To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

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Where do you want to end up?

(Throwback! This post feels so relevant right now as many of us are going back to work or have family starting school!)

Pretty much wherever you want to end up, it will require you put your most comfortable shoes (and frame of mind) on. Comfortable and fun go a long way!

I believe it’s important to have a plan to achieve whatever it is we are hoping to go after personally, in our community, at work and at home as we try to answer these questions…

Where do you want to end up this week?
This month?
This semester?
This year?
During your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.?
During your life time?

Intention and design are the two key terms for me.

First, identifying what I “intend” to do (think: get leaner, eat more greens, call my parents more often, send more handwritten notes, hit my Q4 work goals, etc.). Second, design a plan to ensure that I achieve that “end game” goal (carve out time every Sunday to make those calls, try Pilates, start my days an hour earlier, etc.). To me, the design plan is the most important and also can be the most fun. There are so many ways to get to the same place, and we have the opportunity to make it fun.

What can we do differently to add a bit of whimsy into our days? Instead of that lunch, what about a stroll through the market? Instead of a plane, how about a train for that family long weekend holiday?

Would love your ideas and inspiration!

Simple Thoughts Sunday: Just start.

“What if our Golden Rule was not only ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’ but also, ‘Give more to the world than you take from it.'” (Manifesto for a Moral Revolution, Novogratz)

Wouldn’t that possibly advance our world in the most amazing ways? Thinking outward as well in inward? I think so.

I picked up this book on Thursday and find myself completely soaked in to it’s calling: To help us understand how to better our world. How she’s orchestrated the messaging is brilliant, simply sharing incredible stories from across the globe of just how people are doing just that. (As a woman of Christian faith, I find it important to reflect here that sharing parables or stories is how Jesus taught us.) This extends from the humble, poorest villager, to the teenage student seeking to find a path forward to find their purpose in this world. The people are all ages, all ethnicities, all sexes… everyone and anyone can and should dive in. It’s inspiring to read the stories and sit for a moment – or several – with the notion of just how I, in whatever season I’m in, can make the greatest difference how? What actions can I take? What gifts has God blessed me with to bring forward? “Just start” is the message of this Simple Thoughts Sunday.

Just start. It’s a mindset. It’s a commitment we make to ourselves. Generally, in America, we think first to starting a new career, a new eating regimen, a new discipline of exercising. We think first of what we can do to make ourselves better. While I am the first to acknowledge that we must be our best selves so that we can offer ourselves to the service of others, somehow, I wish my firsts thoughts weren’t about starting with me. I have found that as I gain in age, and hopefully wisdom, that is not always still true, but for the most part, if you ask me to fill in the blanks, on “Just start…” I’m likely to say something self serving. For example, “waking up earlier.”

Our world is summoning us in this season to acknowledge the work that is needed to better our world in many areas. I strongly believe that. When I went to South Africa a few years back and I sat on the 20 plus hour plane ride on the way home, the Bible verse, “The Harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few…” ruminated in my brain over and over. (Matthew 9:37) Jesus’ call to his disciples rings ever true today. I’m sure he knew that we as humans would always struggle with the need to look out and not inward.

I could list hundreds of ways to start, whether you are my mom’s age and living in a retirement community, or whether you are my boys’ ages and preparing to launch your adult life, or even if you are a child under the age of 10. (Check out cornerstonesofcare.org for a fantastic idea on joining their lemonade brigade.) There are so many people and organizations that are doing inspiring work. Look around. Read and soak up the stories and think of them as “fire starters” or ideas that are there to spark your own imagination. What can you and or you and your family or work group or tribe dream up that would move us all forward? This blog more or less has the goal of encouraging us to serve well and we best do that by having a growth mindset. A mindset that triggers our normal everyday reaction to be how we can be of service to others. For me, it’s time to reevaluate if I am making the impact I could make if I imagined more.