Wednesday, 13 April, 2011

a Moment for Wisdom…

DAILY WISDOM:

“To see what a person really wants, look
at what they already have.”

Sharif Abdullah

“If you plant corn, you shouldn’t expect tomatoes.

If you don’t want it,

don’t plant it.

Sharif Abdullah

Personal Wisdom:

Are you always aware of what you are
“planting”?

Look at what you have (your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual “belongings”). Are you aware that these are things that you planted?

Do you ever feel like a “victim”? What victimizes you?

Are their times when your expectations seem at odds with your results?

Societal Wisdom:

On the level of our society, what are the times when America’s expectations seem at odds with your results?

America says it wants “peace”, yet (for example) refuses to sign the treaty banning land mines (virtually every other country on Earth has signed it). What is it that America “really wants”? [Think carefully here: neither Republican nor Democratic Administrations have signed this treaty… This is not a “Republican plot” when Obama refuses to sign it. Something else is at work… what is it?]

a Moment with Sharif…

Greetings;

This double-barreled quote from yours truly actually causes ME a bit of a problem!

On one level, it’s about our life choices: the choices we make now, the seeds we plant now, are what our future will look like.

For example: I live in a small apartment, over top my small office, in inner Northeast Portland. (Portland doesn’t really have a “black community”, but this is as close as we come.) I must “want” this, since I “have” it. And, I do! (I alternate between really tiny
living accommodations and really big houses. I never thought about this much, until I looked backward and saw the pattern. For years I lived in a space with exactly 65 square feet of walking space – smaller than a prison cell. I went from there to a huge four bedroom house, with an entire room for my books(!). I have the feeling a house is in my near future…)

On the other hand… there have been many occasions when I say, “I could have SWORN those were tomato seeds I was planting!” I really INTENDED tomatoes – how come I got the corn? For example, I intended to be in an intimate relationship… so where did my years of celibacy come from?

Well, in order to answer that, I have to tell you a joke:

A woman confides to a friend, “I’ve been married 3 times, but I’ve never had sex.”

Friend asks, “How can that be?”

“Well, with Husband #1, war was declared on our wedding day. The soldiers came and
drafted him and he was killed in action.”

“With Husband #2, on our wedding night, when he saw me naked, he got so excited he had a heart attack and died.”

Friend asks, “So, how did Husband #3 die?”

“Oh, he’s not dead… we’ve been married for years. But, he’s a professional planner –
every night, he sits on the side of the bed and tells me how great it’s going to be!”

Yes, there is a difference between PLANNING and DOING! There’s a difference between holding the seeds in your hand, and planting them. As my friend, teacher, co-teacher,
former house-mate and all-around good guy Calvin Hecocta said to me recently:

“When I wanted to sing in public, the first thing I did was go up to my room and start singing.  Then, someone joined me.  Then, we started singing in public.

So, Sharif, what are you doing?”

Good question. As many of you know, I’ve been planning lots of things over the years. Most of those plans have not borne fruit. That’s because I’ve saddled my plans and visions with assumptions and conditions precedent (I need a certain number of people to act with me; I need certain resources to act; I need a grant or large donation…). But, what Calvin was saying was that the DOING attracts the energy you need to take the next step.

So… take the step, without waiting for support, for resources, for money. (Or, as the joke says, stop sitting on the side of the bed and get busy!)

I’ve been waiting for “Praxis” to get more organized before I launched the first steps of a
“Commonway Praxis Center”. No more! I am launching the “Praxis Center” with the energy, resources and support available to me at this time. (When, where, how to be determined shortly.)

I’m planting my seeds… I will invite you to join me in taking our Wisdom Practice into 3-D!

Peace,

Sharif

Acknowledgments:

All photos by Sharif Abdullah, unless otherwise noted.