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By PatSullivan
While the official unemployment fluctuates around 10%, the real rate is much higher considering those who are no longer counted (e.g., benefits having run out) and people struggling with part-time work. Many economists feel there will not be a significant surge in jobs before 2012.
What to do? Perhaps its time to take a closer look at starting your own business. Continue reading this post »
By PatSullivan
Economic problems cause major stress (I hear you saying “no duh!”) Job loss, cut in pay, cut in hours, or failure at a business can put pressure on a people. Financial stress mars the spirit and makes even the healthiest person forget good relational skills. Too often these external pressures erode relationships inside and outside of work.
So, how do you safeguard all your relationships in these economically trying times?
Continue reading this post »
By PatSullivan
You wouldn’t know it from the major media, but more compassionate, more sustainable and way more ethical capitalism is thriving. Or, as many call it, “Conscious Capitalism.” Now there are some very easy ways to bring yourself up to speed in how the conscious capitalism movement can impact your individual work, your business and/or your finances.
Just What is Conscious Capitalism and Why Is It So Beneficial to Us All?
The conveners of last summer’s conference on conscious capitalism at Bentley University offered these three key elements of conscious capitalism:
- companies have a purpose that transcends profit maximization;
- companies are managed for the benefit of all stakeholders in their ecosystem, not just shareholders; and
- companies are led by spiritually evolved, self-effacing servant leaders. Continue reading this post »
By PatSullivan
“The love of money is the root of all evil.” What if that ubiquitous saying is flat-out wrong? What if, instead, true love of money returns many benefits spiritual and material, including a more sane, kind and profitable economy for everyone? What if you love money according to the definition in Paul’s 1 Corinthians 13, where love is defined as patient, kind and many more wondrous things?
If love is one of the most powerful forces for good in the universe, then loving money must also be a powerful force for good. Continue reading this post »
By PatSullivan
Do you ever feel called to say something and don’t know exactly what it is? Or wish someone else would say that something that could cut through anything from confusion and fear-mongering or overwhelm to a quiet truth? A truth that could get you and others, just for a moment, to stop? To listen? To find clear wisdom for whatever ails or calls you?
I really want that right now, not just around the ever-present health care financing issue, but around everything else that’s dominating the news today, like how hard it is for many of us to make a living right now. Like how many people we know are stuck in painful jobs they hate but don’t dare leave. Or for those of us who are entrepreneurs, where the next clients are coming from in a time when so many are still cutting back. Continue reading this post »
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By PatSullivan
Tao. Dow. Both are pronounced “dow,” but here the similarity ends.
“Tao” means the way, path or guiding principle for working with faith, integrity and meaning in a mysterious universe.
The concept of way, path or guiding principle is central to all religious faiths and secular philosophies — not just the ancient faith of Taoism. Continue reading this post »
By PatSullivan
The heart and soul of any profession includes service, truth and consciousness. It’s hard to see that heart and soul today in the health insurance industry, while our country seeks a way out of the current health care financing mess. Continue reading this post »
By PatSullivan
The Bible and other sacred texts are filled with prophets who blow the whistle on danger, fraud, waste or abuse of power. Other prophets alert us to the good news of hope and possibility.
Now that we finally have cable and decent streaming capability on our computers, my husband and I have become faithful to the late night fake news shows of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. We’ve also maintained our loyalty to Bill Moyers on PBS, whose prophetic guests are not always amusing.
The big difference between prophetic comedians and the people we usually think of as prophets is that we’re more likely to listen when we get to laugh first. Continue reading this post »
By pat
When you are open to it, spiritual wisdom for money and work are everywhere. Comedian Chris Rock once joked that they’d taken God out of the workplace and out of the government. Finally he found God right in his pocket.
This doesn’t have to mean that we worship money. The dollar bill is filled with wisdom that can help us have a better relationship with money, including having more money and a more sustainable, just economy — even in a recession. Continue reading this post »
By pat
Spirit and work are meant for each other. Whether spirit comes from the religion you share with family and friends or from your own wondering, spirit provides a guide to purpose and the motivation to follow it. Spirit’s the generator of inspiration for hard times and the special fruit that comes from working with others. Spirit is the anchor of integrity that keeps us true to ourselves and on the level with others, the voice of conscience that helps us create an economy and world that is trustworthy and sustainable. Continue reading this post »
