Our Blessings

“Blessed, but stressed.”

-  John Hafner

Our Blessings

It was Saturday and I was near my friend John’s house.  I’ve known John for the past five years and have developed a great affinity for John and his work.  In fact, I’ve watched John take his start-up company and grow it into a successful venture.  He’s an outdoor/wildlife photographer and travels all around the world taking amazing photos.  I knew he had been out on the road working for the past three weeks and I was hoping he was back in town.

I stood at his door and rang the bell.  Then I waited.

No answer.

I rang again.

When no one came to the door I turned to walk away in disappointment.

Just as I was about to turn the corner, the door opened and I saw John’s smiling face.  He invited me in and we began to talk.

“How are you?” I queried.

“Blessed, but stressed.” He replied.

“What a great answer!” I said to myself.

“You know I’ve been out on assignment.” John went on to explain.  “It gets hard to be on the road, but I’ve been able to get some great shots and I’m real busy so, you know, I’m very blessed.  Things are going well.  But, with all the work and travel comes some stress.”

I looked at his smiling face.  It has a glow of happiness that shines straight out at everyone and everything.  It entered my eyes and I felt happy just because he was happy! 

We visited some more.  I got to spend time with his dog’s head lying in my lap as we talked.  I looked around his living room and admired the beautiful home he and Holly have created.  He is indeed blessed!  I was reminded to recognize my own blessings again. 

After a few minutes of a rejuvenating reunion I was off to work again.  When I stepped into my car my phone began to ring.  I was soon in the middle of negotiating two transactions.  My stress began to build.

I paused!

John’s words rushed into my mind as if wind through aspenand pine trees.  I could hear the rustle; I could hear their rush.  “Blessed; blessed, but stressed!”  Ah and awe!  You and I can follow John’s example to lead a more fulfilling life.

The Power of Combining with Others

"It is the Puritan work ethic that has made us great as a people."

Jessi Butterfield

The Power of Combining with Others

I was driving home from my last appointment on Saturday night when I received a call from my daughter in Brooklyn. Thank goodness for wireless headsets! The call lasted long past my drive time and well into the evening. She had great news to talk with me about. Her business is continuing to grow.

"It is the Puritan work ethic that has made us great as a people." She said. "The formula is simple. You just work hard and pray a lot and things go well. Just look how far we've come since the Puritans and others came to live together in America."

Her comments caused my mind to think about the process she was describing. People have indeed come here from all across the world to succeed.

That same night this was demonstrated to me again as I watched the VISA Championships with other members of my family. The gymnastics floor of the US Championships was covered with coaches from all over the globe as they added their expertise to the best American Gymnasts who were competing for a spot on Team USA so they could contend in the World Championships. One of my other daughters commented, "It's like we've taken people from all over the globe and put them in a big blender to produce a super-charged elixir of success!"

Mother Teresa once said something like this, "You can do things I can't do. I can do things you can't do. If we work together, we can accomplish a lot." It's the combination that makes all the difference.

One of the most important things you can do for yourself, and all of us, is to surround yourself with others who can compliment your talents; people that can help be helped by the addition of your capacity. Doing so will make you, and the people you work with, greater than simply adding by ones. You may say that I don't understand the math. But, I say in this one case one plus one doesn't add up to two. The combination of knowledge, experience, love, desire and faith create infinite possibility.

Look for the opportunity to give of yourself today. If you will, you will begin to see how a "new math" will change your life along with the world.

Who is Watching?

“What are you going to do?”

Annie Butterfield

Who is Watching?

I think I live the life of a “regular” person and as such my life is something less than extraordinary.  In fact most days I don’t think I do anything that is of interest to any other person.  Perhaps that’s the way you feel as well.  Do you think that you live an unobserved life?  I almost always think I do until something happens to make me think otherwise. 

I was spending some time by myself this morning.  It was a chance for me to spend time researching an item of particular interest.  The time was flying as I looked at my computer screen.  I was comfortable and inquisitive knowing that I had plenty of time to spend and had limited obligations on my day off.

I did have one family outing planned so I was watching the digital clock on my computer every once in a while to make sure I would be ready to go when it was time; I wasn’t dressed for the occasion so I knew that I needed to stop a little early to change clothes.  As the time to leave approached, my daughter Annie walked into the room.

As Annie walked toward me I looked up, noticed her attire and said, “Are you going?”

She returned the look at my attire and simply said, “What are you going to do?”

The question seemed to run an electrical shock down my spine; there I was sitting, instead of changing for the occasion.  She was watching my every action even though I was unaware of it until that one revealing moment.

The reveal is: While I believe I’m insignificant most of the time, there are moments of revelation telling me that you and I are more than we seem.  Our life and example have a much larger impact than we can ever imagine.  If you doubt it try the following exercise:

First, decide to make one person smile every day for the coming week.  Then, at the end of each day make mental notes as to whom you made smile and how it made you feel.

Second, notice how these people respond to you in the future.  Notice how your relationship has changed as a result of this one act of kindness.

Finally, see that what you have done has made a difference in your environment and the environment of the others in your life.  You’ll also see that the people you helped are making an effort to watch your example and will begin to follow it as well, just because you’re around.

So, what are you going to do?

Wonder Brings Amazing Possibilities

“If you would have asked me a couple of years ago where I’d be today, this would not have been one of my guesses.”

Chloe Scott

Wonder Brings Amazing Possibilities

One of the advantages of age is that it enables a different perspective of who we are and where we’ve been.  When I was talking with my friend Chloe the other day she was able to give me a perspective on this.  It’s something  I’ve always suspected, but never have been able to really get a handle on.

Chloe is a person who most people would say, “She has it all” about.  This is such an interesting thing because if you were to spend any time with her at all you would discover that she has never felt that way about herself.  In fact, during our last conversation she was excited about how she has been able to accomplish far more than she had ever dreamed she could.  But, what was most interesting to me about what she told me was she was clear that her accomplishments had come not through her own plans, but were the result of circumstances that she had resisted in most cases.  Now that she has made me aware of her point of view I have been able to take some time to reflect on my own experience.

I’m so excited about my discovery that I could hardly wait to share some thoughts about it with you.  So here goes!

I’ve spent the vast majority of my life working to do what I thought was the right thing to the exclusion of other possibilities.  Do you know what I mean?  I think that perhaps this is akin to a person who has discovered the taste of vanilla ice cream and likes it so much that they’re never willing to try another flavor.  That doesn’t mean that they aren’t really enjoying the ice cream they’re eating.  But it does mean they may be robbing themselves of additional joy that other flavors may provide them.  Allow yourself to accept the possibility that something wonderful you aren’t aware of yet may exist and stay open to possibilities.  Such awareness will lead you to something else that’s just as important.

Rather than fearing what the future could hold for you embrace it as an amazing possibility.  Spend some time contemplating the fact that if your hold your heart open to wonder the world will give it to you.  I want you to be able to say, “My life has exceeded my hopes and dreams!” Or, perhaps, “My life has been filled with wonder every day and I marvel at it constantly.”

Give it a try during the next month and see what happens.  Just remember that something wonderful is coming and embrace the amazing possibilities in your future.