First Step Marketing

Empress Ni allowed her natural charitable emotions to be swept aside because of emotions belonging to, and residing in, the past. In losing her present compassion in favour of past grievances, she relinquished her power over her present and future actions. By accepting the past in favour of the present, she reacted in a manner that was supposedly alien to her natural character.

Often a parent is horrified to hear themselves criticising their offspring using the same admonitions they experienced so humiliatingly as a child. Many a rising executive gaining _a higher position may employ criticism previously applied to his own efforts during his time as a subordinate. Both have accepted past experiences over the present. Both may _unconsciously prompted, through their conditioned thinking, by the misconception that the best support is through what is termed ‘constructive criticism’. Experiencing the present moment, however, involves growing from the past, not imitating it. Feeling nervous, cynical or hard done by, for example, is caused by permitting past experiences to impose themselves upon the present moment. Yet the claim of the past upon the present is invalid.

Cynicism itself, that eternal impediment to growth, is commonly wrapped up in the guise of constructive criticism. When the habit of seeking and pointing out the flaw in something, whether in opportunities, arguments, presentations or behaviour, becomes endemic, the natural process is disturbed. The process of creativity, for example, is impeded when ideas being generated in a brain-storming session are evaluated at the same time.

A foible unique to mankind and born of lack of trust, cynicism prevents acceptance of process more than any other single factor. Whereas intuition stems from the facts presently at hand, cynicism relies solely on the past for its argument. Rather than seek the truth for itself, it demands to be convinced. The acceptance of present thinking should therefore involve encouragement. As true commitment is impossible without involvement, by encouraging the cynic to become more involved in a process rather than resisting it, he or she is allowed to embark upon the process that may result in them becoming a valued supporter.

Acceptance of the moment requires acknowledgement that each of us experiences a variety of rising and descending cycles.

In the same way that there is a time to sow and a time to reap, a time to consolidate and a time to grow, sometimes you do., well in life and other times you do not. Evidently you enjoy life more during a high cycle and do not savour the difficulties characterised by a low cycle. The key is not to become excited by the high points, or depressed by the low points. In fact, the low points are to be respected because the high is built from the low. The somebody within you is built on the moments when you are nobody.

Generally we are not taught to value the low. We are conditioned to look for high respect and exaltation. When people have a low cycle they are emotionally debilitated by it, feel terrible and experience low self-esteem. Yet it is during these times, es, when they receive no attention or respect and do not love themselves, that they become wise and begin to grow. Princess Lin^. g’s character had strengthened to a point higher than Empress Ni’s reputed one. Low signs, such as those we experience when nothing seems to be going our way, must be accepted as indications that we should pull back, reassess our situation, and perhaps consolidate in anticipation of the forthcoming growth cycle.

During its hot cycle, nature invests abundantly in the growth that follows its cold cycle. The old is discarded and, after a consolidation period, the new arrives. Nature accepts that you cannot grow without letting go. This natural cycle does not rest comfortably with individuals or business. The rare business wisely invests more than it spends in the high cycle in order that it can consolidate in a low cycle, however the ordinary business will not. In good times an organisation will show the market how wonderful it is through its large budget. In difficult times, when it is important for the market to know about them, the same organisation will be forced to keep quiet by its vastly reduced budget.

Although there is not one person or business that does not experience high and low cycles, only a fraction of both make provision. This is one of the reasons why the majority of businesses do not survive and why so many people suffer hardship during the influence of a major economic cycle. Preparing for the future during the present must not be confused with having one’s consciousness in the future through worry.

No-one can avoid bad cycles either in health, wealth or relationships. But if we act in^. the same manner as if it were a good cycle, we will reduce our discomfort. This requires us to exercise the highest performance and highest service to ourselves and those around us. Accepting the moment irrespective of its influence requires the flexibility of the reed in^. the wind. It bends, then grows; it does not break.

Acceptance of the moment means accepting that what is presently happening may be an indication of something we have to change. For example, a man worrying over money may actually be worrying over being labelled a loser in society’s money game. When he lets go of his false beliefs, the problem disappears. Perhaps the man’s problem is being in debt through over-spending. Paying off his debts will not remove his compulsion to acquire objects in^. order to feel more secure.

When meeting any difficulty you must ask yourself, ‘Am I going to fight this or rise above it?’ If you decide to fight you will do so endlessly, for it is the very battling with the problem that keeps it going. Rise above it through using your own insight as to why you have this difficulty at the time that you do, and the problem disappears permanently. It does so because you realise that there wasn’t an individual and a problem, there was only you, the individual, who was the problem. The moment you agree to solve yourself, you solve your problem. In doing this you begin to place yourself where you are intended to be. This brings us to the next and most important practice.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Secret of Business Spirit: Acceptance of the Moment

This entry was posted on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 6:34 am and is filed under Budgeting, Business Management, Career Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.