Our internal status quo becomes apparent during meditation. The mind is so noisy, so chaotic. The status quo is to entertain any thought. The status quo is to disengage with the present moment, to roll in the past or roll in the future. The status quo is inattention. The status quo is to react to temporary discomfort. To go against the internal status quo is to keep the mind still, to not identify with temporary sensations, to experience them with greater awareness and patience than you thought possible. Going against internal status quo is discovering new vistas of personal strength and capability. That is self-leadership.
On the subject of external status quo :) and leadership, I recently learned about the remarkable story of Barbados. A Caribbean island comparable in terms of history and resources to Jamaica 40 years ago, it now has twice the median income of Jamaica, is thriving economically, and has over 95% literacy while Jamaica remains poor and lacking in education. The difference? Years ago the Barbadian economy had a financial crisis, and the country's leadership made a decision against the status quo historically by exercising monetary restraint and asking its population to spend less. The labor leadership stepped up and asked people to accept massive wage cuts under the slogan "Save Barbados". Business leadership recognized labor's patriotic sacrifice and decided to accept a lower profit margin. Through mutual trust and solidarity between government, business, and people (later formalized as the "Social Partnership"), the country came out of its crisis and real wages are now higher than before the cut. And Barbadians are actually happy with their political leaders! bit.ly/9dJtBH
On Jul 22, 2010 NP wrote :
Our internal status quo becomes apparent during meditation. The mind is so noisy, so chaotic. The status quo is to entertain any thought. The status quo is to disengage with the present moment, to roll in the past or roll in the future. The status quo is inattention. The status quo is to react to temporary discomfort. To go against the internal status quo is to keep the mind still, to not identify with temporary sensations, to experience them with greater awareness and patience than you thought possible. Going against internal status quo is discovering new vistas of personal strength and capability. That is self-leadership.
On the subject of external status quo :) and leadership, I recently learned about the remarkable story of Barbados. A Caribbean island comparable in terms of history and resources to Jamaica 40 years ago, it now has twice the median income of Jamaica, is thriving economically, and has over 95% literacy while Jamaica remains poor and lacking in education. The difference? Years ago the Barbadian economy had a financial crisis, and the country's leadership made a decision against the status quo historically by exercising monetary restraint and asking its population to spend less. The labor leadership stepped up and asked people to accept massive wage cuts under the slogan "Save Barbados". Business leadership recognized labor's patriotic sacrifice and decided to accept a lower profit margin. Through mutual trust and solidarity between government, business, and people (later formalized as the "Social Partnership"), the country came out of its crisis and real wages are now higher than before the cut. And Barbadians are actually happy with their political leaders! bit.ly/9dJtBH