excellence is not a competition against the world to be the best or the greatest. It’s the process of becoming a more integrated person; someone who is giving their best to become a whole, healthy person or organization. Do you value excellence in your life or is good enough, good enough? Who do you really want to be remembered as? 

If you are looking for inspiration about finding your passion, destiny and having a great career.  Watch this:
  
Why you will fail to have a great career: Larry Smith

 

Living a Transcendent Life

Transcendence is that place beyond self-actualization. It’s our legacy, our gift or contribution to the world. Transcendence isn’t necessarily a state of being as much as it is a state of mind or disposition. Transcendent living is derived from an altruistic approach to life; caring for the needs of others, concerned about the condition of the world and taking action to address those issues. 


Transcendence is the third of 8 value of I.N.T.E.G.R.8.E.D.org and it’s probably the one that connects all of the others because it isn’t just a value, it’s a philosphy in and of itself. Living a transcendent life really takes a lot of intentionality and work to implement. Most of us don’t wake up in the morning asking ourselves, “How am I going to make the world a better place today?” We are usually asking ourselves, “How am I going to pay all my bills?” or “What’s the most important thing on my to-do list?” or “Is there any hope in salvaging my relationship with....?”


There are tools that will help us live more transcendent lives and perhaps if we practice using them it will be easier to move away from being so preoccupied with ourselves and towards a place that elevates others and helps us realize how connected we are with the world.
Some time ago I did a talk about moving from egocentrism towards altruism. I put this video out before but I thought it would be a good place to recycle it. How are you growing in your self-awareness to be able to use your gifts, talents, experiences and passions to a positive mark on the world?