It’s an “orange moon” kinda morning (song by Erikah Badu). This morning is kind of lazy and overcast, and slow, easy. No stressful situations yet, just the hum of the air conditioning and overhearing the voice of a coworker on the phone and murmur of conversation in the next cubicle and the tap of my fingers on the keys. Just being right now. Just breathing. Just living.
This morning I got out of the bed on time (instead of lingering under the covers like usual), went down to toast bagels, almost sliced off the top of my middle finger on my left hand. Ok, well maybe not that bad, but I spent about 10 minutes running water over the deep cut to stop it from bleeding (it cut a little of my finger nail too), pouring hydrogen peroxide over it to be sure it was clean, then applying that triple antibiotic ointment over it so it won’t get infected, all the while debating whether I needed to go to the hospital and get stitches because I’d never been cut so deep.
I debated whether the knife had cut something serious, like a nerve, but concluded that all I saw was pink flesh when I opened up the wound to see just how deep it was. After a shower, I finally wrapped a band aid on it, having stopped the bleeding enough that I wasn’t afraid I’d pass out from blood loss on the way to work. Looking at it right now, the band aid has a round red spot on it slightly smaller than a dime. I’ll change the band aid in 22 minutes and keep the ointment on it. DO NOT USE a butcher knife to cut a bagel, especially just waking up. HAZARDOUS!
Despite the overcast morning, I noticed how beautiful the plants are today. The greens were deep and dark and bright as I drove along the highway, and the water soaked tree trunks, darkened by yesterday’s rain, added some sort of contrast to the greens and added crispness and character to the trees. Those dark trunks made them more tangible I suppose.
Yesterday while driving in the Civic Center area of town, we ran across a tree that had toppled over. This tree was massive and had a massive root based that looked like someone had just been pulling a giant weed out of the ground, its yellow roots soiled with mud exposed for all to see just how deep and wide its roots ran. There was a huge plug in the space where it stood, open and loose soil, a gaping hole. It was shocking to me that as many times as I’ve passed by that tree, it never occurred to me what it’s support system looked like underneath that allowed it to live. And this morning, as I’m typing, a thought comes to me about life.
That tree was huge, but I had never paid it much attention until it was down, roots exposed, seemingly defeated by too much rain softening the soil that held it in the ground. And it makes me think of me, of my family, of my friends, of life in general. They say times are hard right now in the world. With an ongoing recession, jobs being lost, people unsure of their futures, it's understandable how many can feel just like that tree. Feeling down and helpless because the ground that once held our roots and protected them and made room for them is now oversaturated with the circumstances and slowly, we feel the sway of the wind and the pull of gravity leveling us to the ground. And there we are, uprooted, and wondering how to get up.
It saddens me as I watch recent news about individuals who have had their roots exposed and unsupported losing it, killing their own families, and even innocent bystanders in some cases, due to the stresses of life- losing jobs, wife leaving them, etc. Perhaps they were like this tree, had roots dug deep and wide, but over time, the rain just kept falling and falling and falling until the ground gave way and couldn’t support the weight of its growth and toppled. Perhaps we are all like that tree and with all the rain and shaking going on, it’s time to check to see that the ground you’re planted in can withstand the rain and keep you grounded.
There’s a gospel song that comes to mind that says “In times like these, we need a Savior. In times like these, we need an anchor. Be very sure, be very sure. Your anchor holds, and grips the Solid Rock.” There have been times when I’ve sung this song and just cried, touched by the songwriter's understanding of trials, uncertain times, and opposition, and also encouraged because I know that I have an anchor that has held me in the darkest of times, in the most uncertain of times, in the most uneasy of times, and even today, as I write this email, even today he still holds me grounded.
I am thankful this morning that I was taught that no matter what is going on, God is still in control. And let me tell you, over the past 6 years, sometimes knowing that one thing ALONE has kept me from losing my mind. I pray that each of us, who have the peace of God, will share that with others around us.
People are in need of a message of hope and to know that God has a future for them, though their days right now may look bleak. My prayer is today is that I can shine my light to give others hope even as their tree is toppled over. Hope that they can be rooted in soil that will not give way to the rain, and continue to stand tall during the storm.
I love you and speak peace to your situation. The Creator is in control.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Don't touch me... I'm getting sharp
Happy Tuesday,
Lately I have been familiarizing myself with Franklin Covey’s Seven Habits and his philosophy about personal excellence and how it affects other areas of our lives. In the course of my philanthropic work with the Birmingham Change Fund (www.birminghamchangefund.org), we are giving to empower others in our communities.
I want to be sure that I am, that we are making time and room for what Covey calls, not-urgent, but important things like preparation/planning, prevention, values clarification, exercise, relationship-building, and true recreation/relaxation, just to name a few examples.
As we empower the community through grant giving in the areas of economic development, health care, and education, I’d like to challenge you to assess your own continuum of empowerment in these areas. Are we sharpening our saw? Let me give you an example:
Economic Development: Show me the money! If you’re like me, you want to have and continue to build wealth and pass on a legacy of good stewardship on to your families and your greater community. That’s what I say, but I have applied very little of all the information I have gleaned over the years from the multitude of seminars and workshops I’ve been privileged to attend. I could honestly say that had I applied the things I know in the immediate time frame of me coming into the knowledge, I would be on my second million or third million (stock crash/economy problems not withstanding). So I ask you BCF, as a group, how empowered are you in the area of economic development?
(Thanks Ed! This was his idea from a conversation we had)
Question: Do you have a will, living trust, legal, written arrangements for the handling of your assets once you transition from time into eternity? I don’t.
My challenge to the group: Can you, move towards empowerment in this area, and say, by years end, each person in BCF have a legally binding will in place?
Young people are leaving this place daily, one way or another. Transference of wealth is an area that AA’s miss out on key opportunities to prepare and plan for.
Other areas in economic development: budgeting and living on less of your income, getting rid of bad debt (credit cards, etc), and purchasing land/buildings.
Health Care: Question: When was the last time you visited the doctor for your annual check up? Have you gotten that pain in your chest checked out? Do you have a healthy diet, get exercise, are you fit? I don’t know about you, but there are several things I experience, like severe migraines and chest pain, that I could stand to get checked out. What about you?
My challenge to the group: Can you move towards empowerment in this area, and say, by years end, each person has gone to the doctor to find out what exactly is going on, will focus on living healthier, and doing what we need to do to be around to enjoy the lives we’ve all been promised?
Education: Question: Is there something you have wanted to learn/try? Is there another degree you’ve been eyeing? A certificate you want to add to your skills? If you’re like me, the answer is yes.
My challenge to the group: Can you move towards empowerment in this area, and say, by the end of the year, each person has completed at least 3 steps towards adding that education to our experience resume? Whether that’s getting a business license to begin that new business, taking that entrance exam to the graduate/professional school, taking an Excel or Access class to better manage your clients, reading Frederick Douglas’ narrative to learn about your people, going to a seminar within your field, whatever it is, take those steps to educating yourself. Spend time with people who know, so you can know too!
As agents of change, as those who are in the know, we must stay sharp ourselves, especially in the areas we want changed and improved in our community. Involve others as well. Start with yourself, and let it spread to your immediate family, your friends, and your circles, until we have the community covered.
Will you take the challenge?
Reply with “I’m with ya!” if you’re down and a “no time to sharpen the saw” if you’re not.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? Let me hear about it...
With all my love and reaching towards my tool belt, (I've got lotsa work to do)
Lately I have been familiarizing myself with Franklin Covey’s Seven Habits and his philosophy about personal excellence and how it affects other areas of our lives. In the course of my philanthropic work with the Birmingham Change Fund (www.birminghamchangefund.org), we are giving to empower others in our communities.
I want to be sure that I am, that we are making time and room for what Covey calls, not-urgent, but important things like preparation/planning, prevention, values clarification, exercise, relationship-building, and true recreation/relaxation, just to name a few examples.
As we empower the community through grant giving in the areas of economic development, health care, and education, I’d like to challenge you to assess your own continuum of empowerment in these areas. Are we sharpening our saw? Let me give you an example:
Economic Development: Show me the money! If you’re like me, you want to have and continue to build wealth and pass on a legacy of good stewardship on to your families and your greater community. That’s what I say, but I have applied very little of all the information I have gleaned over the years from the multitude of seminars and workshops I’ve been privileged to attend. I could honestly say that had I applied the things I know in the immediate time frame of me coming into the knowledge, I would be on my second million or third million (stock crash/economy problems not withstanding). So I ask you BCF, as a group, how empowered are you in the area of economic development?
(Thanks Ed! This was his idea from a conversation we had)
Question: Do you have a will, living trust, legal, written arrangements for the handling of your assets once you transition from time into eternity? I don’t.
My challenge to the group: Can you, move towards empowerment in this area, and say, by years end, each person in BCF have a legally binding will in place?
Young people are leaving this place daily, one way or another. Transference of wealth is an area that AA’s miss out on key opportunities to prepare and plan for.
Other areas in economic development: budgeting and living on less of your income, getting rid of bad debt (credit cards, etc), and purchasing land/buildings.
Health Care: Question: When was the last time you visited the doctor for your annual check up? Have you gotten that pain in your chest checked out? Do you have a healthy diet, get exercise, are you fit? I don’t know about you, but there are several things I experience, like severe migraines and chest pain, that I could stand to get checked out. What about you?
My challenge to the group: Can you move towards empowerment in this area, and say, by years end, each person has gone to the doctor to find out what exactly is going on, will focus on living healthier, and doing what we need to do to be around to enjoy the lives we’ve all been promised?
Education: Question: Is there something you have wanted to learn/try? Is there another degree you’ve been eyeing? A certificate you want to add to your skills? If you’re like me, the answer is yes.
My challenge to the group: Can you move towards empowerment in this area, and say, by the end of the year, each person has completed at least 3 steps towards adding that education to our experience resume? Whether that’s getting a business license to begin that new business, taking that entrance exam to the graduate/professional school, taking an Excel or Access class to better manage your clients, reading Frederick Douglas’ narrative to learn about your people, going to a seminar within your field, whatever it is, take those steps to educating yourself. Spend time with people who know, so you can know too!
As agents of change, as those who are in the know, we must stay sharp ourselves, especially in the areas we want changed and improved in our community. Involve others as well. Start with yourself, and let it spread to your immediate family, your friends, and your circles, until we have the community covered.
Will you take the challenge?
Reply with “I’m with ya!” if you’re down and a “no time to sharpen the saw” if you’re not.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? Let me hear about it...
With all my love and reaching towards my tool belt, (I've got lotsa work to do)
Monday, April 13, 2009
Some people just make me smile...
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly… Proverbs 18:24a
You know some people just make you smile
I pray you had a pleasant Easter Weekend and celebrated with loved ones. I did.
Larry, one of our senior systems analyst (the guru of all things pertaining to our system and how to fix what’s wrong) passed through the department today (we know his main reason for coming down was to visit my boss to discuss some ongoing conversion effort), knocking on the cubicle of my coworker and me in a gesture to say hello. When I heard the knock, I turned around to see who it was and asked how he was doing. “Better right this minute than I’ve been all day,” he replies and gives me the thumbs up sign before heading on to venture into the rest of his busy day. A smile immediately finds its way to my cheeks, quickly reaching my eyes, which squint and sparkle in full cheesy smile. “Cool, cool.” I reply. And just that quickly, he’s gone. The smile, however, lingers at his kind words. Small gesture, huge impact.
Now this guy Larry, I’m not quite sure when I found favor in his eyes. I remember back in 2005, I had a task that required me to undo several wrong transactions that was both laborious and tedious and slow. Larry and I had to work tag team; I would do something, he would do something, I would do another thing, he would do another thing, until we totally completed it. Seems like from that point forward, I found favor with him and anytime I’ve ever needed anything, he’s Johnny on the spot (or at least Johnny on the hour) with an answer or remedy.
He’s a nice guy anyway, extremely insightful, attentive to detail, and can work his way into and out of most of our system snafus. I notice, however that everyone doesn’t get the same responses from him as I do. There are days when we’ll email him and his automatic “busy” message is returned (similar to an out of office reply response), but within minutes he’ll email me back with a solution to what I was asking. There have been days where a coworker couldn’t get a response from him on something or had a problem getting in touch with him and I can during the same time frame. Now I’m not encouraging cronyism (good thing he’s not running for office, they might call him on it if he appointed me to some cabinet office), but I am suggesting that good relationships are what life is about. They are the grease of life that keeps all the levers and wheels turning smoothly.
Several years ago, my family attended a company picnic with me and Larry wanted to meet my folks but unfortunately didn’t have a chance to. The following Monday he came down to my desk, asked for a piece of paper and a pen. Puzzled at his request, I handed his the writing utensil and paper and waited earnestly as he scribbled something down. Folding the paper in half and returning it and the pen to me, he instructed me to “give this to your dad,” and walked away. Inquisitive about what he would write a note to my dad about, I unfolded the note and I’ll never forget what the paper said. It read:
Mr. Goodman,
I’m not sure who raised Crystal, but whoever it was did a fine job.
Larry
I’m not even sure if I ever gave my father the note, but let me tell you it was the ultimate compliment both to me and to my parents and I was thankful to Larry for thinking enough about me to point it out and commend my parents.
There are a few people that make me smile every time I see them. It’s no wonder that those people have over time been seated in my front row, my closest circle. I could be wrong but I believe it was Maya Angelou that said that at the end of the day, its all about how you make people feel that makes a difference. I’ve always been a generally friendly person and I find that when people refer to me they make some inference about my hospitality, my chillness, my making them feel comfortable, accepted, befriended, in some way, even if years have passed since I’ve been in contact with them.
I believe my smile is the beginning of that. Maybe that’s what Larry appreciated, even during the hard work. Maybe that’s what others see as an open door to be as friendly to me as I am to them. The law of sowing and reaping has definitely been good to me in this regard.
So to all you going through your day, and some just so happens to make you smile, take a second to bask in the moment of that joy. Like my home girl’s tagline says “Focus on things of value. No worries.” But don’t be selfish, give back. Make someone else smile.
Smiles and those who evoke them are valuable. Appreciate them.
To those who make me smile, you know who you are… and here’s a big one, just for you. And here’s a song that makes me smile.
You know some people just make you smile
I pray you had a pleasant Easter Weekend and celebrated with loved ones. I did.
Larry, one of our senior systems analyst (the guru of all things pertaining to our system and how to fix what’s wrong) passed through the department today (we know his main reason for coming down was to visit my boss to discuss some ongoing conversion effort), knocking on the cubicle of my coworker and me in a gesture to say hello. When I heard the knock, I turned around to see who it was and asked how he was doing. “Better right this minute than I’ve been all day,” he replies and gives me the thumbs up sign before heading on to venture into the rest of his busy day. A smile immediately finds its way to my cheeks, quickly reaching my eyes, which squint and sparkle in full cheesy smile. “Cool, cool.” I reply. And just that quickly, he’s gone. The smile, however, lingers at his kind words. Small gesture, huge impact.
Now this guy Larry, I’m not quite sure when I found favor in his eyes. I remember back in 2005, I had a task that required me to undo several wrong transactions that was both laborious and tedious and slow. Larry and I had to work tag team; I would do something, he would do something, I would do another thing, he would do another thing, until we totally completed it. Seems like from that point forward, I found favor with him and anytime I’ve ever needed anything, he’s Johnny on the spot (or at least Johnny on the hour) with an answer or remedy.
He’s a nice guy anyway, extremely insightful, attentive to detail, and can work his way into and out of most of our system snafus. I notice, however that everyone doesn’t get the same responses from him as I do. There are days when we’ll email him and his automatic “busy” message is returned (similar to an out of office reply response), but within minutes he’ll email me back with a solution to what I was asking. There have been days where a coworker couldn’t get a response from him on something or had a problem getting in touch with him and I can during the same time frame. Now I’m not encouraging cronyism (good thing he’s not running for office, they might call him on it if he appointed me to some cabinet office), but I am suggesting that good relationships are what life is about. They are the grease of life that keeps all the levers and wheels turning smoothly.
Several years ago, my family attended a company picnic with me and Larry wanted to meet my folks but unfortunately didn’t have a chance to. The following Monday he came down to my desk, asked for a piece of paper and a pen. Puzzled at his request, I handed his the writing utensil and paper and waited earnestly as he scribbled something down. Folding the paper in half and returning it and the pen to me, he instructed me to “give this to your dad,” and walked away. Inquisitive about what he would write a note to my dad about, I unfolded the note and I’ll never forget what the paper said. It read:
Mr. Goodman,
I’m not sure who raised Crystal, but whoever it was did a fine job.
Larry
I’m not even sure if I ever gave my father the note, but let me tell you it was the ultimate compliment both to me and to my parents and I was thankful to Larry for thinking enough about me to point it out and commend my parents.
There are a few people that make me smile every time I see them. It’s no wonder that those people have over time been seated in my front row, my closest circle. I could be wrong but I believe it was Maya Angelou that said that at the end of the day, its all about how you make people feel that makes a difference. I’ve always been a generally friendly person and I find that when people refer to me they make some inference about my hospitality, my chillness, my making them feel comfortable, accepted, befriended, in some way, even if years have passed since I’ve been in contact with them.
I believe my smile is the beginning of that. Maybe that’s what Larry appreciated, even during the hard work. Maybe that’s what others see as an open door to be as friendly to me as I am to them. The law of sowing and reaping has definitely been good to me in this regard.
So to all you going through your day, and some just so happens to make you smile, take a second to bask in the moment of that joy. Like my home girl’s tagline says “Focus on things of value. No worries.” But don’t be selfish, give back. Make someone else smile.
Smiles and those who evoke them are valuable. Appreciate them.
To those who make me smile, you know who you are… and here’s a big one, just for you. And here’s a song that makes me smile.
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