Take Time for the 3rd Verse!

I've been privileged to be a part of three great Southern Baptist churches from grade school through early adulthood.  Each of these congregations were (and are) still very special to me, and helped ground me in my faith and outlook on life.  From the beginning of my church-going days, music always played a central part of that experience and often spoke to me the strongest.

But, alas, I think I missed out on something growing up through these experiences.  I say this in love, so no offense is meant.  But I'm sure any of you also who experienced this Southern Baptist environment will agree with me that you often heard many a choir director through the years say:  "Join me in singing the first, second, and fourth verses of [insert name of the hymn-of-the-day]."

What about the 3rd verse?!  Why is it so often skipped over?  I love hymns and the profound messages in all of their verses.  It's not unusual for me to just read through the pages of a hymnal occasionally and be moved by the beautiful messages found in those verses.  Often times one of those "3rd versus" really jumps out at me... even from a familiar tune I know by heart.

Our current church home, Chapel by the Sea, is a bit more formal in their worship service format and I've observed we tend to sing all verses in the hymns there.  I'm really enjoying this and am discovering more great "3rd verses" with each visit.  This morning was no exception, so I'd like to share this awesome combination:  Christmas music + particularly beautiful 3rd verses.

Wise men, leave your contemplation; Brighter visions beam afar.  Seek the great Desire of nations, Ye have seen the infant's star.  (Chorus) Come and worship, come and worship. Worship Christ, the new-born King. ~(From "Angels from the Realms of Glory")

No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow  (Chorus) Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as the curse is found! ~(From "Joy to the World")

Christmas is less than a week away now.  I hope you enjoy this season of light and love, along with all the trimmings and festivities.  In the meantime, I'd love for you to share any "3rd verses" that have been special to you.

2011: My Year of Momentum

I absolutely love this time of year!  Not just because of all the holiday festivities, but also because we draw near to the end of another year and the promise of a new year arises.  Whether you are diligent in the creation of  New Year's resolutions or just winging it, this is a great time for reflection and planning.  Gretchen Rubin recently challenged her readers to choose one word to set the tone for next year.  I find this to be a compelling idea and have given a lot of thought to what word I choose to focus on during this coming year.

My word for 2011 is going to be... MOMENTUM.

Without getting into a complex physics lesson I surely don't understand, here's a simple explanation of momentum.  Momentum is the product of the mass m and the velocity v of an object.  It is the power that an object has... the amount of force one object can have on another.

Momentum is more challenging to deal with than energy because as a vector, it has both magnitude AND direction.  Forces in one direction can affect momentum in another direction.  A body in motion tends to stay in motion.  A body at rest tends to stay at rest.

The Law of Momentum Conservation states

For a collision occurring between object 1 and object 2 in an isolated system, the total momentum of the two objects before the collision is equal to the total momentum of the two objects after the collision.  That  is, the momentum lost by object 1 is equal to the momentum gained by object 2.

What important truths lie in this mini-physics lesson?  Well....

1. Momentum changes abruptly when you hit a "brick wall" or get whisked away by some dramatic event or circumstance.
        It's bound to happen sooner or later... a project that was going along smoothly gets completely derailed... another project may seem so overwhelming that you don't even know where to start... yet another project may have many events fall into place so fast that you can't even catch up.  It's all enough to make you want to throw your hands up and give up sometimes.
   So..... what to do about it in 2011?  BREAK IT DOWN!!  My Dad used to (and still does) tell me that I really don't need to try and conquer the whole world in a single day.  One of my key goals in 2011 will be to crystallize big projects into smaller, more manageable pieces... to pace myself better.  Like the old joke goes... how do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!  I've got a lot of "elephant-size" projects waiting out there for me, so it's time to get myself started on them one step at a time.  With my goals in more manageable sizes, and keeping planning systems in order, I should be able to get a good start on building some momentum.
   
2. Energy, or momentum, can be conserved by paying careful attention to the direction and speed of things around me.  Then I have a choice to adjust my direction and speed accordingly and lessen impact of any potential collisions.
        My husband often jokes with me that I am not an overly observant person.  I'm a strange sort of person that can get so wrapped around some crazy detail, but then totally miss out on the bigger picture or broader headlines.  As I get older, I'm beginning to realize I need to try and find ways to adjust for this natural tendency of mine.  How often I've been going about my own business, minding my own details, only to glance up and... (BAM!) ... hit that "brick wall" I referenced in the previous bullet.  If only I had done a better job of looking up from time to time to keep in tune with my surroundings more often, that painful collision probably could have been avoided (or at least lessened).  Those collisions, or breaks in momentum, consume an extraordinary amount of energy.  It's often hard to recover and get back on track.  So, 2011 will be a year where I'll be striving to improve my sense of situation awareness to assist with better decision making.

So, I've said all that to say this... It's time for me to just get on with it and build the momentum... conserving energy to pay attention to the things around me that matter most.  Cheers to a great 2011 to come!

 You owe it to us all to get on with what you're good at. ~ W.H. Auden

All I Want for Christmas is Always More Than I Need

My mom recently sent me one of those types of emails you typically send to your friends to brighten their day with cute cartoons to make you laugh.  There was one cartoon in that email that really caught my attention though and has stayed in my head since...

What a profound thought!  How easy it is for us to focus on all we want and be disappointed when we don't get everything on our wish list.  Yet, how easily we forget we often have already been blessed with everything we really need.

During this festive season, I hope you get lots of things from your wish list.  But I also pray we open our eyes to how our true needs have been met and how we can help meet the needs of others.  Happy holidays!

Choosing to Let it Go

I received an email exchange Friday morning in my professional job role that really upset me upon first reading.  I won't get into the details of who it involved or what it was about, but suffice it to say that the comments made by this particular individual were very disappointing to me --especially in their leadership position.  My mind began to spring to action, drafting the best response I could think of to counter the arguments.  After all (in my own mind) they were completely wrong and we were right!

But then, I stopped...

I chose just  not to respond.  Why?  The email exchange really didn't deserve a response.  Enough information was enclosed in the response to give my team what we needed to do our job.  It has become clearly obvious that continued dialog with this individual in situations like this only makes the matter worse.  Sometimes, you just have to let it go.

This is a new behavior for me.  I'm clearly a  perfectionist who tends to immediately want to fix everything and do whatever I can to keep the peace.  Letting things go does NOT come easily for me!

I've been following Chris Foreman's blog lately and admire his artfully illustrated mind maps.  Recently he posted a great piece on the art of non-reaction.

How true this is!  Paul starts his blog post off, "Twenty seconds of thinking can ruin your day, only if you let it."  I read that email right before going into a huge presentation.  My first feelings were of irritation and disbelief.  Luckily my presentation consumed my morning though, taking my thoughts elsewhere quickly.  By the time I returned to my desk in the afternoon and was able to catch up with my staff member, the situation in my mind had somewhat distilled itself.  He and I still could not believe the choice of words, but agreed it was best to just leave things alone and do what we needed to do to get our work done.

Sometimes, inaction is more powerful than action.  At this point, I'm still learning about my audience in this particular client group.  Quick reaction is not going to better position my team to provide better support to them.  There is another side to the story after all and I'm doing my best to understand the thoughts behind the words and actions they've chosen.  Over time I'm confident the partnership between these functions will improve.  It will take time though and sometimes patience is not easy to come by -- for either side.

So, in this situation, we consciously chose not to join an argument or follow non-productive thinking.  A response may still be in order when I return to the office Monday morning.  But at least taking a few moments to pause has helped me look at the bigger picture and not react purely out of emotion.

Trying to Keep the Passion in a "Day Job"

It's Monday and I really struggled with getting out of bed and into the office today.  We had such a wonderful weekend and didn't want it to end.  This morning had all the feelings of my work being just my "day job" again.  If I'm not careful, this is the laundry list of what begins to feel like drudgery when I'm at my "day job":

• reading/answering email
• answering questions (often it seems like the same question over and over again)
• filing papers
• attending meetings
• making phone calls
• setting goals and making plans
• following-up
• analyzing data
• making decisions
• giving advice
• maintaining spreadsheets and preparing reports
• managing and training employees
• giving presentations
• and the list goes on...

The details occasionally become overwhelming from time to time -- especially wearing two professional hats as a Compensation Manager and an entrepreneur with Peace of Mind Drug & Background Screening. It's a challenge to step back and keep the bigger picture in my mind... I really DO love my job and find joy in what I do for a living.

Chris Brogan expressed some great thoughts in a recent blog post.  Chris goes on to define a job as just a measurement of work.  He promptly reminded that one needs to work to find work.

It's you.  And it's your mindset... You're here to work.  You're here to make meaning.  But you're not here to fill a job. That time is past.  ~ Chris Brogan

So, what is my passion...that element of joy that I am able to find in my work when I adjust my mindset enough to find it?  Well, to be honest... in everything I involve myself in, seems to always distill itself down to these two very simple points:

1. Creating order amidst chaos, and
2. Helping people find their way.

Without keeping those points in mind, all the details just become routine tasks and jobs to do each and every day.  However, the feeling is very different when I am counseling a manager on how to talk with their employees to understand their pay or develop themselves professionally.  It's also a very different feeling when you can help people take stock in where they are and try to make their lives better.  There is a bigger, more important purpose behind all this activity.

So, a slight attitude adjustment this morning helped me put the day back in perspective and get a productive start to the week.  Here's hoping for more days of finding the passion and less days of experiencing the dreaded "day job."

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might...  ~Ecclesiastes 9:10

Good Things Growing

Peace of Mind 
Drug & Background Screening
www.CatchThemQuick.com

Today's joy is a bit of proud self-promotion.  It's been a great week for Peace of Mind Drug & Background Screening, the business my husband and I started at the beginning of this year.  How many people do you know determined enough to start a venture in this tough economy?  Well, we did and we're so proud to see some really positive things happen.  Hard work is being rewarded and the business is growing.  I'm even stepping out from behind the bookkeeping and am providing some impromptu field support when needed in a pinch... including the occasional random drug test and background check.  The most rewarding times come when I hear clients express how much they appreciate how my husband makes them feel... like a human being, treated with respect and dignity, without automatic judgement.  It is my hope and prayer we will be able to make a positive impact in the community through our business, helping people put their lives back together.

There is no greater joy nor greater reward than to make a fundamental difference in someone's life.   ~ Sister Mary Rose McGeady

We've called you in for your random drug test.  Any questions?

Joy in Nature: 6 Lessons from Walter Gator

Lately I've been trying to start a ritual of journaling more regularly over my first cup of coffee in the morning.  Ever since reading The Artist's Way the idea of writing morning pages intrigued me as a great way to break up the log jam of thoughts muddled in my head when I woke up each day.  I've even found a great spot for this morning "brain dump" during weekdays on the dock behind the office building where I work.  One morning recently I was pleasantly surprised by some spontaneous observations.

Meet my new friend Walter Gator.  This is the nick name I've given one of the mascots currently residing in the retention pond behind my office building.  One morning as I was writing my morning pages I noticed out of the corner of my eye a movement in the water that made me put down my pen and just stare.  There Walter was, just quietly submerged except for the top of his head sticking out of the water quietly looking back at me.  I was simply awestruck seeing such an impressive animal in the wild that close.  Upon reflection, I see Walter taught me a few lessons about joy too.

Sometimes Joy Just Shows Up
Walter moved in the water just enough to catch my eye.  I wasn't looking for him at all.  In fact, I was completely focused on something else.  That made me think of the many times in my life when something that made me the happiest showed up when I wasn't specifically looking for it and was content keeping my usual routines.


Sometimes Joy Takes Unexpected Forms
I'm not particularly a fan of alligators.  After all, I'm originally from Tennessee and it's a challenge to show your Volunteer Pride deep from the heart of Florida Gator country and not catch grief.  For some reason though, I couldn't help but smiling after my encounter with Walter Gator.  I guess not all gators are bad.  :-)


Joy Brings Calm

This particular morning started out in the usual way... a to-do list a mile long waited for me to tackle and even more demands were on their way to my in-box.  The stress and tension had already built up on my commute in to work and I was overwhelmed of where to even start for the day.  As soon as I saw Walter Gator though, I stopped what I was doing.  He captured my attention and I was completely mesmerized.  Before I knew it, ten whole minutes had passed by and I realized I had just been sitting still as I stared at him.  My breathing had automatically slowed and become less shallow.  There was a quietness in the air that was so peaceful.  Walter Gator had easily calmed me.
 
More Joy Lies Beneath the Surface

I only saw Walter Gator's full body silhouette the first time I saw him out of the corner of my eye.  The rest of the time he floated still in the water with just his head above the surface.  The water was just clear enough that I could see there was more to him than just the prehistoric head peeking up at me.

Experiencing Joy Makes You Want to Share

I was the only person sitting on the dock when Walter Gator decided to come swim so close.  My first reaction was to instantaneously get up and go to the railing to watch him.  The second reaction was to look around me and see if anyone was standing outside of the building that may have wanted a closer look.  My third reaction was to pull out my cell phone and start snapping pictures.  I sent my husband texts about my visitor and sent posts to my friends on Facebook.  Finally another employee came up beside me on the dock and we had a great conversation about Walter Gator.  And when it was time for me to go back inside and get to work, I had to pull out the pictures and show my boss and co-workers too.  Walter Gator really was something to see and I just wanted everyone else to share the joy too.

One Joy is Often Near Even Larger Joy

You can see from these pictures that Walter Gator isn't an extremely large alligator.  I estimate he was probably about 5-6 feet long from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail.  As I was sharing my joy with my co-workers I quickly heard there had been sightings the previous day of an even larger alligator in the pond.  In my tenure with my company I've heard all sorts of tales about gators in the pond and some of them having to be carried away when they got too large.  All great stories and hearsay are keeping me on the lookout for Walter Gator's larger siblings out there!

So, it's not every day I have an alligator swim up beside me and just hang out for a while.  He definitely brought a smile to my face and calmness to my heart.

I'd love to hear your stories about what you've seen in nature that really brought you joy.

Today I am So Happy and Grateful

Such is human psychology that if we don't express our joy, we soon cease to feel it.

~ Lin Yutang

Yutang's quote made me think back to a daily practice I adopted almost ten years ago now.  I've long been the nerdy planner-carrying overachiever type.  For the last ten years I've been penning in some section of my planner lists of things that I was thankful for that day.  On the rare day I'm too busy to list something, I really feel odd.  Why has this daily ritual become so important to me?

The practice started in the spring of 2001 after I had just received a scary skin cancer diagnosis. As my husband and I anxiously awaited my treatment, I had some poignant time for reflection and soul-searching.  I'll never forget the sound of the voice on the other end of the phone at work that morning delivering the news.  "Mrs. Hall, your biopsy came back and I'm sorry to say it was cancerous."  The voice was calming and sympathetic, but all I heard in my mind was "You have cancer.. you're going to die."  Then my mind took me through a guilt trip... "It's just SKIN cancer, quit being such a baby!  You've known so many others who have suffered much worse," the mean voice would say.  Never mind the fact that my cancer was melanoma, already in intermediate stages.  It didn't take me long to realize how serious it could be left untreated.

At that moment I sternly reminded myself, regardless the outcome, how precious life was and that I was nowhere near ready to stop living.  Each moment is extremely precious and I didn't want to be a poor steward and waste any time I was blessed with from then on.  I already had so much to be thankful for, and I was sure there were many more blessings to come.

So, since then, each day I am sure to jot down a few things that make me so happy and grateful.  Every now and then I go back and read over the lists and am always so amazed at how God works in my life.  I'm happy to say my melanoma was successfully treated surgically and all is in remission.  It was a frightening wake-up call, but was one that vividly opened my eyes to all the joy around me just waiting to be seen.

Tell me, what makes you so happy and grateful?

Time to Stop Procrastinating

This is a first for me... starting my own blog.  I've been following a ton of blogs and reading many books, articles, and the likes.  I've aspired to be a writer myself for my whole life it seems, but I never seem to be able to get myself started.  My perfectionist tendencies make me want to review as much of others' work as possible to get a feel for what reads well and is memorable.  At the end of the day though, perhaps it is my own fear of feedback and letting people down that is keeping me from taking the first step in finding my own voice.  Enough time spent waiting.  It's time for me to get past the procrastination and just get started.  No more excuses of not knowing the technology and needing to research more ideas... it's time to start writing and practice the craft.

So, this begins my blog... a place where I will push myself to write regularly.  Topics will be random, but the theme consistent.  Abundant joy can be found in this life and one doesn't even have to look very hard for it.  Much like getting over my fear of putting myself out there, you just need to start from wherever you are.

So, what are your best tips and tricks for getting past those pesky procrastinating moments?