I used to dream of the ability to shower people with gifts that I thought would thank them properly and adequately. The original, first and only draft of the lyrics to 'Your Song,' the crown jewel of the Elton John and Bernie Taupin songbook. I used to pine tirelessly to imagine a way of thanking... Continue Reading →
Who do you let in? Who do you seek out? How often do you stop, cup your hands to your mouth and cry: Hello in There? We all yearn to be known. We have this inborn appetite to be seen. We are also prompted to connect with others. The opposite, isolation, is both physically and... Continue Reading →
According to his parents May 19, 2011, was a Tuesday, it was the day they lost their first son and it was a day that his brother had the hardest time writing his blog, Tuesday's Torch, but he wrote it anyway. He wrote it dutifully, beautifully and eloquently for 9 years. He wrote it to... Continue Reading →
Today, I feel compelled to write about what we DON'T GET TO do. We don't get to be more than we were created to be. ..Read more at four4soaring.com
I am a restless person. You might even call me "Restless by Nature." That is not quite as cool as "Naughty By Nature" but I am anything but cool. This restlessness is all too big a part of being human. We struggle from the moment we emerge from the womb. If you believe Maslow's hierarchy (or... Continue Reading →
One of the starkest tragedies of our lives is that we are horrible predictors of the future. This affects us in a myriad of mundane and profound ways. We can be hurt by this in the way we choose our kitchen tile or cast our vote, by our inaction around saving and multiplying our money from a young age or when we fail to see the good things happening around us or, tearfully, when we give up. Even when we don't do something as extreme as giving up permanently, those of us who fall prey to a life without hope can find ourselves existing day to day, as Andy Stanley explains, as a "languishing life preserver."Â
When you are lost and you feel like no one is in your corner it is easy to gravitate toward hate. Hate is seductive. Hate is unifying and affirming in a sick sort of way. Hate feels good at the moment your stoking it or feeling it. Hate can be a crucible to burn off, and distract from, your feelings of rejection, discontent, and discomfort. The ironic thing is the whole time your hating you are secretly yearning to love and be loved...read more at http://four4soaring.com
What's the alternative to telling someone to shake it off? When you see someone who consistently falls down, do you lecture them, run the other way, or do you lean in with grace and compassion?
I was treated to a great lesson on influence recently at a conference I attended. Justin Elam's message was one he has been sharing for a while now about how to equip others by asking questions vs. providing ready answers. The outline of his talk started with this Strauss quote: "The wise man doesn't give the right answers. He poses the right questions."
Cheers Theme: "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name..and they're always glad you came.... You want to go where people know, people are all the same, you want to go where every-bod-y knows your nameeee." What if that want, was really more of a need? What if we don't just want to be with people who are just as messed up as we are, but we really need to be with people, just like we need the very air that we breathe?Â
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