Gratitude Attitude

How grateful are your words? Do you tell others how much you appreciate their efforts, their talents, their smiles? Being grateful on the inside is good, being grateful on the outside is excellent!

Change Ain't Easy

Epiphany while vacuuming 

This morning, while vacuuming my carpets, I was thinking about two very dear friends of mine. I love them, so have them on my mind frequently. While they know about each other, the two haven't yet had the opportunity to meet. Interestingly, both are talking a lot about areas in their lives that they need to change. I agree with them and support the changes they are facing. My vacuum is rather loud, so it drowns out any other sound. It's a good time for me to do thinking. I was mulling over the conversations I've had with these two and of course was formulating solutions and some very sage advise. Then, BAM, I realized I was the one that needed the talking to and that awesome advise should be directed right back at myself!

Energy wasted

Seriously, how often do we spend time judging and fussing over the shortcomings, problems, and challenges of another? Now mind you, I wasn't being mean or judgy about my friends. I was just coming up with a solution or program that I thought would be helpful. But... What would it be like if I turned that energy right back at myself?

As much as my friends love me, I'm 98.5% certain they would kinda, sorta listen to my ideas and then continue on with their own. That's how humans are. For the most part, they are going to do what they have in their minds to do. Using my energy worrying about how to fix their problems is a serious waste of a great mind (mine, of course).

Example is better than a solution

After getting over the shock of the moment (yes, silly I know) and realizing that this was a good thing, it came to me that being an example is much more inspiring than giving someone, even a loved one, a neat and tidy solution. Really, change is not easy. Well, maybe little changes are, like getting a new shade of lipstick or trying a different style of shoes. Breaking out in small ways that are relatively safe is not all that difficult.

We all know that true and lasting change comes from thinking differently. For some, this seems easy. Yet, the core changes we make in our values and beliefs are extremely difficult. All the external pushes and pulls do not make for real change. What does is a new or altered way of thinking. And, that's where I hope to make a difference.

To help my two dear friends, I must help myself. I realize I have to first examine areas that I need fundamental change. There are a few things I need to really work on, And, I'm going to. With prayer, counsel, and determined new thinking, I will set the sail for this new course.

So, here's to spending less time trying to fix and figure for people who really haven't asked for it. I am super excited about this shift in energy. I bet they'll like it, too. They'll probably even ask me how I did it. Then....watch out!

Trust...

Trust is a fragile thing, easily shattered and difficult to repair. Be careful with those who place their trust in you. It's a worthy responsibility!

Image source: http://daves-words-of-wisdom.blogspot.co.uk/

Being used up for a purpose

"This is true joy in life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." ~George Bernard Shaw

Make giving a way of life

"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything" ~Katherine Hepburn 

In our everyday world most of us operate on what we can get out of life, what big score can be made, what advantageous connection will get us the furthest ahead. It's sad when our focus is turned inward, because there is such abundance outside of ourselves that is missed.

When giving and sharing and helping others is the center of our attention, the world opens up in such a way a self-absorbed person can't imagine. Relationships develop that are genuine. Opportunities appear that aren't for the selfish. And, a deep sense of belonging is attained that money will never buy.

This context of giving to others serves us well in leadership and positions of authority. Try for one day to think only of those who work with and for you. Think to yourself, what can I do for those who actually get the work done? How can I give of my knowledge, position, or means that lends a hand to someone who doesn't expect it? What small or large way can I positively impact a life?

If you try this for one whole day, I promise you will be rewarded. Maybe not immediately, but it will come back to you. It will come in such a way that you'll want to do it again! And, then yet again. Soon, it will be a new way of managing, even possibly a new way of life.

Lead by teaching

"If you believe in peace, act peacefully; if you believe in love, acting lovingly; if you believe every which way, then act every which way, that's perfectly valid - but don't go out trying to sell your beliefs to the system. You end up contradicting what you profess to believe in, and you set a bum example. If you want to change the world, change yourself." ~Tom Robbins