Mikolaj's Monday Maunder - You are loved

Inspiration and lessons for your leadership journey!

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“You are loved and cherished. You have nothing to fear. There is nothing you can do wrong.”
~ Eben Alexander, MD ~

Dr. Eben Alexander is a renowned neuroscientist and academic neurosurgeon.  He has hundreds of scientific publications and speeches to his credit.  He spent fifteen years as a professor and clinician at Harvard Medical School and has had multiple internships and residencies, research fellowships, academic and hospital appointments, and has a CV longer than my arm.  Like many scientists, he bordered on atheism/agnosticism, despite being raised in the Bible Belt… until he had an NDE experience. 

That’s NDE for Near Death Experience.  He was brain dead for the better part of a week, and yet, experienced something profound and telling despite the medically documented fact that the parts of his brain that control thought and emotion were completely shut down.  The doctors (his friends and colleagues) and his family were about to ‘pull the plug’ when he miraculously recovered.

You can read his amazing story in a spellbinding bestseller (#1 New York Times Best Seller for the last 14 weeks), Proof of Heaven.  I received it as a Christmas gift from my mother and began reading it somewhat reluctantly and out of gratefulness to and respect for my Mom.  After reading only a couple of pages, I couldn’t put it down.  I read it in less than a week and didn’t pick up any of the other eight books sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read.

Dr. Alexander walked away from his NDE with the profound conclusion in our opening quote. 

Oh, what an achievement it would be to live my life knowing and feeling that I am unconditionally and infinitely loved and cherished, that I have nothing to fear, and that I could do no wrong.  Wow!  I’m not sure I’ve ever been 100% immersed in such a feeling and knowing – and when I sometimes feel I might be getting close; it doesn’t seem to last very long. 

Beyond my personal experience, how can I, in my leadership roles, bestow and live that message with those I lead?

This week we celebrate love and St. Valentine’s Day.  While flowers, cards, gifts, and elegant dinners are all good, I want you to take some time to reflect on the deeper aspects of love that I spoke of in A Travel Guide to Leadership:

“The most powerful relationships we have in our lives are with those people who lead us and with those whom we lead – in which leadership is a central element of the relationship. Parent-child, friend-friend, girlfriend-boyfriend, spouse-spouse, teacher-student, coach-player, boss-employee, – it is relationships like these that have the most influence in our lives and where the lessons of love and life are cultivated.

The creative energy of love is not weak and sentimental. On the contrary, as Reverend King tells us, it is a force – a unifying force that is the supreme principle of life. Leaders who use the creative energy force of love have made a giant step towards a more profound and sublime power on their journey.”

Go ahead and re-read part or all of Chapter 5, A Path of Love.  You’ll be glad you did.

Walk through this week reminding others and yourself of the powerful messages “I am loved” and “I am loving.”

Have an amazing journey today!

Alan

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This Week's Affirmations
(Repeat these quietly to yourself multiple times throughout the day.)

I am loved and cherished!

I have nothing to fear!

There is nothing I can do wrong!

I am a loving leader!

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