New Beginnings

Once again, I am at a point of transition in my life; actually multiple points of transition (in various areas).


Anchors are good things. People anchors can weigh you down, keep you from taking flight when you need to.

Anchors (including some unique people that God places in your life and mine, often at strategic moments) can help us to remain on an even keel, to refrain from going off on tangents, losing my/our focus and direction.

Ultimately, it is my responsibility to know my purpose and to ensure that my goals, plans and dreams (those that I responsibly pursue) are in alignment with my personal philosophy of life; with my "raison d'être." However, I believe that external accountability is not only a good thing; it is an essential thing.

At various points, at critical moments during my five plus decades, God has placed special people in my life. During my first two decades, it was usually a Sabbath school teacher, a school teacher, a professor a close family friend or an older brother or sister at church.

Often they were mentors, "a hand to guide me," as Denzel Washington would say. His book is a must read. If you have not already read it, you need to [in my opinion (and I have many of them)].

Washington, Denzel and Paisner, Daniel, A Hand to Guide Me: Legends and Leaders Celebrate the People Who Shaped Their Lives

ISBN - 10:0696230496
ISBN - 13:9780696230493

http://books.google.ca/books?id=ILdSeSY8FSQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=a+hand+to+guide+me&ei=oENLSryOL6SCywSViJiKDg&client=firefox-a
From the Publisher
In his debut as an author, Denzel Washington shares his personal story of the mentors who helped guide his life.
Washington pens the introduction for the stories of more than 70 of America’s leading personalities in theatre, sports, business, and politics as they tell their life-changing stories of mentorship.
Contributors include Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Antwone Fisher, Bonnie Raitt, Cal Ripken, Alex Rodriguez, Dick Vitale, Whoopie Goldberg and more.
A portion of the book’s proceeds benefit 4.5 million children currently involved in the "Boys & Girls Clubs of America."
From the Jacket
Denzel Washington started out far out far from the film world where he has become an American legend. He learned industriousness by running errands and brushing off clothes for patrons at a neighborhood barber shop. Today he is not only an Academy Award-winning actor, he is the national spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, to which he pledges his proceeds from this book.

In his dedication to youth, he has brought together six dozen people with treasured stories to share about the importance of guiding hands and role models when they were growing up.

Working with Denzel Washington and his notable collaborators, best-selling writer Daniel Paisner has helped them tell their powerful stories while staying true to their individual voices.

Now those voices join in the moving chorus of A Hand to Guide Me, a book that pays tribute to the love and generosity of people taking time to help one another, lifting one life at a time.


Remember, too, that we each have a responsibility to give back [pay it forward, some call it]. Were it not for the positive influence of ________ in my life, I would not be ...

... where I am right now.

... the man that I am today.


I have been blessed much more than many insofar as that my first mentors, two of my greatest mentors were/are James Daniel Bailey and Julia Isilda (née Davy) Bailey. My parents modeled many things for my sister and me.

Integrity
Honesty
Hard work and its reward
effective Financial management
Responsibility
good Citizenship
a Giving Spirit
Love
Kindness
how to Entertain others (hosting endless dinners for friends)
Unselfishness
Selflessness
Putting the needs of your children ahead of your own
[My mom worked nights until I was 14. I have no conscious memory of ever being at the babysitters]

...

The list is endless.

Denzel's book is beneficial to me but not as beneficial of having learned first hand from the Godly example of parents who neither "spared the rod" (when needed) nor "spoiled the child[ren]"

How could I forget to add the value of education to the list. As I said, the list is endless.

Even now, two and a half years after my dad passed away, I still hear the lessons he taught me; lessons that I was often guilty of ignoring (but no more -- usually).


I digressed. I'm blaming Denzel. I would tell him in person, was he here beside me.

New beginnings

Transition periods

Fresh beginnings

A time to refocus

Hopefully, by the grace of God, henceforth, wasted minutes, missed opportunities (relatively rare with me unless I am off on a mission), squandered words will be few.

Thank you CM.

Thank you Rick Warren for your book, The Purpose Driven Life

http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/en-US/Home/home.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Purpose_Driven_Life

John Maxwell, you're on my list. Your books on leadership are almost on deck.