This week, thanks to an owl, I will leave you
with many more questions than answers.

In our garage, I keep a shelf of baseball caps.  While my favorite and often-worn choice is my New York Yankees hat, I often times grab for a different one when I head out the door for my beach walk.  Many sport the names of cities, towns, or colleges I’ve visited. This past week I grabbed one from the bottom of the stack—and smiled as I read the embroidered words of inspiration above the bill.

Advice from an Owl

*Stay focused

*Be ‘hoo’ you are

*Glide through the dark times

*Life’s a hoot!

I have shared “advice” and lessons of life on a few occasions that I have gleaned from our dogs over the years. And now, I gotta pass along these practical reminders from this wise Strigiform.

• Stay focused
  • Our goals and dreams may be easy to articulate—but sometimes the difficulty comes in consistent action.
  • What do you do to stay focused and to regain focus on a day-to-day basis?
• Be ‘hoo’ you are
  • There are times when our lives get sidetracked by what others think we should do or be. Often called “group think,” we end up going against our instincts and, instead, follow what others tell us we should do.  My friend and colleague, Ann Pearson, ably captured this dynamic in her novel Taken by Storm: Galveston 1900.
  • What do you do to maintain the clarity of who you really are? How do you stay true to the person who lurks deep within but, who may be afraid to show itself because of risk or disappointment?
• Glide through the dark times
  • We’ve all experienced these times. They range from mild despair to outright angst and anguish. Illness, relationship troubles, financial challenges, and environmental disasters can pose situations that seem insurmountable. Regardless of the situation, many (most? all?) of us eventually not only move through the crisis, we come out the other side a better/stronger/more resilient person.
  • Perhaps you or a close friend have been experiencing a dark time. What actions have you taken in the past that helped you glide through (or muddle through) such times? Who can you lean you in these times?
• Life’s a hoot!
  • I was recently reminded of a book I read some six or seven years ago by Norman Cousins. He spoke to the power of humor—and how that power can multiple over time.
  • What do you do to keep humor and levity in your life? No, they probably might not erase the difficult times (but, according to Cousins, they just might do that!). Maybe, though,  the light moments take the sting out of the not-so-bright moments.  How do you bring humor into your life? When was the last time you had a real belly-bring-tears-to-your-eyes laugh? Sometimes it may help to recognize that kid inside of us.  Go ahead, shut your office door…I’ll wait.  Now sing along with the owl in the clip below.

Video recommendation of the week:

Sometimes we just need to listen.

There are owls who live in the park across the street from our house. At times they grace one of the trees in our front yard.  I listen to them I bit more closely now. Both for what they say and don’t say.

Make it a wonderful week—H.T.R.B. as needed.

You can find my podcast series at Growth and Resilience (http://stevepiscitelli.com/video-media/podcasts). 

Check out my website  (http://www.stevepiscitelli.com/programs.html) for programming information as well as details about upcoming webinars (http://www.stevepiscitelli.com/webinars).

My books Choices for College Success (3^rd edition) and Study Skills: Do I Really Need This Stuff?  (3^rd edition) are published by Pearson Education.

(c) 2015. Steve Piscitelli. All rights reserved.