Leadership (revisited)--Qualities of Great Leaders

1/ They are survivors.  They have experienced disappointment and setbacks, yet they always find a way to bounce back.  They are truly resilient and courageous.
2/ They make the most of opportunities they are given and create their own opportunities where there are none.  They seek the crack in the wall or the way over the fence instead of complainig about unfairness or giving up.
3/ They look for ways to add value.  Doing enough isn't enough for them.  They go beyond the minimum and exceeded expectations.  No one demands it of them --they demand it of themselves.
4/ They ignore critics.  They look for ways to keep dreams alive and hopes on fire.  Their strength comes from a depth of character and a single focus on their goals.  They even use their critics' words to spur themselves on.
5/ They continually improve themselves.  Despite family commitments and professional and volunteer activities, they are willing to develop themselves.  They aren't looking for anything to be handed to them just because of gender, race or position.
6/ They have a vision...no, a passion.  Their unswerving commitment to a greater good is their compass.  They don't shrink from the hard work and perseverance required to make their vision a reality.
7/ They are selfless.  Hard work and long hours are easier to pour out when they benefit you.  They are harder to sustain if they are for the good of others.  In every case, they work tirelessly, in their own ways, to make their world a better place.
8/ They never give up.  ...[T]hey are able to reach down deep and find that extra reserve, that hidden stash of personal energy and commitment.
9/ They help others grow.  They don't build their own success by using others.  They know that if they can help their colleagues to be successful, they will succeed.
10/ They create synergy.  Their accomplishments are achieved by bringing out the best in others and encouraging them to do more than they thought possible.
11/ They need to make a difference.  They want to build a better reality for the future and they aren't content with what's been done in the past.
12/ They have guts.  When it would be easier to sit back and wait for someone else to act, they muster the courage of their convictions and raise their hand.
13/ They have strong values.  They respect the dignity of other people, act with honesty and integrity, and communicate openly and truthfully.
14/ They don't believe in luck.  They create their own at the intersection of opportunity and preparation.
15/ They recognize the need for balance.  They are torn in many directions but seem to be able to keep their priorities straight.
16/ They create their own definition of success.  ...They aren't governed by other people's "shoulds."
17/ They like being a role model for others and take it seriously.  They know their families and communities are watching, and they are mindful that they are setting an example and redefining roles for the next generation...[They are] holding up the light and leading the way.

Source:
Joan Lloyd, author, consultant and speaker.
   

Healthcare Industry in the USA

Up to 30% of the care provided in the US is unnecessary. (p.43)

The anger index (p. 42)

We asked a national sample of 1,000 adults what they thought of these real-life health care cost horors.  Below, the percentage who found them outrageous:

$37.50 For a Single Tylenol in the Hospital:  91%

Doctor Who Orders an MRI Because He Owns the Machine:  89%

$1,000 For a Single Pill That Treats Hepatitis:  80%

The Swiss and the US health care systems are a lot alike: Both have mandatory insurance, provided through private companies.  But prices are regulated and capped in Switzerland, while the US is a pricing free-for-all.  The result?  Prices are uniformly higher in the US. (p. 42)

Source:
Consumer Reports, November 2014, pp. 42-43

        

Service/Drug	Switzerland	USA
Gleevac (Cancer Drug)	$3,633 per dose	$6,214 per dose
MRI	$138	$1,145
Normal Delivery	$8,307	$10,002
Heart Bypass Surgery	$36,509	$75,345

Samādhi

In Yoga, Samādhi is a higher level of concentrated meditation, which transcends the realms of body, mind and intellect, and where the logical and analytical ability of the being becomes silent. Samadhi symptomatically represents itself as the transcendental state, wherein even consciousness of the yogi might get detached from the body. According to Bhargava Dictionary Samadhi is the exercise of austerity of a Yogi whereby he acquires the power of suspending the connection between the body and soul as long as he likes.  In terms of Consciousness, it has been described as a non-dualistic state of consciousness in which the consciousness of the experiencing subject becomes one with the experienced object, and in which the mind becomes still, one-pointed or concentrated while the person remains conscious. 

In Buddhism  Samādhi, or concentration of the mind, can refer to an abiding in which mind becomes very still but does not merge with the object of attention, and is thus able to observe and gain insight into the changing flow of experience.  It is the 3rd division of the eightfold path of the Buddha's threefold training: wisdom (pañña), conduct (sīla), Samādhi (Buddhism) (samādhi) - within which it is developed by samatha meditation. Some Buddhist schools teach of 40 different object meditations, according to the Visuddhimagga, a medieval commentarial text. These objects include meditations on the breath (anapanasati), loving kindness (metta) and various colours, earth, fire, etc. (kasiṇa).

Important components of Buddhist meditation, frequently discussed by the Buddha, are the successively higher meditative states known as the four jhānas which in the language of the eight-fold path, are "right concentration". Right concentration has also been characterised in the Maha-cattarisaka Sutta as concentration arising due to the previous seven steps of the noble eightfold path.

Four developments of samādhi are mentioned in the Pāli Canon:

1. Jhāna
2. Increased alertness
3. Insight into the true nature of phenomena (knowledge and vision)
4. Final liberation

Post-canonical Pali literature identifies three different types of samādhi:

1. momentary samādhi (khaṇikasamādhi)
2. access concentration (upacārasamādhi)
3. fixed concentration (appaṇāsamādhi)

Not all types of samādhi are recommended either. Those which focus and multiply the five hindrances are not suitable for development.  The Buddhist suttas also mention that samādhi practitioners may develop supernormal powers (abhijñā, also see siddhis) and list several that the Buddha developed, but warn that these should not be allowed to distract the practitioner from the larger goal of complete freedom from suffering.  The bliss of samādhi is not the goal of Buddhism; but it remains an important tool in reaching the goal of enlightenment. Later Buddhist schools would eventually teach entirely different meditation methods for cultivating Samatha - the quality of tranquility - than for developing vipassana - the quality of insight. However, the earliest Buddhist Canons make it clear that these two qualities are developed by the same practice, namely Jhāna via the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samadhi

On Human Rights, Reforms, and the Emergence of a Civil Society

• Where, after all, do human rights begin? 

In small places, close to home, in the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works....

Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.                (Eleanor Roosevelt, 1958 Speech to the United Nations.)

• Peace in Oneself; Peace in the World.       (Thich Nhat Hanh) 

Some Notable Quotations

Great minds discuss ideas.  Average minds discuss events.  Small minds discuss people.

Probably the happiest period in life most frequently is the middle age, when the eager passions of youth is cooled, and the infirmities of age not yet begun.

[To the young:] Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively.

Learn from the mistakes of others.  You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.

Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you will be criticized anyway.   

Today is the oldest you have ever been, and the youngest you will ever be again.

We all create the person we become by our choices as we go through life.  In a real sense, by the time we are adults, we are the sum total of the choices we have made.

Women are like teabags.  We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water.

Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. 

Happiness is not a goal…it is a by-product of a life well-lived.

Eleanor Roosevelt.

All of us face hard choices in our lives.  Life is about making such choices.  Our choices and how we handle them shape the people we become.

Hillary Clinton

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
(Unknown)

The worst investment you can have is cash. .... Cash is going to become worth less over time. But good businesses are going to become worth more over time.  Of course, that's not to say that having a cash buffer for emergencies is a bad thing. However, having piles of cash -- tens upon tens of thousands of dollars in cash -- is a great way to guarantee a terrible return on a very large pile of money.
Warren Buffett