Some days,
simply getting out of bed
is the bravest act
in defiance of
the inner voices
telling you to hide.
Get up.
I GAVE MYSELF
I gave myself
a gift of silence -
watching thoughts float by -
a gift of time -
not watching minutes pass by -
a gift of nature -
watching a stream flow by -
a gift of grace -
letting guilt and shame pass by.
I gave myself these gifts
and found
I had more gifts
to give
others.
LAW OF NATURE
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
I used to think of this only as
push and pull,
but now I understand it as
a flow.
Everything seems to need
what looks like
the opposite.
Yin flows with yang,
light flows with dark,
rest flows with activity,
giving flows with saving.
We forget this law of nature
at our own peril.
Seek the flow.
DEAD SEA
The Dead Sea
is...well…
dead.
Why?
It’s a taker.
A taker has an inlet,
but
no outlet.
People who do this
(you’ve met them)
are
dead too.
They just don’t know it.
So it’s an easy lesson,
shouted from the rooftops
of good
business,
life,
relationship
practices.
We get it:
Don’t be like the Dead Sea.
Be a giver.
What we don’t get:
the reverse is also true.
If you are all outlet,
if all you do is give,
if every act flows away,
if everything is
always for someone else,
soon you will be empty
and
empty = dead inside.
Vibrant,
teeming,
growing,
breathing,
abundant,
life
is found
in learning
how
to give
and
receive.
WE ARE BLIND
We are blind.
We don’t see
what is right in front of us
and
all that could be.
The beauty of the earth,
the beauty of the stars,
the beauty of all our failings and scars
lay
hidden behind the shutters
of our guilt, our shame,
our comparison to others.
But when we
stop
and
breathe...deeply
the shutters crack open,
our vision returns
and
we glimpse the universe’s wonder
more completely.
A, B, C, D, F?
When the
paper,
quiz,
test,
report card
comes back
we ask,
“What did you get?”
as if the letter were something definitive.
Ask any student what those letters mean
and you will hear something like,
“They mean I’m smart or I’m dumb.”
We’re asking the wrong questions
which gives us the wrong answers.
Instead of
“What did you get?”
we can ask,
What did you learn?
What surprised you?
What don’t you understand?
How can you use this?
What else does this make you think of?
The same is true for the questions we ask ourselves.
Instead of asking,
“How did I do?”
We can ask,
What did I learn?
What surprised me?
What don’t I understand?
How can I use this?
What else does this make me think of?
How could I make this even better?
Let’s stop grading ourselves
on a scale meant for meat and eggs.
LIFE-LONG LOVE
A life-long love affair
with anyone
or
anything
begins with one
“Yes”
and
continues
only if
one says
“Yes”
Every. Single. Day.
afterwards.
VULNERABILITY = GENEROSITY
When you are appropriately vulnerable,
a gift is given.
Now, others have permission to lay down their
their armor,
their weapons,
their guilt,
their shame,
their fear
to more fully engage
life,
work,
relationships.
Even if only for a few moments.
But just like any gift exchange,
someone has to go first.
(And if you’re a leader, this is you.)
A STORY WAITING
Everyone has a story
just waiting to be heard.
But they may think it
insignificant,
silly,
or absurd.
You don’t have to understand their story
to be kind,
just open your ears
and
your mind.
MY TENDENCY
Some days
words don’t come,
thoughts don’t flow
as if I’ve forgotten all I know.
On these days the tendency mine
is to get angry,
push harder
to craft something fine.
What I've forgotten on those days
is that
the “magic” happens in
sitting down,
standing up,
sharpening the pencil
the chisel,
picking up the brush
and doing it
Every. Single. Day.