Under Consruction

Core Value Number One

((They say to be careful of what you put on the internet. However Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine and a new book The Compound Factor suggests that this is one way to get others to assist in becoming the individual you want to be. This one is personal, but I am prompted to send it out to the universe so that it (the universe) knows without a doubt what I want.))

As I continue to grow and reinvent myself, it is amazing how friends, God, past experiences and all your synapse’s firing at the same time will help guide your path.

I am reading a book that has an exercise to help the reader understand his/her core values. It starts with a list of three people you admire most. I paused right here because I really wanted to do this right.

I have a friend that “teaches” there are eight core values, and they all tend to be negative based (I’m not good enough, I am unloved…) and recently I have come to believe that core values ought to be more positive than negative. So, I have list of about 12 “I AM” statements that help the present me know what the future me is, now. I also have four “Big Hairy Audacious Goals.” I read these twice daily. Among them both are the desire to help lift others, invest in others, and help other reach their ultimate potential. These statements help direct me to my core values - who I am.

Thanks to a conversation with a dear friend, I realized who my first person I admire most is/was. I believe his name was Mel. (I can’t remember is name, but Mel comes to mind.) He was a true millionaire cowboy.Worth more than you would know just by looking at him. I met him in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. His family owned two very large cranberry marshes. (thus my love for everything cranberry) He also owned two large cattle ranches, one in Wisconsin and one in Arizona. He lived in Arizona much of the year due to allergies. His was the first cell phone I had ever seen. In 1976 it was a dial up radio phone that fit in a brief case. He bought and sold herds of cattle without ever seeing them. He sat on the Board of Ocean Spray. I was impressed! However, looking at this former National Rodeo Association Bronc Riding Champion, you would never know his worth.

His real worth was introduced to me by two strangers he brought into his home, while I lived there. (We, my companion and I, house -sat while his family lived in Scottsdale.)

One was a former “drunk rodeo professional” whom Mel l had invested time and love and assets to build him up. His talent was in horse training. One of the best in the business, Mel told me. He took this man, helped him purchase a stable, horses, tack shop and put him in charge. In short order, this man was the owner --in control of his own destiny, instead of following the rodeo circuit and drinking away the winnings. (Mel said he saw a lot of that.) This man owed his life to Mel. He helped him dry up. Get back to church and become a family man again.

The other was a down-on-his – luck beekeeper from Arizona. Mel had brought him from Arizona to manage the bees on his marshes and then set them out on the fields in the area. Then, instead of killing or hibernating the bees as he had done in the past, he allowed him to take the bees home to Arizona for the winter. There he could keep the proceeds from the honey. In a few years, the keeper would own the bees, and contract with Mel.

I learned from these two men that their stories were not isolated. Mel invested in the lives of his friends and companions regularly.

I determined then that I wanted to be like that man. I will probably never be able relate this story in person, (tear drop, tear drop, sniffle) but Mel is example core number one.

I dedicate the next 30 years to core value number one: I am a lifter of others. I invest in others.

Thanks for your help, universe, I won’t be able to do it without you.