true humility

The following was sent to me by Robert A. Rohm, PhD of Personality Insights, Inc. He sends great tips each week, but this one really hit the spot.

Tip: Humility is not thinking less of yourself - it is thinking of yourself less!

There is much written on the subject of self-esteem. Some of the information is excellent but some of it is not very helpful at all. I think there is a great deal of confusion about the issue of self-esteem. True self-esteem involves humility.

The opposite of humility is arrogance. Those who are arrogant and have a prideful spirit will meet with resistance from others. No one likes someone who is arrogant. However, it is important to exhibit and exude confidence in who you are and what you are doing. All of us want to deal with people who are confident in their area of expertise.

For instance: In 1982 I had a ruptured disc in my lower back and I had to go into the hospital for a procedure. My physician was visiting me the night before to explain what he would be doing. Since I was a little nervous about it, I asked him if he felt good about everything. He looked at me and said, "I am the best orthopedic surgeon in America. I know exactly what I am doing. I have done this procedure a thousand times and by this time tomorrow, you will be fine!" I thought to myself, "Wow! This guy certainly is arrogant!" After he left the room, I thought, "Wait a minute. Isn't that the kind of person I want to do this procedure tomorrow?" I don't think I would have been very happy if he had said, "Well, I am not sure that I know how to do this, but we are going to cross our fingers and hope for the best. Wish me luck!" That would not have inspired my confidence in him at all.

I hope you get the point I am trying to make. It is important that we are confident in ourselves and our abilities. We should learn and grow in every aspect of life, whether that is in business, family or personal development. However, while we are doing that, we must not develop the attitude that we are better or more important than anyone else either.

Humility is not about thinking less of yourself as a person. It does no good to think that you are nothing but a worm who is unable to make any meaningful contribution to your life or environment. True humility allows you to be confident in your abilities and yet focus on others and their needs. When you reach that point, I believe you can begin to experience your best growth.

In 1981, after being out of college for ten years, I decided I wanted to go to graduate school in Dallas, Texas. There was a school there that I very much wanted to attend but I knew it would be very difficult because I was married and had four small children. Taking my family across the country and essentially starting all over was not something that I looked forward to. Yet, I could not have done that if I thought less of myself in the process. It actually bolstered my confidence for trying to learn and grow in new areas of life. It was a difficult process, but looking back, I am certainly grateful for everything that transpired during those years.

This week, why not take a few moments to evaluate how you see yourself? Do you really believe that you are an important person and can do many good things that perhaps no one else could possibly do? You must think highly of yourself in order to grow and do better. You can never achieve anything unless you are willing to take a chance and risk some things you have not done before. In order to do that, I believe you must think more of yourself, not less. But, at the same time, you must spend time thinking of yourself less often and focus more on others.

Are you trying to make a better life for your family? Are you working to achieve more success in your business? Are you concentrating on stretching to grow in your own personal life? All of those are good reasons to try to achieve success. This is a tricky balance to achieve. However, if you spend some time thinking about it and treat this principle with respect, it will reward you greatly in every area of your life.

Tip: Humility is not thinking less of yourself - it is thinking of yourself less!

Have a great week! God bless you!
Robert A. Rohm Ph.D.Personality Insights, Inc

The greatest wisdom can come from the oddest places

So I'm watching Iron Chef America Thanksgiving Challenge and enjoying it thoroughly. At the end, Alton Brown quotes Thornton Wilder, "We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."

How profound, and how unexpected.

I plan to spend the next week being conscious of my treasures and making sure that I share those treasures as appropriate. Because simply having a treasure is not sufficient, it must be shared.

Are you sharing? and are you willing to receive?

Who do you associate with?

There is an old saying that who you will be 5 years from now is dependent upon the books you read and the people with whom you associate. I think this also includes what TV and music we expose ourselves to.

It makes sense. We don't want our kids to associate with bad influences. So why would we want to do so ourselves?

Last weekend Bryan and I spent time with some amazing people. Folks who run charities for at risk kids, folk who have helped many families to fix their economic issues, folk who have given so much of themselves to others, folk who think at a totally higher level. And we have felt the difference in ourselves all week.

So, who and what are you exposing yourself to?

To your growth!
Robin

Honk and Helen

How awesome is this! A dear friend, Erik, set us a link to a wonderful blog that we will be following. Here's the text of his e-mail:

This sounds like a very cool project - thought you’d be interested!
http://honkandhelen.blogspot.com/
“Honk and Helen raised corn, soybeans and cattle. He also worked on the railroad, for the old Monon line, and Helen was an RN… Helen was also a diarist - and I recovered her papers covering the years 1953-54 and 1973-74 from the flotsam and jetsam after the auction. These are the diaries that will be preserved on this blog.
Starting November 1st, I will post here the contents of the 1953-54 diary, which runs to December 1st, 1954. The following August (2010) I'll start the contents of the 1973-74 diary, which runs to September 7th, 1974. There won't be a post every day - the blog will follow the diary, and Helen didn't write every day.”

Enjoy!
Erik

Bryan (my hubby) grew up on a family farm in southwest Indiana and I love going back to visit. It is absolutely the heartland, in more ways than one! I look forward to the warm feelings I will have following this blog, and I hope you enjoy it too!

To preserving our history.
Robin

Unemployed and feeling useless?

There are a lot of people who are going thru challenges right now. Some have lost their jobs, some have had hours reduced. Others have the same income, but with prices rising they are trying to figure out how to feed the kids, or get Halloween costumes, or Christmas gifts. Or just get by.

For those that are feeling unwanted due to a lay off, downsizing, realignment, deselection (or whatever word they use where you work), it may be a good thing to remember that one of the best ways to combate depression is to do something for someone else.

There are only two ways we can help anyone, with our time and with our money. So take some of your time and find a way to give. Volunteer with an organization like the Second Harvest Foodbank, or with the local school, or a youth organization. Or go to a neighbor and volunteer to sit with their kids while they go out to cheap movie, or just to watch the sunset and breathe!

The benefits to volunteering are many, and include the fact that you are sowing good seeds (which will come back to you multiplied!), and that you are getting to know others. And getting to know other people is also known as - tada - networking! And since most jobs are found through networking, you are benefiting yourself.

So go give to others and give to your self esteem at the same time.

God bless!
Robin

Harvest Festival

Wow. We went to the Shelton Vineyards and Winery this afternoon to enjoy some great weather, lovely views, and good ole Carolina blue grass music. My nephew's step-father is playing in a blue grass band, and they had not seen each other in about 10 years. It was a wonderful reunion, and the kids (all five of them) had a blast. Hay ride, feeding fish, listening to great music, running in the grass, looking at the old tractors, it was a blast!

In the process, I met several people who are amazing artists. Who knew that people made candles out of soy oil? (I sure didn't) - and some amazing painted glassware, kind of stained glass style. Beautiful hand crafted knitwork and crochet, hand crafted jewelry and woodwork. Wow! I think I'll be able to hook some of these wonderful vendors up with people who have shops and take consignment work. And maybe I can help someone get set up for full time self employment!

And I met a couple of groups that are doing fundraising and I gave them my contact info.

And we bought two huge boxes of apples, Golden Delicious and Winesap. Yummy!

The moral, take time out for fun and you will still make a difference in people's lives!

Smile and bring some joy to someone else today!
joyfully!
Robin

Fundraising - tie it up in a down economy

I have had people asking about my fundraising program, so figured I should put it on my blog.

Fundraising - as easy as tying a bow!

Everyone buys gifts, for all kinds of occasions.

Tap into your group’s need to buy gifts and raise money at the same time.

No one has to buy something they won’t use or pay more than they normally would. Your group doesn’t have to take orders (or payments!) or make deliveries. We do all of it!

How? So glad you asked.

Ribbon Gift collections are simple to use:
The gift giver simply chooses the Ribbon Gift Collection they want to give. They order it and then give it to the recipient.
The recipient chooses the gift he or she wants online and redeems it. The selected gift is delivered directly to the recipient.
It’s that simple. And risk free, since both the gift giver/purchaser and the recipient are covered by our satisfaction guarantee.

The Ribbon Gift Collections cover all types of occasions, birthdays, weddings, new baby, hostess and thank you gifts, holidays, Valentines Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc. They cover popular name brands like adidas®, Sony®, Ghirardelli®, Cuisinart®, and many more. There is a huge selection including home décor, gourmet foods, electronics, educational toys, jewelry and lots more. Ribbon Gift Collections are a joy to give, a pleasure to receive. You can see more about the program at rweber1.ordermygift.com.

Well that sounds great, but how can my group make money with it?
Again, it’s very simple (you’re busy enough, right?!)
~ We send you the announcement of the program which you send out to your group. (You are welcome to add information if you want, but what we send will be ready to copy and hand out or send as an e-mail. Many prefer going green by doing all the communication online).
~ Group members then sign on to a website, register, place any order they want, and make their payment. The gift arrives when and where they want. They have a 180 day period to get a refund if they choose. There are no shipping charges to anyone, just retail price and the appropriate sales tax (which the computer figures).

At the middle of each month, we will review all orders from the previous month and determine the amount of sales and related funds which will be sent to you, along with a copy of the accounting. If you wish, we can send personalized thank you e-mails to donors as part of the monthly accounting, too.

It really is that simple. No one has to hassle anyone. You just let your group know about the opportunities to shop on line, give them the info to get registered and let the computer and us do the rest. We provide an e-mail address for anyone who wants to contact us directly, but will not initiate contact with them, so there’s no spam!
The benefits to your group members:
1) Ease of shopping (in their fuzzy slippers and robe without having to bring the kids!)
2) No gas used!
3) No need to pay shipping costs for gifts they send in the mail (and no need to insure anything either)!
4) No need to worry if the recipient really liked the gift!
5) The opportunity to have one purchase to become two gifts, one for the gift recipient and one to your fundraiser!

The benefits to your organization:
1) No need to hassle folks to buy something just to support your group
2) No administration time to keep you from doing the things you do best
3) No need to worry about handling money (or having your group members have to handle money)
4) No deadlines. Once this is set up, it can continue to generate funds for your organization year round.

While fall is the biggest shopping season of the year, this program can start anytime.

Please send me an e-mail at robin.e.weber@gmail.com for any questions or to get started.

PS – if you have anyone in your organization that has gift needs for their company, we can service them too. And that service will create even more income for your group.