A "Black Swan Event" is when the unexpected occurs, causing a huge mindshift and change in how the world works. People never imagined that Black Swans existed, until the discovery of the first Black Swan... (as per book "The Black Swan", by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, 2007, that sold over 3 million copies)

Is a perception change the next Black Swan Event? Consider that by changing perception we might change the world. Look at everyday things from different angles. Find beauty in the unexpected...
Change our thinking, change our actions, change our world!

See that all people are part of God's puzzle and have something to give. Black swans do exist. The ugly duckling was actually a swan who needed to discover himself and where he fitted and be who he was meant to be. To the last, the lost and the least, you are beautiful as you are.
May all who visit this page feel God's touch and experience His blessing...

Friday 24 February 2012

Bullying

I believe manipulation, including bullying behaviour, is tied in with anger and hatred. If you have been a victim of subtle exclusion and bullying, you will know the psychological torment involved. It is a form of torture, and it can take an enormous amount of time to recover and find healing and to find yourself again. To know that you were not the one at fault, and only the victim in an oft cruel plot.

Friday 17 February 2012

The Ten Commandments

“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”  (John 1:17 KJV)

Jesus gave the world two new commandments of equal importance: Firstly, to love God with all your heart, mind and soul. Secondly, to love your neighbour (people you encounter) as you love yourself. Jesus gave the world a new higher-level concept by mentioning love, showing us in a different way why we follow the Ten Commandments. At the same time, love is a special, distinctive gift He made known to the world in a new way: God is love:
“Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:35–40 KJV)

How Easily Perception Can Offend

I've realised that the name of this blog may offend certain people, as I've been told "black swan" means something dark and provocative. How easily the best message can be tainted by bad perception. Why is this so? When you hear "black swan", what do you see? Do you see a beautiful, majestic, feathered bird, a swan that swings gracefully in pools of calm water, ripples circling away as she glides along, carrying her graceful neck aloft. Swans are beautiful birds, God's creation! A black swan event is an amazing occurrence that pushes the world into an amazing new paradigm. Perhaps it's time to change bad perception to good! Imagine if we thought of white swans in this way? Would this be possible? It could happen with the right associations in place!

The apostle Paul said in Phillipians 4:8 (KJV): "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

Loneliness

Have you ever had your child tell you that she feels excluded and her friends are not playing with her? This was me when I was in Primary School, where there were occasions when I was a lonely little girl watching on whilst other children played.

Thursday 16 February 2012

My Faith: Christianity

“Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?” (Matthew 21:42 KJV)

Christianity is my faith which I am proud of, a key part of my values, and my identity. Christians are people who believe in God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, as per the Bible Gospels of Jesus. Christianity is offered as a gift. No one can make you believe, it is your decision alone. You are free to believe. If you change your mind because you feel you have difficulty believing, then that is your choice to make too. God will be available if you decide to turn back to Him again. I feel you need to come to your own understanding of what it means to believe in God. God has been my saviour and my rock in my times of trial. I have come to depend on Him, and He gives me inner strength and hope.
I believe God the Father sent Jesus, His Son, to live amongst us as a person, so we would see the glory of God. Jesus sacrificed His life so He could exchange our sin for salvation when we believe in Him—Jesus effectively buys our souls back from purgatory (Gehenna) and this is an everlasting covenant when we obey His commands. A Christian walk is a continual walk of change and obedience, and it is a difficult path to walk. The Father will freely forgive you each time you ask for forgiveness from your heart, and you should then repent and do your best not to repeat past wrongs.
Jesus is the cornerstone of the church, even though He was rejected by people when He was on earth, and had to carry His own cross on the way to His murder by crucifixion. Jesus will forevermore be victorious over death and Satan, as God raised Him up from the dead 3 days after Jesus was crucified.

Wednesday 15 February 2012

In This World You Will Have Trouble

Jesus said, John 16:33 (KJV): “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation (trouble): but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Life can be tough. There are times when life hurts us, when people hurt us, and circumstance seems to come against us. You will experience sadness and loss when people leave you or hurt you, and you may also leave people behind and hurt people. I have been hurt and I have been responsible for hurt. Hurt often happens where money or power or other resources are concerned. You may feel lost and forgotten, as if you have no control, like a rudderless ship. Sometimes you then have to go where the water takes you. Adapt and move forward. Keep your mind fixed on hope and belief that things will get better, whatever you are going through.

Worrying

Jesus said, Matthew 6:34 (World English Bible): "Therefore don't be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day's own evil is sufficient."

Things you do cause worry, secrets cause worry, the unknown causes worry, the future causes worry. If you worry, you will know that worrying takes a lot of energy from you. Have you ever tried to stop worrying about something by saying to yourself “I must not think about that situation. I must not”? 

Sunday 12 February 2012

The Importance Of Context

Jesus said, Luke 6 (World English Bible):  "To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your cloak, don't withhold your coat also."

Someone once shared digital images on facebook with me, that included the picture of a woman in an extremely skimpy bikini, almost non-existent, alongside an olden day picture that I didn't really look at, words underneath written in Spanish. I couldn't read the words, and felt offended at seeing the image. Why would my friend be interested in such an image, and why would she think I would be interested?! What would people think of me if they saw this image on my facebook profile? I sent her a short, somewhat terse, note asking her why she sent me the image, and that I did not appreciate receiving it. To give her the benefit of the doubt, I asked her what the words meant. She wrote back saying how offended she was at my comments, and couldn't I see that there were words of courage and wisdom included on the originating facebook page, and that the bikini image just showed how much the world had changed, as previously people almost seemed to be fully dressed when they wore a swimming outfit, whereas in this modern world it's acceptable to hardly seem to be dressed - how much the world has changed!

These are a few thoughts that this event triggered:

That Little Bit Of Bad That Taints Perception

You are an employer looking for the perfect employee. You find him in the current CV you are paging through. He is perfect! The right skills, the right job experience. You can't wait to talk to him! You grab the phone, and schedule an appointment. When you meet him you are indeed impressed at his calm demeanour and impressive knowledge, and want to make him an immediate job offer. The only proviso being he is to join the team he will work with at their end of year function, a fancy dress. He arrives dressed as James Dean, and he proceeds to entertain everyone with his flamboyance. Everyone likes him. He then lights up an enormous smelly cigar, and the pungent smoke rising causes your hopes for him to flee. You abhor smoke, and this view you see of your new potential employee clashes with your values. You don't hire him.

Fact Versus Assumption

A lecturer once spent a morning teaching our group attending her training course, and then asked us to list facts we knew about her. We filled a large white piece of flip chart paper with a number of facts: friendly, assertive, married, kind, gentle, and the list went on. Our lecturer then asked us to tell her which ones of the listed "facts" were actually "assumptions". By going through the list one by one of what we thought were "facts", she told us that what we had listed were actually assumptions, things we did not know for sure, except for "married" which was indeed a fact she had allowed us to know.

Saturday 11 February 2012

Who Do You Associate With?

Jesus said, Matthew 7:1 (KJV): "Judge not, that ye be not judged."

I often hear advice that says you must only associate with those people who will build you up and add value to your life, who are positive influences to be around. What then of people who are lonely, who have no-one else, whom society has forgotten? These people may have negative attitudes, and may have behaviour problems. They are perhaps in great need and might have addictions or have mental illness. But are they any less people?

Friday 10 February 2012

What Does Generational Poverty Look Like?



What does generational poverty look like? Consider that this type of ongoing poverty is just two steps away from all of us: Lose your job and you are in situational poverty. If you don’t claw your way out and rebound you may find yourself in generational poverty. And it is easy for children to become mired in poverty as adults if they don’t receive a solid, foundational grounding in life.

Thursday 9 February 2012

See Opportunity When A Problem Presents

What do you do when you are presented with "a problem". You go to church each Sunday, listen to amazing sermons, give to missions as you feel you can, and feel by doing so you are doing your bit to help the world. Everyone around you is blessed with family and friends, finances, jobs. Trouble seems far away.

Wednesday 8 February 2012

On Teasing And Being Teased

I see you snigger as you walk by. Yes, you, the person who just passed me. Your beautiful face drawing smiles of admiration. Your shining golden tresses bouncing gently as you walk elegantly along, in heels that threaten to tip over, yet somehow make you seem poised and graceful. You take elegant strides and are gone, as you turn away from my pain, my heartache. Of this cold park bench, winter's cold chill covered by my shredded dusty blanket. My face lined with the creased wrinkles of a hard life, tears welling in the corners of my weary eyes. Do you see my pain? Do you care? Will you pay me another thought?

Thursday 2 February 2012

Strengths And Weaknesses

Strengths are things we are naturally good at, our character traits that often seem as if they come naturally to us and our gifts that we enjoy using. When we use our strengths we experience flow. What we do comes easily, naturally. Weaknesses are those parts of us akin to handicaps. We may not always be aware of all of our weaknesses, but often we are able to identify them as we feel uncomfortable when using weaknesses.

A Horse Called Justin Morgan

There are some stories that echo faintly in my memory, bound by a fragment to childhood's past. Have you ever seen the film called "Justin Morgan Had A Horse"? I watched this when I was a young child in primary school. I remember sitting on a cold hard school hall floor and watching mesmerised as the screen flickered out a beautiful story of a man and his horse, bound in previous time and circumstance. It was the eighteenth century in Vermont, the United States of America and a young colt and another horse were accepted by a school teacher as a trade to repay a debt. Perhaps the man who gave the horse up may have thought the colt was worthless as he was so much smaller than was the norm. The school teacher, Justin Morgan tried to sell his new horse on the way back to Vermont, but could not find a buyer. Justin Morgan later saw something in the horse that stood out for him, some quality that others overlooked. The horse may have been small, but he was compact and strong and beautiful. Justin called him Figure. Later the horse came to be known as "Justin Morgan", named after his first owner. History says Figure had many owners during his lifetime, often each seeing a different use in Figure. He was a versatile horse, able to run or jump or pull. This little horse went on to become the founder of a new breed of horses, the Morgan horse. It seemed that no matter which horse Figure was sired to, big workhorses or smaller racehorses horses, their offspring inherited Figure's stature and wonderful nature.

Wednesday 1 February 2012

How We Sense Our World May Be Clouded By Perception

How is it that we sometimes ignore something or someone as worthless whereas someone else may instead see huge value? Might our intuition sometimes be wrong? I've heard people say we need to trust our intuition, that little voice that speaks inside us telling us when something is wrong or right or giving us some form of insight. I once attended a course on intuition and to my surprise discovered raw intuition should often not be trusted, as it may be clouded by our past and our own personal perception of events. What other examples are there where we see things through our clouded lenses of perception?