I ran into Kevin the other day and asked him, "How are things going?" His response, "Everything is wonderful. The only issues I have I bring upon myself." Now that's taking ownership of one's doing. No blame here. When we think about his response -" the only issues I have I bring upon myself" - and apply it to our behavior we take ownership for our missteps, failings and faltering relationships. The colliery to "I bring it upon myself" is "What am I going to do about it?" And, that means correcting our mistakes, learning from experience and repairing relationships. First, comes awareness, second ownership, and third action for improvement. Thanks’ Kevin, for your response.
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Not long ago I was returning from a meeting on the eighth floor of a high-rise office complex. I stepped into the elevator and pressed Main. On the seventh floor the elevator picked up another passenger. The passenger looked at me and said, "I know you." I was puzzled, as I couldn't remember her.
She explained: "About ten years ago at a conference we had a chat about my dream to publish a book of poetry. I was working full time back then but writing poetry was my passion. You advised me to keep writing and set a goal to publish my work." She continued, "It's interesting we meet again in an elevator as after our meeting we took an elevator to another conference room. On that elevator were two young children. You said to them, "Remember this woman, someday she will be famous. She is writing a book of poetry.'" By the time we reached the main floor, I recalled that first meeting. As we got off the elevator, she smiled and said, I just published my first book. A few days later I received a gift in the mail. It was the book, "Lyrics, Hopes and Dreams." by Tamara Campbell. A fitting title for a book which began with a dream, a bit of hope and a lot of poetry. One would think that when someone experiences physical or emotional pain, gratitude would be last on their list of expressions. Yet, Margaret, who experiences physical pain daily with arthritis and other ailments gets up every morning with a smile on her face and is thankful for a new day. Of course she doesn't like the pain but she powers through it. With all her hurting she is still grateful for the blessings she receives and gives thanks for the things she can do on any given day.
An example an attitude of gratefulness in time of defeat occurred the other day when Hilary Clinton lost the election in the United States. She was expected to win over Donald Trump - all the experts and polls said so. It was an emotionally draining race to the finish, and a highly emotional loss to Hilary. Listen to her concession speech and count how many times she expressed a sense of gratitude, appreciation, and respect while being gripped in the jaws of defeat. The lesson learned here is that it is not only the good things that we should be grateful for, but also when things don't go our way. When you are hurting in some way are you still grateful for your blessings? It's not always easy, but it does help us through the pain and the healing. Don is a Security Guard for a large financial institution. He is a kind and cheerful soul and takes his responsibilities seriously. At night and sometimes during the day, homeless people often sleep in the entry way of the bank. Don kindly requests them to leave but often they do not. In such cases, he calls the Police Service for their assistance.
Don has often been struck by the compassionate way the police deal with the people on his door step. Many of the men and women in “Blue” get on their knees or sit with the individual to chat with them in a non-threatening way. In time, everyone gets up and they walk together down the street to a Homeless Shelter or some other safe place. Can simple acts of kindness and compassion resolve situations without rancour and mistrust? |