Excerpt from "The Majesty of Calmness" by William George Jordan "Failure is often the turning-point, the pivot of circumstance that swings us to higher levels. It may not be financial success, it may not be fame; it may be new draughts of spiritual, moral or mental inspiration that will change us for all the later …
Author: Gregory Hake
Son. Husband. Father. Thinker. Doer.
Failure as a Success I
Continuing our elaboration on William George Jordan's brilliant book, "The Majesty of Calmness," I would like to turn now to consider the nature of failure and success. To begin with, life is full of both, so you are wise to develop a strategy for the creative handling of either as a means of ensuring continual …
Self-Reliance IV
One of the side effects of cultivating self-reliance in yourself and in others is that you gain an inner reserve that comes no other way. This bank account of surplus confidence, faith and strength can be drawn upon or even invested in others during times of crisis. This is the quality that separates the fair-weather …
Self-Reliance III
I am of the opinion that material prosperity must be accompanied by internal growth if there is to be true progress. One without the other gives the appearance of progress, but look closely and you see that what appears from the outside to be an old western town is nothing more than a movie set, …
Self-Reliance II
Your apprenticeship to life provides you with the opportunity to discover your weaknesses and overcome them before the stakes are raised. It matters not if your apprenticeship begins at 15 or 50, for life is merciful to those who yield to its fortifying spirit. Overcoming weaknesses does much more than simply fill in weak spots. …
Self-Reliance I
My uncle and I had a short discussion about the Bildungsroman the other day, a genre of novel that focuses on the moral and psychological development of its main character. It is what we might call a "coming of age story," where the protagonist matures to find his place in society. Goethe's Wilhelm Meister is …
Power of Personal Influence III
Awakening into an increasingly expansive awareness of one's surroundings as well as one's own influence on the world is one of the greatest joys in growing up. Life, in this sense, is an ever-expanding spiral of scope and influence, beginning with the small seed of potential and ending in a glorious culmination of a lifetime …
Power of Personal Influence II
Ignorance is no excuse for violation of any law. Realizing this, we must take greater care to educate ourselves on the power of personal influence, for people often undermine their own stated goals and desires without even knowing it. William George Jordan offers a plateful of food for thought on the matter in Chapter 3 …
Power of Personal Influence I
What can one man do? Asking such a question is more often a display of false humility than the precursor to the revelation of tremendous personal influence. When you rise into the place that is only yours to occupy - through humility, calmness and courage - you no longer have faith in the weakness of …
Alchemy of Calmness IV
When you hear the term "standard of living" what do you think of? The phrase is most commonly used to describe a level of material comfort as measured by the goods, services and luxuries available to an individual. It is a scale upon which what you have can be weighed against the possessions and access …
Gregory Hake 