Hello,

Twenty years ago my friend Dan Dunlap attended one of Balance Point's executive trainings and near its conclusion, we went for a long “walk and talk.”

Perhaps you too have had the experience where a brief conversation with a friend started a truly transformational process – my talk with Dan was such a beginning for me.

A few months later I accompanied Dan to Sri Lanka to observe first hand the community development non-profit Sarvodaya. As he promised, I saw Balance Point's principles of Awareness, Responsibility and Communication demonstrated in thousands of Sri Lankan villages with power and humility. I promised to participate and support the people of Sarvodaya and from this promise, I have received so much more than I have given.

Last week Sarvodaya's founder, and my dear friend and teacher, Dr. Ariyaratne, visited Colorado to speak at the Sustainable Resources conference.

http://www.sustainableresources.org/about_mission.html

Over curry and rice with Dr. Ari, I learned that through the Japan based One World One People Foundation now headed by the very capable Kazuo Suzuki, we've now been responsible for building, equipping and staffing over 140 village pre-schools; dug over 100 community wells and built seven community centers. You can learn more about Sarvodaya at:

http://www.sarvodaya.org/

Beyond my pride in our contribution and my gratitude for all that I've learned in the process, I was reminded by Dr. Ari of the importance of healthy communities in our lives and how accountability for generating “community” is ours – each and every one of us – whether we live in a tiny village or a major urban area. That's the subject of this month's feature – community – what we gain and what we need to give.

As always I'll share some favorite quotes, some Balance Point news and a rave recommendation.

Be extraordinary!

Robert White

A Balance Point monthly eZine dedicated to assisting people in living extraordinary lives and creating extraordinary organizations.

We encourage you to forward this message to friends or colleagues who want to be more effective in working with people. They can subscribe to future issues and receive our free 23 page report “ Simple Truths and Enduring Values – The Eight Elements of Personal and Organizational Effectiveness,” at http://www.extraordinarypeople.com/ezine/subscribe.htm.

We have a very simple privacy policy: We do not share any information about any subscriber with anyone outside Balance Point for any reason or at any time. Period.

In this issue:

• Feature: Community – Sustenance and Responsibility.
• Extraordinary Wisdom Quotes of the Month
• Rave Recommendation from Balance Point
• Extraordinary Living Action Steps

Community. The origin is from the early Greek “communitas” which directly translates to “held in common.” I like this definition and wonder, do we, you and I, hold our fellow community members “in common?” And when I speak of community here, in addition to our place of residence I include our workplaces, our church, temple, ashram or mosque and our service organizations. Do we hold the people, mission and activities of all of our gathering places “in common?”

A dear friend and a very bright guy asked me last week “Who won the Presidential Debate?” We had a nice discussion and then later I realized I had fallen into a common trap – the “winners and losers” trap where I do not consider my role in a larger community and how I need to hold both candidates and their parties “in common.”

There's an e-mail circulating about the qualities and objects connected to growing up in the Fifties …. my era. I clearly recall lusting after the delicious looking (and tasting, as it turned out) apples growing on a neighbor's tree. I finally surrendered to the temptation, climbed over his fence and helped myself to his apples.

Of course, there wouldn't be a story here unless he caught me and he did. His next step was taking me roughly by the arm and dragging me home to have a “chat” with my Mother. It did not turn out well for me that day though the lessons learned were invaluable.

My point here is that today no thinking neighbor (at least in the USA ) would dare to do what our neighbor did with and for me. We'd fear a lawsuit or disapproval or we'd just not care enough. We might call the police and “let them take care of it.” What we probably wouldn't do is to clearly see our role in our community including the discipline and training of ALL young people, not just our own.

Another USA example, sadly, is our declining voting rate – now under 50% in most elections and around 30% in non-presidential elections. Our founding fathers set up this marvelous system where we can choose our leaders and we sabotage the entire game by not participating.

Number six of Balance Point's Eight Elements of Personal and Organizational Effectiveness is…

PARTICIPATE 100%!

How is your level of participation in your family? Your work? Your neighborhood association? Your town or city? Your service club, religious organization or children's school?

(If you don't have a copy of the Eight Elements and would like one, just hit reply and I'll send a PDF version along at no charge.)

Life is not a spectator sport. It's only through our active participation that we create the extraordinary life we all want to live. Our families, communities, jobs and everywhere else where we “connect” need our 100% involvement – they need all of us, individually and collectively.

Learn more below in our Extraordinary Living Action Steps.

(with thanks to Dr. Mark Albion)

If your commitment is to living an extraordinary life, I highly recommend retaining a coach in any area where you want to express excellence. Alan Parisse, an Balance Point graduate, is a professional public speaker named by Successful Meetings Magazine “One of the Top 21 Speakers for the 21 st Century.”

He's the “real deal” and my coach as a public speaker. The really good news is that Alan has chosen to again deliver

THE SPEAKER'S INTENSIVE...December 3-4, 2004 in beautiful Boulder, Colorado

The Intensive is guaranteed to make you a more natural and effective speaker and enhance your one-on-one communications. Alan promises that you will move to a new level of comfort, credibility and influence with audiences of any size.

1. Valuable for both beginning and experienced speakers, the Intensive addresses how to:
2. overcome any barriers to being “all you can be” in front of a room or in a more intimate setting.
3. develop unique material and build databases of ideas
4. easily craft speeches for different audiences
5. make nervousness work for you
6. insert relief into fact-filled talks
7. write, structure and diagram persuasive presentations

What I'd personally add to the above is that you'll have more fun than you can even imagine...All while learning a LOT !

Go to http://www.parisse.com to learn more and register for this exciting and rewarding event. Alan is simply “da best.”

Following the Balance Point approach, that is taking a look at your Awareness, Responsibility and Communication regarding community:

Awareness

Do an inventory. How are you “showing up” in the important areas of your life?

Your family, with friends, at work, in your community, at clubs and civic organizations, as a citizen and as part of the greater world community?

Should you identify one or more areas where your participation is not what you want it to be or is not what is really wanted and needed...Clearly decide what successful, 100% participation would look like, feel like, sound like.

Take Responsibility!

The old one liner that applies here is simple and profound:

“If it is to be, it's up to me.”

Only you can be the difference that makes a difference. The only choice that you can 100% guarantee is your own.

Communicate!

To your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, club members – wherever you want to improve your participation in community – put your words out there in a positive, affirming and action-oriented way:

“I'm aware I've been a bit (a lot?) silent about _______ and I wanted to let you know that has ended today. This is important to me because _________ (be very specific and positive here). My action commitment, what you can count on from me in the coming weeks and months is ___________.

Then deliver on your promises. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish and how you'll feel about you.

All that said...to my American friends, get educated on the issues and candidates...and VOTE on November 2 nd .

And, e-mail me anything you learn about you and others in this process – your experiences inspire and motivate me.

Wishing you an Extraordinary Life and Extraordinary Organizations,

Robert

Robert White
Balance Point

P. O. Box 40405
Denver , CO 80204
Phone: 1-425-803-0303
E-mail: Robert@BalancePointInternational.com

http://www.BalancePointInternational.com

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