Awareness — Page 102

What’s The Deal?

October 9, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

WHAT’S THE DEAL ?

That’s not usually the question I ask when I’m talking to a group about

C O M P A S S I O N

The question I usually ask is,

WHO WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A DEAL ?

I tell them the story of early September, 2010 when I was at a National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Conference. I had just done a presentation on

DID YOU HEAR WHAT I DIDN’T SAY?

The Conference was being held at the Omni Hotel. . .the very same place that houses

C N N

The place is an underground city that not only has all of the CNN offices and TV sets, but it has it’s own Mall/Shopping Center, Food Center.

Following my talk, I went down to the underground and bought a Grande Latte from Starbucks and a Sandwich from a local Sandwich shop and went into the middle of this mass of humanity to eat/drink lunch, check email, text, tweet and facebook my lunch hour away.

Maybe not all that suddenly, there was a man who was standing right beside my table who was wearing everything he owned–on a sunny, hot, humid day in Atlanta, GA.

He extended his hand to me to shake and introduced himself,

“Hello, I’m Frank and I would like to make a deal with you. . .I’d like to give you a penny for a 10-dollar bill.”

I, literally chuckled at him as I shook his hand and told him that my name was Chuck.

When I saw that his offer was 1000% sincere, I stood up and told him that I didn’t think we had to make that deal and reached down behind him and gave him a $10 bill that looked as if he had dropped 10-bucks.

We both knew. . .

“Sir, you’d still do me an honor by taking my penny.”

I took it. . .we shook hands again. . .he turned and left and I never saw him again for the next two days I was there. I still don’t know where he came from or how he got into the middle of this huge group of hungry people.

What haunts me

W H Y M E?

What did he see in me. . .among that crowd of people. . .what did he see in me that he could trust I wouldn’t laugh or chastise, or ignore, or call Security?

Now. . .after all of these years. . .

I’m now having a different haunting.

Within the past two weeks, I have given this talk and gotten a response that I have never received before, having given this nearly a hundred of times. . .

When I ask the group if anyone has a penny and an individual holds one up; I then ask if they would trade me the penny for a 10-dollar bill, knowing that I am NOT going to give them back the penny and I DO NOT WANT OR WILL TAKE THE 10-DOLLAR BILL back.

Here’s the

H A U N T:

Over the past two presentations I’ve given this illustration I have had three people turn me down. . .

THEY

actually admitted, in front of their peers, that they could not make the deal and give me their penny for the 10-bill.

W O W

Usually, in the past, before these haunting two incidences, I would ask:

WHO GOT THE BETTER OF THAT DEAL?

The group response almost always was:

“FRANK DID”

After these two occurrences,

I’m thinking these three individuals did.

Could it be that they didn’t want to be seen as being on the Wrong End of a Great Deal?

One lady told me, she didn’t want to part with her penny;

The other two young ladies in Class told me that they could not make the deal

maybe because of a cultural difference that forbade them to accept something of greater value than they were able to share. . .

Hmmmmmm. . .an unfair exchange nixing the deal.

I thanked them for giving me

a n o t h e r s t o r y

to share.

One that doesn’t have me asking:

WHO GOT THE BETTER OF THIS DEAL?

b u t

WHAT IS THE DEAL ?

Your Neutrino Of Compassion

October 7, 2015 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

Congratulations to Takaaki Kajita of the University of Tokyo and Arthur B. McDonald of Queen’s University in Canada who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering

THAT THE UBIQUITOUS BUT ELUSIVE SUBATOMIC PARTICLES KNOWN AS NEUTRINOS HAVE MASS

The ghostly neutrino–it means, “SMALL NEUTRAL ONE” in Italian–carries no electric charge and is so light that it had been assumed for many years to have no mass at all. These two Scientists showed that Neutrinos, which are found in three ‘flavors,’ could oscillate from one flavor to another–changing identities like a spy on the run, as they traveled through the atmosphere or through space from the sun–demonstrating that they do in fact have mass.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the prize stated,

“The discovery has changed our understanding of the innermost working of matter and can prove crucial to our view of the Universe. . . .”

S O W H A T ?

Well. . .

The universe is swamped in neutrinos that are left over from the Big Bang, and many more are created in nuclear reactions on earth and in the thermonuclear reactions that power the sun.

. . . Once thought to travel at the speed of light, they drift through the earth and

OUR OWN BODIES

like moonlight through the window. Knowing that they can change identities–and that they have mass–has helped cosmologists understand how the Universe has evolved and how the sun works, and it will perhaps help them improve their attempts to create fusion reactors on earth. . . .

S O W H A T?

So. . .

if some SMALL NEUTRAL ONE

can do all that from the Sun

so very many, many years ago

from the Big Bang

and it’s in

OUR BODIES. . .

how much more

can just a single charged minuscule neutrino

reflect the Light

of our Compassion. . . ?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. . .

Holy Neutrinos, Batman

I don’t think we saw the light

we just might have on purpose with full intent,

c r e a t e d

i t !

May that be the Combustionable in us

exploding in atomic proportions

r e p e a t e d l y. . . .

Your Note

October 5, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

I use to show this film clip near the end of my presentation:

DYING TO LIVE

with the question:

“WOULDN’T IT BE NICE IF WE ALL HAD A MR. HOLLAND’S OPUS MOMENT. . .?”

I guess I’m still asking . . .

I’m FINDING people are still wondering about that Question. . . .

One of the biggest

F E A R S

we all have when facing our eventual deaths is:

“HAS MY LIFE BEEN MEANINGFUL?”

You don’t have to take all day,

You don’t have to go on a week-long retreat,

You don’t have to go on a year-long mission trip to

P A U S E

and hit your own personal DVR Review button

and know your many

P u r p o s e s

M e a n i n g s

R e a s o n s

D e s t i n i e s

you’ve had. . .

s h a r e d . . . .

Have you ever had a Mr. Holland’s Opus Moment. . .

YET. . . ?

Would you like to have

O N E

now?

HERE:

If you can’t begin to recall

p e r s o n a l l y

just how many lives you’ve

touched

enriched

blessed

strengthened

encouraged

heightened

inspired

motivated

HOW. . .

in or out of this World could you even begin to understand or

I M A G I N E

THOSE LIVES YOU’VE TOUCHED

who have gone out and touched countless other lives. . .

who have gone out and touched innumberable other lives. . .

who have gone out and touched infinite other lives. . . .

Your Mr. Holland’s Opus Moment is literally knowing

Your Ripple

is Endless.

Uhhhhh. . .

try Un-Stirring those constantly affected Waters

Mr. Holland!

Monkey Wrenched

October 2, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Ever felt like a

S M A S H E D P L A T E ?

S H E D I D

It was the Saturday before Halloween all the

W A Y

back in 2002

It was an all day retreat that I was contacted to do on

HOLY HELL

for a couple of Church groups that wanted to work through their

SMASHED PLATE SYNDROMES

S H E

was the one who contacted me; she was a Parish Nurse.

The day before the retreat, unbeknownst to me for these past 13 years,

S H E

had been diagnosed with MS.

I broke a plate using a monkey wrench

over and over again while asking:

“WHAT’S YOUR MONKEY WRENCH ?

I pointed out to the group that this was a harrowing sound as these smashed pieces jingled in the bag as I walked around the circle among where they were sitting.

I shared that this eery sound reminds us all of the one single day we celebrate every day of the year, sometimes with gusto: HALLOWEEN

(Because of all of the varied and many masks we wear)

I told the group not to worry because psycho-sociologists have a remedy for this bag of broken pieces that sounds like a bag of chains with each step taken. . .

“PICK UP THE PIECES AND GO ON”

Problem:

WE STILL HAVE A BAG OF BROKEN PIECES!

B U T . . .

There’s a Universal law that every major Religion and all of the

N O N E S

agree:

ALL THINGS ARE MADE NEW

( Pssssssssst: Which Spring doesn’t Prove THAT? )

I often tell every group I present before:

“I AM NOT HERE FOR THIS GROUP TODAY. . .I AM ONLY HERE FOR ONE, SINGLE PERSON. . .I JUST DON’T KNOW WHICH ONE OF YOU ?

Nearly Thirteen years later I found out it was

H E R

I conducted the funeral for a 95 year old gentleman I had never met before. He was retired High-School Choral Teacher and there were many of his former students there. I actually joked about what George Burns once said about getting THAT old:

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT PEER PRESSURE”

S H E

was the wife of the Choral Teacher’s grandson.

S H E

came up to me after the service and said,

“You probably don’t remember me. But I hired you to come to a Church in 2002 to give an all day Seminar for a group of grieving people. I was one of them. I had just found out the day before that I had MS and I know it doesn’t show that much but I struggle every day. My MRI is a mess and I was a terrible wreck that day with where my Life was headed with this terrible Detour I had just been told. You smashed that plate, telling us that our Life has a way of meeting up not so well with Monkey Wrenches that get thrown into the middle of our living. I felt like those broken pieces and just when I thought you were going to leave us with, ‘PICK UP THE PIECES AND GO ON’ you showed us that there was something much better than trying to pick up the pieces and futilely attempting to put them back together, or just going on. . .You held up a brand new plate that was a replica of the one you had just smashed and boldly stated:

BEHOLD. . .ALL THINGS BECOME NEW !”

With tears trickling down her face she said, “That day. . .that moment. . .you transformed my life. Can I give you a hug?”

“TODAY. . .I AM HERE FOR JUST ONE, SINGLE PERSON. . .I JUST DON’T KNOW WHICH ONE OF YOU?”

What. . .

What message are you giving. . .

What One, Single Person needs The Gift. . .

DESPERATELY NEEDS

The Gift of Y O U, today?

Sometimes, it may take as much as Thirteen years to find. . .

Sometimes, you may never find out. . .?

S H O W U P

Do not Disappoint. . .THEM

G I V E

even when you feel

like The Gift is Empty

or as if it’s

N O T H I N G. . . .

Throw a Monkey Wrench at Something bad to make something good. . .

SOMETHING NEW !

Your Compassionate Child

September 28, 2015 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

T H E Y

tell us that it’s one of the things we lose the fastest and at the earliest of ages:

OUR COMPASSIONATE CHILD

We usually talk ourselves out of being playful

We usually talk ourselves out of being curious

We usually talk ourselves out of being inquisitive

We usually talk ourselves out of being dreamers

We usually talk ourselves out of being spontaneous

We usually talk ourselves out of being fun-seekers

We usually talk ourselves out of being Wishers

We usually talk ourselves out of being Hopers

We usually talk ourselves out of being more Kind

. . .more caring

. . .more loving

. . .more giving

. . .more sharing

. . .more compassionate. . . .

Are we that influential

Are we that powerful

Are we such great experts in Self-Talk

that we can actually squelch

THE CHILD

within

that has never wanted to be silenced or pushed so deep inside that

R E M E M B E R W H E N

became more of a

ONCE UPON A TIME

than we ever imagined or should of allowed to become. . . ?

Well. . .

not today;

not now;

. . .give in

Crack the door open enough to let the

Hide ‘N Seeking

kid in you come running out to the

Excited screams of

A L L – Y, A L L – Y IN FREE

to touch the

H O M E B A S E

that’s never really ever been lost

and yet still,

right now,

on Purpose

F O U N D

all RED ROVER COME OVER

again

to be

T H A T

Compassionate Child

we have always been

. . .and now, even need to be more!

P I C K ‘ E D

September 25, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

What would be your

CHOSEN SYMBOL?

What would be what others would pick as your

CHOSEN SYMBOL?

Would they be the same?

Earlier this week, I conducted the funeral of a 49 year old man who had been killed in a motorcycle accident.

He was a hard worker. . .

had three current jobs that he loved

at a eclectic retail store

a Harley-Davidson dealership

and a Guitar Store.

He had more friends attending than room that could comfortably hold them.

He leaves behind a wife, a step-son, a brother, his mom and dad and several nieces and nephews.

There were many stories shared during the Celebration of his life.

There were countless pictures on numerous picture boards all around the lobby and the rooms where his service was held.

There were appropriate favorite songs played during the service

and then. . .

there were guitar picks that were handed out to each person that came to celebrate his life as each person took their leave.

“We know the old cliche, don’t we. . .but not all cliches are completely accurate, are they? You can PICK your friends, you can PICK your nose, but you can’t PICK your family. . .you, just by being here to remember, celebrate and honor have to know, even stronger than the grief you are feeling and expressing, that you each were PICKED; and out of all of the places that you could be, maybe even would rather be, this is the one place you can’t help but to be. . .the place that YOU PICKED TO BE. . . .”

I’ve seen

lottery scratch off tickets

poker chips

playing cards

slot-machine tokens

fishing bobbers

candy canes

candy bars

little shot bottles of many different assorted liquors

cigars

cigarettes

lifesavers

flowers

forget-me-not-flower-seeds

balloons

pens

bubblegum

cough-drops

feathers

little blue pills (seriously)

What would be your

CHOSEN SYMBOL?

What would be what others would pick as your

CHOSEN SYMBOL?

Would it be a joke?

Would it be very sincere and serious?

Would it be expensive?

Would it be self-explanatory?

Would it be easily discarded?

Would it be treasured?

Would it be explained?

Would it be personal?

Would it be loving?

Would

Necessary?

The Sweetest Sounding TRASH

September 21, 2015 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

Have you ever been

T R A S H E D ?

NO. . .

not drunk, not hung-over, not disabled with too much alcohol or drugs–

W O R S E

Discarded

Forgotten

Left Behind

Thrown Away

Given up on

S L A M M E D S H U T

T R A S H E D ?

I Love this video about some kids in Cateura, on the cusps of Asuncion, Paraguay who are showing the world that tunes out of trash is a real thing.

Favio Chavez is an environmental technician who visioned up a music school as an open door for kids. Don Cola Gomez is a simple trash worker and carpenter. He had never seen, heard or held a violin in his life, but when someone described one to him, he took a paint can and an old oven tray into his dirty workshop and made a violin.

I’m moved

I’m embarrassed

I’m inspired

How someplace I’ve never heard about, took a junk heap and literally turned it into a concert hall

I F . . .

THAT

. . .what. . .of me. . .of you. . .of us ?

What tune can come from my mess. . .

What symphony can crescendo up out of my Soul. . .

What Maestro can wave up a baton and command me to Create/Produce/Harmonize out an aria. . .

w h a t ?

REALIZATION

THAT

CAN ?

Garbage always has a way of earning it’s name

. . .But our mess often can become music

if. . .

you just keep playing. . . .

A symphony is never just a note

but try having one without a single first euphony

Shhhhhhhhhhh. . .the Sonata is beginning

you’re up–

S O U N D

O F F

. . .the world needs your music

desperately

YOUR DUMP

is the World’s Dance Hall

. . .do not disappoint. . .

P L A Y !

When The GIANT EAGLE Ascends

September 18, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

It was a busy Saturday morning. . .in an extremely crowded Giant Eagle Grocery Store.

It was just a quick,

GET IN, GET OUT

kind of an excursion.

(Aren’t they all?)

I went in and got a couple of gift cards and two greeting cards and then. . .

got in a long, a very long 10 items or less line.

There she was,

THE GIANT EAGLE ANGEL

She had a basket full of things. . .many different

E L E V E N T H I N G S

and then it happened. . .

She looked at what I was holding in just one hand and said,

“Sir, why don’t you go in front of me. I’m in no hurry and you just have some gift cards.”

I, protested at first and told her it wasn’t such a big deal, but she insisted and so,

NOT TO INSULT HER

I took her up on her offer and thanked her profusely.

. . .And then,
B A M

IT HAPPENED.

I told her she had done her good deed for the day and that’s when she shared with me that this had nothing to do with her good deeds so much as her

C A T H O L I C G U I L T

I joked and asked her if she was blaming The Pope on her good deed

and she joked back and told me it was more of the Nuns than The Pope.

I thanked her again for her

good deed

generosity

kindness

fear

guilt. . . .

It made me think about me

It made me think about you

It made me think about us

What ultimately makes us do what we do?

Are the reasons

P U R E

Tainted ?

Was this about some kind of weird guarantee of getting a small spot in Heaven

Not wearing Asbestos underwear for Eternity?

SHOULD’S = GUILT

OUGHT’S = FEAR

HAVE-TO’S = GUILT/FEAR

WANT-TO’S = RAINBOW’S/POT’S OF ENDLESS GOLD

Some kinds of Choices, huh?

What do you Choose. . .

What really CHOOSES YOU?

Can and Act of Kindness

just be an

A C T OF KINDNESS ?

(It Can. . .until. . .it CAN’T

Hmmmmmmmm of the Day:

Sometimes the higher The Eagle Ascends, not only the Closer to Heaven,

BUT the Bigger the Splat of the White Stuff that always finds your Windshield. . . .

IF YOU’RE HELPING SOMEONE AND EXPECT SOMETHING IN RETURN

IS IT

B U S I N E S S

K I N D N E S S

DYER’D NEED

September 9, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

People die everyday. . .

Sometimes very famous, very influential people

Two such people died on August 31:

Oliver Sacks and Dr. Wayne Dyer.

I’ve read many of Wayne’s books and actually heard him speak once. . .

His message?

Be open

Be forgiving

Be loving

Be Compassionate

“Upon waking, let the words THANK YOU flow from your lips, for this will remind you to begin your day with gratitude and compassion. make it a practice to begin each day by thinking first of someone else and then making a decision to actively do something, anything, that will bring a smile to someone’s face. When you become conscious of wanting to do something kind for another human being, you move into a higher way of being. It takes your thoughts off of yourself and WHAT’s IN IT FOR ME? and puts them on HOW MAY I SERVE? which is precisely how the universal mind we call Tao or God is always operating. When you’re aligned with a compassionate outlook, your entire day will reflect that kind of awareness.

Some suggestions for getting you started: Email a note of appreciation, say a kind word, apologize to an individual you’ve needed to make amends with, pick a few wildflowers and hand them to someone, give away some personal items such as books or jewelry, or send a smile toward someone that might brighten their moment….

–Wayne Dyer in EXCUSES BEGONE!

It’s one thing to Teach the Lesson. . .

It’s quite another to Learn it. . .

and absolutely another to simply

LIVE IT

My personal, favorite take away:

“IF YOU HAVE CHOICE BETWEEN BEING RIGHT OR KIND. . .PICK KIND”

Maybe the best way a person who has impacted us, lives on not so much by remembering their words but by actually living them to our fullest abilities. . .

M A Y B E

OR. . . .

EAGLED

September 7, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

WHO ARE YOU ?

It’s a question we get asked all of the time, isn’t it. . .

It’s a question we. . .

WE ASK OURSELVES

. . .A LOT, too, isn’t it?

Does the answer ever

C H A N G E ?

THEY

tell us that our children and most especially our grandchildren will most likely, in their lifetimes, have not just five jobs, but actually

FIVE OR MORE CAREERS !

So if we are

WHO WE ARE

as a profession or how we earn our money or

WHO OUR HEART SCREAMS WE ARE WHEN NO ONE ELSE IS LISTENING OR WATCHING ?

Hint:

You know you’ve been

E A G L E D

when you START OVER

. . .especially if it’s not been your choice to do so

We never have a purpose

We never have a reason

We never have a destiny

We never have a meaning

We, out of the very many things, the very many labels, the very many roles, the very many people we actually become and occupy, the absolute one is that we never stay

T H E S A M E

The Eagle doesn’t so much teach us how to soar. . .

so much as

HOW TO SOAR AGAIN

(and here’s the best part)

AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN

If that’s not a celebration of

Labor Day. . .

you quite possibly

have never worked

have never changed,

have never finished/begun again

have never celebrated

have never lived

(enough)

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