It is the week of Thanksgiving and I would be remiss not to write about one of my favorite subjects and that is gratitude. In the past I’ve written about the overall positive impact gratitude has proven to have on each one of us. Grateful people are just happier and more successful. This year, I wish to focus on two different thoughts about gratitude.
“Not what we say about our blessing, but how we use them is the true measure of our thanksgiving.” W.T. Purkiser
First, a lot of times we say and claim to be thankful and appreciative but often our actions demonstrate otherwise. If I’m truly thankful for my job, I will work hard at it and not spend my time complaining or just doing the minimum to get by. If I’m truly thankful for my family I will strive to spend time with them and always treat them with respect and love. If I’m truly grateful for my life, I will use my time wisely and not indulge in things that waste and destroy it. Too many times, it is too easy for us to simply profess we are thankful. Gratitude however is a lot more than simply saying it—it is showing it. And though saying it is important the true magic of gratitude is realized through our actions.
"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." Epictetus
Second, gratitude is just as much about perspective as it is about anything else. Each of us can choose to have reasons to be grateful for or not. We can choose to think “this rain is ruining my vacation” or to think “I’m thankful it’s raining because it makes the earth so green and beautiful.” We can choose to say “life is unfair and unpleasant” or we can say “though life is difficult, I’m thankful for the good times it does afford.” In the end, being grateful is really about our prospective and attitude. In fact, it is truly amazing how two people with nearly the same blessings can have such different levels of happiness in life. While one never seems satisfied and happy the other is at peace and grateful for all that he has. In most instances, the disparity is caused by perspective. Those who find blessings and reasons to be thankful are happy and those who don’t, aren’t. Thus, if we are not feeling thankful or happy at any time, we really need to examine ourselves and change our perspective on life. As we do so, we will find greater satisfaction and success in life.
So, during this thanksgiving week let us give thanks through our actions and then change our perspective whenever we feel ungrateful. If we do these two things, I promise we will all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! Enjoy!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Dippers, Holders, and Fillers
“We must be the change we want to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi
I believe it was about a year ago that I remember receiving a very inspiring email about people and their spoons and buckets. The email told a story that I believe teaches some valuable lessons so I will paraphrase what I remember from that story.
Each individual person has a spoon and a bucket that we carry around with us each day. Each person’s bucket has water in it which represents our confidence, self-esteem, excitement, and optimism for the day. The water level varies day by day. With the spoon we carry each day, we have three options of what we can do with it. First, we can choose to be a “dipper” which is someone who dips into other people’s bucket and scoops out some water. Second, we can choose to be a “holder” which is someone who holds their spoon tight to their chest all day and does not use it at all. Last, we can choose to be a “filler” which is someone who uses their spoon to add fresh water to other’s buckets. Throughout each day we are probably all three at some time but we need to ask ourselves are we more often dippers, holders, or fillers? Ultimately, we decide whether we will be a dipper, holder, or filler.
I enjoyed this story (but did not do it justice in my paraphrasing) and I believe the lessons are powerful and obvious. Each day we have the amazing ability to either positively or negatively impact others. Each day we decide whether we will use our spoon to add to or take away or do nothing for the people we interact with. Imagine if every person was busily engaged in putting water into other’s buckets—our world would be a very different place!
This change in the world can start with us. We should think about our actions, words, and thoughts and determine if they are taking water out or adding water to other people’s buckets. Also, are we holding too tight to our spoon and not participating in the good we could be giving to others? As we strive to add water to others, our bucket will remain full as well and our happiness and satisfaction in life will increase!
Mahatma Gandhi
I believe it was about a year ago that I remember receiving a very inspiring email about people and their spoons and buckets. The email told a story that I believe teaches some valuable lessons so I will paraphrase what I remember from that story.
Each individual person has a spoon and a bucket that we carry around with us each day. Each person’s bucket has water in it which represents our confidence, self-esteem, excitement, and optimism for the day. The water level varies day by day. With the spoon we carry each day, we have three options of what we can do with it. First, we can choose to be a “dipper” which is someone who dips into other people’s bucket and scoops out some water. Second, we can choose to be a “holder” which is someone who holds their spoon tight to their chest all day and does not use it at all. Last, we can choose to be a “filler” which is someone who uses their spoon to add fresh water to other’s buckets. Throughout each day we are probably all three at some time but we need to ask ourselves are we more often dippers, holders, or fillers? Ultimately, we decide whether we will be a dipper, holder, or filler.
I enjoyed this story (but did not do it justice in my paraphrasing) and I believe the lessons are powerful and obvious. Each day we have the amazing ability to either positively or negatively impact others. Each day we decide whether we will use our spoon to add to or take away or do nothing for the people we interact with. Imagine if every person was busily engaged in putting water into other’s buckets—our world would be a very different place!
This change in the world can start with us. We should think about our actions, words, and thoughts and determine if they are taking water out or adding water to other people’s buckets. Also, are we holding too tight to our spoon and not participating in the good we could be giving to others? As we strive to add water to others, our bucket will remain full as well and our happiness and satisfaction in life will increase!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
It's All About Attitude
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than success, than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.” Chuck Swindoll
One of life’s greatest gifts is our ability to choose our attitude. No person, thing, event, circumstance, etc. can force us to have a certain attitude. We are in complete control. Sure bad things may frustrate us, shock us, anger us, but ultimately we control our attitude.
It is very common for us to not believe that we have complete control of our attitudes. We like to pretend or believe that others can cause us to have bad attitudes. Whether through their behavior or actions we blame others for our poor attitudes often times as a way to justify them. Deceiving ourselves in this way only hurts us though. In the end, the truth is that others can impact our attitude only when we allow them to—the choice is ours.
Let’s look at a simple example. When someone is rude to me at work, I can remain positive or I can give in to the rudeness and walk away with a bad attitude. Ultimately, however, the choice is mine. The rude person in no way “forced” me to change my attitude. In fact, many times we willingly succumb to bad attitudes essentially giving up or denying our ability to control them. Truth be told, if I have a bad attitude about anything, I can only blame myself regardless of what has happened.
It is empowering to know that we control our attitudes. And our attitude is so critical to our success and happiness in life. Next time we have a poor attitude about something, let’s take control of that attitude and change it! The power is within us! And doing it will help us live a more rewarding life.
Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than success, than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.” Chuck Swindoll
One of life’s greatest gifts is our ability to choose our attitude. No person, thing, event, circumstance, etc. can force us to have a certain attitude. We are in complete control. Sure bad things may frustrate us, shock us, anger us, but ultimately we control our attitude.
It is very common for us to not believe that we have complete control of our attitudes. We like to pretend or believe that others can cause us to have bad attitudes. Whether through their behavior or actions we blame others for our poor attitudes often times as a way to justify them. Deceiving ourselves in this way only hurts us though. In the end, the truth is that others can impact our attitude only when we allow them to—the choice is ours.
Let’s look at a simple example. When someone is rude to me at work, I can remain positive or I can give in to the rudeness and walk away with a bad attitude. Ultimately, however, the choice is mine. The rude person in no way “forced” me to change my attitude. In fact, many times we willingly succumb to bad attitudes essentially giving up or denying our ability to control them. Truth be told, if I have a bad attitude about anything, I can only blame myself regardless of what has happened.
It is empowering to know that we control our attitudes. And our attitude is so critical to our success and happiness in life. Next time we have a poor attitude about something, let’s take control of that attitude and change it! The power is within us! And doing it will help us live a more rewarding life.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Are We Up to the Challenge?
This year at work, my team and I have been striving to earn one of the most prestigious awards in our industry. To win this award we must demonstrate excellence in every facet of our business.
A few days ago, we had been doing outstanding and seemed to be on the road to victory. With only 2 months left in the year, we were very confident that we could finish strong and obtain our goal. However, unexpectedly, we were dealt some very negative news that will most likely eliminate our chances of qualifying for the award. In a matter of moments, all of our hard work and dedication seemed to be erased and wiped out. We felt completely defeated, hopeless, and depressed.
As I’ve struggled to get over the bad news at work, many thoughts have come to my mind. And one that seems to stick with me right now is—challenges, obstacles, and hardship are mandatory in this life but failure and misery are optional.
I’ve come to realize that challenges will present themselves often at the most inopportune times in every aspect of our lives. Challenges are not saved for a lucky few, but are given to all of us. There is simply no way around them, only through them.
Challenges give us the opportunity to better ourselves and push ourselves to do more. Challenges force us to think different and sometimes act different. Challenges can bring us to a new level of understanding, achievement, confidence and ultimately satisfaction. Though challenges seem like terrible monsters in the present, often as time passes, we see them for what they really are which in most instances, they are blessings in our lives.
So, the amazing thing about life is that challenges are mandatory yet misery and failure are not. We have the power to choose to let the hardships of life destroy us or allow them to lift us up. We have the power to choose to wallow in despair or search for the silver lining. We have the power to choose to surrender to an unfortunate fate or create our own destiny. Ultimately in life, the power is ours to decide.
At work we’ve began to see this challenge as an opportunity, an opportunity to be better and learn from our mistakes. Though the news was unexpected and devastating, ultimately it is something that could have been avoided had we been more vigilant. Thus it has become an important lesson for us which will make us stronger, better, and more prepared in the future. Had we received the award without being altered of this issue, we would have missed a wonderful opportunity to grow and truly appreciate and enjoy the satisfaction that will come when our hard work finally does pay off someday.
In the end, challenges may make or break us but really the choice is ours. Preparing ourselves at all times and accepting the fact that challenges are inevitable will help us to overcome. I’m convinced that those who learn to best deal with and respond to challenges will find success. And in all reality going through them is really for our own good.
A few days ago, we had been doing outstanding and seemed to be on the road to victory. With only 2 months left in the year, we were very confident that we could finish strong and obtain our goal. However, unexpectedly, we were dealt some very negative news that will most likely eliminate our chances of qualifying for the award. In a matter of moments, all of our hard work and dedication seemed to be erased and wiped out. We felt completely defeated, hopeless, and depressed.
As I’ve struggled to get over the bad news at work, many thoughts have come to my mind. And one that seems to stick with me right now is—challenges, obstacles, and hardship are mandatory in this life but failure and misery are optional.
I’ve come to realize that challenges will present themselves often at the most inopportune times in every aspect of our lives. Challenges are not saved for a lucky few, but are given to all of us. There is simply no way around them, only through them.
Challenges give us the opportunity to better ourselves and push ourselves to do more. Challenges force us to think different and sometimes act different. Challenges can bring us to a new level of understanding, achievement, confidence and ultimately satisfaction. Though challenges seem like terrible monsters in the present, often as time passes, we see them for what they really are which in most instances, they are blessings in our lives.
So, the amazing thing about life is that challenges are mandatory yet misery and failure are not. We have the power to choose to let the hardships of life destroy us or allow them to lift us up. We have the power to choose to wallow in despair or search for the silver lining. We have the power to choose to surrender to an unfortunate fate or create our own destiny. Ultimately in life, the power is ours to decide.
At work we’ve began to see this challenge as an opportunity, an opportunity to be better and learn from our mistakes. Though the news was unexpected and devastating, ultimately it is something that could have been avoided had we been more vigilant. Thus it has become an important lesson for us which will make us stronger, better, and more prepared in the future. Had we received the award without being altered of this issue, we would have missed a wonderful opportunity to grow and truly appreciate and enjoy the satisfaction that will come when our hard work finally does pay off someday.
In the end, challenges may make or break us but really the choice is ours. Preparing ourselves at all times and accepting the fact that challenges are inevitable will help us to overcome. I’m convinced that those who learn to best deal with and respond to challenges will find success. And in all reality going through them is really for our own good.
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