Give thanks for all who do and serve and the blessings we share.
A foundation of serving is understanding those who have served before you
My niece ships out for her second tour of duty soon & my son is applying to the Air Force Academy. I do not come from a family of service I find it hard to understand why these two would willingly put themselves in harm’s way for…us.
I was quiet last week as I examined a life of service – truly a life in service to others, putting yourself in harm’s way, going without so others may have some, interceding on behalf of those without a voice – amazing acts of selflessness.
During my week of reflection, the US watched as a reality show wanna be fly a balloon – toward an international airport -while pulling the heart strings of all who watched that their young son was inside. My 93 year old neighbor called me to pray that this little one survived. The boy did. We did not. We got caught up in the stunt. We wanted to believe that we were watching as a terrible accident was averted. We wanted to believe and now, we are angry. I think we got caught up in the stunt because we want to believe – we wanted to believe in others.
We can believe in the service of others. It is not as sexy as a celebrity mishap or tantalizing as the “race to save balloon boy”. It doesn’t play to the disdainful part of human nature – like gawking at a traffic accident. In service to others does play to the best part of human nature – using our time and our talent for the betterment of this life – our life.
You don’t have to be Mother Theresa – but thank God for those who are. Service can be as simple as needed. If you can do more, do more. I have a friend that before she does ANYTHING, she says “find joy in this” and she does find joy. From the foundation of others’ service, we can serve and find joy.
A foundation of serving is understanding those who have served before you. I hope I can do justice to the service of my niece and my son.
Thinking too much?
I admit it. I think too much. I think about how things are perceived and what will be the outcome. In the age of social media, is thinking a “lost art”? As I was bombarded last week with everything from FTC rulings on product endorsements to “Is PR Dead?” from the Inbound Marketing Summit, I was struck by the thought “doesn’t anyone think before they tweet, IM, facebook, etc.” anything?
The twitter over the FTC died down with a simple phrase – don’t lie about what you’re doing and you’ll be fine.” Is PR Dead? YES the old plunk out a press release, see who wants the info by emailing them, then calling PR is dead. Please bury it. The fact that there was discussion about this at all was another example of think before you….
Yes, I think too much and here’s hoping that it’s a new wave to the social marketing landscape! Yes, I’m Going Rogue!
All is a leap of faith
As the consumer confidence index dipped for this month and the media began to whir about the index missing expectations, I couldn’t help but take a step back. Really…look at it. Our confidence has expectations.
Now this is not about The Conference Board and their monthly gauge of consumer sentiment. Many businesses and industries use it as one of the metrics to determine their next steps. Our confidence has expectations.
Ou society, and as a result our institutions, have gotten so used to gauging everything: size of market, price points, graduate profiles for preschools, real estates estimates, etc. We gauge everything, but are failing to realize that despite all the gauges, a decision is a leap of faith. Confidence that if we try we could succeed. I was recently invited to a meeting for the Archidiocese of Los Angeles and carpooled with our Parish priest, Monsignor. (I was asked to ride with Monsignor, probably because of a comment about shaving my head and wearing a Def Leopard T-shirt…OK I have a history)
As we drove, we were catching up on things, creating options for world peace – you know the usual. We began talking about the Stock market – priests now manage their own retirement, just like us – and I was struck by the irony. This man, who owns nothing, makes a minimal salary, contributes to an IRA, just like the rest of us. That is the ultimate leap of faith. His confidence is not based on expectations. It is based on his deeply rooted belief that his path is correct. His confidence is not a leap of faith, but a foundation of faith.
Having spent my career working with a myriad of CEOs, some smart, some just faking it, I realized that all the gauges don’t guarantee anything and placing faith in the gauges is misplaced faith. But understanding your path, deeply committing to the path and making judgements based on sticking to the path and looking at gauges to see the wind direction, those build confidence and make the leap of decision-making much easier. CEOs have a tough job, especially when they don’t have a clear vision and rely on gauges to build a path, to set expectations, not point the direction.
Does your confidence have expectations? What happens if you miss expectations?
NEXT: My views on “Going Rogue”
Reflections from 9/11-9/15
Friday was the 8th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States. I had nothing to add to the blogosphere that was filled with memories, moments, anger and wondering. I waited.
Today is the one year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. One year since my economist husband called me from his consulting gig back East and told me to make sure that we had cash (more than the earthquake stash) since he wasn’t sure that the banks would open on Monday. They did, but just barely. The year cascaded into job losses, client losses and talk of doom and gloom.
As I thought about both days this weekend, I thought about how much life has changed and how much life had stayed the same. I spent Friday night with my family and friends at my son’s high school football game. I live in an enclave in Los Angeles – it’s hard to get to and most people who live here were born here. After winning the game, the team, along with family and friends, walked 4 blocks from the football field to the church and the “old school” (still houses an elementary school). Along the 4 blocks, the little kids high five older brothers on the team, parents talk about how they pulled out another one…it is a Norman Rockwell kind of moment. A Norman Rockwell moment in LA. No celebrities, no limos, no grandiose positioning – nothing typically associated with the “LA scene.”
What hit me was this is the stereotypical scene of America – Friday Night Lights, family and apple pie. We are hit and we bounce back. We live over 3,000 miles from family, but it didn’t and doesn’t matter. It was clear.
It was clear that we are all in this together. Together, we trust that our intelligence and defense will root out terrorists, and reduce this threat. Together, we will weather this recession and hopefully, like the generations before us, be better for the journey. We are all in this together. Like the crowd walking the 4 blocks from the football team’s victory, we will walk proud, we will be careful and we will be happy that the day was good.
