The Power of Vision

Posted by on December 3, 2008

My home town for all practical purposes is Tuscumbia, Alabama.  Our number one and only claim to fame is we are the birthplace of Helen Keller.  On CNN web site recently there was a story about researchers who had uncovered this rare photograph of a young Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan, nearly 120 years after it was taken on Cape Cod.

Helen was born blind and had to overcome many difficult obstacles in her life.  In spite of all the hardship she lived and very meaningful and rewarding life that impacted a lot of other people in a very positive way.

Helen was once asked, can you think of anything worse than being born blind?  Her immediate answer was, to have sight and yet lack vision for your life.  The overwhelming majority of people you know have physical sight but do they clearly see all the things that are really important in life.

What vision do you have for your life?  Please tell me it is more than going to work, coming home and watching T.V. and then going to bed.  There are so many important things to be done and hurting people that need to be touched.

Can you see them?

 

 

Categories: Career Development Core Values Leading Change Pastoral Leadership | Comments Off on The Power of Vision

Marginless Living

Posted by on December 2, 2008

In yesterday’s blog I talked about the need to create margin in our lives.  Margin is the space that used to exist in all of our lives between all the physical, emotional and mental pressures of every day and our capacity to respond in a meaningful way to all of the people and circumstances that we must address.

The lack of margin is exactly the opposite when we have too many demands and not enough resources.  For most of us the public parts of our lives centered around our work life demands its percentage first.  I know people who can make million dollar decisions all day long at the office only to be so spent by the end of the day they can’t even decide if they want pizza or hamburgers for dinner.

They put other people first all day whether they are customers or co-workers only to come home with nothing left for a lonely spouse or stressed out children.  We may feel successful at times because of all the public praise that comes with making your numbers but at the end of the day we know something is terribly wrong.

Whatever it takes all of us must find the courage to stake out some core values that are non-negotiable.  This will allow us maybe for the first time in our lives to have the margin we need to live the life we want rather than the one someone else has scripted for us.

You have the capacity to write your own script, so take out your pen and start writing.

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The Convergence Point

Posted by on December 1, 2008

The whole idea behind The Convergence Point is that people will be able to sort through all the noise and activity that is out there and find real meaning and purpose in life.  This means that we really need to know what we want and make sure we are willing to pay the price to get it.

I want to erase the artificial lines that exist between the personal and professional.  The cost is too high to succeed in one only to fail in the other.

For most of us this means that we will have to be willing to buy into the whole concept of Less is More.  The overwhelming majority of us have full calendars but empty hearts.  To create the margin we need for meaningful relationships something has to go.

It may be something as simple as less entertainment and more conversations.  It may be something as complex as changing careers and downsizing to create the emotional space we need to move the people we care about to the top of the list.

Life is a journey and we only get to do this once.  I can think of nothing more important than the merging of your values and your voice into the everyday Business of Life.  The integration off all our stories will lighten the load for all of us so let the conversation begin.

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