Stop Worrying. Just Stop It!

In a humorous exchange, a prospective new client walks into Bob Newhart's office for an initial counseling session.  Bob explains that he charges $5 for the first 5 minutes, and then nothing thereafter.  The client agrees, and the counseling ensues. 

If you have 5 minutes, I recommend you go to the videotape at http://youtu.be/Ow0lr63y4Mw.  If you do, you'll laugh out loud, and you're perspective on #fear and #worry may never be the same.

Graceful Living

"Our real journey in life is interior:
it is a matter of growth, deepening,
and of an ever greater surrender
to the creative action of love
and grace in our hearts." 
-Thomas Merton

#Grace: 1) Simple elegance or refinement. 2) Courteous goodwill. 3) An attractively polite manner of behaving. 4) In Christian belief, the free and unmerited favor of God.

 

#Graceful living: Living gently, lovingly, kindly, mindfully, peacefully, purposefully, gratefully, abundantly, and joyfully.

Are you living a graceful life?

To Be (or not to be)...Authentic

#Authentic: "genuine", "true", "original". 

In today's cult of personality we can easily be duped into believing that someone is not quite what he or she purports to be.  How refreshing and reassuring it is then, when folks just allow themselves to be who they are--without the patina or persona.

Authenticity is like a series of pitons, or "pieces" of mountain climbing protection that are inserted into cracks in the mountain face through which the climber threads the rope as he advances in the face uncertainty.  The pieces (placed correctly) serve as reliable anchors that will be there to arrest a fall in the event of error, mistake, or unforeseen circumstance.  Authenticity is like those anchors.  When we are anchored (true to ourselves and others), then we can be trusted and relied upon. 

And therein lies the rub.  Fear takes hold, and we ask ourselves: "Can I really allow myself to be revealed?”.  The answer is yes.  Authenticity can take many forms.  If you are a bit quirky, then that quirkiness will engender trust so long as it is an authentic part of yourself. If you are serious at heart--be serious.  If you are have a sense of humor--laugh out loud. 

Polonias said it well to his son Laertes in Shakespeare's Hamlet: "This above all to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man".

Do What You Love and Love What You Do

 
In one thread of the 1981 film, Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell (a devout Scottish Christian) accidentally misses a church prayer meeting because of his running.  His sister Jennie upbraids him and accuses him of no longer caring about God. Eric responds to Jennie that he intends to eventually return to China to continue his missionary work.  

Eric adds that he feels divinely inspired when running, and that not to run would be to dishonor God, saying, "I believe that God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure."

What is YOUR purpose, and what are YOU inspired to do?