Not-So-Powerful Power Statements

One late evening after having taught My Interaction to some workshop participants, Jones and I began commenting on the peculiar way some people interpret power statements. Sometimes they just don't seem to understand how they're supposed to work!
This led to a fun and playful session of repeating and creating power statements that just aren't that powerful.
Send me your own and maybe we can present them at the COB*!

*COB = Church Office Building

"I sometimes have a problem being punctual. But, I'm working on it."

"Many people have told me that I have no idea how to run my own business, but this is really a strength. For example, look at President Bush. Because he looks like an idiot, more people trust him. As a result of looking stupid, I too have gained the trust of many people."

"Many people have told me that my product is a piece of crap. I think that is a strength. I just stamp it with Made in China and it allows for greater price discrimination on my high-end substitute product."

"I can prioritize. For example, as an intern in Brazil over the summer, I decided to work on my tan instead of my homework. As a result the ladies are all over me. No seriously, they really dig it."

Travels

    We just left Camaçari last night. It was a great city with a wonderful stake, probably one of the most gorgeous stake centers I've ever seen.


    We are now in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia. We flew in yesterday afternoon on a Fokker 50 Falcon Propjet aircraft. I had never been on a propjet before. It was a smaller plane but the flight was short so it wasn't too uncomfortable. The airport in Vit?ria da Conquista is very small, there's just one runway and a small building with the airline booth, car rental booth, and a snack bar.


    As I'm typing this Jones and I are eating breakfast in the restaurant of the Livramento Palace Hotel. We had bread with ham and cheese, fresh pineapple, watermelon, papaya, goiaba (guava) juice, poached eggs, pão de queijo (cheese rolls), and cake. Wow, that sounds really good when you type it out!
    We may teach two workshops this week, one just for the instructors that we're training and another for students. We are going to speak with the stake president and all of the bishops this afternoon. Hopefully this will give us the opportunity to explain who should take the workshop and arrange all of the necessities before the class starts - two things which haven't happened yet.

Pictures on the beach!

A few pictures that I took today while on the beach.

Great Illustration of the Principle of Self Reliance

A friend of mine is in Dharamsala, India doing a field for anthropology. He recently shared on his blog an experience that perfectly illustrates the principle of self reliance. I thought it would be appropriate to share it with you.

Finally, beggars. I think they know to come to McLeod Ganj because of all the Western travellers here, and the influx of these visitors is probably constant enough that many of the panhandlers probably do okay. After wrestling with the beggar question for a few weeks I've decided, thanks to Ben our local Great Mind, that I'm going to give to one beggar a day. And today I had already given when two adolescent boys, Indians, approached me and held out very dirty hands. Now this is always a very uncomfortable situation, but I knew that I meant the very best in telling myself I would make it a point to give to someone each and every day, and I felt at ease telling these kids that I was sorry, but I couldn't today. Tomorrow was a possibility, but not today. They wouldn't take no for an answer, as is the practice among Indians (and not just beggars, I've found - it's something cultural), and came up to sit next to me on the steps where I was taking some notes on my observations. They watched me write for a while and periodically pressed me to give them some money, meeting my refusal each time. There was some obvious disagreement between them as to what they should do next, and one of them just stayed seated next to me while I wrote as the other went back into the narrow street in front of us to continue begging. He did so for a while, to no avail until the monotony was broken by a tourist-looking guy who gave the boy two sticks of gum, one for him and one for his friend whom the tourist saw sitting next to me. The kid came from the street already popping his share of the booty into his mouth and handed my companion the other piece. I looked at the kid and said, "Don't chew that." He was puzzled. I put my fingers together to my lips (meaning 'food' or 'eating' in India) and then shook a slightly raised hand, palm showing, meaning 'no'. "Don't chew that." He didn't. He sat there and pondered over his earnings, toying with the wrapper. I continued. "You can sell it. Sell. Give gum to someone for money," and I pointed to the dozen-or-so people passing by. "Sell it." He looked confused, maybe understanding but hesitating nonetheless. I reached into my pocket and just hoped as hard as I could that there would be a rupee in there. There was. I pulled the coin out and showed it to him. "Here," I said. "I'll buy it." He understood immediately and quickly put the gum into my hand, taking the money from my fingers.

When he did that I saw, just for a second, a real life in his eyes that hadn't been there before. They got really wide and just lit up. Maybe he was seeing this situation in a way he'd never seen it before. Or maybe he was just excited to have some money. Either way, I think begging - when done with the mentality that I, the beggar, am purely a victim with no chioce or agency or ownership or responsibility in what I do about this situation - can really deaden the humanity inside a person. Something about this interaction between the boy and me had was felt like an awakening effect on the kid - I could actually see it happen, just in a flash like that. (Most of the Tibetans I've seen begging, by the way, have somehow escaped that. They seem awfully at peace with what's going on in their lives - something that's surprised and puzzled and relieved me a bit these past two days.)

I don't think I'm any kind of hero for doing this, but it felt like it was at least a creative and potentially productive alternative to just saying 'no', which is all I had been able to do before. And seeing that kid's eyes widen and light up like they did... I wonder what could come out of this. Something really good, maybe - like maybe he learned something important. Or maybe even something really bad, like that they should steal stuff now and try to sell it themselves. In any case, I hope you'll agree that it was worth a shot.

picture

I hope this works.. Miya.. where were you??