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The Prayer of Change

Written by: Don Doman

Article Overview: The three sentences in a quotation attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr. are a prayer for change. It speaks to us on every level of business, of society, and of self-improvement.

The Prayer of Change

“We ain't what we ought to be. We ain't what we could be. We ain't what we gonna be, but thank God we ain't what we were."

I love that quotation. I’ve seen it attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr., but I think when he said it, he was quoting someone else. It doesn’t really matter who said it. We all live off the achievements and great thoughts that have gone before us.

The three sentences in the quotation are a prayer for change. It speaks to us on every level of business, of society, and of self-improvement.

“We ain’t what we ought to be.” – This simple statement signifies that we know what we are with our strengths and weaknesses. It’s the first step in training. Before we begin setting goals for improvement, we must first assess who and what we are. It also lets us and others know that we expect to do better and it holds us up in comparison to a goal for that achievement. Maybe not an exact goal, but one that tells us we always need to be doing something that would make our mothers proud.

“We ain’t what we could be.” – This line gives us encouragement. We have potential. We can be better. With a little work we can realize improvement. This line gives us hope.

“We ain't what we gonna be, but thank God we ain't what we were." – This final line sets the goal. Knowing that we are on the road of improving and accepting change; and continually trying to do better is just what we have to do.

The language of the prayer isn’t perfect English, but that shouldn’t distract us from the truth. The thoughts of the author speak to us like a beacon. Start your next meeting with the prayer and see what happens. Or better yet, use the prayer as a discussion starter.

The Prayer of Change could encompass everything from our own character, diversity, and even business profits. We’re going to change. We’ve already accomplished much. How much we change and improve is left to us. We set our own goals. Make sure yours are high enough.

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Re: Spellcheck? - [quote="TheAnonymousMan":2f894q6j]When discussing the majority of people I would definitely say that most people hit the "Change" or "Ignore" button without thinking too much about the correct spelling of a word. All bosses are concerned about is getting the report to the Directors meeting on time.[/quote:2f894q6j] That probably depends on what the "majority" are trying to accomplish. I have word set to alert me about misspellings and grammatical problems, so I fix most as I go. But I also add names etc to the dictionary because I get tired of seeing the red and green squiggles when I know the info is right. If you're only going to click "Change" or "Ignore" then why bother to take the time to use spell check????? Business people that I work for want the info compiled in a timely manner and they want it right - which is fine because that's the way I strive to do any project. Sending out a memo, letter, report etc with obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes makes the person and the company look bad as far as I'm concerned. Shri
Re: e-Commerce and e-Payment providers - Hi GT It is only fairly recently that people in South Africa have been able to get full use of Paypal as we were only able at one time to make payments but not receive them. Fortunately this has now changed. I have received money through Global X Change for one of the affiliate programs that I promote and have found them pretty good as the money is normally transferred directly into my bank account within 2-3 days and I have not had any problems with them. MichelleJ
Re: Obama Wants Social Security for Illegals - [quote="Alan Mater":3kaa8sg4] Obama WILL make changes... but they're not the changes we as a country need or should look forward to.[/quote:3kaa8sg4] Sad but this is exactly how I feel about it. Change is coming - but unless I'm really wrong, it is not a change this country needs. Amazing how much a good speaker with a good speech writer can do. If you paid attention to the things he said "off script" - much of it is frightening. Chris
Are you an Opportunity Addict? - 1) if you find yourself saying yes without thinking about how it will affect your other priorities 2) you have over 10 projects/inventions going on at the same time and this seems normal to you 3) you have spent hundreds and thousands of dollars on manufacturing, prototypes, etc. not to mention thousands of hours of your time....but you havent followed through on any of it 4) most of your projects are falling behind or have completely fallen off your radar....which is fueling your frustration The first step in recovery is to recognize this as a pattern of self sabotage. If you are clear in what your overall goals and objectives are, you should be able to create a lens through which you measure opportunities. You create your life, and your to do list. Change, Add, Remove, Adjust time-lines - whatever you like. But remember that every piece of unfinished business - stays that way J
You are too young - I don't really believe (I've been into web designing for 7 years now... I started in 2000) there is any web design laws. Besides the fact that you can't use copyrighted images on web design without permission from the original author. Also, any web designs you do you may want to have it copyrighted so other's can't steal your idea's or whatever... of course, you can offer a "Copyright Change" option for a bit more money that will allow you to be able to transfer the copyrights and give exclusive rights to the purchaser. All in all, don't worry about the laws... you should be fine, just remember that if your in the U.S. that if your making over $400 (or maybe its $600) in revenue, you'll have to pay taxes to the government... and please get a LLC, although its not a big thing with web designs, you could get into legal trouble somewhere in the business. Lastly, use contracts for when your selling or use agreements to clear the air so that you can have a safe business and you'll have some backing up if you ever are taken to court.


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