Month: June 2021 (Page 3 of 4)

No one says you need to bring a cold water to a person on the street on a hot day. You certainly don’t have to slow down let that car cut in front of you on the freeway as you watch his blinker signal flash on and off. And you most definitely don’t need to apologize profusely after one of your passengers in your vehicle (even though you just told them to be careful 15 seconds prior) opened their door in parking lot and hit the car next to you – as the driver gets out of her vehicle and is cussing you out.

You have every right to go about your business and justify staying in your lane (literally and figuratively), shouting back and ignoring that human being as they stare at you with their “anything helps” sign written on tattered cardboard.

We tend to justify our behavior to suit our needs rather than pull back the zoom and look at the big picture. I know I do. Often times I also know what it feels like to be the person to let that car cut in front of me. I’m not a hero because of it. But, the idea of letting go can be.

The moment I change my tune from, “What’s in it for me?” to “How may I serve?” my world changes around me for the better.

Guaranteed.

Sometimes the best thing to say is . . . nothing.

We feel at times obliged to make a comment, give our opinion and let others know about our experience. There are times when this helps, no doubt. However, there are many opportunities missed to keep our mouths shut and actively listen.

In fact, more times than not keeping quiet can not only be a great opportunity to learn, but also a sign of strength and a time for the other person in the conversation to talk it through for themselves. In essence, you’re there to support them.

We tend to learn a lot when we listen. Whether it’s to your children, an employee or even someone you just met. We all can get a bit too eager to share our list of accolades, epiphanies and breakthroughs rather than remaining quiet and actively listening to another person’s opinion and/or life experiences.

You never know, you might just learn something you didn’t know, you may empower them more than you know and/or may make a deep connection with another human being by empathizing with them and finding a common bond.

Isn’t that the case with everything? “Hindsight is 20/20.” We all know the maxim’s and sayings that describe the desire to have the ability to know all the information in this moment in order to make the “right” decision.

Well, how about this. You are exactly where you need to be in this moment and you know exactly what you need to know. This is not a cop-out, but rather a tool to give you a perspective in which you can spring off and gain momentum.

After all, life is perspective. You can wake up in the morning and choose to have a bad day or a good day. It’s your choice. There is nothing different about Christmas morning than a Monday morning is February. The only difference is how we choose to look at it.

In the meantime, learn. Grow. And evolve. Connect with others. Empathize. Love. Give. Listen. Lead. Create and respect others. These are the elements that slowly creates a person who has the tools to make the strong choices to put him/her in a position to succeed and lead.

Stop looking back and get present. You know what you know right now and that’s more than enough.

Have you ever looked back on pictures when you were younger and thought to yourself? “Things were so great back then. Life was so much more simple. Look at how much hair I had. If I knew I looked like that, I would have wore a swimming suit around all the time.”

Here’s the deal: You can do that the rest of your life. Look back and glorify what once was or you can declare today as one of The Good Ole Days. It’s up to you.

To me that means being present in the moment and relishing each and every experience you have throughout your day without looking forward to the next activity. It’s so easy to do that it becomes second nature for us. “I can’t wait for this weekend.” “My vacation is only 3 weeks away.” “When summer comes . . . ” The problem with this way of living your life is – your not living it. Your so focused on the next moment you have completely missed out on the one in front of you.

The title of this blog comes from a friend of mine. We were talking on the phone about our children and reminiscing about when they were younger. I brought up exactly what I’m writing about here and then he said something really profound. He said, “we can’t keep living our lives like this, there needs to be another way to look at it. These have to be the good ole days.”

I agreed.

Where does it start? It begins in the same place where all brilliant ideas, thoughts and creative seeds find their inception. Our minds.

I’ve heard that all manifestations take place once before declaring their existence in the world: once in the mind and then in the physical world. If this is true it would be worth it for all of us to pay attention to what’s going on between our ears on a daily basis.

What are we saying to ourselves? How do we move through our day? What do we focus on? What do we do when we don’t get the results we anticipated? Greatness is not an accident. You don’t trip and fall into it like a pile of gold coins lying on the ground. If you look at anyone who was ever considered “great” in an aspect of their life, you will find he/she spent many many hours at their “craft”. But not only that, they had the thoughts and mindset to support their practice. They had to. It’s imperative to them. Why? Because what you focus on becomes your reality. And people of greatness know that.

Unfortunately, that can go the other way as well. If you’re focus is on “what am I going to watch on TV today,” then your reality is going to be mostly mediocre.

Shooting for greatness isn’t such a bad idea. After all, you may just end up really really good a what you focus on. That’s not so bad either.