Full Circle: Bob Poznanovich

I interviewed Bob Poznanovich, Executive Director of Business Development at Hazelden, for a Minnesota business magazine article titled “Full Circle.” Bob’s story is a perfect illustration of the adage, “What goes around comes around.” In other words . . . a full circle.
 

INTRODUCTION

Androcles, the Roman slave who removed a thorn from a lion’s paw, was later spared from death when the lion recognized him in front of a bloodthirsty crowd in the Coliseum. If Androcles had been a Twin Cities business leader, a seemingly isolated incident early in his career would undoubtedly have led to his company capturing the lion’s share of the market years later.

These three stories from Twin Cities businesspeople illustrate the inscrutable relationship between connection and coincidence. Call it karma, reaping what you sow or what goes around comes around; inexorably, like a circle completing itself, scales are balanced and debts repaid.
 

BOB POZNANOVICH’S STORY

Bob Poznanovich

I was the first kid from my family to go to college. I had grown up in a ghetto-like neighborhood in Chicago without a father in the house or any good male role models. I literally didn’t know how to behave in college. Hanging out with decent, successful people as opposed to hanging out with neighborhood guys on street corners was all new to me.

Jerry was a member of the fraternity I joined. He was two years older than me and was well known, well liked and well connected. He was a member of the student senate, active in other university organizations and very much a leader on campus.

For whatever reason, Jerry saw potential in me and became a mentor and friend. He helped me fit in by showing me how to get involved in the student senate and other campus events and activities. With his help, I started to develop on a personal level and discover my own leadership capabilities. The year I graduated, the faculty and staff selected me as Greek Man of the Year within the fraternity community. As a result of Jerry’s efforts, I

Full Circle: John Rollwagen

I interviewed John Rollwagen, former chairman and CEO of Cray Research, for a Minnesota business magazine article titled “Full Circle.” John’s story is a perfect illustration of the value of connections, synchronicities and how we often find ourselves in someone else’s orbit.
 

INTRODUCTION

Androcles, the Roman slave who removed a thorn from a lion’s paw, was later spared from death when the lion recognized him in front of a bloodthirsty crowd in the Coliseum. If Androcles had been a Twin Cities business leader, a seemingly isolated incident early in his career would undoubtedly have led to his company capturing the lion’s share of the market years later.

These three stories from Twin Cities businesspeople illustrate the inscrutable relationship between connection and coincidence. Call it karma, reaping what you sow or what goes around comes around; inexorably, like a circle completing itself, scales are balanced and debts repaid.
 

JOHN ROLLWAGEN’S STORY

John Rollwagen

When I was 12 years old, George Hanson was my scoutmaster at Cleveland Avenue Methodist Church in St. Paul. In the summer of 1959, when I came back from my first year of engineering school at MIT, I was looking for a summer job and my dad said, “Why don’t you call George Hanson?” I said, “George Hanson, my old scoutmaster?” He said, “Yeah, I read in the paper that some new company is starting up. It’s Control something. George is involved and maybe they’d have a spot for you.”

The company turned out to be Control Data and I

Full Circle: Ed Klemz

I interviewed Ed Klemz, founder and CEO of Central Coast Solutions for a Minnesota business magazine article titled “Full Circle.” Ed’s story is as profound as it is beautiful.
 

INTRODUCTION

Androcles, the Roman slave who removed a thorn from a lion’s paw, was later spared from death when the lion recognized him in front of a bloodthirsty crowd in the Coliseum. If Androcles had been a Twin Cities business leader, a seemingly isolated incident early in his career would undoubtedly have led to his company capturing the lion’s share of the market years later.

These three stories from Twin Cities businesspeople illustrate the inscrutable relationship between connection and coincidence. Call it karma, reaping what you sow or what goes around comes around; inexorably, like a circle completing itself, scales are balanced and debts repaid.
 

ED KLEMZ’S STORY

Ed Klemz

My mom, Marge, worked at Sperry Rand in New Brighton for more than 15 years. During that time, a security guard named Charlie was always at his desk, which was elevated so he could look down at the employees when they entered. Charlie was one of those great guys who greeted everyone by their first name and asked how their kids were. There were hundreds and hundreds of employees there and Charlie knew every single one of them.

One day, my mom walked into the guard shack, which she had to walk through to get into the building she worked in. Charlie wasn’t at his desk to buzz her in, so she used her card, entered the building and went up to her office. But something didn’t sit right with her. Not only was Charlie not at his post, there was nobody there, which was even stranger. So instead of sitting down and getting to work, my mom decided to go see what was going on. She walked back downstairs, stood on a pipe, looked over the top of the security counter and saw Charlie lying on the

Father-to-Son Kindness Karma

“One good turn deserves another” may be a cliche, but it’s an accurate way to describe the karma of kindness. As Fulton J. Sheen noted:

Life is like a cash register in that every account, every thought, every deed, like every sale, is registered and recorded.

It is not ours to know when and how a debt will be repaid. Or that it’s even recorded in the ledger of life. As Buddy Shear of Cullman, Alabama, found out, it can take a generation to pay it forward. Buddy’s story appeared in the September 2013 issue of Guideposts.

ONE LAST BLESSING FROM DAD
He wanted to make his son’s wedding perfect, just as his father had made his.

Father of the groom didn’t quite have the same ring as mother of the bride, but I took my duties seriously. My oldest son, Josh, was getting married, and I wanted to do everything I could to make his wedding day the greatest, most perfect day of his life. Like my father did for my wedding.

Dad died years earlier and I still missed him. Maybe never more than I did now.

I stood outside the door of a shop I’d never been to and gave the shoes I was carrying another despairing glance. The shoes that went with my son’s tuxedo. That I had promised I’d take care of.

Josh and his bride-to-be, Tara, were about the same height. She planned to wear heels and Josh had confided to my wife, Debbie, and me that he didn’t want her to tower over him at the altar. Debbie had suggested putting stacked heels on his shoes.

I’d dropped the shoes off at the repair shop we usually used. I’d picked them up this morning and the heels were stacked, all right… into

The Logic Behind Evil Acts

Throughout history, people with malicious intent have exercised their free will to hurt others. That such cruelty is allowed to take place does not mean that God does not exist or does not care. The logic that explains such brutality can be expressed in two words: free will. We either have free will or we don’t. God does not directly interfere in human affairs because, by definition, free will would be rendered meaningless if it were interfered with.

The ability of every individual to exercise their free will is the X-factor that

How Free Will and Divine Intervention Coexist

"Earth Angel" by Josephine Wall (josephinewall.co.uk)

If you wonder why God allows people to do evil things to other people, what you’re really saying is that you don’t believe in free will. Throughout history, people with malicious intent have exercised their free will to hurt others. God does not directly interfere because, by definition, free will would be rendered meaningless if it were interfered with.

Yet, Divine intervention is also at work. The Divine is always speaking to you, guiding you, nudging you toward your highest good, but it is up to you whether or not you choose to listen. Both free will and divine intervention come down to this: You

John Manley on Stillbirths, Suicide and Reincarnation

John Manley

After years of grieving for his stillborn daughter, my friend John Manley, an author of metaphysical speculative fiction, stumbled upon a concept that at last healed his pain and brought him peace. Whether you agree with his conclusion or not is beside the point. What is important is to find a spiritual or religious path that feels like home to you, and actively work toward crafting a worldview that helps you make sense of the world.

Here, in three parts and in John’s own words, is his story.

DOES REINCARNATION EXPLAIN WHY BABIES ARE STILLBORN?

On Easter Monday, 2005, around 9 AM, I received a phone call. “Mr. Manley, your wife is going in for an emergency c-section…”

It was too soon. Months too soon.

The hospital (where Nicole had already been admitted) was over 45 minutes away. By the time I arrived, it was all over. All efforts at resuscitating our newborn baby girl had been fruitless.

I’ve never been more upset over anything in my life.

Nicole and I went through a number of child loss books. Most of them too bloated for my liking and often off the mark from how I believe the universe operates. But one of those books, however, noted a survey that said that parents who believe in reincarnation recover far more quickly from the loss of their children.

Reincarnation, for me, has always

Everyone Is Fighting a Hard Battle

Kindness, by definition, requires humility, purity of intent, and a willingness to put another person’s needs before your own.

Humility must accompany all our actions, must be with us everywhere; for as soon as we glory in our good works they are of no further value to our advancement in virtue.
Saint Augustine

An act of kindness tainted by your ego’s desire for recognition or reward will karmically

You Are But a Witness

True giving is an act of selfless service. The worthiness of the recipient and the consequences of your giving are not your concern.

You often say, “I would give, but only to the deserving.”
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights, is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream. . . .
For in truth it is life that gives unto life—while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.
Kahlil Gibran

True giving has no ulterior motives. You do

Instant Karma

Yesterday, I dialed a phone number (well, I actually cut-and-pasted it into Skype) and was startled to hear Bill’s voice on the other end. I thought I was calling somebody else so it took a few seconds before I regained my equilibrium and told Bill I had called him by mistake. “No problem,” he said cheerfully. I don’t even know Bill very well; he’s my contact for writing newsletter articles for the Minnesota bank he works for. After disconnecting, I realized I had

Roasted in the Divine Fires of Wisdom

Karmic law is in force in every moment of our lives. Karma cannot be sidestepped but it can be transcended through earnest, unwavering spiritual practice. Devotees who have achieved self-realization may have many or all of their karmic debts mitigated or forgiven.

Seeds of past karma cannot germinate if they are roasted in the divine fires of wisdom.
Paramahansa Yogananda

God-illumined souls break free from the revolving wheel of reincarnation and melt in loving union with divine consciousness. Whether it takes ten

The Consequences of Consequences

Karmic consequences are certain but unpredictable. The same cause may affect two people’s karmas very differently based on their previous karma, their sacred contracts, and an infinite number of other variables that all coalesce into effects that serve the highest good of each individual.

Thus every act or thought has consequences, which themselves will have consequences; life is the most intricate web of interconnections. This is the law of karma . . . (which) states simply that every event is both a cause and an effect. Every act has consequences of a similar kind, which in turn have further consequences and so on; and every act, every karma, is also the consequence of some previous karma.
Eknath Easwaran

Reincarnation explains why God’s plan for you

Nothing Escapes the Law

Call it karma, or reaping what you sow, or what goes around comes around. Every action generates a reaction in the unified field, which extends beyond the reaches of space and time.

With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Karma is not positive or negative, it is

We Have All Knelt at Different Graves

Deepak Chopra

While reading Deepak Chopra‘s insightful book, The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire, this excerpt on page 183 spoke to me. In this passage lies the reason why one religion or spiritual path is not right for everybody.

We are all born to travel our own path; when we find the right one, it feels like we have come home. What works for me may not necessarily work for you and vice versa. Understanding this removes judgment from the equation. How can we judge another’s destiny? The answer, of course, is that we cannot. All we can do is focus on our own journey.

Intention springs from our deepest desires, and those desires are shaped by karma. You and I don’t have the same karma; therefore we dont have exactly the same desires. We have loved different people, knelt at different graves,

Life Is a Game of Boomerangs

We all came from and will return to the one Source. By definition then, we are all one. Hence, whatever we do for others, we do for ourselves. So when you choose to be loving, you will receive love in return, both in this life and beyond.

How does this principle affect us on a practical basis? Author and speaker Dannion Brinkley offers a compelling example. While undergoing a near-death experience after being struck by lightning, Brinkley found himself receiving a life review in which he relived every emotion from every encounter he ever had on Earth. The process was then repeated, except this time he experienced the emotions of the people with whom he had interacted.

Today, when appropriate, Brinkley greets those who cross his path with a long, lingering, loving hug, a gesture that is at once selfless and selfish.

He explains that, since