Take the Good (Part 2 of 2)
Last time, in Get Ready for Something Good, we talked about preparing your heart and mind for good things to happen. Now let’s look at the ability to receive. The question is: What does it take to take the good?
Posts
What Do You Get To Do Today?
Have To or Get To?
Somewhere between jumping into the shower, grabbing a cup of coffee, and running out the door, it happens. Your mind scans the next 24 hours: What do I have to do today? While it’s perfectly fine to plan the day with this question, I offer you an alternative to use. It’s one I pull out of my pocket whenever I notice I’m starting the day with my feet dragging or spirits lagging. I simply change one word: What do I get to do today? Read more
When You See It, Celebrate It
What Started as Panic
Here’s how my Monday morning started last week. I walked upstairs to my office and when there was no computer in sight, the feeling in the pit of my stomach told me what must have happened. That Sunday while on my way into the grocery store, I brought my laptop with me so it wouldn’t be exposed to the high heat inside the car on a June day in Scottsdale — it was 107 degrees outside. After shopping for about an hour, I quickly loaded the groceries into the car. In my haste to get home with the refrigerated items, I left my laptop in the shopping cart, lined up in the parking lot stall. Since I decided to have a computer-free Sunday afternoon, I didn’t notice it was missing until bright and early Monday morning. Read more
You Didn’t Have To Do That
Thoughts On Giving and Receiving
That was unnecessary. You didn’t have to do that. That’s what we say when presented with a generous gift or someone goes out of their way to do something thoughtful. Saying “thank you” can feel inadequate, and often we are more comfortable giving than receiving. My father’s standard response to anyone who tells him he “didn’t have to do that” is to say: “Life would be boring if I just did what I had to do.” Tony’s right, so take the gift! Read more
It’s Okay To Want More
Even When You’re 95
Last Monday I placed a birthday call to my Aunt Louise who turned 95. We reminisced about a variety of things including the first time her husband asked her out on a date and the full wardrobe of handmade clothes she made for my Barbie dolls when I was a child — so detailed and fashionable that I never coveted the manufactured Barbie clothes advertised on TV. Read more
Start Here
An Endless Supply
When I begin working with someone, I provide reflection questions to complete ahead of time and that helps us get the coaching conversation started. Recently, I was struck by a new client’s answer to this question: What is present in your life for which you feel grateful? Read more
What’s In Your Basket This Year?
An Exercise In Gratitude
At a recent chapter meeting of the International Coach Federation (ICF), a professional association to which I belong, we conducted a networking exercise to get to know each other better. In rotating groups of two, each of us took turns sharing the following with a partner: 1) something we are very grateful for this year and 2) a dream we have. The partner was instructed to “just listen” without commenting, to fully receive what the other was saying. Read more
The Best Way To Say Thank You
Why I Don’t Have To Worry About My Eulogy
Over the last few years, my sister, Lori, has twice delivered eulogies at the funeral services of our beloved aunts. In each case, her remarks conveyed cherished memories and the unique characteristics of both women whom we admired and loved. At the end of the most recent funeral, my cousins gathered around Lori to thank her for expressing what was in their hearts. They also joked with her and asked, “Will you write mine next?” Despite the laughing, there was a twinge of gravity. As the middle generation witnesses the passing of their elders it causes reflection on our own lives. Read more
Choosing To Be Grateful
“To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted…
Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.”
— Albert Schweitzer
Why is Gratitude Important?
“Count your blessings” has become a trite expression. We know we should be grateful and in fact, often say we are but do we truly feel it? Why is it even important to be grateful? Here are three reasons: Read more