Who Cares - What Matters
CHRISTMAS on EASTER?
Absurd?
Blasphemy?
Unheard of?
Ludacris?
. . .right on time?
Christmas really never means anything, in fact, it probably doesn’t even exist unless Easter happens and gives it its own special definition. . . and in just a moment, adds colorful splashes of light on our traffic laden dim and darkened paths. . . .
SO. . .CELEBRATE THE SEASON (S)
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as he did, the sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that he will make all things right
if I surrender to His will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with Him forever.
—Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971
Do you have a
GO TO PRAYER. . .
one that is the
FASTEST MOST POWERFUL PRAYER IN YOUR WORLD. . . ?
We usually know pretty quickly just what kind of people we are; not too many really chooses to be rainy day people, but when we’re getting pelted, actually when we’re getting soaked, and we don’t have an umbrella to protect us or worse yet, getting stuck out in those elements with a flat tire or a broken down car and we’re just getting saturated, we seldom realize that in that cold dampness, the rain brings more than just big wet splattered drops; it provides growth–blooms. It provides a flowering that we’d rather sometimes not have because of what it takes to make the flower bloom. . .yeah, so what kind of a person are you: one that recognizes THAT or one who hopes against IT. . .always?
When I was a little kid, I used to ask the question: “Why can’t it just rain at night when it doesn’t affect anybody?” I remember the question was asked back at me, “What about the people that have to work at night?”
Well, we might all concludingly sigh, “Well, the rain affects everybody!”
TRUTH: We would just rather not have it, but most always want what it produces. . .
In the middle of a violent earthquake, nurses in a childcare room chose to run. . .towards the danger!
They chose to stay.
To protect.
To do the job they promised to do—even when death felt closer than safety.
That’s not just professionalism.
That’s integrity in its rawest form.
A reminder that real commitment shows itself when the stakes are highest.
No applause. No spotlight. Just courage.
They didn’t just save lives. They showed us how to live.
Bottomline: When the ground trembles, character stands still. . .
YOU?
The World no longer waits for our
A N S W E R S
. . .it awaits our
A C T I O N S
RINSE
REPEAT
REPEAT
REPEAT
REPEAT
REPEAT
Sometimes it feels like
THERE IS NO FINISH LINE
you just keep running and running
going and going and going and. . .
and the worst is when there is an apparent END
only to find out when you get to IT
it’s just the beginning of an ongoing
ever-changing HORIZON
HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE THAT. . . ?
W E L L:
I recently read a post from a fellow National Speaker Association, colleague, Lou Hecker who shared:
“I’ve been thinking about “no finish line.” I passed a business this past week and a sign out front really caught my eye: ‘”HUMAN PROGRESS HAS NO FINISH LINE.” It really meant something special to me — here I am at an age when many say, “Okay, I’m done. That’s it. All through.” And that’s the opposite of what I feel. I believe most people are built for achievement — for the results it brings others…for the joy it brings the achiever…for feeling like we matter. The great tennis star and humanitarian Arthur Ashe said this, “I have tried to keep on with my striving because this is the only hope I have of ever achieving anything worthwhile and lasting.” What will you do this week to foster that attitude among the people who work for and with you? And how will you embrace that idea yourself? Was it Yogi Berra who said, “it’s never over ’til it’s over.”? Maybe we could change that to, “It’s never over,” right?”
Now maybe this RE-FRAMING
is something that’ll have us thinking a little past our
ONCE UPON A TIME’S
. . .m a y b e
It’s easy comparing a junk drawer to our lives, it?
I mean, isn’t a junk drawer a whole lot of what feels like inside of us; all kinds of things that we save, all kinds of things that we just can’t get rid of only because one day, one day they will come in handy, and we will absolutely, undoubtably, need them, these special ‘save a-lots” Yet, how often have we gone to the junk drawer and never used the things that we’ve saved or worse, the one thing that we need isn’t there and we have to go and get it anyway?
Gobs of knickknacks, this and that’s, trinkets, odds and ends, widgets, novelties, whatchamacallits, thingamajigs, etc’s
GUARANTEED: THE ONE THING YOU NEED IN THE JUNK DRAWER ISN’T THERE!
Beyond frustrating and as irritating at the rumpled up piece of sandpaper at the back of the drawer. So, I don’t know, is the message just clear out everything, hit the delete button and just forget all the things that no longer serve you or that you really don’t need, or. . .just keep saving on because one day, one day your hope will come true, and you most definitely need that 30w fuse or just merely will need everything that what you’ve saved but don’t dare throw out
BECAUSE. . .
Quite a parable. . .
quite a life. . .
quite a junk drawer, huh?
S O M E T I M E S
we are so soaked with getting
e v e n
that we get drenched with never getting our
a measure for a measure
but getting what we need
and maybe not what we want
all the while never really enjoying the weather
or the Life
that sprinkles on by us
and evaporates
all to soon. . .
WHEN YOU DARE TO RE-DEFINE
W I N N I N G
you’re already the happy
V I C T O R
“When life breaks you, it is because you are ready to be put back together differently. Every piece of you that feels shattered is a piece that will find a new place, a new purpose, a new meaning. Trust that the cracks are where the light gets in. And sometimes, in our brokenness, we find our greatest wholeness. We find the courage to rebuild, to reimagine, to redefine what it means to be strong. You are not broken; you are breaking through.” — with Golden Words .
PROTECTED PRESENCE
I’m Broken
and I’ve lost a lot of my pieces
I don’t exactly remember when I
Humpty-Dumptied if off the wall
No recollection of all the Kings men
and all of the horses they rode in on
But I know. . .ohhh how I know
How I’ve not been put back together again
and when you dare to
provide protective presence
and choose to hold me
It’s not so much of an Embrace
as a specific piece that never existed
You’ve brought to me
A wholeness I’ve not known
but now never want to forget
or ever want to be without
Seriously. . .
t a k e
J U S T
A
M O M E N T. . .
or at least
Average Human Attention Span Statistics. . .The average human attention span is 8.25 seconds. Attention spans can range from 2 seconds to over 20 minutes. The average human attention span decreased by almost 25% from 2000 to 2015. Humans have shorter attention spans than goldfish (9 seconds).
Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst:
That was 10 years ago;
it’s even shorter now
So about a year ago I decieded to switch things up.
On my Wednesday Blog, I use to do an educational piece that usually read anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes
and given the current information on our shrinking attention spans
THAT’S
WAY
TOO
L o N g
so roughly about a year ago
on Wednesday’s I began doing a quick
(less than 2 minutes)
video that’ll take you,
(you’ve got it)
JUST
A
MOMENT
If you wouldn’t mind,
I’d like your feedback or your feelings on this
format
so I can better inform
and at times
entertain
Y O U
but only if it’s
JUST A MOMENT
otherwise my attention span of a gnat
might not be around to
get the message
Just sayin’
I have never heard of some guy named, Jacob Collier but then I chanced upon this video of Laufey, Dodie, and Jacob Collier singing “Wild Mountain Thyme,” a Scots-Irish love song. Phyllis Cole-Dai randomly posted it on one of here blogs and WHA-LA!
Not only are the featured singers’ voices a lovely blend, accompanied at points by the National Symphony Orchestra. But also they’re performing the song at the Kennedy Center before, well before February.
Midway through, Jacob Collier leads the diverse audience in the joyful experience of improvised humming. Yes, the joy of simple humming . . . together . . . in close harmony. (Just look at those smiling faces!)
Almost by definition, the arts are free. Expansive. Inclusive.
They bring us together. They inspire and empower us. They remind us of what’s possible, even beyond our seeing.
We must continue to be part of a love song for humanity that refuses to end.
We will all go together to pull the wild mountain thyme.
WILD MOUNTAIN THYME (traditional, with varying contributors cited) Oh, the summertime is coming And the trees are sweetly blooming And the wild mountain thyme Grows around the blooming heather Will you go, lassie, go? Refrain: And we'll all go together To pull wild mountain thyme All around the blooming heather Will you go, lassie, go? I will build my love a bower By yon clear and crystal fountain And on it I will pile All the flowers of the mountain Will you go, lassie, go? Refrain I will range through the wilds By yon deep glen so dreary And return with the spoils To thе bower of my deary Will you go, lassie, go? Refrain [audience humming . . . ] Refrain
(My thanks to vocalists Laufey, Dodie, and Jacob Collier; the National Symphony Orchestra; and the audience-participants, via PBS.)
