A Short Leadership Story - We live in a world that offers a lot of glitter, lights, and bells but unfortunately it does not offer a lot of substance. Governments, religious leaders, teachers and other trusted members of society are continually taking advantage of the innocent. For this reason many people have decided to simply live for today because tomorrow they may die. In the late 60s the hippie generation adopted this philosophy because of the negative world conditions.
I must admit that I too fell into that group. The world did not make any sense and it seemed absurd to work hard all of your life for material possessions and then die and give them to someone who may not appreciate them. For this reason I too became involved in the live for today philosophy. Since the 1960s that philosophy has continued to grow. Popular slogans such as “you deserve it”, “party until you die”, “have it your way”, “just do it”, and “seize the day” tell a lot about the attitude of today’s society.
After decades of alcohol, tobacco and drug abuse I decided that enough
was enough, it was time to make a major change. The only problem I had
was what type of change would I make? The answer came a few days later
when someone knocked on my door and showed me a book that answered all
of my questions. This book explained why the world is in the terrible
condition that it is in. It showed what will happen in the future and
most importantly it detailed how to have a happy life.
After
seriously studying this book for a period of time I realized that
everything contained inside of it was true. This was the turning point
in my life. The book explained that there was more happiness in giving
than in receiving. This concept was completely contrary to what the
majority of people in the world were doing. Modern-day philosophy,
advertisements, and the entertainment industry were all saying the same
thing that you are happier when receiving and therefore get as much as
you can while the getting is good.
This type of belief has proven
false over and over again as people accumulate wealth and material
possessions beyond what they can use a lifetime. The rich and famous
have lives that are convoluted and distorted. Their family environment
consists of envy, jealousy, and hatred as they scheme to get from each
other as much as they can. Divorce among the rich and famous is
continuous and children are often in trouble with the authorities over a
variety of issues such as drugs, violence, and crime.
However besides that, what never made sense to me was as I mentioned
before that a person works hard all of her life to accumulate material
possessions and then dies and leaves them for someone else. In fact, the
book has an illustration about a man who spent his retirement years
building huge storehouses for all of his possessions. On the day that he
finished building the storehouses he dies. What a waste of life. This
help me to appreciate that there is a lot more to living than what we
are being spoon fed by religious leaders, politicians, and others whose
only concern is for themselves.
As I began to learn more about
what makes a person happy I became happier. We were designed to enjoy
the earth and all that it has to offer. We were however also designed to
love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is such a simple
principle but if the world followed only this one simple principle there
would be no wars, violence, crime, divorce, abuse, or any other harmful
situation.
After I learned from the book that man was created to live in paradise conditions for an eternity and that this purpose still exists I exulted and began to help others understand this simple yet powerful truth. The world that we live in now has obviously many problems and people experience harmful fallout from these problems. There is however solutions to every problem that will help a person to endure. I have been able to counsel many such people with the wisdom contained in the book. The wisdom was not my own but belongs to the one who created all things and has put that knowledge into the book.
Today, I continue to spend the majority of my waking hours helping others in a variety of ways. Recently, I have introduced a program that is being used in many of the schools in a Third World country. The teaching program helps the students to understand some basic moral principles about being honest, not being a bully, obeying parents and teachers, working hard to help others, and other such gems of knowledge. The book that has helped me to change my life from a life of selfishness to one of giving is called the Bible. It’s simple principles can help you and your family also to have the happiest life imaginable.
Thank you for reviewing this short leadership story provided by a guest writer.