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Crash and Learn

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Creative Commons License photo credit: Kyle May

“Tell me and I’ll for­get; show me and I may remem­ber; involve me and I’ll under­stand.” ~ Chi­nese Proverb

Our Best Learning

When do you learn some­thing in the best, most effec­tive man­ner?  When you are doing that some­thing, right!  Even more specif­i­cally, when you’re doing some­thing and it does not go exactly as expected, the learn­ing meter ramps up even higher.

So think about this.  Where are you with some of the aspi­ra­tions you have?  Are you out there, actively learn­ing by actively doing?  Are you out there, try­ing things out and then pick­ing up the pieces when they don’t go as planned (and learn­ing in even more mean­ing­ful ways)?

An Evening in April

It was a Sun­day evening, and we were mak­ing a trip to our local gro­cery store.  Cameron, my 12 year old son, and I. He loves the gro­cery store, and never passes up the oppor­tu­nity to visit.  And after years and years of these vis­its, he has become a really great help. 

In usual fash­ion we make our way through the store, and then to the check­out lanes.  Gro­cery bags in hand, we wan­der out to our car, and begin the drive toward home.

As we are approach­ing the road we live on, Cameron asks “Can I drive home?”.

This road we live on, there is so lit­tle other traf­fic — and espe­cially so on a Sun­day evening.

He’s asked this before, a cou­ple of times in recent months.  And he’s done so well on the very short remain­ing drive home.  (he’s really good at dri­ving the trac­tor to cut our grass!)  I say “yes”.

We pull over near the side of the road and change places — Cameron in the dri­vers seat and I in pas­sen­ger seat.  Down the road we go.  He has done this before, so I’m com­pletely com­fort­able as he gets behind that wheel.  As per any usual evening, we see no one else as we travel the short dis­tance down this road, and we approach the driveway.

As we are enter­ing the dri­ve­way, Cameron asks “Can I drive into the garage?”.

The right answer is “we should stop in the dri­ve­way”.  Actu­ally, the right answer is really that he shouldn’t be dri­ving at all (it’s too late for that now, though…).

He’s doing so well.  “Sure”, I say.

We are hardly mov­ing, just slowly eas­ing our way into the garage. 

Except.

Except we are start­ing to get a bit close to the left hand side of the garage wall.  I’m watch­ing that, telling Cameron to straighten it out a bit.

BAM!!

We crash into the front of the garage.  Snow shov­els fly­ing (isn’t it about time to pack those away!?!?).   A shelf inside the house has sev­eral things fly­ing to the floor, as my other son is in there doing home­work.  Lora (my wife) comes run­ning outside.

…there Cam and I sit, a slight wave to her…

In the end, there are a cou­ple of bro­ken shov­els and some dry­wall that needs repair­ing.  Oth­er­wise, all is good.  We take some time to clean up the mess we’ve created.

In ret­ro­spect, I should prob­a­bly have not had my 12 year old dri­ving our car (I don’t sug­gest you try this at home!).

This expe­ri­ence, though, is one that’s given both Cameron and I a learn­ing moment.  A learn­ing moment, by being out there and doing that which we really want to do ( and he def­i­nitely really wanted to drive). 

The Take Away For You

What is it that you want to do, except you are not sure you fully know how to do it?  Where are you hold­ing your­self back because you don’t think you’re good enough?

See the pos­si­bil­ity in you!

See the pos­si­bil­ity in you, and then go out and crash…and learn…and grow.

And in all of this, move more fully into the depth of who you truly are…

Explore, Commit, Emerge

Explore Commit Emerge
Creative Commons License photo credit: Stuck in Customs

“We shall not cease from explo­ration
And the end of all our explor­ing
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”

~ T.S. Eliot

What are You Exploring?

Two months ago and it just sort of hit me.

Why am I doing this?  

That was the ques­tion I asked myself…I asked, and didn’t have an answer.  Well…not an answer that really felt “right”.

On the sur­face, it sure looked like every­thing was good and fine. {with every­thing in my life}  On the surface…until I looked a bit deeper. 

Have you ever had that feel­ing like you’ve been the “ham­ster on the wheel”, just going in circles…except, for why?  {Why do you do the things you do?}  Or, for me:  why was I doing the things I did?  And when I paused long enough to ask myself that question…I just didn’t have a good answer for the why

We all have amaz­ing gifts we bring to this world.  You.  Me.  Everyone. 

Have we become like the ham­ster, though?  Are our lives like the ham­ster wheel, as we blindly spin through our day…and then start it all over again? 

…and on the sur­face it all looks good and wonderful…

That makes me think about the image we project, is it our true image? 

Or do we cre­ate safety zones.  Safety zones such as our job, our fam­ily, our hob­bies, our habits.  Safety zones that give us that sur­face look of good and fine?  Safety zones that buffer our true image?  Is there some­thing deeper beyond these safety zones, though? 

{Are there parts of you that feel vul­ner­a­ble?  Is there a zone that feels unsure?  Do you some­times won­der why…why you’re doing what you do?}

Back to these last cou­ple of months for me…(it seems like I am eas­ily side­tracked…)  A time to explore the “why” behind all that I do, all that I am.

A time to go past that safety zone (the one of career, fam­ily, this site…).

…a time to go deeper, a time to lis­ten, a time to be…

Some­times, per­haps, that has to be a very soli­tary jour­ney.   Not a time to be an open book…a time to open the book.  Not a time to lay it all on the line…a time to really see the line.  Not a time to bare the soul…a time to look into soul, in all its nakedness.

And so it has been.

The Com­mit­ment

I don’t even remem­ber now, what it was that trig­gered the thought…the thought of tak­ing this blog­ging sab­bat­i­cal I’ve been on.  I’ve decided it doesn’t mat­ter, though.  What’s mat­tered is what this time has meant.  What’s mat­tered is the com­mit­ment I made to do this, because it just “felt right”.  You know that “voice within”…your intu­ition, gut feel­ing, inner vibe, sixth sense..  We all have this (now, whether we are lis­ten­ing or not…that’s another story). 

It felt, in a way, like I was aban­don­ing every­thing I had cre­ated here in this space.  {have you ever felt like you’re aban­don­ing some­thing deeply mean­ing­ful to you?}

That voice though, when I really lis­tened, was speak­ing very clearly.  Was speak­ing very clearly to me.

And so, a com­mit­ment to pause.

More than just a com­mit­ment to pause, though — this was a com­mit­ment to me, to be still and listen.

Might it feel vul­ner­a­ble? {yes}

Might it take me out of the safety zones I por­trayed? {yes}

Might I sway off course from my own per­sonal com­mit­ment? {yes}

Might it all be so worth it, all that would come from this com­mit­ment to me?  {a resound­ing yes}

These past many weeks have been all of this. 

  • I’ve ques­tioned if I really know my pur­pose here (both here in this space, and for my time here on earth). 
  • I’ve ques­tioned how much it mat­ters that I know this. 
  • I’ve ques­tioned if I’m liv­ing fully and authen­ti­cally to words which hold deep mean­ing for me:

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intel­li­gent peo­ple and the affec­tion of chil­dren … to leave the world a bet­ter place … to know even one life has breathed eas­ier because you have lived.  This is to have suc­ceeded.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emer­son

  • I’ve ques­tioned what it means to be vulnerable. 
  • I’ve ques­tioned the why of all that I do. 
  • I’ve ques­tioned what holds me back from shin­ing my own light.

And I’ve com­mit­ted to liv­ing.  Living…in the full sense of that word, and all it brings with it.

The Emerg­ing

So today I return to this space…and every­thing is the same, and every­thing is different.

The emerg­ing will con­tinue (as per­haps, on some level, it does for all of us).  For me, this emerg­ing is with deeper clar­ity and purpose.

Today, I choose to con­tinue to emerge…emerge not just on the sur­face, but from all parts of me.   And this space will con­tinue to evolve as this new unfold­ing continues.

How about you?  How do you choose to emerge?

journey toward your true peak
Creative Commons License photo credit: K2D2vaca

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less trav­eled by,
And that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost

May our jour­ney together here con­tinue to enlighten all of us…

I Just Want To Be Heard

y2.d7 | that edit girl

Creative Commons License photo credit: B Rosen

“Seek first to under­stand, then to be under­stood” ~ Stephen Covey

Are you lis­ten­ing to me?”

Do you under­stand what I’m saying?”

Are you really lis­ten­ing to me?”

“Lis­ten a hun­dred times; pon­der a thou­sand times; speak once.” ~ Turk­ish Proverb

How well do you under­stand, before you speak?

A Story

This past week­end, my wife and I orga­nized and ran a bas­ket­ball tour­na­ment, with a total of 64 teams vis­it­ing our gyms over the course of two days.  (well…the hon­est answer is that mostly my wife, Lora, orga­nized it…and every­thing came together in really amaz­ing ways!).   And she came up with the great (well…in whose eyes!?!?) way of field­ing every­thing that came up over the week­end.  She would take on any com­pli­ments and kind words.  I would take care of any and all com­plaints.  (wait…who got the bet­ter deal here???)

Really, every­thing ran smoothly over the week­end (see, that kept HER busy — gra­ciously accept­ing compliments!!)

Of course, with the sheer num­ber of peo­ple that crossed through our doors, the week­end was not inci­dent free.  While every­thing that came up was minor, it also just really high­lighted some­thing very important.

“I just want to be heard and valued”.

One par­tic­u­lar inci­dent involv­ing a coach and a ref­eree involved me “get­ting involved” (…that com­plaint depart­ment duty I took on!!).  I made it a point to take time alone with the coach, and with the ref­eree — to really under­stand their points.  And I also took time to bring every­one together to share.  After our group meet­ing, I made a point of again talk­ing to each party indi­vid­u­ally — to one more time, make it clear that their input was val­ued, and their con­cerns being heard. 

I chose to lis­ten impar­tially to each per­son.  I chose to recon­nect with these same per­sons again, and to lis­ten one more time.

And I chose to reply with my own thoughts only after know­ing that every­one had fully shared their views (and when I was asked for my thoughts). 

I share this, because it demon­strates, very clearly, the impor­tance of lis­ten­ing, or per­haps even more than that — of under­stand­ing (both spo­ken word and non-spoken word).

“The real­ity of the other per­son lies not in what he reveals to you, but what he can­not reveal to you. There­fore, if you would under­stand him, lis­ten not to what he says, but rather to what he does not say.” ~ Kahlil Gibran

While I could cer­tainly not fully under­stand either of these men in the few min­utes we had together, I could seek to under­stand through their words, their actions, their non-verbal signs.  In doing that, and in respect­ing them — I cre­ated a place of open dia­logue.  In that mutual respect, every­one left our “meet­ing”, with an under­stand­ing that they were val­ued — and with a pos­i­tive expe­ri­ence even in light of this “issue”.

…by my open and gen­uine lis­ten­ing to them…

Y-O-U

So, think about this?  How are you doing at really lis­ten­ing?  Are you seek­ing to under­stand BEFORE you seek to be understood. 

If we have not taken the time to hon­estly and gen­uinely under­stand, rarely will we come close to “get­ting it right” on what some­one else is think­ing (and to a greater extent — feeling).

Per­haps an even big­ger part of this is how we choose to value the per­sons with whom we come in con­tact with.  By lis­ten­ing, by show­ing we care, by seek­ing to under­stand first — we touch upon the soul of another being.  We touch upon the soul, by valu­ing each person. 

There is no way we can even begin to under­stand the path that has brought some­one to where they are today — just by mak­ing some generalizations. 

There is no way we can know that his mother just passed away, after a long bat­tle with cancer.

There is no way we can know that her child has been sick, and she is worried.

There is no way we can know that he just cel­e­brated his granddaughter’s first birthday.

There is no way we can know that she is just start­ing down the road of an unplanned pregnancy.

There is no way we can know that his car needs major repairs, and he’s been liv­ing pay­check to paycheck.

There is no way we can know that she just was accepted into the col­lege of her choice.

There is no way we can know that he still faces the demons that haunt him from child­hood abuse.

There is no way we can know that she is being re-united with her birth mother after twenty years.

Seek first to understand…

And we may or may not reach these deeper lev­els.  That’s all okay.  In valu­ing another, we touch upon the human con­di­tion, that which con­nects all of us.  This is so much more than race, creed, social stand­ing, etc.  This is about our human­ity — about the value of human life.  Not just mere exis­tence, but the depths of our pur­pose, our life direc­tion, our need for love…

This is also part of the jour­ney for each of us — for me, for you.  I am a work in progress — some­times really “get­ting” this, and other times com­pletely miss­ing these moments to “understand”.

As you con­tinue on YOUR jour­ney, may you con­tinue to cre­ate deeper bonds as you seek also to more fully under­stand those who travel this path with you.

Every­one matters.

You mat­ter.

You are valued. 

…and life is a great adventure…

Note:  If you are hav­ing trou­ble view­ing this, please click here.

Laugh and Get Rich

“I love peo­ple who make me laugh. I hon­estly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a mul­ti­tude of ills. It’s prob­a­bly the most impor­tant thing in a per­son.” ~ Audrey Hep­burn

Laugh and Get Rich!

Feb­ru­ary 8th:  Do you know what is sig­nif­i­cant about this day?

It is offi­cially also known as “Laugh and Get Rich Day”!

If you are read­ing this on Feb­ru­ary 8thLAUGH!!!  Right now…let that laugh in you out!!

And, shoot — even if it’s not Feb­ru­ary 8thLAUGH!!! 

Ahhhh…doesn’t that feel AMAZING!!

Laugh and get rich!  Okay, I’m not going to guar­an­tee that by laugh­ing you’ll become richer mon­e­tar­ily.   I DO have a guar­an­tee, though:  Laugh and you WILL become richer.

Richer in your health

Richer in your relationships.

Richer in our well-being

…richer in your soul

So, let’s all…

CELEBRATE!! (…and have a good time!)

Laugh and get rich!!!!

Guar­an­teed!

Per­haps you need some help to get those laughs com­ing (although I’m all for laugh­ing for no rea­son at all, too!).  Let me share a story with you.

Adven­tures in Travel

I recently spent sev­eral days in Cal­i­for­nia (attend­ing a con­fer­ence and vis­it­ing some very amaz­ing peo­ple).  That’s not what I’m talk­ing about today, though.  I’m talk­ing about my trav­els TO California. 

I was fly­ing form Mil­wau­kee, WI to San Diego, CA…with a lay­over in Las Vegas, NV.  The plane I was on was also the plane going on to San Diego (so I would not have to get off the plane in Las Vegas).  When we landed in Las Vegas, every one of the other pas­sen­gers exited the plane (seems as though all trav­el­ers EXCEPT me were on there way to Vegas, baby!).  There was to be about a 45 minute lay­over before this plane would be leav­ing for San Diego.  I chose to stay on the plane.  So, it was just me and the stew­ardesses (and a guy restock­ing the kitchen area) on the plane. 

NOTE The next part may con­tain TOO MUCH INFORMATION (you’ve been warned!)

This stop­ping point also seemed like a good place to visit the air­plane lava­tory (because, well…too much cof­fee and water…).  So, I wan­dered to the back of the plane to use the restroom.

I squeezed into the small room, locked the door, and began to unzip.

At that moment (mid-zip), one of the stew­ardesses got on the inter­com and said, “To the gen­tle­man who just went into the restroom.…HANG ON!!!!!”. (said with conviction!)

…let me just say…

FREAKY!!!!!  (and…it’s a good thing I was in the restroom!!!)

She then con­tin­ued to talk to me, over the inter­com, while I used the restroom (the WHOLE time I was in there!).

Why?  Just for fun!!!  Just because she had never done that before.  Just because…

How cool is that!!!  (well…after you get over the freaky-ness of it all!)   And the thing was, after that restroom “inci­dent”, there was an instant con­nec­tion between myself and both of the stew­ardesses.  That moment cre­ated con­nec­tion (…as weird as that “moment” sounds…).  That moment cre­ated a space for friend­ship, how­ever brief, to begin…

In case you are wondering…and I’m glad to share — the air­line was South­west Air­lines…which, from my expe­ri­ence, their employ­ees have a whole lot of fun at their work!!

So there you have it — your LAUGH for today!

Now…go out and laugh even more!!

Rich­ness (beyond mea­sure and in so many ways) awaits!


To those of you with inquir­ing minds, I know of this very spe­cial day (Feb­ru­ary 8th), from a cal­en­dar I received this year…that has some­thing to cel­e­brate every day of the year!

A cou­ple of good ones com­ing up:

Feb­ru­ary 19th:  Choco­late Mint Day! (yum!!)
March 18th:  Awk­ward Moments Day (wow…who knew I could have just saved these moments all up for just one day each year!)

Jungle 2.0: The True Peak Journey

a journey toward your true peak

“A jour­ney of a thou­sand miles must begin with a sin­gle step.” ~ Lao Tzu

JUNGLE 2.0!
 
What is it?

What does it mean?

What changes?

What stays the same?

(all ques­tions I HAD!)

More seri­ously, though, what does it all mean?  And why should you care?

Jun­gle 2.0: Why Should You Care?

Life IS a jour­ney.  It’s a mag­nif­i­cent and amaz­ing jour­ney for me, for you, for EVERYONE!  What is this jour­ney, though?

A jour­ney toward your TRUE PEAK.  True peak, a place of YOUR BRILLIANCE!
 
You.  You are here for a pur­pose.  Here on this earth to LIVE your life.
 
Per­haps that all sounds great and won­der­ful, except…

Except you just lost your job, or you are in a chal­leng­ing rela­tion­ship, or you are liv­ing pay­check to pay­check, or you’ve just lost a dear friend, or {an end­less list of “excepts”}.
 
Wher­ever you are on this con­tin­uüm, whether life is won­der­ful or chal­leng­ing at this very moment…this is YOUR LIFE

Yours.  Yours, and you have a choice.  You have a choice, right now.  Will you choose to step more fully into your bril­liance?  (and you ARE bril­liant….so, so bril­liant and amaz­ing!)

Jun­gle 2.0: What Does This Mean?

Today I am choos­ing to step more fully into that bril­liance that is ME.  Wow, and just say­ing this is chal­leng­ing.  How about for you?  Is that  dif­fi­cult for you to say?

I AM BRILLIANT!!!  I AM AN AMAZING CREATION!!  I AM!

Say that out loud.  Say that out loud, and with con­vic­tion!  Because YOU ARE!

And such is born Jun­gle of Life 2.0.  If you have been here before, per­haps you notice a new look and feel to this space.
 
This is your life, what­ever kind of “jun­gle” that is…it is your life jun­gle.  And when you choose to live in deeper har­mony with your heart, you con­nect more fully to life’s meaning…for YOU.  This place, the Jun­gle of Life, is for you…for you to con­nect more deeply with who you are.  Choose that bril­liance that IS YOU!!!
 
Back to that look and feel…

Jun­gle of Life 2.0 – heart-centered cre­ation of YOU, on the jour­ney toward your true peak.

Do you see the heart?  Do you see the heart here in this space?  Do you see the heart within you?  Heart connections…and that jour­ney toward your true peak…

Where are you at on this jour­ney?  Are you ready to take more con­scious steps toward you own very per­sonal true peak?  Are you ready to lis­ten to that voice which speaks directly from your heart, from a deeper part of you?

Work with me, and we’ll explore these paths together as you take steps more fully into that jour­ney of you.

I shine!

You shine!

Con­tinue to let your own beauty and amaz­ing bril­liance radi­ate outward!!

Splish Splash!

“Life isn’t about find­ing your­self. Life is about cre­at­ing your­self.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

Ear­lier this month I wrote about my word of the year for 2011 (SHINE).  This has become a very mean­ing­ful prac­tice, as I really focus on one word, at a deeper level.  As mean­ing­ful as this has been, it is also a won­der­ful expe­ri­ence for me to reflect back on the pre­vi­ous year, and really “see” how that cho­sen word man­i­fested itself in my life.

Today I’m doing exactly that, as I review 2010, and my word that I chose last Jan­u­ary:  SPLASH!.

It’s an honor to be shar­ing these thoughts with Stacey Curnow, some­one who really embraces the idea of liv­ing life from a place of deep mean­ing.  So, today I invite you to join me over at Stacey’s site, Mid­wife For Your Life, as I review 2010 and the word SPLASH in my life. 

Hint:  I don’t think any of my splashes looked exactly like that up above (although I cer­tainly have some crazy kids around here who find that this is a great way to greet the water!)

~ Com­ments Closed ~

Success: Eleven in 2011

Electric Kool Aid
Creative Commons License photo credit: Marty.FM

“There is only one suc­cess — to be able to spend your life in your own way.” ~ Christo­pher Mor­ley

What is suc­cess anyway? 

How do YOU define it?

Per­haps we’ll hear of some­one who has “hit it big”, who has all the toys, who lives in the biggest house, who…

Per­haps that is you.  Your neigh­bor.  The guy dri­ving down the street.  The woman com­mut­ing an hour to work every­day.  The kid vol­un­teer­ing at the food pantry.  The retiree who just won the lottery. 

Is there some­thing deeper, though, that makes this life we are liv­ing more mean­ing­ful?  Is there some­thing else there, adding depth to our years?

I believe, very much, that this con­cept of a deeper suc­cess is way more than what we can see on the out­side look­ing in.

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intel­li­gent peo­ple and the affec­tion of chil­dren … to leave the world a bet­ter place … to know even one life has breathed eas­ier because you have lived.  This is to have suc­ceeded.”

Suc­cess and mean­ing in life, some­thing really much deeper than what we see in terms of things, accom­plish­ments, and posi­tion. Suc­cess, true suc­cess, is some­thing that comes from within. 

Comes from HOW we are liv­ing are lives.  Comes from WHY we do what we do.  When we con­nect more deeply with these how’s and why’s, we reach suc­cess at a much more mean­ing­ful level.

 

Suc­cess and Deeper Mean­ing in this Life:

With that, I give you eleven indi­vid­u­als who I believe exem­plify what suc­cess is truly all about.  Read below as they share their pearls of wis­dom on suc­cess and mean­ing on this life journey.

Holly Latty-Mann:
As I evolve on this jour­ney, so does my def­i­n­i­tion of suc­cess.  Suc­cess is no longer cre­at­ing a life void of mis­for­tune or pain, as those are the very ele­ments that cre­ate the fiber from which deep, mean­ing­ful suc­cess is spawned.  Suc­cess is there­fore man­ag­ing with grace and dig­nity what­ever mis­for­tune befalls me. And the other half of what gives deep mean­ing to my sense of suc­cess is that feel­ing of peace­ful joy as I cel­e­brate daily the hun­dreds of things that do go right in my world.  With grat­i­tude and grace, every­thing else falls into place.

 

Scott Strat­ten:
Suc­cess to me is being able to sup­port my fam­ily and myself. And when I say sup­port, that doesn’t mean just finan­cially, but emo­tion­ally as well.  One can usu­ally cloud the other.

 

Patience Sal­gado:
I so often want to define or attach suc­cess to big indi­vid­ual accom­plish­ments, but I’m learn­ing more and more every­day that true suc­cess lies in a mil­lion small acts that together reveal a whole life, a whole pas­sion, a whole heart. For me, this makes the every­day so much more mean­ing­ful, know­ing that each small act of kind­ness, love, truth, or courage really do matter. In these acts of con­nect­ing and mov­ing with this intent through the world, we push beyond our­selves and into cre­at­ing some­thing so much big­ger, suc­cess for us all.  

 

Daniel Pink:
Suc­cess, to me at least, is leav­ing the world (and your own lit­tle patch of that world) a lit­tle bet­ter than you found it. If peo­ple are some­how bet­ter off — mate­ri­ally, intel­lec­tu­ally, spir­i­tu­ally — because of your pres­ence, that’s pretty good.

 

Rachel Den­ning:
Suc­cess is not a big home, a large income, and all the ‘stuff’ that’s involved in the pea­cock pageant. Suc­cess comes from qui­etly and con­fi­dently liv­ing on pur­pose, mov­ing toward your dreams, and liv­ing sim­ply within your means. It’s the feel­ing you get when you’re liv­ing right.

 

Kerry Tay­lor:
Suc­cess is an organic apple in one hand, and a tool sharp enough to share the fruit with oth­ers with­out fear of bleeding.

 

Chris Guille­beau:
Suc­cess is con­tin­u­ous improve­ment of cir­cum­stances and mean­ing­ful adventure.

 

Maren Kate:
Suc­cess is almost an ethe­real “I’ve arrived” feel­ing — not 100% how to describe it but I know I’ll know it when it comes.  The deep­est mean­ing I get from fol­low­ing the entrepreneur’s path is the feel­ing of going against the grain and build­ing some­thing I can be proud of.

 

Seth Godin:
I think you’re suc­cess­ful once you cre­ate work that mat­ters, some­thing that was fright­en­ing to cre­ate and pow­er­ful to behold.

 

Chris Bro­gan:
Suc­cess means improv­ing every ele­ment of my life (fam­ily, work, fit­ness, wealth) a lit­tle bit every day and being able to smile more each time I see the results of my efforts.

 

Liz Strauss:
On this jour­ney, I get deep mean­ing from con­nect­ing with peo­ple where they live — in their heads, in their hearts, and in the way they view the world. Every per­son brings me some­thing I didn’t know and would have learned with­out that par­tic­u­lar con­nec­tion. If I lis­ten with who I am I often find they reveal truth and trust that shines bril­liantly and that inspires me to live bet­ter, be bet­ter, and bring my best game to the world.

While every­one who shared here has words that are slightly dif­fer­ent, there is one over-riding theme.  Suc­cess and mean­ing in this life are very per­sonal and so much more than any phys­i­cal things we might obtain.  Suc­cess is truly in liv­ing this thing called life.

To each of you:  thank you for the gifts you bring to this world, for the con­nec­tion you cre­ate from a place of authen­tic­ity, and for your being here to add mean­ing and depth with your thoughts.

Suc­cess:

For me, I find deep per­sonal mean­ing in this life from liv­ing in a place that con­nects my heart and soul out­ward.  When I do this, when I’m aligned with my own inter­nal com­pass — I suc­ceed.  When I come from this place, when I form con­nec­tions at a deeper level — I suc­ceed.  When I love…I succeed…

And you do, too.  You do, when you lis­ten to that voice within and move more fully toward your own true peak.

What is suc­cess, anyway?

How do YOU define it?


Com­ing next week!  Many updates to the Jun­gle of Life web­site, and the release of the e-book with the same name as this site:  Jun­gle of Life | a jour­ney toward your true peak.

Enter your name and email address in the side­bar to receive the e-book as soon as it is released. 

Jun­gle 2.0…the jour­ney continues…

Your Essence

Happy birthday to Me
Creative Commons License photo credit: Mitra Mir­shahidi–

“If the essence of my being has caused a smile to have appeared upon your face or a touch of joy within your heart, then in liv­ing, I have made my mark.” ~ Thomas L. Odem

The per­ma­nent ele­ment of your being.  That which is within you.

More than your name.  More than some­thing you stud­ied (are study­ing) in school.  More than some some job title you hold.

Who are you?

Deep within YOU, what is it that makes you so unique, so amaz­ing, so incred­i­ble, so YOU?

What is your essence?

Discover…and LIVE!

What is it that makes you come alive, lose track of time, imag­ine the pos­si­bil­i­ties, jump up and down, get lost in thought, smile for no rea­son at all?

Find that piece of YOU – that piece which sings YOUR song!

You are remarkable!

You are amazing!

You are incredible!

You are fan­tas­ti­cally and per­fectly made!

You rock!

You shine!

You make me jump up and down…with all that IS possible!!

Y O U  !!

~ Com­ments Closed ~

And The Word Is (2011)…

the door
Creative Commons License photo credit: gnack­gnack­gnack

“A word is not a crys­tal, trans­par­ent and unchanged; it is the skin of a liv­ing thought, and may vary greatly in color and con­tent accord­ing to the cir­cum­stances and the time in which it is used.” ~ Oliver Wen­dell Holmes

One Word

A new year is upon us.  A time to start fresh.  To review the past and look toward the future.

“I want to lose weight.”

”I will become more organized.”

“I will paint.”

New Year’s Res­o­lu­tions.   Grand plans to start the year anew.  State­ments that touch upon some area in our life that we’re not com­pletely happy with.  Ever done them – made New Year’s res­o­lu­tions?  Just like the spike in gym mem­ber­ships in Jan­u­ary of each year – fol­lowed by the decline in Feb­ru­ary, New Year’s res­o­lu­tions typ­i­cally fade quickly as our daily lives takes us to where we have always been.

Two years ago, I was inspired by a much dif­fer­ent approach to New Year’s res­o­lu­tions – a con­cept by singer/song writer/blogger Chris­tine Kane.  This idea – to come up with one word to focus on.

The idea – that this one word will con­nect with us at a much deeper level, and inspire us to make it become part of our daily life.  That it will BE part of our true fab­ric.  And in being part of us at a much deeper level, this word will be a guide toward the life we desire, toward doing the things that are in align­ment with what this word means to us.

One word.  For 2009, the word I chose was COURAGE.  And in many amaz­ing ways, that one word man­i­fested itself in my life.

For 2010, the word I chose was SPLASH.  Again, this word became a deep part of my being dur­ing these past twelve months (and is some­thing I will also be writ­ing about soon, as I review this past year).

2011

My word.

S H I N E

Note:  If you are hav­ing trou­ble view­ing this, please click here.

SHINE – what does that mean to me?

Per­haps I can begin to answer that with another ques­tion.  Have you ever held your­self back, because maybe, just maybe, there is some fear of step­ping into who you truly are?   …of shin­ing your true colors?

And maybe the thing is, we even tip­toe around our own great­ness (and that great­ness, it is within each of us)…lurking just at the edge of the shad­ows.  Per­haps step­ping briefly into the light…

SHINE

I’m there.  I’ve been in the shad­ows, step­ping out into the light…one step at a time. 

Except.

Except, it’s so easy to step back, too.  To step back to that “safe” place, just out­side the light.  How about you?  Do you hold your­self back sometimes?

Because.

Because  why?

This year will be about step­ping more fully, more authen­ti­cally, with more trust, into that light…a light that comes from within…and will shine more fully outward.

I am ready to SHINE!

Are you?

Your Turn
What would you choose for a word to focus on?    This year, 2011, has many great pos­si­bil­i­ties in store for each one of you – may you find  much mean­ing in all that is to come in the next twelve months!

Discover Your Next Step

Jed and Al
Creative Commons License photo credit: Steve Oliver Imagery

“If a man does not keep pace with his com­pan­ions, per­haps it is because he hears a dif­fer­ent drum­mer. Let him step to the music which he hears, how­ever mea­sured or far away.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“Dis­cover your passion.”

“Live your dream.”

“Be authen­ti­cally you.”

“Fol­low your heart.“

Have you ever heard one of these phrases?

Have you ever heard these, and then thought “why is this so dif­fi­cult for me?”, “why can’t I feel the pas­sion”, “what’s wrong with me, I don’t know what my heart is telling me”, or some­thing like that?

…maybe you have reached that spot where you’ve found bliss in your everyday.

Maybe, though, you have not.

Have you dis­cov­ered your passion(s)?  Do you fol­low your heart (and what does that really mean, anyway)?

On this jour­ney of your life, the one each of you is uniquely liv­ing — this is a very per­sonal jour­ney that each of you take. 

What is that next step on this jour­ney?  Travel with me, for a moment.  Travel with me to a place that is close to home, to a place that has always been there, to a place where the path­ways are many.

…the jour­ney within.…

“The only jour­ney is the jour­ney within.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

Does that jour­ney scare you away?  Make you hes­i­tate?  Think it’s some­thing you will do on another day?  Sound a lit­tle bit too fluffy?

I assure you, this is such a deeply good place to travel toward. 

And per­haps that’s a point worth reflect­ing upon. 

This world is filled with so many amaz­ing sights…so many places that evoke every sort of emo­tion pos­si­ble.  From the beau­ti­ful nat­ural for­ma­tions that cover this planet we live on, to the myr­iad of man-made objects that speak to the cre­ativ­ity and genius of their cre­ators — we are blessed with a mul­ti­tude of places to explore in this world.  And explore those, many of us do. 

How amaz­ing is this?  Just think, for a minute, of some of the truly awe-inspiring places that your ven­tures have led you toward.

“Men go abroad to won­der at the heights of moun­tains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast com­pass of the ocean, at the cir­cu­lar motions of the stars, and they pass by them­selves with­out won­der­ing.” – St. Augus­tine

You jour­ney toward these amaz­ing phys­i­cal places in this world.  Are you also tak­ing that jour­ney into your own inter­nal world? 

“One’s own self is well hid­den from one’s own self; of all mines of trea­sure, one’s own is the last to be dug up.” – Friedrich Wil­helm Niet­zsche

Per­haps.  Per­haps this journey…the jour­ney into self…is the one you are putting off, the one that is the most dif­fi­cult to start.

What is the next step?

Back to that ques­tion.  How do you really know what your next step is in this life you are living…today?  How do you take this jour­ney within?  How do you even know if the steps you are tak­ing are steps in a right direction?

Lots of questions.

“Not until we are lost do we begin to under­stand our­selves.” – Henry David Thoreau

It’s okay.

It’s okay that you have ques­tions.  It’s okay that this jour­ney has some ambi­gu­ity to it.  It’s okay if this jour­ney within makes you feel a lit­tle lost. (or maybe even a lot lost)

See, it’s not that you get lost, or not.  It’s not that you are con­fused on this jour­ney, or not. 

It’s that you are on this jour­ney.  A jour­ney into you.  A jour­ney into a deeper under­stand­ing of who you are.   Maybe there will be answers which come quickly.  Maybe there will be a lot of dead end paths (although they are not really dead ends at all, as this is all so good for you know­ing ‘you’).  Maybe you will feel frus­trated and lost.  Maybe you’ll hap­pen upon some beau­ti­ful insight into you. 

What­ever comes on this jour­ney inward — it’s the being on this jour­ney that is so good for your soul. 

I can’t answer for you where this jour­ney will lead you.  I can’t answer for you, what you will feel as you take these steps into you.  I can’t answer for you, just how good this will be.

See, it all depends on you.  How deep are you will­ing to go?  How well do you want to know you?  How brave are you to ven­ture off the inner paths you have been fol­low­ing, and see what lies in the dark cor­ners?  How will­ing are you to step into the light? 

Be okay with who you are.  BE with that.  BE with you.  Embrace what is already there, per­haps tucked away in the recesses of your heart. 

What is that next step?

Only you know. 

How will­ing are you to take a step into you, into the amaz­ing pos­si­bil­ity of you?  Even if…even if that seems like an unknown path?

May you find peace in your journey…


A spe­cial thank you to Patri­cia, from Patricia’s Wis­dom — for pos­ing this ques­tion in the com­ments recently, which sparked the cre­ation of this article.