Posts Tagged: progress

The Journey Beyond — 2 Comments
23
Apr 10

Jumpin’ In Head First

Some people are “risk takers”.  I’m pretty good at taking risks overall.  I don’t bungee jump but I do drive fast (according to my wife) and I enjoy doing different things.

There are risks… then there are RISKS.  And these vary from one to another.  What may be a big “R” risk to you may not be anything to me, and visa versa.

But I took a big “R” risk today.  It wouldn’t be for a lot of people but for me it was a RISK.

I just spent time re-reading some of my writings from the past few months.  Just as one sweeps their arm across a cluttered surface to remove debris, I had to do this before I started to read.

The debris I had to sweep to the side was my insecurity about writing and the embarrassment of awkward wording and bad grammar.  But once I brushed those aside I was pleased to find some nuggets of thought and the occasional sparkle of a well turned phrase.

I don’t know if anyone else likes it… but I did.  And that’s the important thing.

Side Note:  Just the above statement alone is a fairly significant step for me on this journey up the mountain.  In the not too distant past I would have never admitted that I thought what I wrote was any good.

Once again I must keep in the forefront of my mind that writing is not for anyone else but me.  But even with this fresh in my thinking the slimy arm of inferiority begins to reach from its shallow grave and try to capture me in its grasp once again.

The moment I try to write to appeal to others… the self is lost.  One loses themselves when trying to be accepted by others.

Personally, this is one entry that I hope not many people read because it makes me feel so exposed.  But… if you happened to have read to this point (thank a teacher).  Sorry for the poor attempt to lighten the moment.

But if you have read this far, I have to ask you a question.  What have you tried to bury but keeps re-emerging from its shallow grave?

I tend to believe that everyone has a makeshift burial ground close by where dead things are buried out of sight.

There, some things are legitimately dead… these are things that have been put in their place and possess no life to re-emerge to haunt us.

Other things are crafty, they pretend to be dead but wait for the moment to reach out and grab us when we least expect it or when we are vulnerable.

The most dangerous are those we naively pretend to be dead with the belief that doing so will remedy the issue.

There is a difference between pretending something is not there and ignoring it.

Pretending is the denial of reality and hoping that when you open your eyes again it will have disappeared.

Ignoring is intentional and strategic.  You know full well the presence of the issue but a decision is made to destroy by neglect.  You decide not to focus energy on the issue.  Putting energy toward something feeds it… positive or negative.

So I have decided to just ignore the old feelings that try to trap.

See you Monday.

The Journey Beyond — No Comments
4
Mar 10

A Sack of Rocks

Nice to see you again.  Hopefully my last few blog entries have encouraged you to take the step you have been reluctant to do take.  If you didn’t, maybe today will be that day… no pressure.

But if you for some reason decided not to step out into the risky unknown (or you took a small step and didn’t continue) I offer you a caution from personal experience.

Usually when we seriously contemplate a step in a new direction it is because something has stirred us and we feel compelled to move.  But then something happens, we decide not to step out or we quickly stop.

We then tend to feel pretty crappy and caulk it up as another missed opportunity.  Now this is where it gets dicey, if not careful we end up tossing another rock in the sack we carry on our backs as a souvenir of our perceived failure.

Sack of Rocks: This is a bag that we all carry.  It is loaded with rocks that we have accumulated from life experiences, failures, tragedy or anything else that tends to weigh us down.

Everyone has a sack but the load carried depends on whether or not the person decides to put the rock in their bag.  It’s tough trying to march up a mountain with a load of rocks on our backs.

You probably notice that I use the term perceived failure.  I will drill down on this in a moment but first we need to be honest with ourselves.  Sometimes we do fail.  It’s not a perceived failure, it is a legitimate failure.  I mean… we have all really done some stupid stuff.

We make big mistakes in our lives and the consequences are pretty clear.  We cannot (must not) make excuses for some decisions or actions we have made.  The reality is, some things are just wrong and we need to stop and change our behavior.

“You can’t talk yourself out of something you acted yourself into.”

– Stephen Covey

aaa

Back to the “perceived failure” topic.

As mentioned there are things we do that are wrong and they are pretty clear.  But there are a lot of things that occur where we feel we have failed and… yep you guessed it… we throw another rock in the sack because we feel like we deserve it.  And on our journey we have accumulated a sack of rocks so heavy that it makes it difficult to try anything new or anything again.

I have come to believe that what we perceive as failure many times is in reality a part of the process of our growth.

Allow me a metaphor about a butterfly.

I know what you’re thinking… oh brother… that’s all I need, a cheesy little story about a sweet little butterfly.  Stick with me it’s actually a pretty good illustration.

The transformation of becoming a butterfly is in the hidden confines of the cocoon.  There is a divine transformation occurring and no one sees it.  After the butterfly has developed to such a point internally, the transformation work then transitions into the open.

The butterfly struggles and pushes to be released from the confines.  The butterfly could beat up on itself for having such a difficult time… for trying and stopping for a bit.

But here’s the miracle.  The struggle is part of the process.  The pressing and pushing is the very thing that is forcing life into the wings.

For too long I beat myself up for my perceived failures.  I carried a lot of unnecessary rocks.  Life’s tough enough the way it is without carrying extra weight.  I don’t know about you but I am unloading rocks.  I’ve got a more to unload but I can tell already that the climb this mountain is much easier.

Don’t believe the lie that you need to carry the rocks.  Go ahead… take one out and toss it.  Just don’t throw it in my direction.

You can keep throwing rocks in your sack or you can STOP IT!

I love this video.  It’s fun but more importantly there is a lot of truth to it.  It is a simple truth that we need to take to heart.

gg

YouTube Preview Image

rr

By the way, you’ll need to lighten your load because we’re getting ready to climb a pretty steep portion of the mountain.

Random Thoughts — No Comments
26
Feb 10

The Critical Eye

Hi, I’m back.  I feel like I fell off the face of the earth this week.  I was out of town for business and I just didn’t get to the two blog entries.

Note regarding the last blog entry:

My wife told me I had some bad grammar in my last blog.  Oops! my bad.  But as I write this I sit contently smiling with the fact that I don’t really care.

Side Note: I’m really glad she told me for a couple of reasons.

First, like every good partner they want you to look good (the picking the lint and spit and hair thing goes a bit far at times though).

Secondly, it has given me something to talk about.  Something very relevant for this journey we are on.

It’s not that I want to have bad grammar or try to bug you by my writing errors, and it’s not that I want to look stupid either.  Just so you know… not caring is a big step for me.  In my past (not too distant past) I would have really worried about what someone might think.

Side Note: Thank God for red and green squiggles under words or sentences.  If you think my writing is bad now you should see it before I get it on the computer.

Another thought struck me about my poor grammar.  If some poor grammar or a few misspelled words cause some of you to discount what I am saying, it may be something for you to look at.  You grammar snob… you’re probably bemoaning the fact that I ended the sentence with a preposition (aren’t you impressed that I know what a preposition is).

But seriously, there may be a learning here for us all as we take risks on this journey we are taking.

There is a difference between having a discerning critical eye and being critical.  Some of you just tilted your head and went…Huh?  Yep there is a difference (at least in the little world of Jerry Rushing).

Critical Eye: The ability to identify any detail that takes away or diminishes the success or purpose of something.  A critical eye enhances and elevates.

Critical: Pointing out something that may be technically correct but the intent or approach undermines success or detracts from the purpose.

Why is this so important to those of us who have decided to embark on this trek up the mountain?  Everything.

When you embark on a risky journey and explore you will naturally grow as a person.  You will change.  Change is scary sometimes to the people around us.

The sad reality is that people that are close to us are used to seeing us and knowing us in a certain way.  When we make changes in our lives the ripple effects are felt in the lives around us.  Usually that’s pretty good, but sometimes it is uncomfortable for others and they want to inadvertently force us back to the box they are use to.

Our journey will never be easy or perfect.  Growth and change is messy at times.  Some of us have the blessing of having very supportive people around us to cheer us on and provide a critical eye on little things that may helps us grow.  Others have to realize that some people are just critical and the motives… not as pure.

This is where personal resolve for your journey is key.  I am fortunate to have a supportive audience but my resolve is strong.

I know that I will not be perfect on this journey and criticism will come.  Remember Progress Not Perfection is key.

Just so you know, I had my wife proof this blog entry this time.  If there are any grammatical errors or misspelled words… let’s blame her.

Ciao