Tag Archives: assumptions

(#429) Everything Is Up for Revision


Considered evaluation can alter, broaden, and strengthen our belief system. My wife and I recently heard several teens deliver a Sunday message at their church. Their individual messages struck common chords about compassion, acceptance, and communal growth. One of the … Continue reading

Posted in Appreciation, assumptions, authenticity, awareness, focus, generativity, Gratitude, growth, Integrity, Life lessons, resilience | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

(#424) Connections


“Marriage has no guarantees. If that’s what you’re looking for, go live with a car battery.” – Erma Bombeck – Random thoughts about the power of connections. On those times when we take chances, when we risk stepping outside of … Continue reading

Posted in amplifying, Appreciation, assumptions, authenticity, awareness, Community, Connection-Disconnection, family, fortitude, Friendship, growth, happiness, health, humor, Integrity, Life lessons, listening, love, Reflective practice, Relationship | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#422) Ask. Listen. Act.


Noise abounds as people tell us what we should and should not. Perhaps we do the same to others. I stood in the back of an auditorium in New Mexico.  In ten minutes, I would be introduced to an audience … Continue reading

Posted in assumptions, awareness, Civility, collaboration, Communication, conversation, faculty development, Life lessons, professional development | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#416) A Safe Place to Land


I kept hearing about the connections between congregants and neighborhood, congregants and congregants, as well as congregants and their own souls. Consider this. It’s 1993. You are an exuberant minister with a young and growing family.  You walk into a … Continue reading

Posted in acceptance, assumptions, authenticity, Being REMARKABLE, Choice, Civility, collaboration, Communication, core values, vulnerability, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

(#415) Does the Disturbance Disturb You?


We limit our own growth and spiritual development. “I’ll be really happy if Negative Neil doesn’t come to the party.”  I go to the party. Sure enough, Negative Neil attends. I grouse, complain, and shuffle off to a corner to … Continue reading

Posted in accountability, Anxiety, Appropriate Behavior, assumptions, awareness, blame, change, emotional intelligence, Excuses, Life lessons, meditation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#412) Choices: Where Do You Choose To Be?


Once we choose who we want to be, people grow “to the way in which they have been exercised.” – William James – One of my yoga practices this past week, inspired this blog.  As the instructor coached us into … Continue reading

Posted in assumptions, awareness, Choice, collaboration, collegiality, decision making, empathy, Excuses, Gratitude, Haters, Life lessons, Mindfulness, resilience | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

(#408) Self-Evaluation


Narrow the focus and help yourself understand what does or does not serve and nourish your soul. I have a quick four question survey I ask audiences to complete for me.  It asks them to consider what we did during … Continue reading

Posted in Appropriate Behavior, assumptions, authenticity, Being REMARKABLE, change, change management, consideration, creating your future, curiosity, Life lessons, Mindfulness, self-awareness | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#405) Communication or Statement?


Are we listening to others—and to ourselves? One activist described communication as understanding someone else’s experience and presenting a point within that experience. “Even the most elementary grasp of the fundamental idea that one communicates within the experience of his … Continue reading

Posted in assumptions, awareness, blame, change, Communication, Community, growth, Haters, ideologies, intentionality, Mindfulness, resilience, self-awareness, self-efficacy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

(#402) Over Your Head


The exceptional leaders take their moments of vulnerability and build on them. The most effective leaders I have collaborated with found themselves there more times than you might imagine. If you haven’t found yourself there yet, you will. At least, … Continue reading

Posted in accountability, assumptions, authenticity, awareness, Choice, coaching, collegiality, confidence, Life lessons, resilience, risk-taking, self-awareness, self-efficacy, vulnerability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#400) Do We Live In A Post-Fact World?


Perhaps we live in a time when the question to ponder becomes, “If a fact is offered and it is not ‘liked,’ is it a fact?” Have we morphed into a post-fact world, as one source states, “in which virtually … Continue reading

Posted in Appropriate Behavior, assumptions, authenticity, awareness, Choice, Civility, curiosity, focus, fortitude, Grit, information literacy, Integrity, Personal Wellbeing, Priority management, self-awareness, self-efficacy, Words | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments