YOUR PROUDEST MOMENTS

There will certainly be times when life's troubling events appear to cloud (and perhaps even rain upon) your vision for yourself. We've all been there. Though the events may differ from person to person, the effects often share common threads:

• Lack of momentum
• Loss of focus
• Doubt about purpose
• Fear

What can you do? Well, for starters let's do something counterintuitive. I want you to look as far back into your own personal history as you can...look back into your childhood, if possible. Think about something unpleasant that you experienced, endured. And overcame.

Yes, as disconcerting as that old memory may have been, you can recognize that whatever challege it posed to you back then eventually passed away. All gone. You overcame the fear, the doubt. You regained focus and you created momentum. Heck! You're still here to recall it and it didn't kill you--even if at the time you thought it might.

I would propose that as much fun as it might have been to win an award, ace a test, receive a promotion, hold your newborn child...that some of your proudest moments in retrospect were the moments that you thought you'd never survive. Yet, I would go on to say that it was those very gut-wrenching, embarassing, painful experiences that forged the faith, love, drive and perseverence that you exhibit today. Celebrate your proudest moments...

TODAY'S QUESTION: What challening chapter in your personal past has proven to be the bedrock upon which you have lived some of YOUR proudest moments?

RESURRECTION

Death precedes resurrection. While we all ultimately pass from this world into the next, throughout the years we experience thousands of "deaths" of varying degrees. Habits die. Relationships die. Situations die. But from that which dies, something new is born.

When you look back over your life, you can review that which you thought would last forever. Some of it you had hoped actually would last forever. Others of it you were ecstatic when you realized it wouldn't last forever.

Focus upon something (a habit, a relationship, a situation) that you had wanted to change. Perhaps you had been struggling personally with how to proceed with making that change. What prompted the action that finally resulted in that change? How did you feel once that change had been made?

Do you ever notice that once once change has been made, you become keenly aware that you must make additional changes? It's almost as if you could not see the next change because it was buried beneath the change you were currently making. More likely, you weren't ready to make that next layer of change, but once you succeeded at the first change, the second change became more likely. Your confidence and experience with achieving a breakthrough strengthened you to move forward with additional changes.

Life is full of changes. You have a change you know you need to make now to more fully live your life. Renewal awaits. What is holding you back? What step can you take today that will take you closer to living you life at a higher level?

Take that step...and live.

TODAY'S QUESTION: What must die within you so that you may be resurrected?

ONE STEP

What is that one step you could take today that would move you closer to a desired outcome?

When you strip away all the busy-ness of today, all of the "musts" and "have to's", you could spend perhaps as little as five minutes taking one concrete step toward a goal. You will set goals to reach your desired outcome, and you will take steps toward each of those goals.

What is stopping you today? You know that you're not satisfied in at least one facet of your life right now, yet day after day passes with little more than token wishes and monotonous complaints about this or that issue. Instead of spending the time feeling bad about what isn't working, spend that same time (or less!) committing to take one step, one action, one phone call, one email, one visit that will propel you toward...the next step.

Don't respond by defending your inaction in that one troublesome facet of life by pointing at how well the other nine areas of your life are going? We wouldn't be having this conversation if you hadn't acknowledged that you were ready to improve that troublesome facet. Remember that it is easier to work toward a better outcome now than to wait until the small issues become the larger issues.

TODAY'S QUESTION: What one action must you absolutely commit to taking today?

WALKING AWAY

Quitters never win and winners never quit. Right? Generally speaking, yes.

Yet you and I both know that there have been times when the benefits of remaining engaged in an activity, a discussion, a project simply no longer outweigh the inconvenience, price, or sacrifice.

You have the right idea to turn a situation around, but groupthink or an insecure boss shuns or outright buries the idea. You have a solution to an ethical issue plaguing your organization, but ingrained corruption chokes off all discourse before your solution can reach the appropriate leader. We've all been there at least once in our lives.

Our Creator places us exactly where He wants us at any given point in our lives to fulfill a mission. Sometimes the purpose for our presence in a group, a situation, or at an employer doesn't initially become clear to us until much later, perhaps even after we have departed. But our presence is no mere accident, and it is designed to serve a vital role.

Perhaps you have been placed at a certain spot to strengthen you? As the old cliche' goes, what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. Said slightly differently, we will never be given more than we can handle.

You may have been put into a position where you are able to help others grow, or to shield others from peril? What may appear to be a frustrating, dull, or disrespected position for you may unbeknownst to you actually be a safeguard for others.

You may not know now. It may be some time before your purpose becomes clear. What will become clear is when your mission at that spot has ended, and you are being called to another purpose.

How will you know it is time to move onward? External forces will serve to signal your departure, and you will embrace the seemingly external decision. Or you will intuitively sense that you no longer wish to continue the direction you've been journeying, and you will either pause or you will simply take another fork in the road. The common theme is that you will feel the peace within you.

You will know within your soul that you have not chosen today to quit, but that you have chosen to walk away...toward your next calling.

TODAY'S QUESTION: In what area of your life is it your time to walk away?

The Price of Submission

Everything has a price. Each time we make a decision, we may have to decide to forgo a second mutually-exclusive alternative. Often, our time is the price that we pay.

Time is the currency of our very existence but it is also the great equalizer. Each day each of us-- young or old, financially well-to-do or struggling, male or female--receives 24 hours, or 1,440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds to invest how we choose.

We can spend the time on nonsense or we can invest the time in ourselves, in the ones we love, in our passions.

We can also simply get up and go through the motions, because doing the same thing tomorrow as we did today is comfortable, convenient. But did your actions and intentions get you where you wanted to go today? If not, then do you honestly think that spending your time on those same actions and unfulfilled intentions will garner you any additional satisfaction tomorrow?

Have you actually accepted decisions made by others, and have conformed your actions to work toward their success at the peril of your own peace and your own success? Could it be possible that you made an initial decision because you truly believed that you could achieve your objectives, and only later discovered that your investment of time had become a waste of your time?

Tomorrow you will get 86,400 seconds to invest...or to spend wastefully.

TODAY'S QUESTION: Are you investing your allocated time for YOUR benefit, or to simply pay the price of submission for another individual's benefit?

UNVARNISHED YOU

Do you like to dine out? I know I sure do. Nothing better than a delicious meal to satisfy an appetite.

But what do YOU do when the meal isn't delicious? Perhaps the meal took longer than expected to arrive, and when the meal did arrive, your dish was cold. The burger was cooked to a temperature other than what you had ordered. Your beverage glass or coffee cup was allowed to become empty...or remained empty far too long.

How did YOU feel about the subpar dining experience?
What action(s) did YOU take?
What did YOU say when the food server or the manager finally came over to your table?
When you had finished having your say, were YOU satisfied with yourself?
Did you get the intended outcome, or did you leave the restaurant vowing to yourself that YOU wouldn't return?

The restaurant provides a service. The food server, the food preparer, the manager all work together to provide that service. Most of the time, the restaurant and its team perform well. Occasionally, they provide a subpar experience to the guest. A myriad of factors may have contributed to the error.

I contend that no employee gets up in the morning intending to provide bad service or to produce subpar goods. Certainly, if employees engage in a flawed process devoid of quality assurance and feedback mechanisms, then at some point bad service/production becomes unacceptable. But in the immediate example, I assume a simple error has occurred.

I contend that YOU do not get up in the morning intending to provide bad service or to produce subpar goods. You are human, and you occasionally make mistakes. While you certainly can benefit from receiving feedback or engaging in quality assurance exercises, you gain nothing of value if you are taken to the woodshed by a customer, a co-worker, or a manager for your unintentional error.

You might say, "Of course not. I would never treat my employees or my co-worker in that demeaning manner." I believe you.

TODAY'S QUESTION: How did YOU treat the food server following your subpar dining experience?

Authentic You

When do you smile the most? What makes you laugh? When do you feel most proud?...When are at peace?

Closing a deal. Sharing a story with your husband. Cheering your son's basketball team. Watching the sun rise or set over a body of water.

The answers will be as unique and as plentiful as the number gathered in any one setting. Personality, preferences, and environment will certainly color your response. There is no "right of wrong", no "good or better." But the common thread will be authenticity.

At those moments when we are honoring our inner impulses, our inner drive, our inner joy, our inner peace --that is when we are our authentic selves. Sounds simple enough. We generally don't intend to put on a front for ourselves, our loved ones, our Creator. Why would we?

Recently, a woman shared with me that when she exited her vehicle at her workplace each day, she felt she was putting on a uniform. Figuratively speaking, she donned an "acceptable garment" and left a portion of herself in the car before walking across the parking lot to enter the building. Her admission wasn't uncommon. Many of us are conditioned at one time or another to conform our words, our actions, our style, our activities and interests to fulfill some spoken --or unspoken-- request.

Certainly there will be situations when we should consciously choose to adopt a moderate tone so as not to diminish the objective of our presence. Hence, I continue to recommend not showing up for corporate job interviews dressed like the Crocodile Hunter. But more often than not, we allow others to choose (influence, dictate, suggest...) when we will not merely moderate ourselves, but actually submit and suppress our authentic selves. For whose benefit are we suppressing ourselves (i.e. who stands to gain)?

Today's Question:

Am I choosing to be authentic in all of my interactions, or am I allowing others to choose for me?