Following Footsteps

“Shoes lovingly placed next to mine.”

Following Footsteps

“Over the river and through the woods!”

Those words of the beloved holiday song seemed to be constantly swimming through my heart as I drove east.  Not to Grandmother’s house, but to my daughter’s house, so we could share the all-important Christmas holiday.  It was a very long drive, but the words seemed to marginalize the ribbon of seemingly never-ending road stretched out as far as my eyes could see, while piercing the horizon of America’s Great Plains.  At the time, I thought the horizon would be the only object to be pierced.  I was wrong!

Yes.  I was wrong.  Yet I don’t want you to think I was wrong in a bad way.  I just didn’t have any way of knowing how a very small gesture was going to touch my heart almost immediately upon my arrival in Arkansas. 

My daughter living in Arkansas has a room over her garage.  That’s where we stay when we visit.  So, right after I knocked on the front door, one of my grandsons, Landon, led the way up the bifurcated staircase, as I carried the first suitcase up.  Then we both settled down on the foot of the bed so we could chat while petting Merlin, our fluffy, now well-traveled Corgi, just before we picked up a leash in preparation for a walk around the neighborhood in delightfully warm, end of December weather conditions.

Upon our return to the house Landon carefully reminded me to “take my shoes off.”  So, I reached down and released the latch between Merlin’s harness and leash.  Then, I stepped out of my shoes, picked them up and climbed the stairs to my room with them in hand.  When in the room I placed them near the side of the bed.  That way I would know exactly where the shoes were when I wanted to use them again.

“Wait!” Landon exclaimed, just after my shoes touched the floor.

Then, in a flash, he wheeled his whole body around, made a dash to the bedroom door and bolted down the stairs.  I stood wondering what I was to wait for.  But, it was a fleeting thought as it was but a moment until he bounded back up the stairs and through the door with a smile on his face.  My eyes quickly traveled down from his beaming face right to his hands, where they rested on two black objects, one held in each hand.  They were his black dress shoes!  He’d gone downstairs to select his black shoes because they were the same color as mine.

I watched as he carefully placed his best shoes next to mine, in a line.

I was touched.  But, he didn’t stop there, this one day!

When I came back up those stairs the next day I found that he’d added another pair of his shoes to the line.  A blue sneaker trimmed in green adorned the other, opposite side of my shoes.  Then, the following day I looked down to find a third pair, red high-tops, added to our colorful string of following-shoes.

“Over the river and through the woods!”

The exact words of the beloved holiday song came swimming back through my mind, piercing my heart, as I looked down upon four pairs of neatly lined-up shoes through moistened eyes.  Not because I was in my Grandmother’s house, though the sight made me think of the many loved ones who walked this same trail of life before me.  I was in my daughter’s home to share the all-important Christmas holiday with family.  And, at this moment the words seemed to graphically display the responsibility you and I have to all those who are now following, and will follow, the path we’re walking now. 

We must always remember the following-shoes around us.  Others are following our footsteps, standing on the trail imprinted by our shoes.

Abundantly Less

“It’s not the daily increase. But the decrease.  Hack away at the unessential.” – Bruce Lee

Abundantly Less

“We’ve taken four loads to “Goodwill” over the past couple of days!” Kilee Johnson said as she walked back into her house, directly upon her return home.

She was telling me of how she and her husband, Garrison, decided to use a couple of days, during their Christmas-time vacation, to share their abundance with others.

“We thought about selling our things on-line, but we decided we’d rather give our surplus to others in our community.” She explained as we talked just inside the door, where she had entered, while continuing to share her philosophy. Of all she told me, perhaps most impressive, was her description of careful, loving preparation.

“I carefully cleaned the blinds, placed all of the hardware in small bags, and attached each bag to its corresponding blind to make sure the new owners have everything they need.”

Her attention to attaching love as a part of her sharing is striking. Such giving is clearly focused on providing increase to others as part of a personalized process of increase through decrease. A principle akin to the process of becoming a “master” of martial arts.  A process Bruce Lee understood very well.

Imaginatively, Bruce Lee described his own life-long pursuit of, counterintuitive increase through decrease in this way, “It’s not the daily increase. But the decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”  

As his admirers know, focusing on the pursuit of perfection in this way allowed Bruce Lee to master a quality of skill beyond the imagination of most.  In other words, the more of the unessential he removed, the more powerful and effective he became.

Kilee and Garrison have shown that this same principle can be effectively applied by each one of us. The more of our abundance we lovingly share with those around us, the more our love and the love of others will grow. And, the more we freely give of our surplus, in the way of love, the whole of our community will become greater than we can imagine.

“We’ve taken four loads to “Goodwill” over the past couple of days!” Kilee Johnson said as she walked back into her house, directly upon her return home.

She was telling me of how she and her husband, Garrison, decided to use a couple of days, during their Christmas-time vacation, to share their abundance with others.

By doing so, they’ve shown you and me how to embark on our own life-long pursuit of increase through decrease.  They’ve shown us how to live life more abundantly by giving our surplus to others.

Do What's Easy

“When I came home I was overcome by the kindness on display!” - Jill Jones

Do What’s Easy

“It’s easy!  Here, I’ll show you how.” Said the artist as I admired his work.

“You don’t understand!”  I said.  “I’m the guy who, when taking basic drawing to fulfill a liberal arts requirement in college, was told by the professor, ‘you’ll do alright in this course, but don’t take any more art.’”

“You can do it!”  The artist replied.

Then he proceeded to talk me through his way of composing an amazing hand-drawn portrait.

“Now you try!”  He said, smiling as he handed me the pencil.

Unfortunately, his smile quickly turned to a look of utter confusion as he watched my unskilled hand work in futility.

“I can see it’s wrong!”  I said while looking at his amazed face.  “I just don’t know what to do to correct it!  I don’t have the same talent as you!  It’s not easy for me!”

That was more than forty years ago, yet the memory came flooding back to me as if ushered in by a tsunami as I heard similar words from my friend Jill Jones.

“They said it was easy for them to do and they hoped it would help us!”  Jill said as she related a cherished memory of her early married years while attending college.

At this time of life, Jill and her husband were both completely absorbed by their class load, not long after they were married.  They were in lessons or studying day and night.  Of course, their small apartment was not as tidy as Jill would have hoped it would be upon the impending arrival of important house guests.

“I just knew my mother-in-law would disapprove of the state of our home!  But there was nothing I could do about it.  I was still on campus, in class, and they had already arrived.  So, as I was about to enter our apartment I steeled myself for criticism.  But it never came!”  Jill said as she recounted the story, as if it had happened yesterday.

Her emotion as palpable.  She stopped to gain strength in her voice so she could continue.

“When I walked into the apartment my mother and father-in-law had cleaned and tidied the whole thing!  But that wasn’t all!  They had also ordered dinner in, because we didn’t have a stitch of food in the fridge or cupboards.” 

She caught her composure again before continuing.

“When I thanked them, they simply said, ‘it was an easy thing for us to do.  We’re so glad we could help you in such a small way!’”

“It’s easy!” Said the artist as I admired his work.

“It’s an easy thing for us to do!”  Jill Jones’ in-laws said as they turned a dark night into a dawning of increased love.

“You can do it!”  The artist replied.

Yes.  You and I can do what’s easy for us, yet challenging for another.

After all, it’s an easy thing for us to do!

Savoring the Miracle

“It’s weird to see how this is coming all together!” – Reed Orcutt

Savoring the Miracle

Gratitude. That’s the word that crossed my mind as I listened to Reed talk to me.

“It’s weird to see how this is coming all together!” Reed Orcutt said as we stood talking about the improbable events that had occurred.  It was so “miraculous” that we both had to just stand there in a sort of fish-like, mouth-gaping manner, sensing that we almost had to catch our breath as part of an effort to take it all in.

Being part of that moment together was important.  It allowed us to look into each other’s eyes so we could silently ask, “Are you experiencing what I’m experiencing?”  And, we each got that confirmation, confidently obtained through an intertwined gaze.  Yet, there was something else at hand.

At that moment of recognition, I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what that little “something” else was.  So, I’ve reflected on it again and again, asking myself, “what was that?”

Pondering that question lead me back to that one word, gratitude.  Yet, this was a different kind of gratitude.  It could perhaps be something akin to a personally heretofore undiscovered classification.  Or, perhaps it’s simply a singularly more effective method of experiencing gratitude.  A process one could call, “Gradational Gratitude Taxonomy?”  

Gradational Gratitude Taxonomy, is a way of systematically studying and experiencing the general principles related to gratitude. And it’s more easily characterized by the phrase “Savoring the Miracle.” Here’s how to do it.

Stop!  Many of us live at such a frenetic pace we don’t stop and think of the good surrounding us.  

My friend Phil once said, “My life has been horribly difficult over the past while!”

I replied, “You mean having to live in a beautiful home and having wonderful food to eat?”

This small conversation between two close friends was the perfect reminder of how important it is to simply stop and put things into proper perspective.

Identify!  Reed and I knew something magical was happening as we worked together.  And, part of truly experiencing the “magic” was to stop and process what was happening.  As soon as we took this step the magic increased in capacity.  Identification opens the door to magnificent expansion.

Harmonize!  Individual musical performance can be life expanding on its own and when you add other voices or instruments it becomes a choir or symphony.  I’m talking about adding dimension and power here.  That’s exactly the result of what Reed and I experienced together.  It was great on an individual basis.  It became even greater as we shared it.

Remember!  Or, savor!  Enjoy it completely!  Have you ever considered incorporating this as part of your character?  Possessing the attribute of savoring all good is life changing. The best things in life, food, drink, happiness and everything I can think of is heightened by simply reminiscing and sharing the process and experience with others.

Gratitude. That’s the word that crossed my mind as I listened to Reed talk to me as we were processing the miracle we were both experiencing.

“It’s weird to see how this is coming all together!” Reed said as we stood talking about the improbable events that had occurred.  It was so “miraculous” that we both had to just stand there in a sort of fish-like, mouth-gaping manner, sensing we were engaged in a process of stopping, identifying and now savoring something extraordinarily special!  

You and I can deepen our gratitude by savoring life’s magic, catch-our-breath-moments.