Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

In a world filled with chaos and uncertainty, kindness stands as a beacon of hope, illuminating the darkness with its gentle warmth. It is the currency of compassion, transcending barriers of culture, language, and belief. Kindness is not merely a virtue; it is a transformative force that has the power to shape lives and communities.

At its core, kindness is about empathy – the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. It manifests in simple acts: a smile, a helping hand, a word of encouragement. These seemingly small gestures can have a profound impact, creating a ripple effect that extends far beyond their initial occurrence.

Consider the story of a stranger offering their seat on a crowded bus to someone in need. This act of kindness not only provides physical comfort but also fosters a sense of connection and solidarity among strangers. The recipient, touched by this gesture, may be inspired to pay it forward, spreading kindness to others in their own way. Thus, a single act sets off a chain reaction of goodwill, touching countless lives along the way.

Kindness has tangible benefits for both the giver and the receiver. Research has shown that acts of kindness trigger the release of oxytocin, often referred to as the “love hormone,” promoting feelings of trust and bonding. Additionally, practicing kindness has been linked to improved mental and physical well-being, reducing stress and boosting overall happiness.

In a society that often values individual success above all else, kindness serves as a powerful reminder of our interconnectedness. It reminds us that we are all part of a larger community, where our actions have the potential to uplift or diminish those around us. By cultivating a culture of kindness, we create a more compassionate and inclusive world, where everyone feels seen, valued, and respected.

Kindness is not merely a nicety but a necessity – a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human. As we navigate the complexities of life, let us remember the profound impact of our words and actions. By embracing kindness in our daily lives, we have the power to spark positive change and make the world a better place for all.

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

Different bible translations use different words but as we continue to review the fruits of the spirit, whether forbearance, long suffering or patience, this is one area I struggle mightily with. I am personally more closely related with a sense of urgency, a desire to get it done well within self-imposed time frames. This blog is a message to myself.

Patience, often considered a virtue, is a quality that seems to be in short supply in today’s fast-paced world. In a society driven by instant gratification and quick results, the art of waiting calmly and enduring difficulties with resilience has become somewhat of a lost skill.

However, patience remains as relevant and essential as ever, serving as a guiding light through life’s trials and tribulations. At its core, patience is the ability to tolerate delay, adversity, or frustration without becoming upset or agitated. It involves maintaining composure and perseverance in the face of challenges, understanding that some things simply take time to unfold.

Patience is not passivity; rather, it is a proactive stance that empowers individuals to stay focused on their goals while navigating the inevitable obstacles along the way.

One of the most profound aspects of patience is its role in fostering personal growth and development. By learning to wait for the right opportunities and to persist in the face of setbacks, individuals cultivate resilience and inner strength. They develop the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances and to weather the storms that life may throw their way.

In essence, patience enables individuals to build the mental fortitude necessary to thrive in an unpredictable world. Moreover, patience enhances relationships by fostering understanding, empathy, and compassion. In a world where communication often moves at breakneck speed, taking the time to listen attentively and empathize with others’ perspectives can strengthen bonds and build trust. Patience allows individuals to navigate conflicts with grace and diplomacy, resolving differences with mutual respect and understanding.

In today’s hyper-connected world, the allure of instant gratification can be particularly seductive. However, it is important to recognize that true fulfillment often comes from the journey itself rather than the destination. Cultivating patience allows individuals to savor each moment, to appreciate the process of growth and discovery, and to find joy in the simple pleasures of life.

Practicing patience requires conscious effort and mindfulness. It involves pausing to take a deep breath in moments of frustration, reframing challenges as opportunities for growth, and embracing uncertainty with an open heart. It is a lifelong practice that requires commitment and dedication, but the rewards are immeasurable.

In conclusion, patience is not merely a virtue; it is a guiding principle that can transform the way we navigate life’s journey. By cultivating patience, we empower ourselves to face challenges with resilience, to nurture meaningful relationships, and to find fulfillment in the present moment. As we embrace the power of patience, we unlock the door to a life of greater peace, purpose, and fulfillment. Who doesn’t want that?

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric

Good Morning, Team! It’s Tuesday!

I hope your Easter was enjoyable.

I was given the building blocks pictured above from my mother a number of years ago. Like every mother, mine wants what is best for her children. My sense of urgency, restlessness and drive…have not always served me well or been translated with the most noble intent. That is code for I can make people uncomfortable without even trying, which is not my desire, so if I can chill out (find peace) more often, I can influence rather than inadvertently intimidate.

Under each block is a passage. See below:

•You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Isaiah 26:3

•Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege, where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

Romans 5:1-2

•Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God who calls you, is faithful: he will do this.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

•I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

John 14:27

I think of peace in the context of “peace and quiet”. A low heart rate, no random, worrisome thoughts running through my head, no tension, no strife, no barriers to taking a nap in the middle of the day. Being content that you have served some purpose or knowing you are good enough, at least for the time being.

Have a blessed week!

Eric

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

Pure, unadulterated joy for me is demonstrated best by a young child who discovers something, like ice cream, for the first time.

Fortunate for all of us, joy is found in many other areas of our life as quoted below:

Consistent with last weeks message on Love,

The greatest joy in life is the experience of sharing love.

-Dr. Margaret Paul

Service

“Well, your greatest joy definitely comes from doing something for another, especially when it was done with no thought of something in return.”

-John Wooden

Purpose

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”

-George Bernard Shaw

Duress

James 1:2-3 NIV says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

The source

“If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. They are not a sort of prize which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone.”

-CS Lewis

Joy is all around us; wonder, beauty, discovery, God. Similar to our attitude each morning when we wake, we have to choose it! I could fill a daily blog with rants about everything that has happened to me in life that felt unfair and unjust…it’s a broken world and frankly we all could. Two certain things would come out of that. One, I’d remain stuck looking backwards with unrealistic expectations that dwelling on the negative would somehow make things better. Two, you’d stop reading the blog by the second or third day because no one wants to listen to “a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”

We live in a world where we get to choose so many things in life.

Choose JOY!

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

What is love?

I’ve been reading and researching to better understand what I used to believe was a simple explanation to an emotion we all feel (or hope to feel) regularly.

Some of the research is captured below:

“We are never so vulnerable as when we love.” Sigmund Freud

In her book, Daring Greatly, Brené Brown describes vulnerability as “uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.” It’s that unstable feeling we get when we step out of our comfort zone or do something that forces us to loosen control.

Dr. Sue Johnson writes in Hold Me Tight, that love is “the pinnacle of evolution, the most compelling survival mechanism of the human species. Not because it induces us to mate and reproduce. We do manage to mate without love! But because love drives us to bond emotionally with a precious few others who offer us safe haven from the storms of life. Love is our bulwark, designed to provide emotional protection so we can cope with the ups and downs of existence.”

Simon Sinek recently posted “best definition of love I’ve ever heard: Love is giving someone the power to destroy you and trusting they won’t use it.”

So it seems then, you know you are in love when you allow yourself to be vulnerable, bond emotionally to survive the volatility of a broken world, and trust your partner implicitly. Not a warm and fuzzy description but…honest and gritty.

By now you’re asking yourself why this topic and why now?

•The blog has been my backup when I’m not regularly communicating on another platform. “Musings” were the way one former coworker described them.

•After a lengthy hiatus, my career journey brought me back to this place where I pontificate, share, smack the reader over the head one message and whisper in their subconscious the next.

•”Precious few” as Dr Johnson writes, become more obvious with adversity. I elected to dig into the why behind those who stand by when most are silent or have been posing when convenient but withdraw when needed. However cynical this may sound, if trust is the ultimate relationship currency, most don’t seem to be able to distinguish between certified and counterfeit vouchers.

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric

Good morning Team, It’s Friday!

Have you ever noticed how things will be moving along so well then something happens to disrupt forward progress? Or at least it might seem that way.

I spoke to one of my sons last night and found out that our granddaughter has been seriously ill for the past 2 days with 105 degree fever, throwing up and mostly inconsolable. My heart breaks for the whole family as they navigate illness, health systems, work and lack of sleep.

Anne has worked with someone for a number of years who recently found out that they have stage 4 cancer. Everyone is still processing the news and wondering how to help while the coworker is dealing with doctor visits, work schedule, family matters, emotions and fatigue.

Two days ago I connected with a former coworker who unbeknownst to me lost his father a couple of weeks ago to a massive heart attack at age 72. His parents were traveling from their Midwest home to a warmer location for a respite and stopped at my colleagues home along the way. Gasping for air, compressions, EMT shows up and works for 35 minutes before accepting he was not coming back.

It’s easy to believe if we do things a certain way that we can avoid adversity. Clean living, don’t offend anyone, eat your Wheaties, exercise, etc. and you’ll be golden. Then you hear about someone you know, someone you care about, someone you love…dealing with issues like the aforementioned, and you quickly gain perspective.

If your day is stressful, your plane is delayed, your car won’t start, you slipped on some ice, your new software won’t work as intended or a plethora of other issues impacting forward movement, pause, take a breath and remember the sage words from an old friend, “If it can be solved with money, it’s not really a problem.”

We get caught up thinking we are in control. We wonder when things don’t go as we had planned what we could have done differently. We would all benefit from remembering we are not in control, there are many forces in this world that don’t consult with us how things will transpire, shit happens. Another good friend recently shared the quote, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react”.

Practicing gratitude for everything from another day with your loved ones to a hot shower, a brisk walk, the ability to laugh or to read and share thoughts … or, here is the tough part, expressing gratitude for hardships … is a great place to start.

Have a blessed weekend!

It’s been a while. I’m still here. Moving forward. still figuring myself out.

Grandpa. Dad. Brother. Son. Mostly husband.

Bald. Grumpy exterior. Compassionate interior. Mostly grateful.

The shadow above is recently cast while the weather cooperates and we bend the calendar to take advantage.

I had lunch the other day with my accountant. He’s a lot more than that; friend, Vistage brother, inspiration. I asked him the question that has been hounding me for years. “How much is enough?” I knew he’d have a good answer.

He shared more than he had to about his personal situation and I reciprocated. He also shared friends who passed who had plenty but they aren’t here to enjoy it. Sobering, more so at my age.

So the implication when someone asks that question is [money]. If you earn it, accumulate it and preserve it, what gets in the way of enjoying it? Health, career, obligations. What starts to erode it, besides taxes? Greed, foolishness, bad habits and lack of control.

What’s the answer? First, it isn’t really about money. Yes, you need a certain amount to survive at a certain level. The percentage of people who can live a similar lifestyle after they hang up their spurs is pretty small. The rest adapt and adjust.

The currency behind the question is not money. The basis for the question is how can I be happy for the rest of my life and the only response is quality relationships. The more you have the higher your life quality and the greater the enjoyment.

No one enjoys life without meaningful relationships.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team! It’s Saturday!

My apologies for the extended hiatus. The new gig has me channeling most of my energy elsewhere.

I just left another stop on my too-many-city tour, trying to touch all the bases so I can retire in a decade completely confident I left it all on the floor and hoping the nest egg takes me to my last smiling breath.

Years ago, I was encouraged to get comfortable and make peace with my inner marshmallow. My executive coach felt like I might be a little angry. Not sure what at … but I came across as pissed off at the world. (Truth is, I am intense and contemplative…but it didn’t matter, perception is reality for most).

Years and years later, the inner marshmallow has consumed me. Chocked full of empathy, an active listener, doling out long, meaningful hugs, yoga in the morning, green tea drinking, squishy all the way through. Here I am. A tub of glorious goo.

Credit to the seeds planted by coach extraordinaire Damien, the tilled up soil in my soul from worldly events of broken promises, litigation, rejection, fraud, horrendous behavior and the like. Most of all to my love, Anne, who has been my gardener for nearly three years now.

I don’t care how tough you are, how much shit you’ve seen or been through. There is no permanent cure for humanity. If you let it harden you, life won.

Reconsider your priorities.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

I’ve had the privilege of visiting Mount Rushmore National Memorial several times in my life but learned something different on my most recent trip. Listening to a park service employee recount the artist and the work, the interruptions and the challenges, the work that more than two million visitors flock to each year is a far cry from the original intent and nowhere near “complete”. The question posed in the sculptor’s studio is whether the memorial is any less remarkable. She taunts, “You decide.”

George S Patton is credited with the statement, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”

Mike Tyson famously said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

Good leaders have a vision of what they’d like to see happen. Whether our tools are fists, rifles, dynamite or tongues, we all seek to carve out something significant, meaningful and valuable. The vision may not turn out exactly as planned (ie Jefferson’s nose breaking off resulting in his likeness being blasted off the left side of Washington) but the finished product still draws millions each year.

What examples can you think of that don’t align with your original vision? Did you have to change plans to reach your goal? Were you nimble enough to accomplish what you set out to? Were you tolerant of the obstacles and did you successfully navigate or were you derailed from realizing your vision?

I can think of many times where something trivial interrupted a good plan in my life and career. It can be devastating or mildly inconvenient but most of the time that depends on our attitude toward said interruption. We all get punched in the face at some point in our life. It tests our resolve and maybe alters the course but should not deter us from accomplishing what we set out to do.

I have grown to believe my life’s work is to help people and companies to reach their full potential; a nudge in the right direction, a challenge to the status quo. Not to do things for them, rather to help them realize their vision, carve their memorial and win their battles. One conversation at a time, one day at a time, building momentum.

As you go out in to the world this next week, remember to be gentle. Everyone is fighting a battle of some kind.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

Some call it Karma

Others claim hard work “pays off”

The uninformed would suggest it is luck

Is it destiny, choices, will, inevitability, privilege, the “secret” (positive thinking) or something beyond comprehension and explanation?

Why does it SEEM that things go well for some people and not so well for others?

I believe:

In the power of prayer

In people

In goodness prevailing

Everything happens for a reason

The truth

The Rolling Stones sang, “you can’t always get what you want…you get what you need.”

I went to the Mayo Clinic today and saw a variety of folks with obvious ailments seeking relief and others who showed no signs of trouble but they spent hours waiting to consult or were seeking answers to what ailed them…and it gave me pause.

Not everyone has a choice of how they reached the point they are at right now. Others made clear choices to arrive where they are today, whether obvious at the time or not, they cannot deny the correlation between choice and current state.

Whether illness, abnormality, laziness, or a combination…we all wake up and deal with the consequences daily.

Life happens and you can shake your fist at the sky or accept that you are not in control of what happens to you. Rather, you can adjust your attitude to the circumstance and

•make the best of it

•learn from it

•shrug off the bad and embrace the good

Over the holiday, we had a chance to visit “the lake” and the wonderful, resilient and positive people who are there today. We sang another song – this time, patriotic and reminiscent. It was a choice to rejoice. There was discussion of various maladies suffered by the group members but no one accepted that as their destiny. Just a bump in the road on their journey.

Choose to be positive.

Choose to be grateful.

Choose to be happy.

Choose to look forward at the pending opportunities, not the challenges before they were overcome.

You are blessed…go act like it.

Have a blessed weekend!