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Keeping Peace
Things have been tricky lately. Certainties seem uncertain. A bit like freshman Algebra, it feels like life has more variables than constants. Not knowing what Santa will bring you is one thing–the uncertainty of a future delight. But future mysteries in our jobs, relationships, and even the global community are different. Uncertainty in areas of our lives in which we’re more heavily invested can really disturb our peace of mind. Over the next few days, I’m going to share about peace of mind in two parts. First, in honor of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, two ways to think plus two ways to act when faced with challenges in our relationships (including sharing meals with your parents and extended…
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You’re Killing Me, Smalls
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:30 am, there is a pick-up game at the gym. Men (and at least one woman) from all walks of life and of all ages come together to start their day with play. The rules of engagement are not complicated. You show up; you get to play basketball. Oftentimes, there are more than two teams worth of players. When that happens, they self-regulate and take turns. They make it work. Pick-up games demand mutual respect amongst the players. They require discipline and a sense of fair play. There is something very appealing about the simplicity of living by playground rules. Grinning through one another’s triumphs, laughing at each other’s mistakes, and…
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Question Marks
question mark — noun 2. something unanswered or unknown I saw my friend Jessica ask for help the other day. She didn’t do it directly, and it wasn’t premeditated. She was relating a bit of a story about herself and, as sometimes happens with humans, she took a brief, stream of conscious detour. A need was revealed. It was clear that revelation was not her intent. She was just joining in the conversation and out it came. Her question mark. A little later, another one of our friends approached her. She gently leaned into the tender spot that Jessica had made known and offered some assistance. Both of their lives will change as a result. Sometimes,…
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Different for a Reason
In a niche of a larger industry, Joe built a tribe. He stepped out of the safety of the familiar, a tried and true model of converting asset donations to a nonprofit’s bottom line, and grew a company based on his passion for innovation. He doesn’t sell a product although he has one. Instead, Joe sells an idea about how to do things differently. As an adolescent, Morgan witnessed first hand the impacts of mental illness. She developed a tremendous capacity for empathy and justice. After working in a substance abuse treatment center and at a school for children with behavior disorders, she pursued nursing and became an acute care RN. Morgan…
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So Routine
Sometimes ideas that seem good turn out to be…well…less than good. Now before you jump to conclusions, this is a story of my human nature not a tale of tragedy. I had the opportunity to work from home recently. The weather was beautiful. Blue skies, the lingering warmth of summer, and quietly falling leaves. What could be better than sitting in view of my kitchen window to plow through an inbox that had gotten out of hand? No workout that morning because I hadn’t slept well. Since I had no one to impress but the dog, I didn’t shower right away either. After all, my schedule was flexible. By the time I went to gather…
