The Caring Catalyst

Who Cares - What Matters

A WHOLE LOT OF LOVE

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Hair Love,
an Oscar-winning animated short film
from Akron University’s Matthew A. Cherry,
tells the heartfelt story of an African American father
learning to do his daughter’s hair
for the first time. . .

L I S T E N
take it from a bald man
A LITTLE BIT WORK
AND A WHOLE LOT OF LOVE
is a message
that transcends
even the most
unruliest
strands of hair

Most are willing to put in the
W O R K
but not the
L O V E
but when you do,
Life not only
C H A N G E S
it revolutionarily gets
B E T T E R
(P R O V E I T)

UN-BOXED

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Thinking outside the box challenges, agitates, even frightens most of us,
and worst of all:
KEEPS US IN THE BOX

I recently saw this amazing video from a post of Chris Cade and it came with some other smash-up-get-rid-of-the-box thoughts:

One thousand and five hundred kindergarten children were given a test in divergent thinking.

98% of those children scored at genius level.

Divergent thinking is what allows you to see lots of possible answers to a question.

If you ask your average person how to cook an egg, he’ll come up with about ten different ways you can do it. Frying pan, poacher, pot of boiling water, in a cake, etc.

Someone good at divergent thinking will come up with 200 ways to cook that egg.

How?

Because she thinks outside of the kitchen. He’ll cook the egg on the back of sunbather at the beach. At the end of a lightning rod. Or how about putting it in a indestructible container and throwing it into the center of the sun?

80% of the answers will be impractical… but it’s how you find the perfect answer nobody has thought about yet.

According to this one study (from the book “Breakpoint and Beyond”) we’re all born with a natural ability for divergent thinking. 1,470 out 1,500 children are brilliant at thinking up endless possibilities.

The same study tested the same kids ten years later.

As you can imagine, most lost their ability for divergent thinking.

“This shows two things,” says Sir Ken Robinson (world renowned education and creativity expert). “One is we all have this capacity. And two, it mostly deteriorates.”

“Now, a lot of thing has happened to these kids as they’ve grown up. Al lot. But one of the most important things that has happened to them, I’m convinced, is they’ve become ‘educated.’ They spent ten years at school being told there’s one answer – it’s at the back.”

That’s what today’s “Paper Airplane” video is all about.

And do you know why divergent thinking is so important? Because no two situations are exactly the same.

Whatever troubles, challenges or goals you are facing in life… they are like no one else’s. You’ll never find the exact answer to your problems in a book.

You need to think for yourself.

And you need to think of not 10 or 20 or even 40 different solutions for your problem.

You need to think of 200.

You need to think way outside the box. . .
Because life doesn’t come in a box with a instruction manual
even though we keep acting like it does
in the worst possible way
BY LOOKING FOR SAID INSTRUCTIONS

JUST THE SAME. . .
what tends to happen is we end up putting our life in a box supplied to us by society.
It even comes an instruction
“one-size fits all”
manual. . .

Of course, it’s never going to get you very far
Living in someone else’s box
following their instructions
At best, you’ll be average. . .

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm:
this video is about the
“science of making paper airplanes.”

Interesting because the airplane was invented by two bicycle repair men  – the Wright Brothers. . .
They specialized in divergent thinking. . .

Other inventors at the time — with far more money — were focused on building a bigger and more powerful engine for their gliders. The consensus was. . .
“if you get a powerful enough engine, the thing would fly.”

The Wright brothers instead built a six-foot wind tunnel in their bicycle shop. This allowed them to test different wings and propellers. On December 17, 1903 they won the race while competitors were going bankrupt.

But today’s “Paper Airplane” movie puts even the divergent thinking of the Wright brothers to shame. Because a paper airplane is not what Wilbur and Orville flew south of Kitty Hawk…

So why put a paper airplane in the Kitty Hawk Box?

Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst:
The Best way to think
OUT OF THE BOX
is to
GET RID OF THE BOX
Besides. . .
why’s everyone settling for flying
when you can soar
and why soar
when you can
ascend
and why ascend
when you can
T R A N S C E N D

25 Years and SO MUCH MORE

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25 of anything is a good amount
but 25 years
well, now,
that’s even more of a profound number
and account.          .          .
A QUARTER OF A CENTURY
25 Years and more. . .
So very, very much more

I began serving North Royalton Christian Church on January 15, 1995, knowing that I NEEDED to have a part-time position to supplement my income having jumped from a full-time Senior Minister position at Westlake Christian Church and a part-time chaplain’s position at St. John Westshore Hospital to a Spiritual Care Coordinator’s position at Hospice of the Western Reserve.  It was a JUMP then and now I don’t regret even though it was a major change for me and the family.  I NEEDED to have this position more than I WANTED to have the position and when Susan Cash, an Elder and also one of the primary people on the Search Committee, stood up this past Sunday in Church and marked the occasion with some fabulous and humbling remarks, (which can be seen at the bottom of this post in full taken from the February Church Newsletter) It only summoned the memory to recall things that the weight of, buckles knees and humbles the heart.  

I thought 25 years ago, I NEEDED North Royalton Christian Church for the supplemental income when there have been few moments in those 25 years that have failed to remind me that I NEEDED North Royalton Christian Church for so very much more, and oh, oh how they have delivered in more ways that we will all fail to fully comprehend.  My best moments (and hopefully, theirs) is when we have lived in full, vivid living color that I am not THE minister of North Royalton Christian Church, but actually and fully, A MINISTER of the church and our greatest achievements and even failings, have been when we’ve seen each other that way.  WE, US, not I or me, do the ministry of the church. In essence, they made me A Caring Catalyst before I knew the true definition on one.

Maybe it’s ironic, but as we are celebrating 25 years of ministry together, I am also looming on celebrating 40 years of being ordained this May.  In such a profound and powerful way I fully KNOW that I’m not just a sum total of all the pieces/parts/experiences that make me up, but literally, all of the lives who have made my life, MY LIFE. 

What excites and motivates me now is that there are still lives, pieces, parts, and experiences that continue to be added, to further, and not just expand or make my tapestry, but actually  BE MY TAPESTRY.  A single thread a tapestry does not make.  I’m so richly consecrated  to have that proven moment by moment and better still, person by person.

Much in the same vein of Robert Frost’s poem, STOPPING BY THE WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING, I so much embody the last verse:
THE WOODS ARE LOVELY, DARK AND DEEP,
BUT I HAVE PROMISES TO KEEP,
AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP,
AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP.

In a way that echoes those very sentiments, Susan ended her much appreciated remarks with a quote by an author I’ve never really read, Ursula Le Guin.  It comes from her novel, ALWAYS COMING HOME:
“When I take you to the Valley, you’ll see the blue hills on the left and the blue hills on the right, the rainbow and the vineyards under the rainbow late in the rainy season, and maybe you’ll say, ‘There it is, that’s it!’   But I’ll say, ‘A little further.’  We’ll go on, I hope and you’ll see the roofs of the little towns and the hillsides yellow with wild oats, a buzzard soaring and a woman singing by the shadows of a creek in the dry season, and maybe you’ll say, ‘Let’s stop here, this is it!’  But I’ll say, ‘A little further yet.’  And we’ll go on, a you’ll hear a quail calling on the mountain by the springs of the river, and looking back you’ll see the river running downward through the wild hills behind, below, and you’ll say, ‘Isn’t that the Valley?’  And all I will be able to say is, ‘Drink this water of the spring, rest here awhile, we have a long way yet to go without you.’”

I know that my best steps are the ones I’ve never taken alone
but in sync with others
and that the ones to be taken
could be the best ones
still yet to come
with the promise 
that those taken long after my last step
could be the very best yet
even more
because of any step I’ve walked along with others
. . .those are the steps
that keep marching forward
. . .ALL-WAYS forward
advancing
inspiring other steps
to be taken
experienced
s h a r e d

25 Years
and More
so very, very much
M O R E
that shows you the difference between
N O T I C I N G
and
K N O W I N G
I have been so magnificently blessed
in experiencing both
and the best part–
I still do
I still am

WE ARE HUMBLY APPRECIATIVE
Thank you

January 26, 2020 

In Honor of Chuck and Erin’s 25th Anniversary 

In January 1995, we didn’t have GPS. There was no Febreze or Swiffer. Selfies & texting didn’t exist because there were no smart phones. Invisible braces were far off in the future. There was no Wikipedia, Google or Facebook and online banking and shopping at Amazon were not yet available. 

If you were attending NRCC in early January of 1995, you know we didn’t have a minister either until later in the month. That’s when Chuck joined us. 

Over the years, Chuck has presented about 1200 sermons to us. He doesn’t preach, he tells parables—I remember one of his first Sundays here he told us about a character in his hometown who the towns’ people called Ugly. It was a very touching and dramatic story. Chuck has delivered a sermon from the top of a ladder; he’s come dressed as a bum; was an Elvis impersonator; has been Paul, Peter, and Judas; and he often sings his sermons. Once his niece sat in our congregation as a homeless person. 

I don’t think he has ever repeated a sermon let alone repeated a theme. 

And standing alongside Chuck is Erin—we got a twofer—two special gifts to this congregation. We thank God for sending you both to us. You’ll never know how much we appreciate your devotion, your dedication, your love, your spirit, your teachings, and your wisdom. 

I was watching a program about the writer Ursula Le Guin recently and the program ended with her reading from her novel Always Coming Home. I think her words speak to Chuck and Erin’s ministry here: 

“When I take you to the Valley, you’ll see the blue hills on the left and the blue hills on the right, the rainbow and the vineyards under the rainbow late in the rainy season, and maybe you’ll say, “There it is, that’s it!” But I’ll say. “A little farther.” We’ll go on, I hope, and you’ll see the roofs of the little towns and the hillsides yellow with wild oats, a buzzard soaring and a woman singing by the shadows of a creek in the dry season, and maybe you’ll say, “Let’s stop here, this is it!” But I’ll say, “A little farther yet.” We’ll go on, and you’ll hear the quail calling on the mountain by the springs of the river, and looking back you’ll see the river running downward through the wild hills behind, and you’ll say, “Isn’t that the Valley?” And all I will be able to say is “Drink this water of the spring, rest here awhile, we have a long way yet to go and I can’t go without you.” 

Thank you Chuck and Erin 

Written by Susan Cash 



Mamba MOURNING

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There was a terrible helicopter accident on Sunday, January 26, 2020 and not only did nine people die in a horrible crash, but nine families and in some ways, the whole world will forever be changed. . .

F O R E V E R

as in eternally

Two of those people were Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna
otherwise it would have been a terrible accident that would have made
the local/regional news and quickly forgotten except for those families now perpetually changed. . .
S O

G R I E F
is such a powerful emotion
mostly because all of other emotions
come and go
but
deeper than on a cellular level
grief
stays with us
through our last breath;
our final heartbeat. . .

Deborah Carr Ph.D.

Sheds some illumination as the big
W H Y
of it all

3 Reasons We Mourn Celebrity Deaths

The benefits of sharing emotions communally. 

Years from now we may all easily recall where we were at, what we were doing when Kobe Bryant died just like:

Most of us know exactly where we were and what we were doing when we learned that a beloved public figure had died. A half-century ago, our parents and grandparents learned about President Kennedy’s death at 2:38 p.m. on November 22, 1963, when Walter Cronkite delivered the devastating news on network television. Decades later, many of us may have been taking a quick Facebook break when we discovered the shocking deaths of legendary musicians like David Bowie, or still-in-their-prime performers like Amy Winehouse. Minutes after the news breaks, our social-media pages are filled with videos of the late musicians’ classic performances, and heartfelt posts and tweets about how deeply saddened we are by the loss.

But most of us never met these people.

We know little more about them than what we see at the theater, hear at their concerts, or read in publicist-orchestrated interviews. So, why are we so saddened? And is this sadness normal?

Grief, or the sadness we feel when we lose someone or something that we’re deeply attached to, is perfectly normal. It’s so normal, in fact, that psychiatrists long believed that depression was a perfectly appropriate reaction when a loved one died. Much of what we know about grief comes from academic studies and self-help books focused on the loss of a very close loved one, such as a spouse, a child, or even a pet. The death of someone we loved and lived with brings the most profound grief, yet sadness or bouts of introspection can accompany other losses. Homesickness or nostalgia, for instance, can trigger grief-like symptoms. We may yearn for a place or time when we were young, happy, well-loved, and shielded from the harsh realities of adulthood.

It’s not surprising that so many people feel at least a short-term spell of sadness or emptiness when a favorite artist, writer, or political leaderdies. These feelings of sadness (if appropriately short-lived) can actually be good for us. Here’s why:

1. It heightens our sense of empathy and understanding for those who are suffering.

Some public figures die peacefully after long and happy lives. Yet many others, especially those who die prematurely, have publicly battled demons that would have been kept secret decades ago. Celebrities aren’t alone in their struggles with illnesses like depression, drug abuse, and alcoholism. When Robin Williams committed suicide in 2015, he was one of an estimated 40 million Americans suffering from depression. Philip Seymour Hoffman was a gifted and versatile actor at the peak of his career when he died at age 46 in 2014. He was also one of more than 8,200 people who died of a heroin overdose that year. The deaths of beloved performers like 31-year-old Corey Monteith of Glee and 65-year-old vocalist Natalie Cole put a face on drug and alcohol addiction. Although medical professionals recognize that addiction is a disease, many Americans still view it as a moral failing. One recent study found that only 22 percent of people would be willing to work with a person who had a drug addiction, and nearly three-quarters thought employers had a right to deny jobs to those who have a drug addiction. Celebrity deaths may help us to better understand addictions, and heighten our empathy for those suffering from them.article continues after advertisement

The deaths of public figures also may be the first time we hear of a particular disease, or learn new things about a disease’s course and cause. While deaths from lung cancer historically have garnered little sympathy because observers may believe that many smokers “cause” their own death, some high-visibility deaths have shown us the randomness and cruelty of cancer. Dana Reeve, the young widow of actor Christopher Reeve, died of lung cancer despite never having smoked. Beastie Boy Adam Yauch followed a vegan diet yet succumbed to cancer at age 47. Although maintaining a healthy lifestyle can dramatically reduce our risks of cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases, there’s still a large random element that we just need to accept.

2. Our feelings can provide clues as to what’s missing from our lives.

Very few of us kept company with David Bowie, Whitney Houston, or Glenn Frey. But news of their deaths may transport us back to a place and time when their music was a source of comfort or affirmation. Scientists have documented that music triggers brain activity associated with memory. When artists with decades-long careers like Bowie, Houston, or Michael Jackson die, they take a little piece of our pasts with them. Hearing “Let’s Dance” or “Thriller” may take us back to a high-school party, a first date, or a college dorm room—a time and place before the pressures of work, marriage, kids, and bills dampened our youthful optimism.

These moments of bittersweet nostalgia can be opportunities to assess what’s working in our lives. A brief musical trip back to our adolescent or young-adult years may help us to figure out what we wanted for our lives when we were young, what we’ve achieved, and which dreams we’ve given up on. These thought exercises may help us identify what’s important to us, and figure out ways to reintroduce some long-lost passions, goals, and dreams into our adult lives.

3. Collective mourning connects us to a larger community.

Collective mourning, such as attending a candlelight vigil, or weighing in on a friend’s heartbroken Facebook commentary about Alan Rickman’s touching portrayals, helps connect us to others in meaningful ways. Discovering a shared fondness for a particular film or song brings us closer to others, because our cultural tastes often reflect our values and worldviews. Collective mourning reminds us that we’re part of a particular generation, whether Baby Boomers, Gen X, or Millennials, and helps us to celebrate the cultural touchstones that define us.article continues after advertisement

Very few of us take the time to ponder or discuss profound issues like, What is a life well-lived? What imprint do we want to leave on the world? What do you fear most about your own death? When so many Americans lead busy lives with precious little time for personal connection or conversations about meaningful issues, the exchanges (even if brief) triggered by celebrity deaths might help people realize that they’re a part of something bigger and more profound than themselves.

Most important, celebrity deaths teach us that everyone will die someday, and neither fame nor wealth nor talent shields us from that inevitability. Ideally, that recognition of life’s finiteness will help us to pursue healthy, mindful lives, and appreciate what we have before it’s gone.

K O B E
he was the Mamba
and brought to us
among so many other things
MAMBA MENTALITY
it’s a term that Kobe coined to
describe the level of intense focus
and relentless approach
he took both in
preparation and competition. . .
Kobe said after his last game in 2016:
“I always wanted to be remembered as a ‘talented overachiever,” I had the talent but I WORKED AS IF I HAD NONE.”
and then more universally:
“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great at whatever they want to do.”

I’ve told thousands of people
hundreds of times over
during my presentations,
“I know, I know that I know, I’d bet my very life that I know that one day I will die, but for the life of me, I don’t act like I know it; in fact, I’d be the most shocked person in the world if it was TODAY or if this was the last blog post I would ever write because I died. . . .”
B U T
it will happen
and grieving
will result. . .
It’s days like
Sunday, January 26, 2020
where a helicopter crash took the lives of nine people
two of them
Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna
. . .on days like these we will remember
that we will all say
GOODBYE
to this place one day;
that the book of our life
will all be interrupted
and that we too will be
m e m o r i e s. . .
On days like these
we feel fragile
and yet
C O N N E C T E D
On days like these
we realize that our heroes are all mortal
and that our time is
so very short
and that our days
are numbered
and guaranteed:
THE NUMBER
is never high
e n o u g h

The Message:
L I V E
f u l l y
(and the endlessly will take care of itself)

Peter Bernik/Shutterstock

SERVICE Station

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You can learn a lot at the
Service Station. . .
I know because I used to work at one
~~ oh, that was years ago
and things have changed a whole lot
d i f f e r e n t l y. . .
Of course, back then
A Service Station
meant that you went out and pumped somebody’s gas
checked their oil
made sure their tire pressure was correct
A L L
while you actually wiped their windshield,
took their money,
made change
always gave small talk
 and did it all with a smile.  . .
even in the coldest parts of winter
the hottest parts of summer

Now. . .
well now,
it’s all
do it yourself,
but if you’re like me. . .
sometimes self
can’t do it
especially when it is
m y s e l f.  . .

I heard something scraping underneath of the car and of course I took it to the service station and Mark, the mechanic said he’d give me a call when he go to the bottom of the problem; sure enough, within an hour, Mark called and let me know that what had been dragging on the ground was just an unnecessary plastic shield underneath of the car that had come untacted and he fixed it. 

N O W
here’s where it gets interesting. . .

When people ask me, “Hey, where do you come up for your blog posts or your sermons, your in-the-process-self-published books, or your presentation ideas,” and I tell them that they’re everywhere, the IDEAS are more rampant than an abundance unmanaged germs; in fact, my biggest problem is never on my what I’m going to say, or write or do so much as what am I going to leave out and not say or do because they are just that multiple. . .

And here was one served up for me . . .
when I walked back into the
Service Station
to pick up my car
I had to wait to check out while Mark the Mechanic was on the phone
and it was
t h e r e
 that I overheard a conversation. . .
It was taking place between two people about
predestination. . .
The gentleman said, “I believe that everything was predestined from the beginning and that everything that happens to us is destined and we have absolutely no control over anything.”
I don’t know if it was his wife
but the lady replied back in an agitated tone,
“That is absurd. I can’t believe that any intelligent person could actually think that we have no control over anything, let alone our own fate and destiny.”
This went back-and-forth for a little bit until she slammed the door shut with one simple question:
“If you believe that everything is destined and has been predetermined; that there is no choice on your part, then why did you look both ways before you crossed the street on our way over here after breakfast?”

I found out that day
what I learned a long time ago:
you can learn a lot at a service station
especially when you go there
because you can’t do
(s e r v i c e)
things yourself. . .

Rear View Mirror Living

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No matter
how much you Rear View Mirror
I T
The Windshield
Always looms larger
Even when sitting still
Idling 
Bringing into Focus
The New
Not a destination you go
but a Universe
You create
Only to
Make it a part of your
Rearview Mirror World
As you travel
On
Speed is never of the 
Essence


(Lose your Time Pieces)
Use your Wipers
If necessary

To only see Clearer
Gawk
Unblinkingly at what’s before you
With only an occasional quick glance
At what’s behind you


And
if  you  LOOK  at  all
Make sure it’s Forward
Always Forward
To looking Back

G P S
can never
M A K E
you go forward
and no
C O M P A S S
is necessary traveling backwards
E V E N
if it’s slow
or seemingly
m i n i s c u l e
each step taken ahead
is a most powerful
A D V A N C E
assuring
that memories are sacred
BUT THE MAKING OF MEMORIES
are even more hallowed
by their Pulses
that Rear View Mirror
e x t i n g u i s h e s

HOW IS IT (IT IS HOW)

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HOW    IS    IT   (IT  IS  HOW)

How is it (IT IS HOW)
that my steps
found yours walking towards me.   .   .

How is it (IT IS HOW)
that my outstretched arms
had yours reaching me.     .     .

How is it (IT IS HOW)
that my eyes sought you
but you saw me.     .     .

How is it (IT IS HOW)
that my darkness 
found your light.     .     .

How  is  it
(IT  IS  HOW)

I wrote this poem shortly after reading
I wrote this poem shortly after pondering
Ada’s poem,

The Raincoat

Ada Limón – 1976-

When the doctor suggested surgery
and a brace for all my youngest years,
my parents scrambled to take me
to massage therapy, deep tissue work,
osteopathy, and soon my crooked spine
unspooled a bit, I could breathe again,
and move more in a body unclouded
by pain. My mom would tell me to sing
songs to her the whole forty-five minute
drive to Middle Two Rock Road and forty-
five minutes back from physical therapy.
She’d say, even my voice sounded unfettered
by my spine afterward. So I sang and sang,
because I thought she liked it. I never
asked her what she gave up to drive me,
or how her day was before this chore. Today,
at her age, I was driving myself home from yet
another spine appointment, singing along
to some maudlin but solid song on the radio,
and I saw a mom take her raincoat off
and give it to her young daughter when
a storm took over the afternoon. My god,
I thought, my whole life I’ve been under her
raincoat thinking it was somehow a marvel
that I never got wet.

From The Carrying (Milkweed Editions, 2018) by Ada Limón. Copyright © 2018 by Ada Limón. Used with the permission of Milkweed Editions. milkweed.org.

Just who’s most responsible in keeping you from getting wet
Just who are you most responsible for keeping dry

HOW IS IT (IT IS HOW)

MOMENTS

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I
T H I N K

Christmas is so much more than lights on a tree
or a date on a calendar in the month of December
or a Season
or a Day
. . .it’s a bunch of moments
in a not so perfectly wrapped package
that when opened
you just really don’t know what
you’ve got
but
you know it’s
s p e c i a l

And what get’s me all lit up
is that it doesn’t happen all at once
. . .it comes to us in a series of
m o m e n t s

A MOMENT:
I was gifted a free Starbucks
while in the drive thru
twice during the week of Christmas

A MOMENT:
I stopped back at one of hometown favorite hole in the wall dives

And I was literally shocked that after some 45 years that I’ve been gone the place actually never changed;
as I was eating my usual,
three dogs with everything

The waitress asked me how I liked everything
and when I told her
how much I liked it
and even more
how much I had missed this
after all of these years
she smiled and said,
“Good, because it’s on the House; a Secret Santa picked up your bill.”

A MOMENT:
I was asked to give a Blessing at a Youth Community Christmas Bash
for at need kids/parents
who came to have a meal
make crafts
dance
GET GIFTED

And as I was walking around
way overdressed in
my suit and tie
because of two earlier Memorial Services I conducted
several people came up to me
thinking I was a politician
a councilman
except one little guy
who asked me if I was
Santa Claus
I and I shot back at him,
“Do you think Santa would come dressed like this?”
and I love his
little-kid-speak-the-truth-because-you-don’t-know-how-to-lie-remark:
“Hey, I know Santa don’t always come looking like Santa but that don’t mean he ain’t Santa Claus!”

A MOMENT:
The lady in front of me
pumping gas at the pump
with a cool
License Plate:

When I said,
“Great Licencse Plate!”
she walked back to me and asked,
“Do you want to know what it means?”
And when I told her, “Absolutely”
she told me that it had nothing to do with her
running marathons or half marathons or
W H A T
she ASPIRES
to be
but
“I ASPIRE
to be all I’ve been created to be
no matter how many roadblocks
or short-cuts I need to take to get me
to the
FINISH LINE”

I
T H I N K
Lifetimes
can me lived in
m o m e n t s
and that when you have that
Special Season
they not only get accentuated
but magnified
and hopefully
r e a l i z e d
n o t i c e d
r e c o g n i z e d
K N O W N

I
T H I N K
that Special Season
is a never-ending
NOW
a moment
within
THE
M O M E N T
b u t
what do
Y O U
T H I N K



YOUR DANCE

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https://youtu.be/Ok0IzCapyJ0

I love this short video

that many people have brought to my attention

for the past couple of weeks for 

TWO  REASONS:

  1. You don’t need to speak a foreign language (or any language to understand it)
  2. I could embarrass any one of my kids/grandkids or all of them at any given time just by breaking out in 

D            A            N            C            E

It didn’t matter if it was in the middle of an amusement park

It didn’t matter if it was in the middle of a restaurant 

It didn’t matter if it was in the middle of Church

It certainly didn’t matter if it was a Father/Daughter Dance

It didn’t matter if it was at a concert

My moves are drop dead

L            E            T            H            A            L

and I believe,

highly CONTAGIOUS

Maybe there was a not-so-small-

T H I R D     R E A S O N :

I’d do anything to connect 

F O U R T H     R E A S O N

Make them laugh

F  I  F  T  H     R  E  A  S  O  N

Make sure that the attention was never put on them in an uncomfortable situation.          .          .

Did I always achieve my objectives.          .          .

Not always;
Sometimes not even close to SOMETIMES

But no language was ever necessary 

TO  SHOW

I      l o v e     y o u

.          .          .that’s a MOVE

that needs no DANCING AROUND

and it’s COMMUNICATED

p           e           r           f           e           c           t           l           y

Every Time

Hey.          .          .

Can I have this Dance?

No Big Deal.          .          .

I’ve got a MOVE for you, too

Cue the Music
 ( or.       .       .n o t )

$33.76

By Leave a Comment

Sometimes a Starbucks
DRIVE THRU
is way more than a
STARBUCKS
DRIVE THRU. . .
And when it is
MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN THAT CAR
(especially the one right behind THE ONE). . .

It was something
that I not only began
but shared a little over a year ago
JUST BECAUSE. . ,

JUST BECAUSING
is when you do something anonymously for someone
who not only has no idea who has done something nice for them
but in no way can even begin to think about re-paying you
because they have not idea of who
JUST BECAUSE’D
t h e m. . .

After placing my order
I patiently waited to get my coffee and egg white bites
and after paying with my App
I told the Barista
I wanted to pay for the car behind me
and she told me
I really didn’t want to do it because
total was $33.76. . .
and when I told her that I was feeling especially
s e l f i s h
she told me that many people
THIS TIME OF THE YEAR
pay it backward
(for the car behind them)
but not at that price. . .
And when I put a $5.00 bill in her tip jar
I told her that she’s never thanked enough and how much I appreciated her taking care of all of us. . .

SO VERY CARING CATALYST of me, huh. . .
but the point is never so much what I do
so much as what I inspire others to do
THERE IS NO TIME
THAT IS NOT
THIS TIME OF THE YEAR. . .

When I went through the
DRIVE THRU
this afternoon
and paid it behind
The Barista
when I told him that I wanted to take care
of the car behind me
without blinking he stated
“That’ll be $63.05”
and when I gave him my iPhone
so that he could swipe my App
he said,
“Man, you were really going to pay THAT? I was just joking it;
It’s only $5.50 but I like your style.”

Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst:
The secret to having a great Holiday
(or an awesome day)
IS GIVING ONE
J U S T
B E C A U S E
It may cost you $33.76
but it won’t compare to what
you get in return. . .

JOIN ME


Professional Speaker, Author, Assurance Man