THE ENTERPRISE--A GIFT OF THANKS
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
This edition of THE ENTERPRISE will be an unusual one--one that I hope will enhance your holiday weekend help you savor all those things you have to be thankful for. The list is a long one. To properly write about it, I need to use those two words that seem to be either misused or avoided in our society--God and love.
I am, above all else, thankful to God for all the blessings He has bestowed on me. I am blessed (there I go, another God-related word)...but that Is the right word. I am thankful most of all for those I love. I am also thankful for a large group of friends, and a small group of very special friends (you know who you are). I decided a long time ago that the meaning in life was provided by the people in my life. Thus, to everyone who is reading this, who has touched my life in any way--Thanks to You!
MY THANKSGIVING GIFT TO YOU
I want to spend the rest of this edition to give all of you a Thanksgiving "Gift: I want to introduce you to Matthew Kelly and his work, his writings and his philosophy--which I can state quite succinctly. Matthew wants to help you become "the-best-version-of-yourself."
About 6 months ago, I became aware of a Matthew Kelly, when a friend who had met him gave me one of his books, THE RHYTHM OF LIFE, which I found to be wonderful. After reading the first 1/3 of it, I bought copies for several friends and family members while I finished reading it. I planned to meet with Matthew Kelly way back then, but his schedule and mine got in the way--and we never met.
These are the first four sentences of THE RHYTHM OF LIFE:
"Everything is a choice. This is life's greatest truth and its hardest lesson. It is a great truth because it reminds us of our power. Not power over others, but the often untapped power to be ourselves and to live the life we have imagined."
I discovered Matthew was speaking at a local church last Sunday evening, so my wife, Maureen and I went to see and hear him. He was as impressive in person as his book led me to think he'd be. I got home and emailed him, hoping to meet with him sometime soon. That sometime turned out to be this past Wednesday. It's rare that you encounter someone who makes an impression like Matthew did on me.
I recalled the first time I read Bill Byham's great book, ZAPP! (The Lightning of Empowerment) and how impressed I was with Bill's unique approach to educating readers while telling a story. I bought Matthew's latest book THE DREAM MANAGER and decided to read it last Sunday afternoon, before I saw him speak. I am so happy I did. It was as refreshing as a drink of cool water on a hot summer's day.
His presentation that Sunday evening was at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westerville, OH, where he held a standing room only (sitting in the aisles) gathering mesmerized for about 45 minutes. Nothing he said was either overly dramatic ... or overtly "radical." It just all made solid, inspiring, good sense--including the parts about God and the Church.
My motive here is simple--to introduce you to a wonderful new person--one who can add to the riches of meaning in your life. There are only a few people who could do what he has done, while still in his 30's. He's spoken to 3 million people and sold 1 million books, most of it without a "commercial motive," as the primary reason for what he has been doing. Matthew is Catholic (as I am) and much of his work is done on retreats, speaking at churches and to youth gatherings. He has spoken to big convention audiences, and worked with major corporations, too, as the power of his message has been discovered. He is Australian by birth, and now makes his home in the USA.
It strikes me as ironic how such encounters evolve in seemingly unexpected ways. I found Matthew just as I was sending my edited manuscript for THE COMPLEXITY CRISIS, off to the publisher. Back then, I had planned to ask for his help when the launch time was near. Somehow, when I met him I decided not to ask him for help. I left him a copy of the galleys of my book, and a copy of my first book THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP, so he could get a flavor of my beliefs. Mostly, the lunch we spent together was fun because I just enjoyed knowing him and being a small part of his world. And I decided to offer my help to him, instead, if he ever needed it.
Make no mistake, I think my book's message is very important; it can save hundreds of millions of dollars, improve thousands of companies and make life better for their employees. These are all important outcomes, But Matthew's message is more important. His message transcends the world of work and business. It is about your life, your soul, your spirit, the difference between pleasure and happiness (you'll have to read his work to learn that difference) and about how you can become "the-best-version-of-yourself."
With his latest book, THE DREAM MANAGER, Matthew has crossed over into the field I know best--that of business, organizations, motivation and work life. Reading one good book can make a huge difference. I may be able to help him in that area by telling people about THE DREAM MANAGER, and over time, that may help me too ("what goes around, comes around.") But the real point is to tell all of you--readers--about this remarkable young man and his message.
Once people understand how they can realize their dreams, (and companies understand how to help them do this) and how they can become "the-best-version-of-themselves," then they will be ready for my book--to help them wring wasteful complexity from their company, their jobs and their lives.
Those insights are my Thanksgiving gift to you. I hope your holiday weekend was wonderful, and that somewhere in it, you found a few moments to reflect on all the things you have to be thankful for.
I'll close by attaching a little bit of Matthew's message--in his own words--from the opening page of his web site, I urge you to go there and look around.
Happy Thanksgiving.
John
From http://www.matthewkelly.org/mkf_index.html
Are you becoming the-best-version-of-yourself?
People are always asking me questions like, "When will I know that I have become the-best-version-of-myself?" and "Do I ever become the-best-version-of-myself, or is it one of those things we strive for but never achieve?"
Well, it isn't like we wake up one day and say, "The job is done. I am the-best-version-of-myself!" Everyday we have to celebrate our best self. In every moment we choose between the-best-version-of-ourselves… and a myriad of second-rate-versions-of-ourselves.
In some moments we actively celebrate our best self and in that moment we know that we are indeed the-best-version-of-ourselves. But in the next moment we can lose our best self once again to laziness, impatience, anger, envy, gossip, greed, thoughtlessness, selfishness…
The-best-version-of-ourselves isn't something we strive for and never achieve. It is something we achieve in some moments and not in others.
Your essential purpose is to become the-best-version-of-yourself. This one principle brings clarity to everything else in our lives.
What makes a good book, friend, marriage, job, or movie? A good book, friend, marriage, job, or movie, is one that helps us to become the-best-version-of-ourselves!
Everything makes sense in relation to our essential purpose. The people, experiences, and things we fill our lives with either helps us to become the-best-version-of-yourself… or they don't.
In every moment we simply need to ask ourselves, "Which of the options before me will help me to become the-best-version-of-myself?"
Welcome to The Matthew Kelly Foundation. You have been placed here in this place and at this time to celebrate your best self and to make a contribution. What will your contribution be? I hope that the materials and programs we provide here at the foundation will help you discover the-best-version-of-yourself...
With Warmest Regards,
Matthew Kelly
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