The Magnificent 7
Last weekend, the Magnificent 7 (otherwise known as the Houston Steering Committee for the More To Life Program) met for a retreat. Our mission was to look at the next 4 months, discern the lay of the land, and strategize a way forward for the local More To Life program. This gallant group meets every other week for 3+ hours, and we noticed that we needed more time than that, due to a buildup of issues requiring more immediate handling than what we could resolve in our regular meetings.
Fortunately, we all like each other very much, having a fundamental respect for each other’s contribution to a vision larger than ourselves – that vision being a compelling one: to play a conscious part in the spiritual evolution of humankind.
Our agenda was long, and some items had knotty complications attached to them. But we deemed ourselves capable of handling each issue within the time frame of Friday evening and Saturday morning. And so we did.
Here’s the interesting part. Ninety percent of the entire agenda was settled within our normal 3-hour time slot. What did we do with all those other hours? We shared and ate (delicious dinner and breakfast – prepared by Amanda – in whose home we had gathered). And mostly we processed the things that happened within the More To Life program and our personal reactions to those events. We cleaned out a bunch of lies, assumptions and misinterpretations. We uncovered some truths about ourselves, about the way we work as a team, and about our connection to That which is larger than us all. And out of those truths, we made some course corrections. Ideas for the future came rolling free. And we bonded at a deeper level.
The Magnificent 7 this last weekend were: Amanda Prazak, our hostess for the weekend and current Manager of Operations; Valerie Burson, current Chair of the Steering Committee; Leslie PIerkowski, past Chair and current Team Leadership Support; Robin Henry, Manager of Communications; Kathy Simmons, Manager of the Sponsorship program; Sylvia Hebert, Manager of Leadership Development; and moi, Steering Committee Support. Oh, and occasional visits by Carter, Sylvia’s 17 year old son.
As Leslie said laughingly, “Yeah, well, we processed 80% of the time, and we accomplished the agenda in 20% of the time.
I bet ALL of our knotty problems could be resolved more easily if we were clear of our unnoticed lies, assumptions, and misinterpretations. What I am most encouraged by is the fact that this way of being together and handling knotty problems is happening all around the world. I know for sure it is happening within the local More To Life Centers in South Africa, New Zealand, the UK and the US – and in the international board of this foundation. I know because I’ve been part of those meetings. It may be that those of us who do this on local and small international levels can be a part of the tipping point, part of changing the way governments operate. What if oppositional parties would clear out their unnoticed lies, assumptions and misinterpretations, and get committed to the Bigger Picture? Wouldn’t that be a hoot?
Either we participate in that evolution, or we participate in business as usual – which part do You choose?
