May you create, share, and savor powerful moments
in the coming year and beyond.

Video recommendation for the week:

A short gratitude note from me to all of you who have read, shared, and commented on my blog posts.  I appreciate you.  May you have a healthy, prosperous, and meaningful 2021. Following the video you will find an easy-to-use listing of my posts from 2020.

While sitting in an Austin hotel room at the end of May 2010, I wrote my first post for this blog. At that time, I had three goals:

• Experience a new(for me) aspect of social media (remember, it was 2010).
• Develop and flesh out new ideas.
• Provide something of value—not just another cyber rant.

I believe I have accomplished the first and the second. It is up to you whether I have accomplished the third. My blog posts contain videos, book recommendations and summaries, questions to ponder, and always a takeaway to apply immediately to life.  I have remained true to my commitment to publish one blog post per week.

This post marks the 553^rd consecutive week.  That marks a little more than 10½ years.

And I know that I am #alwayslearning!

Since that first post, this blog evolved into http://www.thegrowthandresiliencenetwork.net.

Thank you for reading, commenting, and sharing.  I would love to hear what you find of value on this blog. And, please feel free to share any ideas you have for future posts.

As has become tradition, this last-of-the-year offering lists each of the posts I added this year. Along with each title, you will find a teaser. Perhaps a nugget or two will provide inspiration. I have linked each title to the actual blog should you want to read it, re-read it, or share it. Thank you for your continued support and comments.

I also have included the TOP FIVE blog posts (by number of views/visits) since I started this blogging journey in 2010.

*Top Five All-Time Posts by Views on this Blog (Since 2010)* 

*The 2020 Blog Posts in Chronological Order*

1. Will You Dance Your Dance? * “Oh God, to reach the point of death only to find that you have never lived at all.” -Henry David Thoreau-
2. Identify, Integrity and Purpose * Start a movement within our ranks.  A Vaclav-Havel-type of reclaiming our profession from those who either don’t know about it or have lost touch with it.
3. The Fragile Beauty and Randomness of Life * “A terminal illness is a lens through which that which matters most can shift into perfect clarity. Anger and sorrow do not dictate my life.” -Marina Pomare Kaplan-
4. Orange to Blue * This helps me determine if what I say I prioritize is what I actually prioritize.
5. Thoughts about Curiosity * Where can you ask, “What if?” How can you allow “yes, and” to help you grow? Imagine what you can do.
6. Progress, Challenge, and Focus * It’s a matter of perspective.
7. Is Your Help Helping? * “If I knew a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.”—Henry David Thoreau
8. Listen to Your Heart: Physically and Emotionally * When what we do does not match who we are, we suffer. Pay attention to that which brings and sustains your life.
9. The Third Grader in the Room * Posing questions sets up a vulnerability of sorts. Publicly admitting, “I don’t understand. I need you to help me.”
10. Voice in Your Ear * What can you learn? How can you grow?
11. Reflecting on Cam Over Noise * I hope they inspire you (remind you; reinforce you)
    to look at the grandeur that surrounds your place on this planet.
12. Noise: The Ear of the Beholder * How do you tune out the noise and allow in the useful and timely?
13. Which Road? * If you get sidetracked, what tools have you developed to help you move toward your happiness? 
    

    Photo by (c) Steve Piscitelli

14. Marbles * That got me thinking about a mindset for saving money. Are we encouraged by punishment or reward?
15. Perspective * “We have the ability to either give into our misery and pain and die. Or absorb the physical pain and keep our mentality, our soul….” —Aaron Elser
16. The Rule of 30 * Tomorrow we find out if we are better than we were. Today we create our tomorrow.
17. Ever Consider a Low-Bad Diet? * “Just about every measure of human well-being has improved except for one: hope. The healthier we become, the gloomier our worldview.” —John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister—
18. Lessons From a Dragon and His Friend * Can we look to a time when we will be able to wipe away the tears, emerge from the cave, and once again play along the cherry lane?
19. What Will Change? * Yes, a lot has changed. How, though, have you used that change to exact needed change in your life for good? How has the time helped your resilience?
20. Sunrise, Clouds, and the News * Some people and groups focus on the darkness and what might happen. Others ignore warning signs and look only at what they consider to be brightness.
21. Learning. Appreciating * And just like that, 2010 flew by. And so did 2011, 2012…2019….
22. Giving, Receiving, and Gratitude * It could change the world for one person.
23. HTRB: Resetting the Reset * While hitting the reset button has merit,
    we may need to reset our view of what reset means. Will the reset, in this case, mean a complete redesign of societal institutions?
24. Ethical Wills * Connect generations to come by sharing questions, messages, challenges, accomplishments, connections, and experiences.
25. Grateful for… * I had to stop this week and remind myself….
26. Criticism and Your Counterfactual * “I am aware that I am less than some people prefer me to be, but most people are unaware that I am so much more than what they see.” ― Douglas Pagels, author—
27. Writer’s Block? Probably Not * There have been days when I felt like I could not even write out a grocery shopping list. 
28. Time to Revisit Our Big BUTs * Recognize which BUT is taking control. Then kiss your BUT goodbye!
29. The Lesson of the Handyman * Getting your stuff done!
30. Questioning Normal * What is it? What was it? Will it return? And maybe more importantly, should it return as it was?
31. For What It’s Worth * Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong. ~Stephen Stills.
32. Find Your Wave: Ride the Crest * If I do not get into the water, I cannot ride the wave. And if I do not ride the wave I will never experience the exhilaration and view from the crest.
33. Physically Distant Yet Socially Connected * As you, your family, and community practice physical distancing, how are you nourishing the appropriate social connections vital to your wellbeing?
34. Conveying Your Story * In their story lies their strength for a better future. The same for you.
35. Inspirational Hatchling * It did not let a force bigger than itself keep it from its goal. It did not quit. A lesson taught. A lesson learned.
36. Critical Thinking Revisited * Critical thinking is not only looking for information that supports what we want to hear, see, or believe. It helps us see the fallacies in our assumptions.
37. The Package and the Person * Maybe if we focus on the person, we may come to see the packaging in a different light.
38. They Share. We Share. * Online resources have the capability to be symbiotic.
39. My Community Has A Sense Of…My Community Struggles With…. * Growth (professional and personal) benefits the community and the people it serves. Just as importantly, the growth can stimulate and sustain personal resilience.
40. Message Over Marketing * Words that had to stand on their own.
41. Who I Am. Who I Was. * Will you settle or amplify?
42. How Will You Remain Vigilant? * How will community be sustained? Will core values change?
43. Themie * When we empower a person, group, or community to tell their story in their voice we help them share and add to their legacy.
44. Adventure. Risks * What might be driving us forward, holding us in neutral, or pushing us in reverse?
45. What If? * The what if mindset can end up creating an emotional vulnerability that leads to debilitating self-doubt.
46. Standing With Empathy * “Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another.” ~Alfred Adler
47. Celebrate. Embrace. (Reprise) * Pay attention to where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re headed.
48. Aunt Philomena * When times turn difficult, it benefits us to remember what is working.
49. By The Numbers * Be aware of  and understand the assumptions you make when establishing your goals.
50. Music To The Rescue * “Life seems to go on without effort when I am filled with music.” ~George Eliot~
51. If You Could Write A Book *  What lessons can a reader take away from your proposed book?
52. A Blogger’s Retrospective: 2019 in Review * This last-of-the-year offering lists each of the  previous week’s posts I added this year

Make it a great week and HTRB has needed.

My new book has been released.
eBook ($2.99) Paperback ($9.99). Click here.

Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit.

Well, actually, my dog Roxie gets top billing on the author page for this work. Without her, there would be no story.
Click here for more information about the book.

In the meantime, check out her blog.

And you can still order:

• My book, Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019), (print and e-book) looks at community from the perspective of seven core values. Seven free podcast episodes that spotlight the seven core values highlighted in the book augment the stories and lessons.
• Check out my book Stories about Teaching, Learning, and Resilience: No Need to be an Island (2017). It has been adopted for teaching, learning, and coaching purposes. I conducted (September 2019) a half-day workshop for a community college’s new faculty onboarding program using the scenarios in this book. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same. The accompanying videos would serve to stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.

My podcasts can be found at The Growth and Resilience Network®.

You will find more about what I do at www.stevepiscitelli.com.

©2020. Steve Piscitelli
The Growth and Resilience Network®