What's Your Slant?

Freedom's Prophet is written by Richard Newman.  It is an amazing story about a man that built a church when many said it could not be done. Now others focus on the fact that he was a slave and worked and saved his money to buy himself out of slavery, incredible for sure. But regardless of his life situations that quite frankly would have made me so angry or to give  up, he did not.

What I noticed about the book and the person Bishop Richard Allen, is his ability to look at a very bad situation, and patiently, so patiently, work, work, work, save, save, save, and think of legal ways to circumvent the problems.  Legally he did this time after time.  This kind of cool headedness with definite purpose over a long time enabled him to live free with his family.  A great book to read, a story that if you did not believe it to be true, you would not believe it.

My post are about my readings and my practices.  The books reveal so many times that a cool head prevailed in very dangerous times. Loud, hot heads that spout off cuss words and tell you to F*** off, never impress me. Anyone can cuss and yell but it takes someone with a cool head to patiently, think, and make constructive changes.

When you read something or look at people you meet in work or life, what impresses you? Or what makes you dismiss them as an idiot? What impresses you and makes you lean in?  What makes you turn a deaf ear?

My interest is always to see the attitudes and actions that teach how to be calm, cool, kind, and productive in every problem.  If you look close at your conversations and predicaments you encounter you can begin to see.

Do you want to be the center of attention with all the answers, or do you want to be calm, listen, think, and look for productive unifying resolutions that benefit everyone?  I want to be the latter.

So when I read anything, look at anything, my slant is always to look for the calmer, cooler, legal, non-violent voice in the room.  What's your slant?