The Power in a Seed

I am perpetually inspired by the potential for growth and reproduction that lies within the tiniest of seeds.  The largest living organisms on Earth -- the massive redwood trees of Northern California -- begin their lives as a minuscule seed weighing a mere fraction of an ounce.


The legendary English Oak starts out as an itty-bitty acorn.  Similarly, the greatest men and women who ever lived began their physical lives as a seed and egg far too small for the naked eye to behold.

Self-Action Leadership is all about GROWTH -- holistic, existential growth that spans six vital areas of our lives (spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, social, & moral).  In today's video message, Dr. Jordan Jensen touches on the power that exists in a seed.  In so doing, he reminds us that we are all kings and queens in embryo.

English Oak near HobbleDown
Surrey (Greater London), United Kingdom

PLAY clip to hear Dr. Jordan Jensen speaking about the Power in a Seed

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Click HERE to learn about THE PATRIOTISM PRINCIPLE

PLAY clip to hear Dr. Jordan Jensen speak about restoring American Patriotism & Greatness

SAL Case Study: The Fred & Marlene Hawryluk Story

Quiet Self-Action Leadership from the Silent Generation

Part 2 

The Story of Fred & Marlene Hawryluk

I grew up in an age of unprecedented prosperity that was markedly different from the world my parents and grandparents inhabited (born 1943 & 1946 and 1899 & 1907 respectively). By the time I was born in the latter-end of the 1970s, the scarcity of the Depression and World War II eras—and to a certain extent the virtues they engendered—were becoming distant memories.

I was fortunate, however, to be close to persons who lived through those difficult times. Through their example, I was able to and observe some powerful lessons. In the memorable verse of Edgar A. Guest:

I’d rather see a sermon
Than hear one any day;
I’d rather one should walk with me
Than merely tell the way…

For I might misunderstand you
And the high advice you give,
But there’s no misunderstanding
How you act and how you live.

Once, as a young lad of 10 or 11, I went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant with my maternal grandmother, Ruth (1907-1992). I recall watching her take a single napkin from the dispenser, tear it in half, put one half in her purse for later use, and proceed to use only the other half throughout her entire meal. For a kid in the 1980s and 1990s, accustomed to taking as many napkins as I wished—and then inefficiently using and discarding them—I was surprised, and impressed, by this act. While I often heard my progenitors speak of leaner times, and their accompanying habits, practices, and mantras, they were never as real for me as they were for my parents and grandparents. Nevertheless, I always greatly respected family members and others born in the first half of the 20th century for the noble virtues they exemplified, and viewed their approval and praise as the consummate compliment of circumspect citizenship. While all generations have their faults, I recognized a deep well of wisdom within my predecessors from which I could receive upright moral instruction and glean life lessons. These models of modesty, fidelity, frugality, simplicity, and silent courage became my mentors, not because they forced their ideology on me, but because I admired them. I was motivated, therefore, to act in ways that would garner the approbation of my elders.

Fred, a part-time cobbler by trade, in his workshop (garage)

There is elegance in simplicity, and Fred and Marlene Hawryluk personify this statement better than anyone I’ve known. This chapter shares the common, yet compelling, story of their lives.

When I met the Hawryluks over a decade ago, they had been in their small and modest home for approximately 40 years. Despite its size, I have rarely—if ever—seen a home so clean and tidy, or one that possessed a more peaceful and pleasant atmosphere.

Fred’s father, John, immigrated to Canada from the Ukraine in 1912. At the time, 160-acre plots of free land were available to anyone willing to work it. But upon arriving, John was arrested. At the time, the United Kingdom (including Canada) was waging war against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which encompassed present-day Ukraine. Fears of cultural and political subversion from disloyal sympathizers resulted in the arrests of many immigrants at the time, not all of which were justified. After his release, he returned to the same neighborhood he had tried to start a new life in and bought up all the land he could. He was not rich, but he was industrious, and had an eye for opportunity. He worked hard and avoided debt.

His son, Fred, grew up during the Great Depression. Fred went to school in a four-room schoolhouse that included two outhouses and a stable for the student’s horses.

When Fred and Marlene got married, John gifted a small plot of land to his son. Fred bought a small adjacent lot of land for $285 and began building a home. Like the Piersons, the Hawryluks started out with very little. However, they were hard working, self-reliant, and frugal. Determined to remain debt-free, they patiently built their home as they could afford it over a period of two years. As a result, they never had a mortgage. They invested sweat, tears, and even blood (from minor accidents) into the construction of a modest, but very comfortable and tidy home. Fifty years later, they still live there. The Hawryluks also have a large, well-kept, and productive flower and vegetable garden. Growing their own fresh fruits and vegetables has saved them countless dollars over the course of their adult lives.

Canadian winters are cold (often dipping into sub-zero temperatures), and for the first winter they lived in only one room and used an outhouse. Fred wired the house himself after proactively seeking out lessons on the skill. Throughout the construction process, he would often walk to where another home was being constructed and observe how the builders were proceeding. He learned a lot from these observations, and managed to progress with his own home’s construction by working a step or two behind another home’s construction crew. Marlene helped Fred with much of the manual labor, including sawing boards.

Like Charlie and Muriel, Fred and Marlene have a large family that includes five children, 23 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. They taught their children the same life lessons that brought them success, and their children and grandchildren are, in turn, teaching those lessons to their children.

Fred & Marlene aren’t famous or rich—unless you consider wonderful family members, fresh and delicious fruits & vegetables, and zero debt as assets in their “portfolio,” in which case they are wealthy indeed. But the Hawryluk’s are happy, and you can’t put a price on happiness. In fact, they refer to their little heaven on Earth as the “Happy Hawruluk House,” or the “Hawryluk Haven.” Now in the twilight of their lives, they can look back on their long lives with satisfaction, contentment, and most importantly—inner peace. I’ve met a lot of monetarily rich folks who can’t do that. I’ll bet you have too.

Marlene at work out back of the "Happy Hawryluk House"
in her and Fred's productive vegetable and flower gardens.

SAL Book: Emancipation through Self-Action Leadership

Self-Action Leadership is an emancipator. It is the key that can release you from the ten shackles described in the previous chapter.

This chapter introduces a real-life story to illustrate the extent of SAL’s capacity to liberate you from whatever shackles are presently binding you down either personally or professionally. This story is not about fame, fortune, fabulously good luck, or overnight success, yet it is a success story. This story is about an imperfect, common human being who accomplished uncommon things through the conscious exercise of diligent, disciplined, and dedicated SAL over a period of nearly three decades.
This is the story of a man in his mid-thirties. He was born in 1979 in a tiny, rural, farming and ranching community in the Four Corners area of the western United States. This man’s beginnings were marked by many of the commonalities of life in middle-class America, and that is where the story begins its twists and turns. Since 1979, he has visited 49 of 50 U.S. States, eight Canadian Provinces, and several foreign countries. He has lived at 41 different addresses in five different time zones. His life has been full of variety, adventure, challenge, opportunity, personal growth, failure, and success.

In his life, this man has learned to effectively manage clinical obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression after suffering for two decades from their insidious symptoms. He earned a Doctoral degree with a 4.0 grade-point average after scoring a 3.2 GPA in college, a lackluster 2.9 GPA in high school, getting rejected by the University he applied to, and taking Algebra 1 three years in a row.

This man convinced an intelligent, talented, and attractive young woman to marry him after a horrible string of romantic failures influenced by his OCD-related social awkwardness. He was a 24-year old college graduate before getting his first girlfriend or kiss, but now he is happily married to a woman he describes as “better than the woman of his dreams.” This man is now the father of two healthy, happy children (a son and a daughter) who are the joy of his days.

This man and his wife have gone from being $80,000 in debt in 2008 to being completely debt-free, paying cash for his graduate education, enjoying a comfortable lifestyle, and establishing a growing nest egg for the future.

After being placed in the average reading group in first grade and being frightened to speak in public, this man has since published four books and spoken publicly to 20,000 people throughout North America and the United Kingdom. This man, who once desperately needed help with his own Self-Action Leadership, has since helped thousands of people with theirs all over the English-speaking world.

If you have not already guessed it, this is the story of my own life; it is the story of how SAL transformed my life and my character. I do not share these things to impress you, or to brag. I share them to impress upon you my deep personal conviction—born of 27 years of real life experience and deep personal study and observation—of the power of the principles championed in this book. SAL works—my own life is testament to the fact.

I am no better than you are. There is nothing special about me. But everything is special about SAL principles, which will beget goodness and success in your life and career if you are willing to learn them, believe in them, and live by them. For this to occur, you must both want, and be willing to, change—just as I did.

"For things to change, you must change."
– Jim Rohn
(1930-2009)

 

The reason my story turned out the way it has is not because other people, things, or external circumstances changed, or because I got lucky. Many people waste much of their lives waiting around for circumstances, luck, and other people to change; I know because for many years, I was one of them.

Do you live your life among this vast multitude that lounges on the beaches of life waiting for your ship to come in? I’ve been guilty of frequenting this crowd. I’ve also thrown my share of pity-parties over the years. Often convinced my problems were a result of circumstances or the people around me, I eagerly embraced opportunities I had to physically move so my life could improve. Naively hoping a change in my outer surroundings would improve my internal experiences and magically make me happy led me to feel predictably and perpetually disappointed. Over time, I discovered the great truth that no matter where I was, or who and what was around me, nothing would ever really change until I changed—and that is when the magic—and hard work—began.

“What you become inwardly changes your outer reality.”
– Plutarch & Otto Rank

Once I began to change myself, my circumstances began to improve as well. The harder I worked on myself, the more pleasant, prosperous, and desirable my circumstances became. It took enormous amounts of time and effort, but it was all worth it. Over time, I learned—not merely through principle, but through actual experience—that other people, things, and circumstances do not determine my destiny. For better or for worse, I determine my own destiny—today, tomorrow, and always.

SAL IS A LIGHT

Life is filled with problems. No one gets out of life without facing significant adversity. If you think someone doesn’t have problems, you just don’t know them very well. Personal problems and challenges come in many different sizes and packaging. Something that is easy for you may be excruciatingly difficult for me, and vice versa.

In writing this book, I do not presume to understand the substance and depth of the personal and professional problems you face. Nor do I claim to have the answers to solve them. What I do know is that you can eventually find specific answers to your individual problems if you are willing to submit your will to the general laws of Self-Action Leadership.

SAL is not a bandage for covering up your problems; nor is it a mystical elixir to make them magically disappear. SAL is merely a light. I say mere, but there is nothing weak or small about light. For light—if you are willing to open your eyes to, and utilize its penetrating guidance—has the power not only to uncover what your problems really are, it can also illuminate the correct pathways to solving them.

If you are trying to hide from your problems or veil them from others, then light, of course, seems a terrible nuisance whose blinding effects will be quite painful. But if you seek to know what your problems really are, and possess a real intent to solve them, light is a great liberator; indeed, it is the only liberator. I should warn you, however, that light can initially be painful whether you seek it out or not.

In life, everyone is exposed to varying intensities of this metaphorical light. And in the end, there are really only two kinds of people in the world—those who hold on to their blindfolds to ease the pain, and those who cast away their blindfold to face the pain. Those who keep their blindfolds feel less pain in the short run. Those who discard their blindfold feel less pain in the long run. If you are willing to persist in seeing light, your initial pain will be swallowed up in lasting pleasure and peace. What kind of person do you want to be?

Light is useless for hiding and pretending. It’s only functionality is for seeing and doing and going. What do want in your life? Do you seek to hide and pretend and cover-up, or do you yearn to see, and do, and go and become? If you desire the latter, this book will be quite helpful to you. If you desire the former, read no further.

Consider an additional caveat about light. While light can illuminate the pathway you should take, it cannot travel it for you. Do not, therefore, expect a nicely paved, divided highway all the way to the top of your personal mountain. Real solutions do await you at the mountaintops of real problem solving; but be ready to face bumps, steep grades, hot (or cold) weather, and no shortage of obstacles along the way. Light doesn’t remove obstacles from your path; it merely helps you see them better.


Next Blog Post: Wednesday, December 17, 2014, Chapter 14: The Challenge & Quest to Become