When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time in my room.
This was by choice, not because I was being punished or anything. You see, I am an introvert by nature. Not shy, introverted. Which means I recharge my soul by having a certain amount of alone time. And I don't necessarily have to be doing anything during that time. Now that I am all grown up, I still crave my personal time. Sometimes I'll read a book, or take a nap, or mill around Home Depot or Cabela's. Just time alone with my thoughts. To sort and regroup.
Sometimes I draw and sketch. Or go for a walk.
And it is during these times alone that inspiration joins me. It is during these times that I connect with God and the universe and the infinite source of all things yet to be created.
And they channel and filter through me. Through my experience and perspective. The ideas enter my heart and pass through the semi-permeable membrane of "Me" and what exits is new and unique and totally original.
And so it is for all of us.
When the Song flows through Bruce Springsteen, what comes out is different from when the Song flows through Adele.
When the Painting flows through Jacob Collins, what comes out is different from when the Painting flows through Picasso.
The trick is to stay true to our uniqueness, to not confuse our Song or Painting or Novel or Business with that of someone else. When we do that, when we accept and own our originality, miracles happen.
To your good fortune!
Friday, June 28, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Savor The Heat
I like summer. After months of gray and cold, I relish the sun. I soak it up. Even in the dog days of August, when I am sweating to death and complaining about the heat, I still like it.
I like it because it serves as a stark reminder of where we've come from. I need that contrast. I need that opposition to keep my perspective clear and my focus sharp. It reminds me I have left the cold darkness and have stepped into the warm light.
I try to keep this frame of mind with me in all other aspects of my life. Whenever I feel in over my head or that life seems to been turning up the flames, I try to savor the heat.
Sure, I forget from time to time and curse the frying pan as much as the next guy. But I try as often as I can to remember the sun, to savor the heat.
Time to get cooking.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Fortune Friday: "Your kindness will lead to your happiness."
I think the writer Henry James said it best:
Kindness. Plain old just being nice to other people. It is so underrated in today's society. We often run around envisioning all the grandiose ways we can serve and change the world—often ignoring the very simple and meaningful gestures we can do to those around us.
Ending poverty or world hunger are beautiful goals, and we should strive for them. But a simple hello to a stranger, or holding the door for someone, or smiling at the overworked, underpaid cashier might have more global impact than we might think.
Plus it just feels good to do good. If you want to be happy, be kind.
To your good fortune!
"Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind."
Kindness. Plain old just being nice to other people. It is so underrated in today's society. We often run around envisioning all the grandiose ways we can serve and change the world—often ignoring the very simple and meaningful gestures we can do to those around us.
Ending poverty or world hunger are beautiful goals, and we should strive for them. But a simple hello to a stranger, or holding the door for someone, or smiling at the overworked, underpaid cashier might have more global impact than we might think.
Plus it just feels good to do good. If you want to be happy, be kind.
To your good fortune!
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Set The Stage For Success
In his acclaimed book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, best-selling author and speaker Stephen R. Covey discussed how the problems, challenges, and opportunities we face fall into two areas—Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence.
Simply put, effective people focus their energies on their Circle of Influence. They work on those things they can do something about. They work on developing career skills, improving their health, and building up their relationships. Less effective people focus their energies on things they can't control. They are reactive. They worry about the economy, world politics, etc—things in the Circle of Concern.
So if you want to achieve success in some facet of your life, focus your energies on the things you have control over.
This reminds me of a story my cousins told me years ago. When they were younger and wanted something—money, permission to go out with friends, a ride to the mall—from their mother, my Aunt Janet, they would carefully and quietly set the stage for success.
Their secret weapon? Styx Greatest Hits.
My Aunt Janet loved the band Styx. L-O-V-E-D. So my cousins would wait until my aunt was busy in the kitchen, garden or doing other random house chores. Then they would put the Styx album in the cassette player on volume 1. Slowly over the next hour or so, they would gently raise the volume one level at a time, subtly letting the music fill the house.
Soon my aunt would be humming and singing and dancing. Happy as a clam.
Then my cousins would make their request.
"Mom, can I have $10 bucks to go to the movies?"
"Sure, go get my purse."
This went on for years. Yes, years. Finally one day, my aunt said, "How come whenever you ask me for something, Styx is playing?" My cousins just started laughing. That story has now become family lore.
Control the things you can. Ignore what you can't. Set the stage for success.
Simply put, effective people focus their energies on their Circle of Influence. They work on those things they can do something about. They work on developing career skills, improving their health, and building up their relationships. Less effective people focus their energies on things they can't control. They are reactive. They worry about the economy, world politics, etc—things in the Circle of Concern.
So if you want to achieve success in some facet of your life, focus your energies on the things you have control over.
This reminds me of a story my cousins told me years ago. When they were younger and wanted something—money, permission to go out with friends, a ride to the mall—from their mother, my Aunt Janet, they would carefully and quietly set the stage for success.
Their secret weapon? Styx Greatest Hits.
My Aunt Janet loved the band Styx. L-O-V-E-D. So my cousins would wait until my aunt was busy in the kitchen, garden or doing other random house chores. Then they would put the Styx album in the cassette player on volume 1. Slowly over the next hour or so, they would gently raise the volume one level at a time, subtly letting the music fill the house.
Soon my aunt would be humming and singing and dancing. Happy as a clam.
Then my cousins would make their request.
"Mom, can I have $10 bucks to go to the movies?"
"Sure, go get my purse."
This went on for years. Yes, years. Finally one day, my aunt said, "How come whenever you ask me for something, Styx is playing?" My cousins just started laughing. That story has now become family lore.
Control the things you can. Ignore what you can't. Set the stage for success.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Fortune Friday: "Find release from your cares, have a good time."
It is so easy to get swept up in our day to day lives and lose perspective. So easy to focus on seemingly important goals and activities that, in the long run, really aren't all that important.
Is it important to be responsible and plan for retirement? Of course. But we don't have to be Scrooge to get there.
Yes, it is important to work hard and take our jobs and careers seriously. But so much so as to validate ignoring our children or spouse or other responsibilities? No way, not even close.
It seems too many people are so dang serious about things that ultimately just don't matter a whole lot. Take sports for example. I like watching a good game, but it doesn't ruin my week when my favorite team loses. Sure I would like my daughter's 6th grade soccer team to win. But not enough to scream at the volunteer referee.
Don't get me wrong. I care about things. I think it is good to care about things that are meaningful and important to us. But there has to be balance in all things. For everything serious, we need a little bit of silliness.
Caution: Just don't let the pendulum swing too far to the other side. It is just as easy to seek a life of constant, mindless pleasure and ignore what genuinely needs our attention.
To your good fortune!
Is it important to be responsible and plan for retirement? Of course. But we don't have to be Scrooge to get there.
Yes, it is important to work hard and take our jobs and careers seriously. But so much so as to validate ignoring our children or spouse or other responsibilities? No way, not even close.
It seems too many people are so dang serious about things that ultimately just don't matter a whole lot. Take sports for example. I like watching a good game, but it doesn't ruin my week when my favorite team loses. Sure I would like my daughter's 6th grade soccer team to win. But not enough to scream at the volunteer referee.
Don't get me wrong. I care about things. I think it is good to care about things that are meaningful and important to us. But there has to be balance in all things. For everything serious, we need a little bit of silliness.
Caution: Just don't let the pendulum swing too far to the other side. It is just as easy to seek a life of constant, mindless pleasure and ignore what genuinely needs our attention.
To your good fortune!
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Take It Down To The Metal
In a previous post, I shared how Jill and I tackled our weed-filled flower bed, taking it all the way down to the dirt. We did this in order to create a clean slate from which to rebuild and regrow.
Well, I did it again to a different flower bed this weekend. Very satisfying, although I ruined a perfect hunting ground for the little Garter snake that lives there. Hopefully he'll forgive me.
But I have been thinking about the significance of this for the past few days, and how it applies to our lives. In our bedroom we have a framed quote which Jill made. It says 'Stop watering the weeds in your life and start watering the flowers.'
How much of our precious time do we devote to meaningless, trivial, or otherwise pointless aspects of our lives. You know, stupid stuff like getting mad at the inconsiderate driver or indulging the family member who thrives on gossip and drama. So many weeds. And yet we water them constantly.
And what of the flowers? What about those things we hold most dear—are we giving them the attention, the sunlight, the water, the nutrients, that they deserve? Or are we hoping for the best that things will just 'turn out'?
The other night I was in the kitchen cleaning some baking sheets and noticed they had a lot of residue buildup in the corners. It was really baked in there. Nothing toxic or potentially life-threatening. Just ugly and gross. Somehow it had survived numerous washings.
So I broke out the steel wool and cranked up the elbow grease. And just like sharpening a knife, I removed a microscopic layer of metal—along with the grimy filth. So sparkly and fresh. I could smell the flavor of the metal. Like when you put a penny in your mouth as a kid.
What are some things you could take some steel wool to in your life?
Maybe it is time to take your life down to the metal.
Well, I did it again to a different flower bed this weekend. Very satisfying, although I ruined a perfect hunting ground for the little Garter snake that lives there. Hopefully he'll forgive me.
But I have been thinking about the significance of this for the past few days, and how it applies to our lives. In our bedroom we have a framed quote which Jill made. It says 'Stop watering the weeds in your life and start watering the flowers.'
How much of our precious time do we devote to meaningless, trivial, or otherwise pointless aspects of our lives. You know, stupid stuff like getting mad at the inconsiderate driver or indulging the family member who thrives on gossip and drama. So many weeds. And yet we water them constantly.
And what of the flowers? What about those things we hold most dear—are we giving them the attention, the sunlight, the water, the nutrients, that they deserve? Or are we hoping for the best that things will just 'turn out'?
The other night I was in the kitchen cleaning some baking sheets and noticed they had a lot of residue buildup in the corners. It was really baked in there. Nothing toxic or potentially life-threatening. Just ugly and gross. Somehow it had survived numerous washings.
So I broke out the steel wool and cranked up the elbow grease. And just like sharpening a knife, I removed a microscopic layer of metal—along with the grimy filth. So sparkly and fresh. I could smell the flavor of the metal. Like when you put a penny in your mouth as a kid.
What are some things you could take some steel wool to in your life?
Maybe it is time to take your life down to the metal.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Fortune Friday: "You will make changes before setting satisfactorily."
Admittedly, I was a little confused at first by the wording of this fortune. So I decided to look up 'setting' in the dictionary. The third entry defined setting as: the time, place, and circumstances in which something occurs or develops.
The time, place, and circumstances in which something occurs or develops. I love that. Viewed in terms of my life, this fortune makes so much sense.
Every aspect of our lives can be broken down into when (time), where (place), and who/what/how (circumstances). There is always something that occurs (what) or develops (what/how).
This all seems very obvious. But it is the 'satisfactorily' part that I find interesting. At first I was tempted to think it meant happily, as in happily ever after, or as in just the way I wanted it to turn out.
Side note: That reminded me of the phrase in the Bible where Jesus commanded his disciples to 'Be ye therefore perfect.' That is a tall order to fill. I think a good number of devoted Christians have needlessly beat themselves over that one. But the Greek translation of perfect means to be complete or finished. Jesus was asking us to be whole, not flawless. Sorry for the tangent.
So back to the dictionary. Satisfactorily: Giving satisfaction sufficient to meet a demand or requirement; adequate.
In that regard, every circumstance in our life will set satisfactorily. As we wind our way through our lives, we will all make many twists and turns before ultimately arriving in the proper spot exactly where we've steered ourselves to go.
So let's not beat ourselves up because our lives didn't turn out like our neighbor, or how we would have wanted it to. Our lives set satisfactorily, precisely the way they are supposed to—perfectly designed to make us who we are.
To your good fortune!
(Btw, I never said I'd be right about these things, but I will write exactly what I am thinking.)
The time, place, and circumstances in which something occurs or develops. I love that. Viewed in terms of my life, this fortune makes so much sense.
Every aspect of our lives can be broken down into when (time), where (place), and who/what/how (circumstances). There is always something that occurs (what) or develops (what/how).
This all seems very obvious. But it is the 'satisfactorily' part that I find interesting. At first I was tempted to think it meant happily, as in happily ever after, or as in just the way I wanted it to turn out.
Side note: That reminded me of the phrase in the Bible where Jesus commanded his disciples to 'Be ye therefore perfect.' That is a tall order to fill. I think a good number of devoted Christians have needlessly beat themselves over that one. But the Greek translation of perfect means to be complete or finished. Jesus was asking us to be whole, not flawless. Sorry for the tangent.
So back to the dictionary. Satisfactorily: Giving satisfaction sufficient to meet a demand or requirement; adequate.
In that regard, every circumstance in our life will set satisfactorily. As we wind our way through our lives, we will all make many twists and turns before ultimately arriving in the proper spot exactly where we've steered ourselves to go.
So let's not beat ourselves up because our lives didn't turn out like our neighbor, or how we would have wanted it to. Our lives set satisfactorily, precisely the way they are supposed to—perfectly designed to make us who we are.
To your good fortune!
(Btw, I never said I'd be right about these things, but I will write exactly what I am thinking.)
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
There Is Only One You
Too many people spend too much time trying to emulate the steps to success of others. We look around at those we admire and we say to ourselves, "If I do what they did, I can get to where they are." The logic seems sound, but it is mistaken reasoning.
Because the singular variable you and I cannot replicate is that of that other person's innate uniqueness. For example, you can take two athletes and run them through identical drills and training regimens and you will still end up with divergent performances.
In the children's book Just the Two of Us, written by Will Smith and illustrated by one of my favorite artists, Kadir Nelson, Smith recounts an important lesson he learned in his youth. He says:
"I told my parents I was going to be the next Bill Cosby, funny and rich.
They replied, “Why not just work hard and be the first Will Smith?”
Genius. There is only one of you in the whole world. There is only one of me in the whole world. Don't try and be the next whoever. Be the first and only You.
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