Over the last week or so, I have posted on Leadership and Management … Consultation … Resourcefulness… and Certitude. I am no motivational nor public speaker. I am a student of Character Leadership and Unity Building. It is what I study, speak, teach, train, educate, facilitate. coach, consult, sing, dance, cartoon, write, blog, vlog and create around.
In so many ways, it is what I BE and DO.
That said, I am coming clean. Cleanliness is a virtue and much more than we think of it far too often.
Fresh and clean goes beyond body hygiene and how we care for what we put in our bodies; though that be important. It is detaching from harmful habits, distractions and doubts. It is about making proper amends. It is about forgiving ourselves, and others… and taking Responsibility for our personal and collective space.
Through this Pandemic, I have learned a new level of understanding of Cleanliness. I have come to comprehend what that looks like in my interactions and in my own self care. I have come to a deeper understanding of Cleanliness of mind, spirit and body. For me, it means a sharper focus and the removal of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual clutter; Essentialism and the “disciplined pursuit of less”. It means knowing what my Hell Yeah life and work looks like. It means understanding ever increasingly how less is more.
We live in a world of distractions, arbitrary and imposed expectations, doubts and fears. Cleanliness helps us shed such. We get clear and clean on meaning and more. We have a sharpened sense of purpose and Service.
Coming clean starts with ourselves. If we only know that we have this life, our work, study, play and living must needs reflect such precious value. It does not imply that we know our “one purpose” in life. It does imply that we get clear on those things that are not part of who we are or what we do as our best selves. It does imply that we wash away the distractions as we find them. We shower off and detach from that which does not have meaning for us. We shed our hindrances.
As I ponder my own practice of Cleanliness going forward, I am examining my work and Service… and my health (mind, body, and spirit) and play. I am inventorying that which I am currently being and do, and asking “Is this distraction or Daring?”
I am looking at that which I have been and done and that which I am being and doing… and asking if these are moving me closer to or further from who I am. Are they distracting me or Daring me to BE.
This is not about “not paying the bills” or avoiding our Responsibility. This is about deciding our ultimate and true Responsibility to ourselves and those whom we most love and care.
Cleanliness polishes our lens to see ourselves. It removes the dross that darkens our view of who we best are and what we best do. Cleanliness advances our focus as classes, teams and companies. We be the best at what matters most. Cleanliness advances our studies and work and play as we do what we do and be what we be. And it builds on and feeds off of our Integrity.
We live by our ideals, with Character. We are worthy of Trust … to ourselves and others, consistent in who we truly are and what we truly do.
We own our lives.
We take possession of our Responsibility.
We chart our course and stay true to it, as we learn along the way.
With Cleanliness, we discard what is not true to us and our care for ourselves and others.
We walk tall.
And we walk, with Character.
Cleanliness matters… of mind, body and spirit. “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” speaks to the wholiness of Cleanliness. As we get clear and clean, we better work, serve, play and live fierce and focused. How does it apply for you now and going forward? What needs to wash away?
Peace, passion and prosperity…
Barry Lewis Green, The Unity Guy with Epic Engage.
“Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. ― Abraham Lincoln
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