TAO is generally the Chinese word that is used to mean "The Way", the way of nature, the way things were meant to be. In this series of posts on the subject of Leadership, I wish to suggest to all leaders the importance of showing your followers the way ( TAO) of LOA FING, the NOT so Chinese word meaning to "chillax, to kick back, to simply loaf. This is nature's way. Great music is the result of the pause between the notes, rather than the notes themselves. The pause is what makes it what it is, otherwise you will just will have noise. We need to consider the relevance of pausing in our lives...doing nothing. In his classic work,The Importance of Living, Chinese scholar and author, Lin Yutang, writes a whole chapter on "the Importance of Loafing". Now there's a word most of us despise as well as those who practice it. Growing up,I learned early on that it is a serious offense to loaf...a major sin. Daydreaming was punished by the nuns in Catholic elementary school..."stop your daydreaming, Lynch" common words uttered by these poor unimaginative and ignorant souls. After all, I am here to tell you that everything I am today, every book that I have written, and my best work to date has all been the direct result of,yes, DAYDREAMING while LOAFING. As an established and recognized professional in today's world, I must not let on that I love to loaf too much... after all, others will think I am not serious enough or busy enough...therefore not "good enough" right? Wrong!!!
Too many people whom I know WANT to look/be busy...this makes them feel important and needed. But this leads to complications. In Chinese, the word for "BUSY" clearly means, the killing or death of the heart. You draw your own conclusion. The only thing I want to be busy about is LIVING. I want time to have lots of clients and meetings and appointments. My clients are my family,my meetings are with my friends as we run for hours in the wilderness and my appointments are with myself as I take the time to create,write,think and design...a life that fits skin tight over my spirit. I alos must shop for good nutritious food and cook lovely( filled with LOVE) meals for those important others with whom I share my life . Then, I get to do my work and attend to my calling ...with amazing,open hearted people, athletes,coaches,CEO's and give them the time they desire, choosing,of course, those who understand the importance of loafing. This is good leadership. Daydreaming should be seriously scheduled in the classroom, boardroom,bathroom and bedroom. As leaders and coaches,we must set aside the time where we can meditate, clear our minds and create what we are all trying to find but too busy to find it and pass this on to those under our guidance. The better we all feel inside, the better our lives work outside but this takes time.. .time away from the maddening pace, the frenetic storm, the closing down of our hearts and open them to a way of child-like discovery. That's what good coaches do, good leaders do, good athletes do,good parents do...what you will you do, TOO...right?
More later, I need to go loafing with my sons and stare at the sky... DocJ
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