To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Serve Well

Be a force for love

I’m attending a leadership “edge” program this week so I’m going to keep this super short. The whole week is focused on wellness. The idea is that by focusing on wellness, we might find our own “edge” in being the best in this life. I’m pretty stoked about that idea. 

Being a force for love requires energy. I love this photo because it conjures up thoughts of a team working together – in unity – building optimal energy for their sport.

The sport of life is no different. Getting ourselves to a strong base level, and then locking arms with a team or community to unify around a goal, is perhaps the most profound work we can do as human beings.

The goal may be…

  • Raising up the next generation;
  • Teaching, coaching, advising;
  • Sharing our story with the hope of being in service to others; and
  • Creating innovations that help our communities thrive (including infrastructure needs and aging, providing healthy transitions from one season to the next).

So many opportunities to be a force of love. But first, optimizing our own health and wellness. We must start with finding our core strength: mind, body and spirit, and build from there. 

Have such an amazing week.

Show up

Sometimes just “showing up” can seem a little daunting. Many of us spend some restless nights going through the “what ifs” over and over again in our heads. Of course, this blog could go back to the faith and trust message, but today, let’s just tackle the idea of SHOWING UP.

  • Need to talk to your kid (no matter what age) about an important life issue?
  • Need to talk to your boss about a raise, or maybe some flexible scheduling?
  • Need to call that friend, who hurt your feelings a few months back, and you can’t seem to shake it?

Showing up is important.

Showing up is where living out our intentions becomes reality.

As the message above says… we never know how the conversation is going to go – so just maybe it will go really great. You will go in prepared and have your thoughts clearly outlined and show up with a heart for listening and spirit ready to have really good and helpful dialogue. Perhaps you will walk away with pride and with a spring in your step.

I know there is the contrary to that “feel good” result happening, but if we don’t show up, we don’t even have the opportunity for things to go really well. I’m guessing if it’s that big of an issue, knowing how it turns out will be the best thing for your internal peace regardless of the outcome.

Showing up in conversations that may accelerate our lives to the next level seems like a great idea to me! Have a strong wrap to your week!

Charging the gates with courage

My favorite colleague at work shared this quote with me. I am certain I’ve heard it before, but I had forgotten it along the way. It is classic Churchill, encouraging us to be strong in the midst of tough challenges. His “courage” dictum also found in this one you may have heard…

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, some time in your life” 

This work friend is fierce and a wonderful role model of effectively forging ahead against tough conversations. We all need to dismantle barriers and biases (and sometimes address the proverbial “elephant” in the room). She does this with finesse and elegance. It’s a gift, and one I feel we all need to polish up on.

Here’s what I have found so far: Courage takes an ongoing commitment to be true to what you know is the best for you, the team, etc. It takes dedication to not just “dial it in,” but to carefully craft a response, an approach, a business case if you will, to highlight your point of view. To counteract the conversation… to impact a decision that may well impact many others. We all have this inside gut check when we know that we need to come out from behind our desks and take that meeting, even when there may well be “dog barking” at the door. May we work toward being courageous.

I’d love to know your strategies. In the meantime, I am going to keep this quote close. It is inspiring and will help drive me toward the best in every conversation regardless of what opposition I may face.

Rewind! This post is a throwback to last summer, but timely and inspiring likely in any season of every year.

The happiness blog

What a wonderful question! So… what do you think? Who are you with when you are the happiest? 

Do you feel warm and settled in with family? Game night? Holidays? A simple stroll through the neighborhood, sharing about your day? 

Perhaps you’re happiest when grabbing a cup of coffee with a trusted confidant?

Or maybe it’s adventuring the world with your best friend? 

Better yet – riding down a country road with a great playlist while your dog enjoys the breeze out the back window?

Happy? What does it even mean, and does it really matter? To me it is feeling free to be fully myself; to have someone share the full experience of life… bringing the fun and adventurous in one moment, and diving into a deep conversation in the next. (For the record, Merriam-Webster showcases happy as contentment, well-being, glad, pleased, atmosphere of fellowship.)  All of that sounds okay but for me not enough... happy should be pure and bold joy!

And regarding the whole “does it matter” part: of course it does! I hope your heart would give a resounding YES to that question, but in case you didn’t know, the topic is backed by science. A 2005 paper found that happiness predicts lower heart rates and blood pressure. In the study, participants rated their happiness over 30 times in one day, and then again three years later – a significant study. Your happiness level also impacts productivity. Researchers find that there is a 12 percent increase in productivity when people are happy and a 10 percent decrease when unhappy. I don’t know about you but I can’t afford to lose 10 percent of my days. (These are only a couple of studies… if you need more reason I’d be happy to fill up your inbox… think lowering stress, improving immunity, etc.).

All of that information was not surprising to me at all, but nevertheless, powerful if you take it in fully. I hope that in some way, bringing this to your attention prompts you to shift your focus on understanding what and who makes you the happiest. For me, it is worth my time and energy because life is fleeting, as we were all reminded this week with the tragedies happening across our nation and even locally. I want to spend every minute I can with those that help me thrive and grow! 

So… it seems like a really good time to consider stirring up some happiness! How about calling that amazing friend and scheduling a summer sunset experience or perhaps a long chat on one of the many great patios around town. The options are endless.

Have an incredible week!

Am I focused on what matters the most? (And hello August!)

Happy August everyone! We are launching the eighth month of the year today! That seems crazy to me – and even more so, the fact that all of those beautiful children and their teachers kick off another year way too soon. I hope July was a banner month for you all and that you had time to enjoy all that summer can be – pools, lakes, oceans, lingering nights on the patio and a large dose of creating love and memories with those you love.

After taking a month off from writing, top of mind for me right now is the concept of the blog itself – SERVICE. The word has been showing up the last two weeks in my reading and various podcasts, messages and conversations. The question I wrote down was the title of this blog: Am I focused on what matters most? After all, we were indeed placed on this earth, in this generation, at this particular moment… to do just that.

When my boys were younger, serving seemed easier for some reason. We were always working toward “community service” hours, and the schools were great ambassadors to help drive that awareness. At this point, engaging in community boards is certainly service, and even serving as an act of daily living counts. Our work place is fantastic about serving and I’m proud of that. However, when is the last time I physically rolled up my sleeves to serve someone who really needed that help immediately? I’m afraid to admit that it’s been too long, short of one brief stint serving at Thelma’s Kitchen (which, by the way, is a fantastic place to join other great folks in meeting our community’s needs).

I am hopeful this post provides a call to action for you as it did for me. I would argue that serving others is the very best part of life. It takes a bit of intention, but it is worth it. It is so important that psychologists agree on one thing: If someone has depression, anxiety, a lack of focus, etc., the often recommended treatment is to walk out the door and find someone, anyone, to help – to serve. In other words, shift the focus from yourself to serving others. I absolutely love that.

Have a wonderful wrap to your week!