Posts Tagged: work

The Journey Beyond — No Comments
23
Aug 10

Hard Headed and Hard Work

I’ve come to the conclusion that it is easy to write if you have something to say.

Now that the reunion topic has run its course I have to come up with something worthwhile to talk about… assuming what I talked about before was worthwhile. 

Coming up with something twice a week to write about requires me to exert some mental and emotional effort.   But I knew this was all part of making the commitment to write this blog.

Side Note:  I hate to be redundant, but for those who are new to my blog journey you need to know that I am not and must not write these entries for anyone but myself. 

The commitment to write is my journey of stepping beyond the comfortable world I was living and explore.  Take a look at my first blog in January (archives on the right side of your screen toward the bottom).

 

As most of you know (those who have been traveling along with me in this blog) I am pretty lazy.  I hate to admit it – but I am. 

Now for argument sake, lazy is relative.  By some people’s standards I may be considered fairly industrious.  I’m not a compete slug. 

I guess the real issue regarding laziness is how much one does or doesn’t do in regards to their capability.  I think of the kid that has natural intellect and gets straight “A’s” without really trying in comparison to the youngster that has average intellect and works hard for a “B”.  For me my admiration goes to the average kid.

I would contend that the “B” student is learning more about getting the most out of life than the kid getting “A’s”.  Life requires effort… constant effort.   I tend to believe more and more that effort is learned.  I heard someone say recently that many kids today are not taught how to work hard.  This may seem odd, but it’s true.

This is why I started my journey.  I knew that there was so much more to experience in life and that to experience it I needed to step out.  Sadly, like most things that are good, you wonder why you didn’t make the decision sooner.  I don’t know for sure why I didn’t start sooner but that is not the place to spend any energy.

“You must not let the past corrupt the future.”

                                                – Oswald Chambers

 

Although my journey isn’t perfect… it’s good.  Remember, progress not perfection.

So here I sit typing away at 6:00 a.m. Monday morning.  (As you can see, what I lack in hard work I make up for in procrastination.) 

See you Thursday.

The Journey Beyond — No Comments
29
Jul 10

Deeper or Higher?

I just started writing this blog entry today and I am already confused.  Now I’m sure this is not too surprising to those of you who have been strolling along with me on this blog journey for any length of time.

From the very first blog I have been referring to this blog adventure as a journey of out and up; out from behind the walls of our safe little world and up a mountain.

Now I am talking about digging a well.  Am I going up or down?

I think the reality of this dilemma is that to successfully go higher one must go deeper.

Principle I Believe: Higher and broader demands deeper

I believe this is true in all aspects of life – nature, personal, emotional, relational, business, families, organizations, etc.

Height and breadth needs depth for strength and stabilization.

An Example: (Alright stick with me; this may seem a bit boring at first but it does have relevance to both you and me.)

I happen to have the privilege to work with a lot of different kinds of companies.   One of the patterns I have seen is that many companies are very successful while they are small but struggle as they get bigger.  The first symptom of shallowness is the systems and organizational structure is inadequate to support the demands of the business.  This is a relatively simple (albeit painful) matter to solve.

If growth continues the new processes and systems can sustain the company for only a short while.

Now the heavy lifting takes place.  This is where the most difficult challenges occur and organizational character tested.  The bigger the company grows the greater the need for a defined corporate identity, clarity of organizational strategies, succinctness of priorities, simplicity of goals and commitment to values.  These are the roots that support the whole.

The big question is, so what?  What does that have to do with me?  Everything!

Think about it.  The greater the challenges in our lives the more critical it is to know who we are, what’s important, where we are going, and what we believe.

When things are going well in life we have no conscious sense of need to draw from anything beyond the moment.  But how stabile are we in the storms of life?  My guess is that most of us stand the tests of life pretty well.

But then there are times when we are shaken to the core.  It is in these times where we really learn who we are, what’s important, where we are going, and what we believe.  Not only does it tests our roots but strengthens out roots.

“The greater the complexity the simpler we need to be.”

Take off your walking shoes and put on your gloves.  It looks like we will be digging instead of walking for a few days.

See you bright and early Monday.

The Journey Beyond — No Comments
19
Jul 10

Fun or Fruit

In Thursday’s blog I talked about how easy it is to forget important things in our lives.  I’m not talking about important things with a small ”i” such as brushing your teeth, recycling and absolutely making sure you don’t miss the last episode of Survivor.

Oddly, it’s the little “i” things we don’t tend to forget.  They are part of our daily routine and are tangible in nature.  The big “I” things are more foundational and abstract.  The big “I” stuff are things such as our core values, our philosophy of life, life priorities and relationships.

Side Note: Although abstract in nature these are revealed in very tangible behaviors.  What’s on the inside comes out in the details of our lives.

I talked about having tangible symbols to remind us of the IMPORTANT things in our lives.  Taking care of the big “I” things strengthens us and breaths life into us because these are the roots of our being.

Just as large trees begin to slowly die when the roots are neglected we to begin to wither when our roots are left unattended.  Tending the roots must become part of our routine.  Activities must be built into our schedule to do things that feed and strengthen the roots.

There are two things that endanger the roots.  The first danger is the most heinous, frightening and common.  Neglect.  We destroy ourselves by neglect.  We are the culprits of our own demise.  We do this by the slow erosion and deterioration of our core by neglecting the disciplines of self care.

Side Note: Unfortunately there is another sad reality.  This to me is almost as scary and frankly just as sad as destroying one’s self.  It is the person who only does just enough tending of the ground to keep themselves functioning.  They function but never know the joy of bearing abundant fruit.

Joy is sacrificed on the alter of ease.

The other dangers are the attacks of things from the outside that invade and destroy.  I live in a small community that is known in our area for our magnificent trees.  The community takes pride in their trees and has in place an ongoing disciplined plan that actively nurtures and cares for them.

But we are having tree problems, not for lack of care but because we are under attack.  There is a very small innocent looking worm that is causing unbelievable carnage to Ash trees.  The Emerald Ash Borer has been on a rampage in our area of the country and these magnificent trees are in jeopardy.

This is in essence the same types of challenges we face in our lives.  There are small innocent looking things in this world that are our equivalent to the Emerald Ash Borer.

And the weird thing about it is that what may be something that endangers me may not be the thing that endangers you.  These are little things that penetrate the protective surface because we have allowed them to bore into our life.

I don’t know what your Emerald Ash Bore is but if you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know a couple of mine… worrying what people think and lack of self discipline.

So to be successful on this journey I must constantly nurture and feed my core and to guard against the small critters that want to destroy.

Honestly it takes work…  and I have a choice… to experience the joy of bearing more fruit or take it easy and wither away.

Humm, I choose JOY.

See you Thursday.

Random Thoughts — No Comments
25
May 10

Water from a Dry Well

Hi, good to see you again.

The title pretty much describes me today.  Have you ever felt empty?   I am not talking about emptiness of the heart.

Emptiness of the heart:  The dull ache that comes from an inner void. 

This is the intuitive knowledge that something is missing or incomplete.  No matter how hard one tries to push it back into its place it seems to seep out the cracks when alone or at night.

 

I am full in heart but empty in being today.  I’m drained and feel I have nothing to give.  But that is the time I must step out.  Historically I would have blown off the blog.  But I am reminded of an amazing principle… absolutely amazing.

BIBLE ALERT!

For my non-Christian friends this story is from the Bible.  Now don’t go discounting what I’m about to say until I have finished.

This is a principle that applies to anyone regardless of their beliefs.  But for Christians it will have broader implications.

 

There is a story in the Bible about a poor widow who gave her last few pennies at the Temple.    Christ was observing and told his friends that this poor widow gave more than all the others who gave huge amounts of money.

Side Note:  Let me stop here for a moment.  I have heard this story my entire life and it was always told in relation to money and giving.  I now believe that money is by far the lesser point.

 

He observed all the giving and said that she gave out of her poverty while the others gave out of their abundance.

This story provided one of the most amazing ah ha’s of my life.  God has a marvelous way of smacking us in a way that really gets our attention.  I am not talking about a smack that is negative but a “Wow, I could have had a V8” smack.

People tend to give things that they have the most of.  It’s human nature.  Giving of any sort with the right motive is good and honorable.  But there is a giving that transcends the realms of known and makes a very ordinary act sacred… even Holy. 

I am talking about those acts where people are giving (albeit little) the last they have.

  • The single mom who is tired to the bone and their child needs attention and she musters her last ounce of energy to provide extra tenderness to a needy child.
  • The man at work who holds his tongue when every fiber of his being is yelling for fairness.
  • The parent who will forgo the badly needed pair of shoes to provide the fee for the elementary school outing.
  • The teenager that risks their fragile reputation because they dare to defend someone needing a friend.

I in no way believe that the writing of this blog today merits anything special.  All I know is that I am tired and I feel dry.  I thought of the poor widow and was inspired.  I knew I was suppose to write.  So I did.

Later.

Random Thoughts — No Comments
23
Mar 10

A Helpful Hint

Howdy, good to see you again.

Our last couple of blog entries have been pretty heady so I needed a break from thinking too much.

Side Note: About six weeks ago I wrote a blog entitled “Walkie Talkie” where we talked about how walking through nature has the mysterious ability to break down our barriers allowing us to be more open.

That blog entry focused on the gift of deep meaningful conversations.  But the other gift that comes from being with someone with whom you feel safe and comfortable is that it frees us to share our joys and fun.

So I thought it would be a good time to share a story or two on our journey.  Maybe I could trade helpful hints on miscellaneous stuff.

With that said, to my pleasure and probably to your chagrin, I have decided to share something odd that happened last summer.  This is also a helpful hint for home owners… well… helpful is a relative term.  We’ll see how helpful you think it is after you read my saga.

LAST SUMMER

It was a sunny warm July day.  Like most days of summer, this was one that had a particularly strong way of summoning you outdoors to tackle distasteful chores.

The Distasteful Chore: Removal of dead limbs in trees

We have several very large trees around our house.  The removal of some of the limbs was pretty easy but others proved to be a challenge.  These were the limbs that were large and high.  I’m talking about limbs of significance.  Any of which, if allowed to remain, could severely hurt someone if they fell.

So here I am, a man who is past his daredevil 20’s and reluctant to climb and hang 40+ feet into the air (actually it was probably 20 feet but it looked 40).  What does one do?

I did what any red blooded man would do… get some other sucker to help.

The Sucker: My brother visiting from Texas

As the task unfolded it became quite amusing.  But I must say we were very creative in the way we brought to the ground the demon limbs.

Tools Required:

  • One tennis shoe
  • One ball of twine
  • One lengthy piece of rope
  • Two willing and slightly naive men in the mood for adventure

Optional:

  • Two lawn chairs
  • Two giggly wives who amuse themselves by setting up a make-shift audience to observe the splendor of two men bringing down limbs

The first task is to attach the twine to the tennis shoe.  Then one must throw the shoe over the identified limb.

This is tricky… and it is more difficult than it may appear.  The aerodynamics of a sneaker is not conducive to throwing.  But they are durable and soft enough not to bring harm if by chance it should fall on someone or thing.

Once the shoe has been precisely launched the twine is then tied to the rope.  This allows you to pull the rope over the limb so the real work can begin.

After the loop of the rope is positioned properly around the limb, the two men can begin their task.  With hands firmly grasped to the rope, the two men pull in unison.  Of course the challenge is UNISON.

After a couple of introductory tugs and then a unified grunt and pull the limb comes crashing down.  All of this to the pride of the pullers and the delight of the audience.

Yep, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  I’m sure my brother appreciates me blasting the story across the web.

Maybe the next blog we’ll return to more serious matters but thanks for letting me relive a fond memory with my brother.

Arrivederci, see you later.

The Journey Beyond — No Comments
13
Mar 10

Freedom Through Bondage

I have music in me… lots of music.  There are times when I have sat at a piano, placed my fingers on the keys, closed my eyes and believed the music inside would explode into melody.

But the wellspring of music within remained trapped… frustrated by its inability to find release and purpose.  There was no avenue for escape because I had not provided a path of freedom.

Now I’m really going to confuse us all.  FREEDOM requires giving up freedom. 

When younger I could have taken piano lessons.  I could have given up the freedom to do the things I wanted to do and channelled that time into a forced discipline of training my mind and fingers.  But my freedom in the moment was more important for me than ultimate freedom later.

Side Note:  This principle is true with virtually everything I can think of.

  •                    Finances
  •                    Children
  •                    Education
  •                    Household chores
  •                    You name it  

It is said that you can tell who the professionals are because they make it look so easy.  That’s very true. 

I marvel at the ability of some dancers or athletes.  The freedom they have to release their body in different ways is literally amazing.  This level of freedom only comes through forced discipline.  It is the relinquishing of the freedom of the moment for the freedom of the ultimate.

Take a look at this quick video.  It illustrates the amazing beauty, ease, and elegance of a body that is free.

YouTube Preview Image

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Freedom… that’s what this journey’s all about.  I think I’m pretty much like everyone else in that there are parts of my life that are really terrific.  I experience joy and freedom in those parts of my life in which I have invested.

But the Voice calls us to more.  And there is so, so, so much more.  But for whatever reason we become lulled in our relative freedom not really realizing that there is so much more.  I sat too long looking from afar at what could be. 

So, as you know, I started this journey of writing.  The discipline of forcing time to write and struggling to find a way for the words and thoughts inside to find release and meaning is very difficult.  Very difficult!  But… I keep stepping forward. 

I ran across a great quote that encourages me.  William Stafford, (1914-1993) was a prolific and highly respected American poet.  When asked by a reporter how he began his career as a poet he said,

“I just kept on doing what everyone starts out doing. The real question is, why did other people stop?”

So I keep going. 

What treasures are trapped in you?

Thanks for hanging in there with me.  We’ll get up this mountain eventually.

Later.