Inspiration

Ancient wisdom

Both being drawn to Eastern philosophy and it’s ancient wisdom, Alan and Angelic find themselves being inspired to use this wisdom in their private and working lives.

“The approach of being inquisitive and trying to understand the working of one’s own mind and habitual tendencies helps us in many ways. It helps us in relating to ourselves, each other, our family and friends but also to our colleagues, customers and suppliers in a more open and genuine way. It also helps us to deal with stress and to follow one of the most wholesome advices of our teacher: practicing relaxation and contentment.”

The Twigs of King Svatopluk

The legend of Svatopluk’s twigs appeared in a fairy tale by the enlightened Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitos around the 10th century.

It says that the powerful Great Moravian ruler Svatopluk asked his three sons to come to him before his death. He gave a twig to each of them and asked them to break it. The young noblemen could easily do it. Then he asked them to tie together three twigs and asked the sons again to break them. This task appeared to be more difficult. Thus the king demonstrated how it is necessary to be united. That only the strength of a united kingdom guarantees the country its power and prosperity.

Great Moravia was divided among the three brothers in 894 in spite of their father’s warning. The country, weakened by wars, was destroyed in 907 by a Hungarian attack.

Instructors tales

Sometimes,  things happen in or around the classroom, that make me wonder whether the main point of this job of Internet Networking Instructor, is really what people call “High Tech”… Situations such as this case where a student,  overqualified for the on-going course, was getting bored. He then became such a nuisance, that I had to tell him apart that I was about to expel  him.  He suddenly turned into a superb attendant, helping others through their labs.

Or this case when, on day one, the initial personal introductions revealed an Indian gentleman, who had just published a book on one of the topics I was to teach ! Hyper-expert-in-the-classroom alert !!! Yet , he went very polite, constructive, always intervening with tact and measure, whereas he could easily have ruined the course, had he wanted.

And what about that class in Algeria , where I was in a dire situation, short of money because credit cards are not yet popular over there. At the morning break of the fourth day, one student came to me, bright eyed and smiling, and begged me to accept the offer of fifty Euros from the class, as they had guessed, because I was always skipping lunch …. I was so deeply moved.

Does it always have to be like that? No, it is only because people choose to behave so. Because each of us has generosity and kindness inside. And if the instructor does his job well, of bringing those foreign pieces together into a joyful and hard-working team in a matter of days, then the class gives even more in return .

Hence my view that, in fact,  PEOPLE might be the real point here, the second horse of this wonderful dual carriage that is the Art of sharing , not only Knowledge, but also Humanity.

That is why I love this job so much …

Jean-Loup Gelard

Nature

South Africa is quite famous for it’s beautiful and breathtaking natural diversity.

Being born in South Africa Alan was exposed to this environment from young age on, and developed a huge appreciation and understanding of the influence of nature on people’s wellbeing.

In chosing the property where he wanted to live and work, building twine networks training center, he was inspired by the garden and the potential for creating a natural environment that would have a calming and nourishing effect on the people that would visit it.

Rocks, water-features, indigenous plants and trees were used to make the desirable changes and to attract the birds. The back garden is still under construction, and there are plans to create a vegetable garden, so that in the near future an important part of the food provided during the lunches will be taken fresh from the garden.

Inspiring books

The links below will bring you to some amazing reading materials, about how differently things can be done.

The Power of Presence – Peter Senge

Presence - Peter Senge, Joseph Jaworski, Betty Flowers

Synchronicity: The Inner Path of leadership – Joseph Jaworski, Peter M. Senge

Karmic Management - Geshe Michael Roach, Michael Gordon, Lama Christie McNally

The Invitation – Oriah Mountain Dreamer