Tag Inspire

COVID-19 –> Praying, donating… What can you do to help?

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PrayingWe are in uncertain times. If you believe in God, prayers are needed.

For Easter, I spoke with friends who are in need of prayers for different reasons.

Let’s spread a message of HOPE and DETERMINATION to BEAT THIS!

I wish the media would understand that sharing POSITIVE messages instead of NEGATIVE ones constantly would bring us together, rather than divide us.

A SAD SITUATION TURNED POSITIVE  –> There is a company that makes caps/gowns for University students. So, sad, because students will not be wearing caps/gowns for graduation this year. On positive side, this company is making face masks for hospitals.

If we have a little more right now, we can donate or offer to help others in some way.

I challenge ALL of us to think about this today. What can WE DO to help?

AN EXAMPLE: Our small bookstores, trying to stay in business. I will order a book and donate this book to children in the hospital.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE: The other day, I received a message from my hairdresser. She said their team was doing fine, they understood that some of us might be sad, alone, fearful. They left their phone number, saying we were not alone, if we needed to talk… CALL.

There is ALWAYS something we can do!

Quarantined? Try a good movie…

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As most of us are quarantined, we’re trying to find things to do. The news this morning was dismal for the next two weeks. Stay home or be prepared to get sick and maybe die.

So… if that is the case, and we MUST stay home, WHY NOT watch a good movie. Change our mood, lift our spirits up, start singing – ANYTHING but doom and gloom.

Sharing with you a few favorites, older movies, but still GREAT!

I’m sure you have some of your own — comedy, drama, horror (sorry, don’t watch those), adventure, documentaries, etc.

If you’ve watched something recently — SHARE IT!

Oh — Amazon Prime: Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan!  Edge of your seat!

You’ll FORGET the virus for a few hours – GUARANTEED!

Miracles happen! Happy New Year’s Eve…

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2019 has been a tough year. I feel like this mountain climber, I’ve had to stay strong, hang on for a few years… or… FALL to my doom.

Good news – I hung on. FINALLY, right before Christmas, I was offered a great job. I had a Christmas miracle. I am extremely grateful.

It’s been a tough few years of job hunting. We’ve all been there, if not with a job transition, with some other part of our life that isn’t going as we would like. It’s not easy, it’s tough, like the mountain climber, there are sad and scary moments, then moments of triumph, but through it all we become stronger — WE WANT TO REACH THE TOP.

There is always that ray of hope, if we continue to fight, to believe in ourselves that we will once again be on top!

So, I am here to say, my VICTORY happened!

Stick with it, if you are waiting for a victory or break through — IT IS COMING!

On to NEW goals for 2020!

It’s time to try and reach even higher (my children’s book, need to dust that off and start working on it again!)

Happy New Year!

Succeeding as part of A TEAM!

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The other day, sifting through emails, I pressed the “delete button” over and over. I ALMOST deleted this article, “Becoming Interdependent as A TEAM” from the LeadershipNow™ website. As I started reading, my first thought was back to my childhood where my mother taught us (four kids) to work as a team, stop complaining!

This bird photo is perfect in depicting how a team starts out. There were four kids in my family. Do you see how the birds are discussing WHO will DO WHAT. That’s how we were. If any of you have siblings or endured meetings for group projects at school or work, you know how meetings work. Someone always stands out as the leader, and there are one or two people who remain silent. They either want to play to win OR they are extremely lazy, nothing motivates them. They are dead weight.

My mother, tired of our annoying complaining, taught us (four kids) to work like a Navy Seal team. No one complains, everyone pulls their weight, because as children our goal was “getting to the beach.” If my father saw a lot of complaining, he gave us more chores, which meant no beach time. If we worked as a team, happy smiles, strong work ethic, we got to the beach by Noon.

This is where Jason Caldwell’s article comes in. Caldwell shares how he and his crew team, the American Spirit, worked as a team to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to win the 2016 Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge and set a world record.

What Caldwell says, and I agree with, is that in order to build a successful team, you have to build TRUST and understand what motivates each individual team member. It’s not just about the main goal, you need to care about each person’s individual goal(s) and make sure you are aligned at all times. If you are out of sync, you cannot win.

GREAT ARTICLE!

Let’s find and build a winning team!

Sports and being a successful LEADER

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SuccessWe are in the last quarter of the year. If you are like me, you are trying to find that “last bit of motivation” that will catapult you to the next level.

We still have time to make great strides. Here’s an article from Fast Company, “Watching a baseball game taught me more about leadership presence than any self-help book.”

If you are looking for some quick motivation, take a few minutes and read this article. While I am not a baseball fan, I know enough about the sport to appreciate the author’s (Anett Grant) clever analogy between baseball and developing strong leadership skills. It’s a mind set, no question about it. Having confidence is “key.”

Here’s to finishing the year strong!

Hard work, trust and faith — we will get there!

Why won’t my bus pass work?

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Yesterday, I was rushing to catch the train as usual.

I scanned my train card and tried to go through the turn style. Negative, the turn style was not moving. Once again, I scanned my train card, and tried to quickly pass through the turn style. AGAIN, it was not working. The night before I had added money to my card, so WHY wasn’t it working. I scanned the card “one more time,” and the turn style would not budge.

At this point, I had to move away from the turn style. It was embarrassing, all of the busy commuters looking irritated that I was “holding up the line.”

WHAT was the PROBLEM!

I looked at my train card…  It was NOT my train card. It was my devotional card for Saint Leopoldo of Padua. I visited his shrine in Italy a few years ago. He is known as the Saint who could heal you of your illness. At his shrine, there was a room full of photos that family members had sent of loved ones that they asked Saint Leopoldo to pray and heal them. He had a small room where he would hear people’s confessions. I bought this devotional card and always carry it with me.

So, I did have to SMILE!

This was Saint Leopoldo’s CLEVER way of telling me to slow down. Time for a trip to Padua and Abano Terme. For those of you who do not know, Abano Terme has hot springs and mud baths. People go here to rest and rejuvenate.

Sometimes in life, we need a SIGN to take care of ourselves!

Thank you, Saint Leopoldo. We have a three day holiday coming up, I will rest!

A daisy –> He loves me, he loves me not!

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Lately, I’ve noticed that family, co-workers, strangers have been temperamental and on edge. Wasn’t there an eclipse lately? I don’t know much about astrology; however, sometimes it feels like there is a strong force taking place in the Universe making people super moody and setting us up for change in our lives. It’s very powerful, we KNOW when it is at work.

This week as I was dealing with a lot of temperamental people, I had a funny thought. As they were ranting and raving about their terrible life, others giving the cold shoulder, and a few just spewing angry thoughts, a DAISY popped in my mind.

As they were going on, I imagined myself with a vase full of daisys. For each person that was being mean or rude, rather than take on their anger, I “chose” to take a daisy out of my vase. For each petal I pulled off, I would say, “I love you, I love you not… I love you, I love you not…”

I was doing this in my mind while the person was ranting and raving. I found it to be very therapeutic, because I determined that when I got to the VERY LAST petal, THAT would determine whether I kept listening to this person OR politely terminated the hurtful conversation.

It worked! For the unhelpful Home Depot guy, he landed on a “love you not petal!” I politely moved on from him. For a family member, they got lucky, the petal landed on “love you,” so I listened longer. The clerk at the DMV got a “love you,” but a few people in line got a “love you not,” they were saying such mean comments about the clerk, angry that they had to stand in line. Finally, for the neighbor, they got a “love you NOT petal.” Same old dim conversation, nothing ever uplifting – I was DONE!

It’s amazing how we can change our day around with music, exercise, soulful thinking and just a great sense of humor. I could see Seinfeld having a field day with this topic. I miss that show!

Angry people, watch out, you are not ruining my day. I have a truck load of daisy’s to deal with YOU.

Ash Wednesday… What are you doing for Lent?

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E17412B4-8286-49D9-8DC5-DF802C4B0E86Yesterday, while at the coffee shop, a young man came and sat next to me. I looked over and thought, “I should tell him he has some black dirt on his forehead.” As I was contemplating how to politely reveal this to him, I remembered it was Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent.

So, I smiled and said, “Oh, it looks like you stopped by church.”

To which he replied, “Actually, at the University there was a booth and I was able to  stop by there without going to church.”

Interesting, so the Catholic church was making it easier to participate in Ash Wednesday by setting up a booth, knowing that people have busy schedules. Good idea!

Next, I noticed that he had this small journal that he was writing in. I couldn’t help it, I had to comment. It was so small it made me think he was a spy or a writer taking field notes.

So, I said, “I love your small journal, might I ask what you are using it for?”

He said, “I bought it for Lent, I’m going to use it as my daily GRATITUDE journal.”

What a great idea! Most people give something up for Lent and they preface it with “I’m going to TRY and give sweets up, etc.” To me, if you are using the word “try” than you have already failed.

I told this fellow, I liked his gratitude journal much better. I believe in the power of positivity.

He smiled, I smiled, and we wished each other a wonderful day!

It is Lent, I am grateful for meeting this young man who brought “joy” to my day.

What are you grateful for today?