I’ve posed this question before: what if you treated every conversation as if it was the last opportunity you have? It’s a great question. It causes you to contemplate how you use your time with someone. You consider being more intentional and thoughtful about what kind of conversation matters, what topics get your attention and the experience you’d like to have. Today, this may be exactly what I’m doing, and the gift is that I…
When profound wisdom is inserted into a conversation without effort, it changes you in that moment. I was sitting with my dear friend Mahtab and her family recently. We were all meandering the emotions that come when life is ending. To be specific, it was about her life coming to a close as she was completing her journey with esophageal cancer. With conversations that involve finality and…
This was posted by a friend and hit home in the best sort of way: @PaulaMcHenryBarkmeier said “Peacemaking doesn’t mean passivity. It is the act of interrupting injustice without mirroring injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer, the act of finding a third way that is neither fight nor flight but the careful, arduous pursuit of reconciliation…
Waiting. It’s not my strong suit. I’m not good at waiting. My strong suits are solving problems and helping people, catalyzing people and efforts, creating memorable experiences. Except where I can’t. In matters of health, I’m not trained and though I have immense energy, incredible passion and willingness, there’s nothing I can do, it’s out of my league. Doing nothing feels too much like helplessness and involves patience…which is waiting. My…
@SharolBinger Thank you. Sometimes, the words are not there and someone else says them for you. Barely the day has started and it’s already six in the evening. Barely arrived on Monday and it’s already Friday, the month is half over and the year is half over. Already 40, 50 or 60 years of our lives have passed, we realize that we lost our…
Lessons from Toni Morrison (and her father): Whatever the work is, do it well – not for the boss, but for yourself. You make the job; it doesn’t make you. Your real life is with us, your family. You are not the work you do; you are the person you are. “…since that conversation with my father I have never considered the level…
“Life is an Echo. What you send out, comes back. What you sow, you reap. What you give, you get. What you see in others, exists in you. Do not judge, so you will not be judged. Give LOVE and love returns to you.” Zig Ziglar If you don’t like what’s showing up around you, offer something you’d like to receive. Keep offering it until it shows…
@CharlotteJokoBeck offers a great teaching with this passage: “Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath. Every moment is the…
Three simple rules in life: If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place. When it seems things are chaotic and changing, how can these three rules cut through the clutter and help you move forward a little or a lot? What will…
2020 keeps pushing us, it is a year of change and discomfort. Change and discomfort provide the perfect environment for learning. Learning is where we can get better and wiser…if we choose to. I have talked about staying focused on the intersection of the things that matter and the things you can control (blog #344). Let’s dissect this a bit, because every so often (hourly sometimes), this year has felt…