To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Powerful

Powerful thoughts, friendly reminders to act on our intentions

Probably more often than ‘every once in a while,’ we all need a reminder to slow down and act on our thoughts and intentions.

Our minds, no doubt, are filled with fleeting ideas and acknowledgements of people we need or want to reach out to. Developing a daily or weekly habit of making those calls, sending the note (or flowers), or even having that tough conversation will make us healthier. I believe doing so frees our spirit and minds and allows us to live a more authentic life. Acting on those good intentions provides us a pathway to live out the life we truly want to live.

A quick recount of a story that I’ve shared before: Two-ish years ago, one of my college friends did just this… She reached out to a handful of us and made that first effort to gather us after almost 30 years. We all acted and have now gotten together for a few days the last two winters. In between those weekends, has been a showcase of what true support and friendship is all about, cheering each other on in the good and challenging parts of life. It has been powerful. We reconnected and the power in our friendship we cultivated when we were young came back more stronger than ever.

Who might join me this weekend in creating that list and developing an action plan?

Let’s be GENEROUS with our love and praise

It’s so natural and easy to be generous with our love – at least with some people in our lives. This picture draws to mind a grandfather and granddaughter, which reminds me of those in our close circle who we are able to embrace so much easier (most of the time, that is…). That’s a good thing!

Today, however, I’m thinking about how to be generous with love with all people. It’s absolutely essential that we all learn or grow this character quality of generously giving love, praise and gratitude. It makes our world the best place, when we all come to the table with this approach and attitude. Here are a couple of things that I am contemplating:

  • Too often, we jump into a conversation – let’s use the business world as an example – and start right into the topic at hand. We establish meeting agendas and construct our days with a focus on getting the work done. That’s America in action.

    What if we all held ourselves accountable with setting up every conversation, every meeting agenda, every day with the focus on people first? What if we genuinely took time to express genuine praise, or to share a fun story to highlight someone’s wins? What if? Wouldn’t it be nicer? Wouldn’t the energy increase? Wouldn’t the culture and momentum of the team build?

  • I’m also giving thought to the fact that there is so much power in the written word. Let’s not forget that while our schedules heat up with back to school, sports and a renewed focus on wrapping up the year strong, that we need to stop and generously offer words of encouragement. A tiny post it note of thanks will often be found on someone’s work space wall, home desk or tucked in a wallet for months and years to follow. People need and want to be recognized. That’s all people, regardless of status, title or age. If our schedules somehow get in the way of putting pen to (actual) paper, then I would submit that generously sending text messages or emails are also powerful. Those, like the post-it note, can be screenshot, and will serve as an ongoing reminder to people of their impact.

This is so important and I hope today that you will join me in being generous with your love and praise.

Simple Thoughts Sunday – Power in the waiting

I am hopeful that this hits someone else as hard as it did me personally. What an incredible thought… It wasn’t mine, but it is is worthy of sound thinking around the idea. So many times in my life and as I interact with my boys and close friends and family, the topic of praying and what we are hoping for in our lives comes up.

What are those dreams you pray for? How about just a prayer to make it through the next conversation? Through the test? The interview? The next day?

Does it ever come to mind that we may not be prepared for exactly what we are asking? That our patience and in our waiting is where we are becoming prepared. Or perhaps, we will never be prepared, and God knows that and takes us in another direction. Waiting is where we are strengthened, equipped and prepared.

I am thankful that God hasn’t always given me what I wanted when I asked for it the first time. At times, it has been many, many seasons of wondering where He is at in my prayer. I now know that it is because I wasn’t fully prepared. Does that resonate with anyone?

As you go into the week, I hope that you will find renewed hope in your prayers. I have found that God gives me peace when He has prepared me. In other words, that conversation may not need to happen until I get that peace – that “go ahead,” so to speak. I firmly believe that God is with us at all times and is actively preparing us for all that we are supposed to do in this life.

Have a powerful week.

The Radical, Strategic Mind

Happy almost weekend! As we wrap up the week, I’m mindful that with school pretty much back in session, those of us in the work place are also gearing up for a strong end of the year play.

To me, this season is sort of like January where we rise to the occasion and develop tactical strategies on how to achieve our professional goals. Come to think of it, we do this for our lives in general as well. It’s the ideal time to assess our wins so far for the year, and those areas where we haven’t hit the stride mark yet. The great news for all of us of course is we have more than a quarter of the year left — that’s plenty of time to regain perspective, strength and eventually hit the ball out of the park so to speak.

So what is a radical, strategic mind to you? For me, it’s getting out of the norm in thinking and allowing ourselves to be truly creative… to paint outside the lines. It is a fundamental difference in how we view whatever challenge is in front of us. Radical minds are those that are the voices of social and political change advocates, and those that often make the greatest impact.

The end of summer is a great time to fire up the mind. In theory, we had time to rest a bit and soak up some sunshine, and our minds and bodies should be prepared for a higher level of energy. My personal game plan is to identify a few key areas — for me, likely career and relationships — to focus on for the year-end wrap up.

Asking the right questions is critical right now:

How can I maximize my time to ensure I achieve my goals?

What areas can I “cut” or reduce so I can make more time for what is important?

What are the “must haves” that I have?

Who are the people I need to connect with?

What projects must get off of the ground? Are there some that I can move to next year? Why do they matter? Who can help me achieve these? 

What is a different approach that may be better?

Those are some of mine. How about you?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Immense, deep, fierce, profound… Beyond measure

Beyond compare

Beyond dispute

Beyond doubt

BEYOND MEASURE

Beyond number

Beyond one’s depth

Beyond Price

Immense, deeply, fiercely, profoundly.

(Thanks to Coopers dictionary for these incredible terms…perfect for today’s message)

What areas of your life have you been blessed beyond measure? This is the perfect day and week to dive into this idea.

Sunrises, sunsets, pets, a healthy and able body, the ability to help others, intelligence, teachers, counselors, friends, family… All of those are surely on the list.

What about the not so obvious? Hard times, loss, trouble, stress… To me, those belong in this category, too. Without the mire, I wouldn’t be where I am – I wouldn’t be so blessed. I wouldn’t be able to serve well, and to use my story to encourage others. The best place we can be today is in the pure gratitude of the adventure we are on.

The road that are straight, the roads that fork with no obvious direction, the unpaved roads, even the road that flatten your tires… They all come together to form a life that is blessed beyond our understanding – beyond measure.

Have a crazy great week. Many prayers and positive energy to you, your family and friends.

Lessons from the longest living people in the world… A summary of the world’s Blue Zones

You’d think with it being summer and all, I’d be reading more than ever. Well, as I shared in last week’s blog, I have been saying “yes” a lot more, which equates to not as much time to read.  I’ll get to a good balance soon. In the meantime, I finished up the Blue Zones book by Dan Buettner tonight, and it was amazing as I expected. It’s been on my list for too long.

In case you are unfamiliar, The Blue Zones is a term coined scientists coined for the areas of the world with the largest concentration of the longest-lived people. (Specifically while mapping one of the regions on the island of Sardinia. Shout out to my Italian readers and their beautiful country!) As the cover says, this book is a “must read if you want to stay young!”

Most of the lessons aren’t surprising, but it is inspiring to hear the stories of the lives of those thriving in these amazing communities. The areas can be found in small villages in Sardinia (Italy), Okinawa (Japan), Loma Linda (California), Nikoya (Costa Rica) and Ikaria (Greece). I summed up the primary lessons below, but as the picture in this blog states, having a purpose is what I feel stood out the most. That purpose is putting you square in the middle of a community of friends, family and faith that lift you into a world with less stress than most of us ever see, and a clear sense of joy and love. I hope all of that for each of you. For me, I need to do some research on how to retire to one of these beautiful places!

Lesson 1: MOVE NATURALLY. Engage in regular, low-intensity physical activity. If you are older, combine balance exercises, get on the ground and get up often, and practice staying limber and flexible. (Most of these people regularly sit on a floor (not from a recliner or bed) and get up several times a day, so they stay on the move.)

Lesson 2: HARA HACHI BU. For Okinawans, this is a phrase they say often while eating to remind themselves to stop eating when they are 80 percent full. Love the simplicity of implementing this.

Lesson 3: PLANT SLANT. Avoid processed foods and meat. In all of these areas, they are not in the habit of eating meat or fish on a regular basis, and they pretty much do not eat any processed foods. It’s all about eating off of the earth.

Lesson 4: GRAPES OF LIFE. Drink red wine, in moderation. I have lots of friends who love this one – me too! The true strategy here is take it easy with 1-2 glasses per day. When we drink any more than that, the negative consequences outweigh the health benefits.

Lesson 5: PURPOSE NOW. Take time to see the big picture. See the notes on Ikigai above.

Lesson 6: DOWNSHIFT. Taking time to relieve stress is of the highest importance, including reducing noise, napping and meditating… All things we know and don’t engage in enough.

Lesson 7: BELONG. Participate in a spiritual community. In every one of these areas there is a strong concentration on their faith life.

Lesson 8: LOVED ONES FIRST. Simple: Make family a priority.

Lesson 9: RIGHT TRIBE. Be surrounded by those who share Blue Zone values. Being around healthy minded people is essential. The key is making sure you are committed to regular time with those people.

I highly recommend the book. If you want to take the online quiz to establish where you are on your current “expected life expectancy” you can find it on the Blue Zones home page. You can also use it to develop a plan to live longer. For example, mine gave me some strategies to gain three years if I follow their advice. It’s pretty interesting if you like those types of exercises. Have an awesome weekend.

 

 

Let’s not be bystanders. Standing up is required for all of us.

Glennon Doyle continues…

“Now is the time to do what we tell our kids to do. Do not be a bystander – not in this moment in which the very humanity of our country is crumbling. Do not  be a bystander- not while bullies take crying babies from their terrified mother’s arms. It’s the bystanders that allow the bullies to rule.  If we don’t speak up and stand up for these children- it’s time to stop pretending we ever will.” (Via Glennon Doyle’s  Instagram campaign early last week. Her organization @together.rising, has raised over $3 million while generating public awareness to challenge our government to do the right thing.)

I generally do not shine a light on my thoughts about many of our worldly challenges in this blog. It gets too messy and you can’t possibly provide adequate context in a short blog. I stood by recently, watching this crisis unfold, and today took time to catch up on the latest developments.

The issue in summary – if you are like many who don’t stay tuned in to the daily barrage of news media – is that under this administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, the U.S. will give preference to immigrants who have waited their turn. This means that those undocumented adult immigrants who did not come through a legal entry point, have been arrested and separated from their children. While there’s some ambiguity, federal officials shared intentions over the weekend to reunite over 2,000 children with their parents – after a literal outcry from Americans. This, only to happen after their parents have completed their court proceedings. Further family separations have stopped… thanks to a refusal of the masses to not allow the “bullies” to win.

This is not what our country is about. Our country was built on the backs of immigrants, many of us claiming that bloodline. I hope that you will stay connected to this issue and others like it. We really cannot just say, “I don’t watch the news, it’s too negative.” We have to find some avenue to be AWARE, to ENGAGE when needed and to ensure AMERICA remains a country that rises above in integrity, love and honor for all.  It is all of our responsibility.

Here is a short list of organizations you might want to explore (in addition to contacting your elected officials this is always the first line of defense):

  • ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union
  • RAICES: The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services
  • @together.rising, as mentioned above

Simple Thoughts Sunday: Reflection and purpose

Summer is the ideal time for reflection. The water – lake, creek, river or ocean – offers us an open space to think. The mysteries of what lies beneath the surface can transport us to a different level of awareness of our immensely-complex world.

I may use Brendon Burchard’s “The Motivation Manifesto” several times during the year because I’m halfway through and have more pages earmarked and thoughts underlined than not. Like this thought of looking back on our lives and answering to our creator…

“Did you use the time I gifted you each day to be a purposeful being? Did you follow your own path and make your time count? How faithfully did you tend to the dream I sowed in your soul?”

My thoughts: WOW. Thank you Brendon for this pause. The opportunity to ask the deeper questions and allow ourselves to realign with our purpose if necessary… to polish those areas where we are not fully using all that was given to us.

I’ll close today with his thoughts on mastering our days. It’s as though each morning, we hurl the shining spear of purpose far into the fields of the future, and then make it our mission to go pick it up and throw it once again, moving toward the horizon line of our greater destiny.” That is powerful imagery.

I pray that today, we all “hurl” our swords forward and seek to be fully purposeful in using our god-given gifts.

 

Make Summer count

Summer! I absolutely loved yesterday morning with the cooler temps and a neighborhood that literally seemed like everyone was outside. I loved last week, with the hotter temps, driving by local pools and seeing the children literally loving these moments of bliss. Childhood surely has the best of all worlds. It’s true, “adulting” is hard.

Here’s the thing though, we all get to choose how we want to “adult.” We get to choose (for the most part) our weekend plans and how we might enjoy the longer weekday nights

So, I really don’t want to be the one to state the obvious, but we have about eight weekends left of summer. (Meaning before the schools begin to open and the general pace accelerates from what seems like 20 mph to 100 mph in no time.)  We get to create, design, craft and author our moments. Isn’t that so cool? So, what will you do…

Decide you will make no PLANS on any Saturday?

Organize a patio “lunch or brunch” with your favorite people at least once a week (maybe 3 is better?)?

Sneak out to a park and find a swing and act like a child again… wind catching you as you pump your legs into the air?

Grab your bike and make your way to the local coffee or ice cream shop for a summer treat?

Sit outside and simply listen to nature’s call?

Take a long drive to the country, visiting small towns and all of their charm?

Absolutely one has to be at the lake… I hope you all love that as much as I do.

I could go on and on. My recommendation is to give some thought now as to just what the ideal summer might be for you, and make it happen. I hope you have a glorious day and that you do what you can to MAKE IT COUNT.

Where do I have an opportunity to be a blessing today?

Where is that opportunity? Is it at work? Where I live? In the community? Is it in my own home? Is it myself? (We are often too hard on ourselves. Sometimes self-preservation, as I like to call it, is the “best yes.”)

I’ve shared before that I had a fabulous guy that drove me to the airport for awhile and he told me he prayed every morning that God would point out someone who needed a blessing. He told me how amazed he was that when he started that habit that his eyes were opened to the person needing a ride, some extra change, or whatever it might be.

As you close out the week, finishing strong, it would be great if we all stopped and looked for an opportunity to be a blessing. It’s often pretty simple. Sometimes a compliment, or opening a door is the biggest blessing. When I have been tired and sad, leaving a hospital or loved one, that one person’s cheery “goodnight, get some res!” was just what I needed.

I remember a young girl at summer camp several years ago, likely not even 20 years old, passed me on the bridge by the lake and said, “you are doing a great job (as a mom)…” That has never left me. As a newly-single mom, she stepped in as an angel in that moment.

Where can you best be a blessing?