I probably never will.
I am happy for them. They've worked hard, stay married, raised independent kids, made wise financial decisions and are spending these pre-retirement years enjoying the crap outa life.
I want to be happy for me too. I haven't worked quite as hard (many years of single-momming it/just working part-time), couldn't manage to stay (or get) married, am dumb with pennies and am scared shitless about those looming retirement years.
So during these winter months, when my Facebook feed is filled with pics of other people's palm tree experiences, I'm choosing to be happy, here. I'm looking for ways to fill my days with meaning and joy. Some days I'm way more successful than others.
This week, tho? Was a good run of 7 days.
I went to the first of five sessions of The Thinking Series on Tuesday night at Northview. This evening's question was "What is the Meaning Of Life?" I was seated at a table with 7 other women who are utterly and completely not like me. Not even a little bit. Haha. I used to think that I could find common ground with anyone... but I couldn't find anything after those first two hours. I love the content we're covering during the lecture portion of the evening, but the small group discussions are gonna be a stretch. Maybe that's the point? Maybe I think I'm attending in order to learn something, but maybe what God has in mind is that I'm supposed to meet someone? Be caring? Listen? Maybe this is less about learning and more about loving? UGH.
~~~~~
I reviewed my Global Leadership Summit notes this week and did some thinkin'.
According to Craig Groeschel:
Leadership is about trust and influence; you don’t need to be in charge in order to lead. | To be a leader that people love to follow - be a voice of healing, raise the standards, speak the truth with love. | Charismatic speeches are only one tool to inspire; there are 33 different attitudes/characteristics that inspire. All you need is one or two well developed strengths to inspire. (See Bain Inspirational Model)
So I studied the 33 characteristics (above) to determine if I, as a team leader, had any. And if so, did I need to develop them further?
Are you wondering about the rest of my notes?
- Andrea Ahrends:
Are you purpose driven beyond making money? Live your
values. | Great leaders are great listeners. Don’t ever so no to a dreamer. |
Know what you know. Know what you don’t know. | Enriching lives vs selling
products? |
- Juliet Funt:
Take a small safe contrary action; even one person going
against can shift the culture. | Learn to say no like a pro. | Your legacy is your story. You hold the pen.
Do not be casual about your purpose. |
- TD Jakes + Strive Masiyiwa:
You need to dream about scary big things that seem
impossible. | You will learn more through losing that you will through winning.
| Eaglets learn to fly by falling. Eaglets don’t like to fly, they are just
trying not to die. | Be curious. Always be learning. | If you want to be successful, identify a
human need and solve it.
- Carla Harris:
Your
authenticity is your unique, distinct advantage. | Bring all versions of
yourself to the table. | The price of inaction is greater than the cost of
making a mistake. | Leaders have to make The Decision. Lack of decisiveness,
lake of productivity.
- Danny Meyer:
Road
to success is paved with mistakes, well handled. | Hospitality: how did we make
you feel when we served you? It is
irrelevant who is right or wrong – it’s important that the customer feels
heard. Mistakes: natural, recurring resources for opportunities for learning.
Embrace them. | Your mistakes will be talked about/ Write the ending – decide
how they will say it was handled. | Be professors of your own mistakes. (Bought his
book, LOVE it and am applying it to my life, both personally and professionally.)
- Danielle Strickland:
We (men and women) are better together. | The enemy is fear.
(Not hate). Fear produces oppressors, bullies. | I am because You are. | I hear you. Your story matters. |
Power: Capacity and ability to influence the behavior of others. How we use our
power is the measurement of our leadership.
- John C Maxwell:
Leaders see more and before others see. | Believe there is
always an answer – be creative about it. There is usually more than one option: plan B, C, D …
| Do an autopsy on success. | Go to places and be with people who inspire you. | Intentionally
grow more every day. Increase your capacity. | Ask God to send you the right
people. Ask God to
do for you what you cannot do for yourself. | Do something so big that people
who know you would you couldn’t do it. They’d know God must’ve done it.
- Rasmus Ankersen:
Analyze
the data. | Never trust success.
- David Livermore:
If
everyone around you looks and thinks like you – its time to listen to other
voices.
- Sheila Heen:
Difficult conversations are hard because 1. You care about
the issue. 2. You care about the person. Strong feelings are involved. | Change
the story you’re telling yourself in your head. 1. What do we both think this
conversation is about? Be curious. 2. What have we each contributed to this
situation?
- Erwin McManus:
Do
I hang onto the status quo instead of becoming the person God created me to be?
| Failure = plot twist. | God uses that failure to tell a bigger, better story.
| Does you pain define you?
- Nthabiseng Legoete:
Focus on WHY you started. Challenges don’t mean the dream
isn’t working. | Be
flexible on how you get to that goal. Maybe the method needs adjusting,
the WHY is still good. |
Collaborate with parties that are aligned. | Let go of your expectations. Ask God what
He’s doing. | A vision cannot be dependent on any single person. | Are
you achieving what you set out to achieve?
- Simon Sinek:
Stand
for something. Lead in a finite game: 1. Have a just cause. Something you’re
willing to sacrifice for. 2. Have trusting teams. 3. Know the worthiness of
your rival. 4. Be flexible. 5. Have courage.
~~~~~~~~
24-Hour-Read-a-Thon:
Friday, straight from work to the lake...
To read.
Supper on Friday ^
Lunch on Saturday (below)
And inbetween:
(We ate the centre section first. Then as the weekend rolled on, we started eating the edges.)
In awe of Sheri's notebook. Every book she's read since 2012. Top ten of the year get stars beside them.
Her 2018 totals. Impressive, yes?
SUNDAY!
I adore sunny days. Temperature doesn't really matter. As long as it's not raining...
We drove into Vancouver with no real plans other than to walk. We ended up at the Venables end of Commercial Drive.
A cute courtyard inbetween buildings. So quaint.
I will never not be a fan of graffiti.
This pup? Was sitting in the window of a florist shop.
"How much is that doggie in the window..."
And this bakery?
Smelled DIVINE.
Heather bought a loaf of WARM sourdough olive bread.
These are rose petal shortbread squares.
The sunshine makes them look especially delicious, yes?
It was 3 degrees out.
But it was sunny! Patio dining all along The Drive.
We bought bagels here: At the Rosemary & Rock Salt Bagelry.
And then we caught Pokemon along the seawall until THE MOON ROSE and took our breath away.
And later, (much later), on my way home from the gym, I saw people all over the neighbourhood staring at the moon and realized THERE WAS AN ECLIPSE HAPPENING...
It took a million tries, but I finally managed to capture it:
Did you see it?
Wasn't it just the best way to end the week?
Three things I'm thankful for:
1. People who love to read.
2. Friends who love to walk.
3. A God who loves to love.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh yeah, and this thing:
- Proudest moment this week: I took a kick ass pic of the eclipsing moon.
- Most embarrassing moment of the week: In my pajamas, in my truck, with my phone in my hand, at minutes-before-midnight, at the corner of Columbia Hwy and Lindell Ave, (a Pokestop) spinning, so that I wouldn't break my 'visit-a-pokestop-7-days-in-a-row' streak. My read-a-thon friends had gone to bed, and I slipped out of the house for a quick spin. What? Really? How old am I?
- Funniest moment of the week:
- Biggest achievement of the week: I finally did it. I'd been thinking about it for months, but finally, on Wednesday, I took the bull by the horns, so to speak, and asked if it would be OK if I hosted monthly lunches in the Boardroom. While eating we (we, being anyone who wanted to join me) would watch the half hour presentation/talk by a famous author, speaker, musician, celebrity that had been recorded during Focus US's chapel service the previous month. The response was very encouraging.
- Best moment of the week: Walking the seawall at dusk when the moon (the super, blood, red, wolf? moon) appeared right in front of us, demanding our full attention. It. Was. Glorious.
- Best holiday memory of the week: We really should start a petition about weekly holidays.
- Best advice I heard this week: Kind words are like honey; sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. We can make plans, but the Lord determines our steps. A bowl of soup with someone you love is better than a steak with someone you hate. Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time. And so on. Proverbs really is packed with great advice. (Still managing to read a chapter a day.)
- Most grateful for this week: I only made it to the gym twice this week, but I'm grateful for podcasts, because I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO GOING.
FavoriteOnly family memory of the week:Clint had a meeting in the building on Friday, so he unexpectedly popped into my office for a quick visit. Twas the most lovely surprise.
- Biggest regret of this week: Another week passed and I didn't get any filing done.
- Best thing I learned this week:
- Biggest change I made this week: Moving my phone out of my bedroom at bedtime. I'm back to using my clock radio to wake me up. I'm not able to scroll through feeds (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) when I should be sleeping if the phone is in another room.
- Best gift I received this week: Heather brought me a chocolate cookie from Hawaii. It was about the size of my thumb. It was delish. I may have to book a flight.
- New friend this week: How often do you make new friends? My average is about one a year... (This category is gonna be empty for about 51/52 weeks.)
- Most inspiring person this week: Sheri. In awe of how millenials are living their lives so intentionally.
- Word to describe this week: Lovely
- Unexpected obstacles I faced this week:
- Unexpected surprise this week:When we made a date to hang out on Sunday afternoon, the forecast was for rain. So I was delighted/ecstatic when it ended up being sunny. Like, happy x 1000
- Best place I visited this week: Sunday's walk through a neighbourhood off Commercial was so quaint and pretty and colourful.
- New skill I learned this week: This category is going to make me feel like a schlep. How often do you learn new skills? Should I be learning something new every week? Jeeesh.
- Biggest obsession this week:
- Best food I ate this week: Kim's chicken pot pie and Sheri's cinnamon cake. In other words, anything NOT prepared by me.
- Best TV I watched this week: I watched one show this week, on my computer, so it doesn't even feel like "watching TV" which to me, means sitting in my media room, in the dark, on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, surround-sound on, getting lost in a story for a couple hours. The show I watched was called Death in Paradise and I wouldn't recommend it.
- Best viral video I watched this week:
- Best meme I saw this week:
- Best movie I watched this week: I saw two movies this week: Mary, Queen of Scots, on Monday night, which was bleak and based on a true story and The Upside, on Saturday night after church, which was uplifting and based on a true story.
- Best song heard this week: I really have to make a bigger effort to listen to music.
- Books I read this week: The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (for book club) and Love or Something Like It, by Todd Foley (who sits in the office right next to mine at work).
- Most
excited about this for NEXT YEAR:
- New
skill I want to learn NEXT YEAR:
- Place I
want to visit NEXT YEAR:
- Something
to try NEXT YEAR:
- One
thing to work harder on NEXT YEAR:
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