My Five L’s for Embracing a Positive Future
BY JACK LEVINE
I was recently asked to summarize my personal and professional beliefs in pursuit of advocacy goals. In response, I’ve developed these “Five L’s” as guideposts:
LIFE
We should appreciate and respect the life we have been given. Despite the challenges we face at every age and stage of life, the reality is we have an indeterminate time to give all we can to help others. That gift of gratitude is reliant on deep self-awareness and an intense understanding that our greatest strength is what we do to improve our natural world in service to all living others. Taking care of our lives with good health practices is always a good idea.
LOVE
is a primal emotion. Nature provides us the need for mutual caring from our earliest seconds of life. We learn to love by being loved. The sacrifices that others make in assuring that we are loved are investments in our mental health and well-being. With the right measure of loving, a successful future is more likely secured for a lifetime.
LEARNING
is the vital link between perception, knowledge, and experience. Our senses consistently stimulate us to pay attention. We have the capacity to give order to the world around us by responding, recording our reactions, and generating creative thoughts which result in positive actions. Learning is not passive…it’s active engagement. Learning opens up doors to adventure and broadens our capacity to think and act.
LEADERSHIP
We are all poised to be leaders if we are willing to step forward with resolve. From childhood on, we are attracted to the mentorship offered by positive people…in our families, schools, houses of worship, recreational and artistic venues. Emulating positive influences, and rejecting negative ones, is the key to developing into the leaders we can be throughout our lifetime. Following the good and turning away from evil is the prescription for impactful leadership.
LEGACY
Without a doubt, life as we know it will come to its final conclusion. We may believe that we live on in spirit, but life’s mortality is an inevitable reality. At some future time, we will be judged for the contributions we have made. Our legacy is what survives us. Setting the stage for being remembered for the positive actions we exerted to make a difference in our personal, professional, and community life is the making of a legacy we can be proud of.
I welcome your response…A note to jack@4gen.org goes directly to me.
Jack Levine, Founder
4Generations Institute
Jack@4Gen.org
The Advocate’s Credo:
Thou art my child, my parent, and my elder,
I love thee best,
But could not love thee half as much,
Loved I not all the rest.
Jack Levine
