“Practice the pause. Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you’re about to react harshly, and you’ll avoid doing and saying things you’ll later regret.” ~ Lori Deschene Oh, if I had only learned this earlier in my life, I would have saved myself from myself. I probably have too many stories to regale you with from all the times I spoke out when I should have practiced the pause, mentally and verbally. Even now, I catch myself chatting away when in reality my brain tells me I should just be quiet and let the conversation hum […]
Leadership
Not My Rodeo. Not My Bull.
When you feel yourself being pulled into someone else’s drama, repeat these words, Not my rodeo. Not my bull. I also like the phrase, not my circus; not my monkey – it’s all the same in its meaning of “be wise, my friend, and don’t let yourself get caught up in other people’s drama.” I laughed out loud when I saw this quote the other day, because I love the rodeo. (My mom grew up in Wyoming, so I come by it honestly.) “Not my rodeo… Not my bull.” I cannot begin to tell you how often it seems that […]
Carpe Diem, My Friend
Carpe Diem. Seize the day… Make your lives extraordinary. Dead Poets Society It’s the fourth week on my topic and I am just as excited and motivated by my themes of Commitment, Excellence and Action as when I first introduced you to it in the beginning of February. When I started to write about these three themes that I know you hear about often, they just kept unveiling themselves as a much deeper theme than a one-and-done. Commitment, Excellence and Action seem so simple, yet so hard to master, if you don’t lay the groundwork to get it right the […]
Discover who you are
Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are. Bernice Johnson Reagon If you ask your friends and family what are some challenges that they are facing today and how they plan to overcome them, most of your peers will look at you with a blank expression and suddenly you will see a quote cloud form above their head that says, “You need to find someone else to talk to. I don’t want to go that deep today…or tomorrow or ever.” Now it’s not because they didn’t understand the question, it is […]
You Have Permission to Rest
Most every health official or wellness magazine suggests that we all need to slow down and rest, and yet most of us refuse until our bodies force us to stop and take care of ourselves. The million-dollar question is why don’t we take such good advice? And the ten-cent answer is that, for many, it seems selfish to stop and take care of ourselves when so much needs to be done in the world, our community and our own homes. Like most of my friends, I was under the weather this week. Not really sick and not really well. I […]
Attract what you expect, reflect what you desire, become what you respect, and mirror what you admire.
I had some interesting speaking engagements recently and it brought to mind this saying: Attract what you expect, reflect what you desire, become what you respect, and mirror what you admire. In Pennsylvania, I was speaking to those who are planning on running for public office. I teach Your Campaign Speech and how to engage your audience to listen to your message. And in Maryland, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak at the Spouse Program for members of Congress. I must say they were both wonderful groups to spend time with and my thought for today is a direct […]
Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities…
Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. A few weeks ago my show was about if you can’t do great things, do small things in a great way, and, although I thought I was done with that thought, in my mind and in my quiet time I kept coming back to the BIG idea that anyone can take the steps in the right direction to do what they are called to do. What may seem impossible to others is not impossible for you. If you will, just put forth the effort to make it happen. […]
If you can’t change the people around you…
This has been a week of sadness and joy for me. Let me explain. Within a ten day period three people I knew died, one from unexplained causes, one from cancer and one from Alzheimer’s. Due to my travel schedule, I could only attend one of the funerals, but I know what I saw that day would have been the same at each service. Sitting in the packed church for the service, I was struck by the outpouring of love that left a 500-plus seat auditorium only with standing room for those who came to support the family and recall […]
Suspend Your Disbelief
I love poetry, and recently I re-read the simple and yet profound poem by William Wordsworth ~ With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things. Do you see into the life of things? Or do you allow your mind to stop any exploration into things you know little to nothing about? The reason I ask is because I am curious to know if you are stuck in the pluff mud of life or if you are open to simply suspending your disbelief about the way […]