Monday, October 25, 2010

Daily Meditation - A way of life


“He saw the best – Marvin Sapp”

A task, I have developed over the months is reciting bible verses, spiritual phrases, encouraging songs and positive quotes throughout the day.   Even though I have done this task in the past, the challenge was consistency – being able to repeat this exercise daily without thinking about it. I can confidently say I have overcome the challenge mentioned. Now, I can speak on the power of my meditation task and what it has done for me.


For the past few months, the lyrics to Marvin Sapp’s “The Best in Me” has ministered to me like no other – so much so, that I have posted the lyrics below.  Throughout the day, I continuously repeat to myself “He (God) sees the best in me. “  Declaring those words throughout the day, provide a standard for how I should perform at work and in my life - accountability.  My belief: God sees the best; therefore we should offer him our best. As a result, those words motivate  me daily to perform at my highest level.  Secondly, after I meditate on those lyrics, I am refueled and I immediately get a burst of positive energy that helps me to keep going.  Daily meditation helps me to remain focus on the task at hand because I feel that sense of accountability. Lastly, this meditation task helps to renew my mind by getting rid of all negative/counter-productive thoughts that try to penetrate it.


In closing, establishing a daily consistent meditation pattern throughout the day has become a way of life for me.  We all have the ability to meditate and I encourage all readers to incorporate daily meditation into your lifestyle.
Lyrics to “The Best in Me” by Marvin Sapp
He saw the best in me, when everyone else around, could only see the worst in me can. I tell ya’ll one more time, one more time? I said he saw the best in me, When everyone else around, Could only see the worst in me, I wish I had a witness tonight All I need is one Hey He saw the best in me (When everyone else around me) When everyone else around (oohh) (Could only see) Could only see the worst in me Does anybody have that testimony? When folk walks you off Said you would never make it, what did he see? He saw the best in me (When everyone else around you yeaa) When everyone else around (Ooohh, could only) could only see the worst in me Can I tell ya’ll one more thing? I just need to tell you one more thing (Listen to this) See he’s mine, and I am his It doesn’t matter what I did He only sees me, for who I am Does anybody know that  today? Oh… Ohh See he’s mine, and I am his It doesn’t matter what I did He only sees me, for  ho I am Does anybody know that today? (Help me sing it) Said that he is mine See he’s mine I’m his And I am his It doesn’t matter what I did It doesn’t matter what I did Cause he only sees me for who I am, yea.. yea.. He only sees me for who I am I’m so glad That he is mine He’s mine Yeahh..And I’m his It doesn’t matter what I did It doesn’t matter what I did He only sees me He only sees me for who I am He saw the best in me When everyone else around Could only see the worst in me I wish I had a witness tonight Can I ask ya’ll one question? The question is simply this…What did he see? He saw the best in me (When everyone else around me) When everyone else around (oohh) (Could only see)) Could only see the worst in me I can’t get no help us in here Because there are some folk in here People have walked you off Said you would never amount to anything Said that you would never end up being anywhere But tell them one more time He saw the best in me (When everyone else around me) When everyone else around (oohh)
(Could only see)) Could only see the worst in me When mama said you would never be nothing
When aunties and uncles said you would never amount to anything When daddy didn’t come home anymore he didn’t look at you and said that You wasn’t going to make it God looked at you And what did he see What did he see? He saw the best The best The best The best The best The best The best The best I said what did he see I said what did he see I said what did he see I said what did he see I said what did he see I said what did he see He saw the best in me (Oh lord, oh, lord) Can I sing the verse one more time, listen to this ya’ll I love this, I love this See he’s mine, and I am his It doesn’t matter what I did But he only sees me for who I am Ohhhhhh, Lord, Yeahh….He’s mine And I’m his It doesn’t matter what I did He only sees me, for who I am Sing it one time (He is mine, ooohh) He’s mine And I am his (Oooohh) It doesn’t matter what I did
He only sees me for who I am He only sees me for who I am And the reason he sees me for who I am Because he created me in his image and his likeness He’s mine He’s mine And I am his And I’m his It doesn’t matter what I did It doesn’t matter what I did He only sees me He only sees me for who I am He saw the best He saw the best.






Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Nick Saban Philosophy

“Who you are is who you are everyday – Nick Saban”

Blog World – I’m Back. My time away from the blogosphere was bittersweet; however, it was time I needed for myself. During my two year hiatus from the blogosphere, I spent a lot of quality time doing the following: reading and studying about people I admire, reevaluating my personal goals, taking an honest inventory of my current lifestyle, and truly trying to understand how I can maximize my potential. While I can honestly say, that this self improvement journey has not been the easiest nor has the path been the clearest, during this two year period, there have been times were I have experienced “moments of clarity”.

What I call “The Nick Saban Philosophy” was formed during one of my “ah ha” moments. The Nick Saban Philosophy can be summarized as: taking each day one day at a time – focusing on the things that you need to do daily to be successful. During the 2009 college football season, (the team I hate the most) Alabama won the Bowl Championship Series National Championship title. As much as I hate the Bammers (slang for The University of Alabama) and yes I HATE THE BAMMERS, I have to respect their head football coach. In two years, Nick Saban had taken a poor Southeastern Conference Team and turned them into a National Champion. How did Saban turn this program around in two years? My passion for greatness and thrust for knowledge, forced me to find the answer to that question. Therefore, I studied coach Saban. While studying the coach, during most of his interviews, I learned that he repeated a number of clichés and phrases over and over again – one of which I listed above. In addition, throughout the several interviews, his message remained the same.

I believe that in the game of life, we all want to be “National Champions” – reaching our full potential. However, I believe a number of things prevent us from reaching such goals. I believe we allow distractions created by the media (covering and reporting on gossip); society (us trying to keep up with the Jones) and the internal battle we all face from within - prevent us from concentrating on our goals. As a result, we are unable to focus 100% on who we are and what we want to do. I believe that if we discipline ourselves and practice the “Nick Saban Philosophy” we can reach our full potential.

The video below captures every element of what I call the “Nick Saban Philosophy”. If you plan to watch the video, regardless of how you feel about Nick Saban, Football, or The University of Alabama, please watch it with a keen eye. I ask that you are open to what he has to say –not how he says it. I believe coach Saban has a message we all can learn from. Listen, Learn and apply to your way of life.

I have summarized key points from what I believe the Nick Saban Philosophy to be.

•One game at a time – Focus on the things that you need to do daily to be successful
•Play to a Standard - It’s not about winning a game but playing to a Standard.
•Be accountable to a standard
•Aspire to Be the Best you can be at what you do
•Consistency in Performance
•What happen yesterday does not mean anything to what happen today.
•When Dealing with Adversity
- How do you Respond?
- How do you prepare?