Reading and Relationships

I have a favourite picture of my late Tita Nor.  It is with her sitting in a cup chair, dangling her dainty feet as she enjoys reading a book.

My Dad would voraciously fix his eyes on the words in every book that I would send him.  Even in his advancing age, he would always delight in reading and even in his sick bed, he would still answer reading quizzes that I would throw at him to take his mind off his ailment.

My sister’s children would always lament my gifting my sister with books, because she would lose herself between their pages and would forget their movie dates.

Reading is an important part of our family.  It allows us to share encounters derived from the written word.  It provides us with an experience of travel even if we have not been to the places we talk about.  Reading has given us words that help us express ourselves in a more apt or precise manner.

Reading opens our minds to new ideas that shape our opinions. Reading widely allows us to be more evaluative and selective of our literature as we invest time in the focus we give it.

Character is built by the type of material we choose to spend our moments with that is why there is a need to balance the type of books or magazines we choose so that we do not only peg our attention on the academic and distant but also look into those that are affective and cultivate our relationships.

One of the greatest books that has been tested to longevity, wisdom and truth is the Bible.  Reading it more often reveals ways to live our lives that build stronger more fortified relationships and how to manage our businesses so that it will progress and sustain with the changes brought about by the challenging climate of enterprise.

From Moses, we learn how to lead, how to sacrifice, how to deliver people from a difficult situation to better opportunities.  From Jacob, we learn how to be driven by our objectives, and work hard for what we want.  We learn to be observant, innovative and focused.    In the life of Jacob, we see how determination and acceptance of personal limits have made him work on his weakness and further his strengths.  In King Saul, we see how vanity, complacence and envy of competition brings a person down, and with this his kingdom, in our case, our business.  With David, we learn that employees must be viewed not on their superficial attributes but in their skills, their aptitudes, attitudes, and willingness to change and obey.  Solomon had the sense to opt for wisdom rather than wealth which eventually brought him wealth.  King Solomon prioritized education and training, continuous improvement, and quality assurance

There are many stories in the Bible, many lessons that apply even to our technologically advanced society.  Let us read, learn, lead and relate.