The Forgotten Prayer

Paulo Coelho

The Forgotten Prayer

The last time I walked the streets of Sao Paulo, I received a pamphlet from a friend, Edinho,with the title, “A Moment of Holiness.” A four-color print, nice quality paper, but  the only thing that kept me reading further was a prayer.

Much to my amazement, I saw that I was the one who wrote it. The text had been published in the early 8os in a collection of poetry. I never thought that the words would stand the test of time or that they would ever show up in such a mysterious manner back in my hands. As I reread it, I was not ashamed of what I had written so many years ago. Because the prayer was in the pamphlet, I now take it as an omen and feel it is only proper to present it again here.

I hope, dear readers, to inspire you to write down your own prayer, in which you ask for things that you find important. In this way, we create a positive vibration in our heart that is contagious and affects everything around us.

Here is the prayer:

Lord, protect our doubts, for doubt is a form of prayer.It makes us grow by forcing us fearlessly to the many answers we seek that are there for one and the same question.

Lord, protect our decisions, for decision is a form of prayer. Give us courage, after the necessary doubt, to choose between the one way or the other. That our YES be a YES and our NO always a NO. That when we have made a choice that we never again look back nor allow our hearts to churn with remorse.

Lord, protect our dreams,for our dreams are a form of prayer. Make us, independent of our age or our circumstances, able to keep the holy flame, which burns with hope and perseverance, in our hearts.

Lord, give us enthusiasm, for enthusiasm is a form of prayer. This is what binds us to heaven and  earth and to people old and young and that shows that our desire is important and worth the effort. It is that which confirms that all things are possible.

Lord, protect us for life is the only form we have to display your miracles. May the earth continue to change seeds into corn and may we continue to change corn into bread. This is only possible through love, therefore, let us never live in loneliness. Grant us your continuous fellowship and the fellowship of others so that doubts, discourse, dreams and enthusiasm can exist and that we live with the attitude that everyday is devoted to your glory. Amen

Translated from Dutch. Number of new vocabulary words: 27

Playbook for Super-Health or Recovery from Illness~Adapted from Dr. Terry Wahls

Consume the following foods everyday:

• 3 cups of green leafy vegetables
• 3 cups of colored fruits & vegetables
• 3 cups of sulfur containing vegetables
• Seaweed
• No glutinous grains

Use only organic foods and personal products

Move your body

Meditate

Scale? We don’t need to Stinkin’ Scale

I know that scaling is the way to make something big out of a small operation. But, who says scaling is the only way to go? I just heard about Ugmonk through 99u.com and I love Jeff’s desire to grow slowly and sustainably.

I am still very surprised that  "how will you scale?" is the first question asked of any type of start up crew, even though I shouldn’t be, since I focus on the stock market where scaling up to IPO is the only growth model.

In the old days, a baker or a butcher was not concerned with scaling, he was concerned with making a living and thus, providing a quality product to ensure the security of his income. These days with the reemergence of artisanal makers, where small and hands on is the new model, why are we still so focussed on scaling up?

Clean Mind Policy

For sometime now, I have been practicing a strict clean desk policy. At the end of each work day, I tidy up what normally looks like the Tasmanian Devil’s workshop. All papers off the desk, hopefully in binders, but sometimes in piles in drawers, but out of sight. Pens & pencils in their purple leather container, coffee cup in the dishwasher, discards to the recycle bin, shared items to the cabinet.

The only paper allowed on the desk surface is tomorrow’s To Do list. This makes for a nice closing ritual for the day and for a fresh start of the next day, which is particularly nice on Mondays or the first day back from vacation.

This morning I woke up thinking about adopting a Clean Mind Policy.

I don’t mean cleaning up my dirty mind. I live in Holland, any type of censorship is bad and what fun would that be anyway?

What I am thinking about is creating a habit of regularly and actively removing the daily mind clutter that comes with working and that stands in the way of my happiness pursuit. As, Taylor Swift puts it, to shake, shake, shake it off. Get rid of it before it becomes hoard fodder for my brain or worse, my heart.

Like most things I do, I need tips and Jedi Mind tricks to use on myself. Maybe, the best way to start this is to do it at the same time that I am cleaning off my desk; a mindfulness exercise to make sure no unnecessary annoyances, grudges or petty peeves go out the door with me. Maybe I can even put it on the end of tomorrow’s To Do list as a reminder.

"To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities."
— Bruce Lee

Hello, Friends!

Welcome back to my thought space.

A while back, I was complaining to a friend that on our vacation to Curacao, I was annoyed by the 18-yr-old daughter of friends who was constantly running around in her bikini.

He asked me, does that make you want to be 18 again? I guess he thought that I was annoyed out of envy for her youthful beauty. I said “Heck, no!” I didn’t even have to think about the question. Later, I started thinking about why I feel this way. I came up with a great number of whys. Being young is hard and you don’t even realize that you are beautiful until you look back. Recently, a friend of mine posted a picture of me at 17. My mouth dropped when I saw it, not at all how I saw myself at that time.

But that is not really the point of this thought module. I watched this video this week What We Tell Ourselves. I found it on Seth Godin’s blog. It’s a call to action for us 35-60 year-olds and it is fantastic. Have a look and tell me what you think.

Bloemen van Piet

One moment, the road

Tender blooms from the rested

Salvation in you