Robert’s life direction
- At April 30, 2012
- By Nathan
- In Meeting Needs
- 0
Purpose. Focus. Energy. Direction. People tend to pick up speed when they are moving towards a clear destination – when they are going somewhere that matters.
His household buzzes with activity as he sits down to grab a quick lunch on his front porch in Lennoxville, Quebec. It is a warm summer day. Sure enough, the phone rings. This time it is Hulio, the head soccer coach at the University of Sherbrooke and a friend. As the assistant coach of the team, Robert quickly flips into French and talks about the upcoming game against Carlton University in Ottawa.
Read More»Paying attention to your life
- At April 23, 2012
- By Nathan
- In Career & Life Planning
- 0
A brief thought on a busy day:
Many things in this world will make you feel like your life doesn’t really matter. But it does. You might not be able to see and measure the difference that you make. But you do make a difference. You will make a difference.
So pay attention to your life. Try to make the best use of your life that you possibly can. Invest it wisely. Make it count. To borrow a phrase from a video linked to the previous post, “Give us what you have got!”
With that in mind, can you think of one specific and practical step you have recently taken in order to pursue your God-given potential and become all that you were intended to be? Would you feel comfortable telling people about it here at Career & Life Direction? Why don’t you take a moment to write down what you have recently decided to do and how you think it might fit with your larger life purpose. Send it on in. Here is the magical contact form.
And here are a few bizarre examples to get you thinking:
“Moving to the moon has been a long-term dream of mine. As I write this, I am half way up Mount Everest on my quest to get a little bit closer to my desired destination. The view up here is fantastic!”
“Joining a nudist colony has always been the only thing I really wanted to do with my life. The only problem is that where I live it is way too cold. But I have just decided to completely stop walking and drive absolutely everywhere I go in an attempt to accelerate global warming. Now if only I could figure out what to do about all the mosquitoes.”
“I recently decided to go back to school. And for no reason in particular. More or less just because. You see, I got a new VISA card to add to my collection and needed to find a way to spend the money. Your website has been a true inspiration in my life. Keep up the good work.”
Your comments will, of course, be much more inspirational. Feel free to include your name, city, country, and your brief written contribution to the cause.
And you never know. You just might encourage someone else to take the next significant step in their life.
© Career & Life Direction 2012. All rights reserved.
Defining your destiny
- At April 14, 2012
- By Nathan
- In Meeting Needs
- 0
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker could have been known as, say, the Red-headed Headbanger or Jackhammer. Just imagine selling your old moped, trading in your scooter, and getting a Harley.
Oh yeah, in a moment – with a stroke of a pen – things could have been different for this poor little bird. Much different. A whole lot better. Exit disrespect and humiliation. Enter attitude and excitement, strength and determination. And either label would have worked; both would have been accurate descriptions. Different focus. Same bird.
Might be a moral to this tree-top story for a few creatures on the ground below.
Yes, as this tale is still mournfully told in the YBS community, some birdie had to stick their big, bright, yellow, belly right out there for everyone to see. There they were, strutting their stuff, standing in front of the naming committee on that fateful day. Plump and preoccupied; focused and fixated on one aspect of their appearance. Of all things. No mention of character or any positive personal qualities, just colour and size. For far too long I am the colour yellow and I have a great big belly! had been playing over and over in their tiny bird brain – really loud.
So much for positive and accurate self-talk. So much for illuminating self-understanding. So much for the future of our feathered friends.
To be sure, this muddled message had shaped their thinking over the years. Some tried to trace it right back to nest. Others blamed it on a few head-first crash landings back in the flight training days. And there was that recent high-speed incident with the window. Either way, this entrenched self-understanding would now – to a large extent – determine their direction and define their destiny. Yes, Name Day turned out to be one sad day in woodpecker world history. As the spotlight shone down, during an awkward moment of silence, things went from bad to worse:
“And what do you like to do in your spare time…Yellow-belly?”
“Soaring high in the sky with the eagles” would have been a good response. If only. “Hanging out with my California Condor friends” could have worked too. “Practicing my Meadowlark imitation” might have been an improvement. “Doing Kingfisher dives” would have caught the attention of the judges. Communicating an association with a few rock stars in the bird community was one obvious option. Standing next to some birdie with perceived stellar status was a standard strategy. The Red-capped Burgereaters did it all the time.
But this too was second-best. It would have been even better, so the YBS historians say, if Mr. or Mrs. or Miss. Yellow-belly would have said something more revealing about themselves. Preferably something about what made them unique – even special – in the larger community of creatures. Something that made them stand out in some way even among other creatures in the sky.
Sucking sap. Was that it? Did that phrase really define their identity? It does now.
And for generations now, young birds in Yellow-belly Sapsucker school have been given the following essay topic: “What our distant relatives should have said.”
Wings are even better, but words can help you fly.
© Career & Life Direction 2012. All rights reserved.
Putting problems in perspective
- At April 04, 2012
- By Nathan
- In Meeting Needs
- 0
It is playing even now as I write: that same old CD I have been listening to almost every day now for the past five months. I must have listened to this set of songs close to 150 times. And since you asked, yes, I am still enjoying it and plan on continuing with my lovely listening tradition at least until the end of April. The sad reality is that we will be moving then, and unfortunately this CD came with the house.
Not everyone around is quite as enthusiastic about this degree of repetition. If you happen to be familiar with any unflattering psychological terms (e.g. obsessive-compulsive, etc.) that might describe such excessive behavior, someone I know – not to mention any names – would be happy to hear from you. For after casually suggesting that I might need to buy my own copy now, I discovered that could be grounds for divorce. Some people just have no appreciation for good music. Of course, I am kidding.
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