News from the Bahamas as of
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Commentary: Dare To Be Great: Birds of a feather flock together!
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| Published on Monday, October 19, 2009 | Email To Friend Print Version
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By Spence M Finlayson
In nature, the birds of a single species do in fact frequently form flocks. Ornithologists explain this behavior as a ‘safety in numbers” tactic to reduce their risk of predation. Yes, “birds of a feather flock together” in one way it strongly suggest that people of like minds form close friendships. So be careful of whom you choose to hang out with because who you decide to associate with says who you are. If you hang out with losers then chances are that you will become a loser too.
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| Spence M Finlayson |
In encouraging you to choose your friends and associates very wisely. I have two childhood friends who I am still close with after forty – five years of friendship. We attended the same primary school and also the same high school, St Augustine’s College in Nassau, Bahamas. Coincidentally we are all Anglicans. They are very successful professionals; Craig “Tony” Gomez is the Managing Partner of Baker Tilly Gomez Accounting firm and the liquidator for the failed Clico Insurance company and Dr Clive K Gaskins, a noted optometrist . I firmly believe that you should associate yourself with winners because “winners make it happen but losers let it happen”. As Anais Nin said “each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born”.
I choose to associate with positive, upbeat, success-oriented and driven people. Celebrated motivational speaker and peak performance expert Anthony Robbins says “the quality of your life is the quality of your relationships. The first president of the United States George Washington was very succinct about this when he said “associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation. It is better to be alone than in bad company.” The old saying “people judge you by the company that you keep” is still relevant today. When you choose a motivated , goal oriented individual as an associate or friend, you are stimulated, inspired and educated from the various discussions and meaningful dialogue that you engage in. But if you are hanging with low self-esteem individuals with a defeatist attitude then somehow you adopt this same negative posture.
A British clergyman and author Charles Caleb Colton said “In all societies , it is advisable to associate if possible with the highest; not that the highest are always the best, but because, if disgusted there, we can descend at any time; but if we begin with the lowest, to ascend is impossible”.
It was the great and legendary Jim Rohn who said “You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around ? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question : Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance. It gets better by change.”
I strongly recommend organizations like Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions and Freemasonry. In these organizations you get an opportunity to associate with upwardly mobile individuals who assist you in becoming a better person. You know, we become almost like our associates and friends. So as Oprah Winfrey said “surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher”.
Yes birds of a feather do flock together. I will leave you with this powerful poem by an unknown author “People come into your life for a Reason, A Season or A Lifetime”:
When you figure out which one it is
You will know what to do for each person
When someone is in your life for a Reason
It is usually to meet a need you have expressed
They have come to assist you through a difficulty
To provide you with guidance and support
To aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually
They may seem like a godsend and they are!
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part
Or at an inconvenient time, this person will say
Or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met,
Our desire fulfilled, their work is done
The prayer you sent up has been answered
And now it is time to move on.
Then people come into your life for a Season…
Because your turn has come to share, grow or learn
They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh
They may teach you something you have never done
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it ! It is real! But, only for a season
Lifetime relationships teach you lifetime lessons
Things you must build upon in order to have
A solid emotional foundation
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
And put what you have learned to use in all
Other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
Spence M. Finlayson, Bahamian-born, world renowned motivational speaker and corporate trainer is the President & CEO of The Phoenix Institute for Positive Development & Empowerment, based in Nassau, Bahamas. He is the creator & host of Dare To Be Great TV Show which is seen in 20 Caribbean countries. For speaking engagements he can be reached at 242-364-4011 or by e-mail at phoenixinstitute@gmail.com or visit his website at www.phoenixinstitutepower.com | | | | Reads : 722 | | | |
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