And That Deserves Respect

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario, your one stop location for learning from the greats! Today, we’re going to be talking about loyalty to an ideal; we're going to be talking about integrity.

As most of you know, it’s the Easter weekend, when the Christian churches remember Christ’s death and resurrection from the grave. You may not be a Christian - I’m not a strong one myself - but that doesn’t make him any the less an exceptional man that should be learned from. Anyone who’s inspired and influenced the world as much as he has possesses something we can learn from, even if we don’t agree with their message or actions.

Betrayed by the thirteenth apostle, Judas, Christ was put to trial by the Romans. Even when Pontius Pilate, the Roman commander, found him not quilty, the Jewish elders demanded his execution. Christ was crucified on a cross − nailed to a piece of wood to suffocate and dehydrate to death.

But, famously, Christ prays to God in the Bible, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Christ was dedicated to teaching peace, to improving people’s lives. His teachings were intended to revolutionize the life of the people of the time to a better way. Simply because he was sentenced to death by his own people doesn’t mean he hated them. Perhaps he felt them mislead, wrong, maybe even foolish, but he wouldn't hate them. Whatever they’d shown themselves capable of, he had integrity. His teachings proclaimed forgiveness and peace, simply because others went against that didn’t mean he would - even at the end. His integrity, amongst his other exceptinial character traits, was perhaps the strongest. He always kept to what he taught. Whatever, whenever.

That deserves respect.

Sometimes people will do dumb things. God knows why − they just have this sudden urge to make themselves look foolish. They default on their dreams, eat recklessly and spend without caution. And sometimes, they pull you down with them. Sometimes they'll even condemn what you believe deepest in.

But you must remember that you, as an individual, have a choice. You can choose to throw away all your learning, all your progress, and regress to the level of an animal, angry and seeking revenge. Or you can stand tall and take it. I’m not saying it’s easy − I’m sure it wasn’t for Christ either, getting nails wrought through the flesh of his palms − but you notice something? All these millennia later, people remember the way Christ died. They remember the stand he made, despite his terrifying situation.

And, in keeping to his teachings to the last, in holding his integrity, it makes him and his message all the more worthy and well-respected in legacy as they were in life − perhaps more so.

Have a great Easter, if you celebrate, and otherwise enjoy your weekend!

Alex H.

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Violence on the Roads: A Lack of Humanity

 

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario for another week learning the success lessons of Elvis Presley in bettering YOUR life. Today, we’ll be talking about the importance of soul. And the way we do it will be a nice way to usher in October, month of Halloween (in fact, I love Halloween SOOO much all the posts in October will have some Halloween link, so if you’re like me and crave jack-o’-lanterns and things that go bump in the night, this is your month).

I’ve had a BBC couple weeks, with last weeks post of Dr Russell Dohner and his spirit and now this week’s post − check out this BBC video. It’s only 3 minutes, but it is a little disturbing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19734975

In it, Ginger Strand talks about her book Killer on the Road, an explanation of why the U.S.’s interstate highways are the lairs of so many killers. She feels the main reason stems from the interstate’s soullessness. To paraphrase her, she says people use the highways to get places but can’t connect with them like they can with more local roads, like Route 66 − there’s no human connection making them the perfect place to commit inhumane acts… murder.

This rang my Elvis bell. When people talk about Elvis’s singing style, they often regard him as soulful. Soul is equated with humanity and so we are able to connect with him. And, contrary to the interstate, his style is associated with peace, happiness, joy - the opposite of violence.

So, what does this mean for you? We need to aim for soul in this world of large corporations and dissociation from whom we listen to in music and deal with in business. More and more, people and society as a whole are going the way of the interstate, they accomplish a purpose but lack humanity. And the less human people feel about you and whatever your job or purpose is, the less likely they’ll use human values with you. The more mechanical, computerized, synthetic, soulless life becomes, the more mechanical, computerized, synthetic, soulless people become. And man, as a human with a soul, that’s bad news. Given the violence brought about on the interstate because of it, soullessness could bring violence into your life, and I think most of us would agree we don’t need that.

 

On the contrary, following Elvis’s approach, the traditional approach, the Route 66 approach will stimulate those feelings of peace, friendship and humanity that are being lost. Talking to your customers, attempting to honestly care about their problems, listening, doing a favour for someone you barely know all go under humanity. The more human you are, the more you get the peace humanity brings. “What you dish out you get back,” says the Universe and doing the opposite, being inhuman, will only bring more inhumanity. And when you’re going through a tough time, you need all the humanity you can get.

There’s another benefit: being human gives you an edge on all the big corporations, the big musicians, the big politicians. They all use technology to run their lives for them. They rarely see their customers, or stores, let alone meet them. When you take the time to get to know those who support you, as Elvis did, people feel they know you, you become their friend and they want to support you (watch Elvis in That’s the Way It Is during “Love Me Tender”; he jumps off the stage and starts kissing people and shaking their hands. You can’t get much more human than that − and people loved him for it).  

This world is starving of humanity. It sucks because, guess what? We’re all human. And we need humanity more than ever. When you provide it, it gives you an edge. And we all want on edge on the competition, especially when they’re 1, 000, 000% our size.

I hope this improves you day and week and I look forward to seeing you again next week for the continuation of our Halloween series!

 

Elvis’s Lessons:

Ginger Strand wrote a book called Killer on the Road about the violence on the U.S.’s interstate highways. She blames it on the soullessness of the roads. Elvis, on the other hand, had soul and coincidentally created the opposite of violence − peace. By aiming to create soul and humanity in your work by getting to know people you gain an edge corporations can’t match. They're too big to get to know all those customers, but you're not. And an edge can be the difference between success and fading away. Keep it in mind.

 

P.S. Remember to leave a comment − I’d be glad to hear from ya.

P.P.S. If you’d like to see Elvis showing humanity, here he is in a Youtube video singing “Love Me Tender” from his 1970 documentary That’s the Way It Is. Worth a watch.

P.P.P.S. If this post interests you, so might these other FREE Graceland Ontario posts ;

• What Can You Learn from an 87 Year Old Doctor and a Dead Rock Star?
• Elvis, Sir Isaac Brock and the Success Constant (Or The 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812 Special)
• Cool Down! 
• Failing is Not a Reason to Give Up 
• High Expectations