Visionary Mind Shifts^{™
(previously Power To Stand: A Course In Greatness)
Written by Michael Skye for the Vision Force Academy}

Warning:  Each Visionary Mind Shift may be easy enough to grasp at a glance, yet each is a puzzle piece in a larger puzzle called the Vision Force Matrix.  The more you integrate this shift with the other shifts, the more the matrix will begin to emerge.  Your understanding of the distinctions and the matrix itself will evolve as you move through the course.  To speed that evolution, do your best to view each word and distinction as something new, a mystery, rather than by relating it to what you already know.

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Visionary Distinction:

Pride | Honor

Introduction:

The distinctions presented in this session are incredibly powerful.  Which of the feelings do you think is most powerful and fulfilling to be guided by?  Which of the feelings is a person of greatness most guided by?  

 

Orientation:

Pride - Feeling about self for winning or achieving, for being stronger or better than before or better than the norm (based on honest view of reality)

Pseudo-Pride (Position Pride) - Feeling good about self for being better than others are dishonestly judged to be (based on position)

Honor - Feeling good about self for standing for, in the face of own fears (based on honest view of reality (stand))

Pseudo-Honor (Position Honor) - Feeling good about self for standing up to evil (based on position)

Related Distinctions: 

Position vs. Stand
 

Example: 

Mahmoud had little reason to feel good about himself growing up.  He did not fare well in school, in the social arena or in sports.  His parents did not cultivate honor within him.  Instead, they manipulated him to be who they wanted, using shame, fear and guilt.  

To make things more challenging, Mahmoud grew up in the terror-riddled Middle East, where there were few jobs, and few prospects for advancement, let alone financial freedom or prosperity.  As a teen, Mahmoud had no activities to participate in which generated a sense of genuine honor.  He could not find a job, starting a business seemed futile, and there seemed to be too much fear in the air to concern himself with things like art or music.

One day when Mahmoud was approached by a man, who he recognized as a freedom fighter and hero in the community.  This man took him aside and told him that being an Arab and a Palestinian was a great honor, and that it was their duty as God's people to walk with their heads held high.

Mahmoud listened intently.  He knew he had nothing to do with being born an Arab, but it felt good to take pride in it.  

Before long, the same man approached Mahmoud again, telling him he was chosen to be a holy warrior for Allah, and that it was his duty to sacrifice himself.  Mahmoud quickly learned that being chosen and doing his duty meant killing infidels, specifically a bus full of Israelis and tourists.  

Mahmoud saw how it would take a lot of courage to make such a sacrifice, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it at first.  Eventually, Mahmoud conceded, and chose to sacrifice his life for Allah and the liberation of Palestine.  In the moment that he stepped forward and said, "Yes," he was overcome with the feeling of honor.

The next day, however, when Mahmoud awoke to some disturbing dreams, he began reflecting on his choice.  As he thought of the innocent civilians he would be killing, a wave of guilt swept over him.  Quickly his day turned gray, and he felt a bit sick inside.  That same afternoon, Mahmoud returned to the man who had inspired him to give his life for the cause, his head hung low in shame.  

The man, upon hearing Mahmoud's doubts, shook his head.  "You are Muslim!  Be proud!  There is honor in Shahada!"

After a while of listening, Mahmoud once again found himself in the same position as the day before.  He saw the vision of being one of God's chosen warriors.  Before long, he found himself saying, "Yes, I will die for Allah.  God is great!"

The next morning, as Mahmoud walked down the street, he heard an explosion.  He turned his head to see his two young cousins fall to the ground.  One was a boy of 12 and the other was a 9-year-old girl.  Fear rushed through his body, then anger, as he rushed to their aid.  His spirited 12-year-old cousin, Sami, was dead, but precious 9-year old Samia was still breathing.  As relatives rushed Samia to a hospital, Mahmoud just stood there, his fists clenched in rage.  He envisioned himself pulling the cord on a bus full of Israelis, and tried to visualize Israeli children dying... 

Yet, all he could see was the faces of Sami and Samia.  Suddenly, his rage intensified, but now it was directed at the perfect senselessness of all the violence.  "Why? Why? Why?  Who is going to do something about this?!"  Now, all he could feel was a deep pain in his chest.  "Who?  Who?  Who will stop this?"

In that moment Mahmoud wiped the tears from his eyes, and saw his reflection facing him in a broken windowpane.  Suddenly, he knew.  He knew the answer to his question.  A sense of peace came over him.  A profound sense of honor rushed threw him.  "It is I," he whispered.  "I am the one, who must do something."  

He had no thought as to how he would be the one.  All he knew was that he would take a stand.  He must take a stand.  Right here, right now, today.  He thought of the shame that his Hezbollah brothers might try to inflict upon him... the look in their eyes, the tone of their voice, or worse the cold silence.  "They might think me a traitor," he thought.  "I might even be killed."  Mahmoud sensed the fear, and yet he stood tall.  "I will be the one for the children of the Middle East.  For the Palestinian youth, the Israeli youth--for all the youth."

Mahmoud was so moved by his newfound sense of clarity, sense of purpose and peaceful inner power that he dropped to his knees.  He thought of the difficulty of the road that was before him.  And for the first time in his life, he did not falter.  He did not waiver.  He did not doubt himself.

He was grounded in his stand, and lifted up by this feeling... a feeling of honor.  It was somehow much different from the honor he remembered feeling upon choosing to be a suicide bomber.  And this time, it lasted.  It required no hate, no judgment.  

Mahmoud rose again to his feet, looked up to the sky, and smiled.  His eyes followed the clouds, but his thoughts were alive with his newfound vision.  He saw how by standing for the children, and not against anyone, he could call both his brothers and his enemies to stand with him... in time.  Maybe it would take 10 years, maybe 50... maybe peace would never come... no matter.  Mahmoud had found something worth standing for.  And he had a vision that called him to greatness.

Some Key Points: 

1.  How does this story end?  Is it a pipe dream?  Or could one Palestinian, Israeli, Lebanese or Iraqi youth take a stand and bring about the unimaginable dream of lasting peace in the Middle East?  Is it a dream worth standing for?

2.  People in positions of power can inspire good people to do terrible things.  All it requires is a position that says there is an evil enemy.

3.  Anyone, on the other hand, can inspire himself or herself to greatness.  All it requires is a stand that is not a position.  And that is real power.  Power to call one's self, one's allies and even one's adversaries to greatness.  Anyone can be a visionary like Mahmoud. 
 

Visionary Advantage: 

The new revolutionaries are visionary creators.   Those who will cause lasting change in this world, in their communities, their businesses and their families are visionaries.  Unlike days gone past, our future does not lie in the hands of the natural visionary, who is somehow born and raised into greatness.  No, our future lies in the hands of the person willing to stand, and willing to pursue practical visionary training that gives one powerful tools for everyday greatness.
 

Visionary Challenge:

Now that Mahmoud has taken this stand, what will he do?  How will he deal powerfully with the waves of criticism that are about to beat relentlessly upon him?   What will he do in times of fear and doubt?

Meet other visionaries and discuss how to integrate this distinction into your life on the Vision Force Forum Boards.

Visionary Mind

Download your Visionary Mind!

> The full 8-week program on Audio CDs, professionally recorded by Michael Skye. > 100 page, 3-ring binder Workbook, with comprehensive worksheets and assignments.  > 14+ hours of live recorded conference calls (MP3s) We give you the entire Vision Force 101 program (normally $397) on a digital CD--a perfect supplement to Visionary Mind.  Listen to participants do the exercises and learn from their insights. > Access to private on-line member area, where you can interact with other students for years to come.

Vision Force Boot Camp

The Vision Force Boot Camp is high-level, hands-on training for all those who wish to take a stand in life, and live powerfully from that stand, and with vision.  Anyone can live in relative comfort from a position that makes it ok to keep compromising your values--romantic love, passion, freedom, health, etc.--but it takes a certain kind of person to face the compromises and take a stand.  And then to walk the walk, and walk with vision.  

If this is you, ponder this.  What would you have to stand in the face of to attend the Vision Force Boot Camp?  And, what would be worth standing for?  If you are unwilling to face these questions head on, then do nothing.  

If you, Mahmoud, or anyone like him, are out there, reading these words now, we want to hear from you.  You are our future.  Find a way to pursue your practical, real world training as a visionary.  It's time to make the impossible happen!

VISION FORCE BOOT CAMP: The iStand Experience(TM) (LIVE Training Event)
 

Additional Resources:

Discuss this Visionary Distinction on the Forum Boards.

No additional resources today.  Confront your self.  What do you stand for?  Were you born with the skills and resources to live true to that stand in a way that continually calls all around you to greatness?  Probably not.  So, what's next for you?  What are you waiting for?

 

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