Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Lead Where I Follow....

Some of you may have been wondering where this month's "Accentuate the Positive" has gone.

Truthfully, it died a quiet death.

Two practical reasons and one more philosophical.

1) I didn't get any response when I mentioned it last week. No one submitted anything. I mean... nothing.

2) The few things that came in from Blog Carnival were in my opinion, one step above blog spam, the equivalent of prosperity theology which I am not willing to support on this site. That's a judgment call on my part and a decision I made based on the kind of values I want to support on this site.

3) Possibly the most important one is that I am not a "leader" type personality. I am not willing to promote, pursue or try to motivate others to do any given thing. I would have been a terrible missionary.

Contributing to the other forums out there is ok with me. I'm happy to contribute posts to Julie's Roundtable or Just Posts and don't have the need to have my own forum.

Don't get me wrong. Accentuating the positive is certainly important and if someone else decides to run with it, I will contribute. It's simply not my nature to do what is necessary to keep it going here.

I believe we come to this earth with different personal styles and gifts. Some of us are leaders. Some of us are followers. Some of us are in between. I fall into the latter category. I follow the things I choose to follow and ignore the rest. There's nothing I feel particularly compelled to follow. My choices are based on the overall philosophy promoted in any particular action. There has to be commonality between my ethics and values and those someone is trying to promote. I'm very political that way. I don't go along to get along when it comes to my most dearly held beliefs and values. That, like anything else, can have both a positive and negative application. On the good side, I'm right there to support someone whose views I believe have a good influence in the world. On the negative side, I can be a bit judgmental.

There's a time I would have taken this entirely differently. I would have believed it was all my fault, that no one takes me seriously, that it's just more evidence that I am not "good enough". It would have been a personal blow. I would have taken it totally personally and would have tortured myself for weeks to come.

Thank goodness I don't live in that Awful Place anymore. That kind of self-absorption is a real energy drain.

There are different characteristics and talents we are given when we come to this life, all of them valid and good. The healthiest and best way to look at it is that we don't "fail". We just discover the traits and characteristics that are part of our personal tool chest and what is needed for our personal paths. While I may not be a "leader", I am influential to a degree in a less dynamic way. The most important thing to know is that we all come with the exact tools we need to fulfill our own destinies. There is no judgment attached to that in that one tool does not have more inherent value than another tool, although corporate propaganda would certainly disagree. The value becomes an issue only in how we choose to use our tools.

What I can and will do is continue to use this site to create positivity through the discussion of certain values and ethics, a way of life, with my own writing and contributions on other sites.

~*

24 comments:

flutter said...

This is an incredibly healthy perspective, Chani and I am very proud.

QT said...

I am with flutter - this is much healthier for you. I don't go along ot get along either and I think that is a much better use of time than trying to figure out what ring to throw my hat in next...

Anonymous said...

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thailandchani said...

Flutter, thanks. :)

~*

QT, very true. I'll grant that I'm fairly vigilant about what kind of things appear here and that is mainly because I feel a high degree of responsibility for the footprints I leave.

~*

Crescenet, I would recommend that you don't hold your breath waiting for a link, eh?

~*

Martha Elaine Belden said...

i despise prosperity theology. i don't even understand how it came about it. the Bible certainly doesn't teach it in the least.

and i think it's wonderful that you recognize your gifts and focus on those. i haven't figured out where i fit in the leader -- follower spectrum. i tend to do a lot of both actually, depending on the situation and my company (not corporately speaking... i just mean the people around me)

anyway... fascinating post.

bee said...

i had to follow your link to figure out what prosperity theology was, and OMG. i can't believe that.

i really applaud how you know yourself, and how you assert it.

thank you, also, for all of your wise support.

Anonymous said...

I hear you.

I'm sincerely glad you're not taking it personally.

I would have tried to participate, but positive (as much as I need it does not come to me. Am I putting out the wrong vibes :)

heartinsanfrancisco said...

I didn't submit anything because I haven't been feeing very positive lately, but I ALWAYS come away from your site with a more positive perspective on life.

Your clear-eyed acceptance of reality is an inspiration to me, far more than those who promote touchy-feely values, often invoking God or the universe as backup, and tell me how I SHOULD be feeling.

You offer a hand to those who need it, and in my view, that IS being a leader.

Julie Pippert said...

Chani, this is fantastic...I love your take on this. I like that you'll carry on with your idea, just in a different way. At least for now, because possibly next month, after NoMoBloPo and the holidays are past, people might have the schedule and attention. Or maybe you'll like what you decided. Anyway. I wanted to participate in yours, Jen's and Mad's, the ROFLs and so forth but December is just not my month...and in better months I seem to have trouble anyway.

And this?

"While I may not be a "leader", I am influential to a degree in a less dynamic way. The most important thing to know is that we all come with the exact tools we need to fulfill our own destinies. There is no judgment attached to that in that one tool does not have more inherent value than another tool, although corporate propaganda would certainly disagree. The value becomes an issue only in how we choose to use our tools."

That is brilliant.

Julie
Using My Words

Ian Lidster said...

I come to you on virtually a daily basis to get a boost in my sanity and perspectives on life's values.
I love your wisdom and utter honesty, and you do have far more influence than I think you perceive that you do.
Thanks for being you and sharing your thoughts, always.

LittlePea said...

I'm glad it didn't get you down. I value this blog and envy your ability to get to the purest and honest point of an issue.
I'm not a writer so I didn't think to submit anything.

Emily said...

I actually had considered submitting, but it was a story that included me and that felt really self-serving. (I wasn't the main do-gooder, but I was in there.) But, your even suggesting this has reminded me to keep my blogging positive.

I, too, am not a leader. It took a long time for me (and others) to realize this. People think I ought to be because I am outgoing, smart, and full of energy, but I am uncomfortable leading. I can run a classroom, but that's about the extent of it.

meno said...

Right on! This is such a healthier attitude for you.

What's that quote from someone... something like "Most people would stop worrying about what other people think of them, if they knew how seldom they did."

Which is a little sad, but oh so true.

S said...

I'm really impressed by your ability to step away from that Awful Place.

Bravo, my friend!

Black Wombmyn Chat said...

What bothers me about the Prosperity Theory is that it trumpets the use of "God" as a way of avoiding PAIN (emphasis on 'protection') and gaining PLEASURE ('wealth, etc.)

In our quest to avoid pain, God becomes little more than Santa Claus.

If we're good...

x said...

Chani: Was that Crescenet comment real or computer generated? What's that about? And I love that picture. What is it? I sound like a three-year-old, asking all these questions. I've tried to start a few "things" that fizzled and I just didn't have the energy or care enough to pursue it. It's really important we focus our energies. It's so easy to get scattered with overcommitment.

blooming desertpea said...

Chani, I found and still find the "accentuate the positive" a great thing. I just don't have anything positive to share right now - sad but true.

Anonymous said...

The only path that works for me is being myself--"real", authentic, genuine,compassionate and congruent--and if another being is benefitted as a result, cool. Certainly not the plan but a lovely dessert of happenstance.

The integrity of your weave is beautiful. I appreciate and value your sharings.

--

Anonymous said...

I would have posted something positive, but the mass exodus from Blogger in the light of their new changes to the commenting system has begun, and I am absolutely flat out organising wordpress blogs for people. I'm switching over a blog a day at the moment and it's been that way for over a week now, and people are still lining up to make the move.

I do the whole thing, move all the photos and the posts, much of which is a fairly simple automated process - well it was until Blogger changed the photo displaying system as well. It now seems to be a random game of click on the photo and receive a larger image or click on the photo and be asked if you want to download it. So now the script we wrote to do it unfortunately does not work. :(

I didn't even get time to post on my *own* blog yesterday..

That on top of starting my tourism business, trying to write content for my blog, making Christmas decorations as a surprise and the million other things on my plate right now.. I'm sorry. ;(

December is always a really bad month for things. Plus most bloggers just got done with NaBloPoMo.

And yes, you do have to get out there and promote things like this, unfortunately many people don't do things without a bit of pushing. It's one of the things I dislike about trying to organise things. :(

I'm thrilled that you've taken it the way you have - as they say in that song, you've come a long way baby! ;)

Snoskred
www.snoskred.org

x said...

I don't think my last comment got posted. Yikes! It was long, too. I'll wait and see. Yes, I've been thinking of leaving Blogger too. They lose comments all the time as well.

thailandchani said...

I hadn't noticed any problem with comments until now. They are not coming to my email. Hope it's temporary.

Unfortunately, I'm just not up to learning a whole new system. A webmaster, I ain't! :)

Janet said...

I admire your attitude! I have come to realize that I am a terrible blog citizen who often thinks, "I should nominate this post for XYZ" and then I forget to bookmark it, or I get busy, or, or, or...

crazymumma said...

sorry Chani....

Catherine said...

I emailed you one! Didn't you get it??