The importance of making friends.
\nBlessings Friends,
\nAs 2017 unfolds I look to the challenges facing both us and our planet, and I realize even more the importance of creating strong partnerships. When I was in my twenties I studied Kung Fu and I remember a very important moment that happened to me during that time, when I asked the Master of my Kung Fu system this question.<\/p>\n

“Master, I would like to make a difference in the world, but I am just one man with little power to do anything. If I set out to try to make a difference, how far can I go?”
\nThe Master pointed to a tiny spider in a web on a rose bush and said:
\n“Observe the tiny spider casting a large web to catch that which he alone cannot reach. When you have cast a large web woven of all of the friends and allies you can muster, and tied them all into to your cause, you will have the answer you seek, for a man cannot grasp that which he does not reach for, and cannot hold onto that which is not anchored!”<\/p>\n

I realized that day that a spider’s web is made up of strong threads that radiate outward to connect to various anchors. If you observe carefully, you will also see that a spider doesn’t anchor itself to weak or fragile connections, but instead always chooses the strongest points it can reach to connect with.
\nAnd so I set out to make connections with people who are strongly anchored in the areas with the most influence to affect the world’s future … politics & religion, and so with that goal in mind, I have done the best I that I could!<\/p>\n

That way like the tiny spider, I can increase my reach and increase the strength of my web, and if all goes well, hopefully grasp the goal that I most seek to reach, world peace!
\nI think my Kung Fu Master’s advise is worth sharing, because the more of us who step forward to reach out in this way, the higher the chance of our success.<\/p>\n

Always remember, we don’t have to be big to make big things happen. We just need to think big and cast a large web. It is the strength of our unity that will overcome the challenges we face, and you and I together can be a force to reckon with. And if we create a large enough web and we work together to connect it to enough strong anchor points, we can change the world!<\/p>\n

And so my first New Years resolution is to work harder to connect to each of you. For you are the key to the future. Let us all set our sights on a larger web and join together to build it. Let us each join our hearts and our hands and our ideas together as 2017 blossoms to create stronger bonds and meaningful partnerships.
\nWe are only limited by the goals we set and the friends we make, so let’s shoot for the moon!
\nHappy 2017 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Peace & Blessings,
\nPatrick McCollum<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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