When seeing isn’t believing…

Is it just Me, or are you, too willing to believe…just because?

I am a combo of creative and mathematical, when it comes to personality type.

On the creative side, I believe most things are possible if the intention is good, the goals worthy and you are willing to do the work.  AH, doing the work…a deal-breaker for some.  SAD!

On the mathematical side, numbers have to work; that’s the beauty of them – they prove themselves.  Love those numbers!

So, when I heard the story of the statue that “moves on its own”…

Well, let me ask you; creative side or mathematical side?

Faith vs “prove it to me”.

Interesting…take a look…

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

So, IS it just me, or do you need/want “proof”, or are you willing to believe that all things are possible? 

Conceive it. Believe it, Achieve it

(WOW, that’s A-B-C, backwards!)

(That must mean something – but I cannot prove it!)

You are only as old as you feel…

Is it just ME, or do you, too, love knowing people who have no idea how old they are?

Who doesn’t know how old they are???

A handful of years, or so, ago, my husband and I went to a Tina Turner concert.  She announced she was soon to turn 70!  Unbelievable!

When lauding the event to others I said, “She has no idea she is 69 years old; and don’t anyone tell her!”

There she was, up on stage, hanging from a cherry-picker, climbing ladders…she was…how old?

I grew-up the daughter of parents who were forever ‘young at heart’ (one of my favorite old time classics!) and I learned to appreciate the carpe diem perspective of life.  Do what you can when you can.  Don’t wait; tomorrow is promised to no one; eventually it is denied.

People talk about ‘bucket lists’; some buckets are overflowing.  The one with the most in their bucket list is not the winner!  I think a bucket list with one “to do” would be great.  In other words, don’t keep dreaming, hoping, wishing.  As Nike says, “Just do it”.

When I came across this video, I knew I would have to share it; it’s wonderful; SHE is wonderful – we all can be.

Please take a look… smile… then get up and do something you have been thinking about and enjoy the thrill of crossing it off the list.  Rinse.  Repeat.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

So, is it just ME, or would you, too, love to be invited to her 103^rd birthday party?   I can only imagine.

You go girl!

Seeing, I mean Hearing is believing…

Is it just me, or do you, too remember when you were a kid and you stayed up late to watch beauty pageants?

OK, OK, I admit it…I used to love to watch beauty pageants.  In fact, one of my sisters still calls me to tell me when they are on – good memories!

Well, I didn’t see this one, myself – didn’t even know when this one was one…but…

Take a look and a listen….

CLICK HERE

So, let’s not be too hard on this beautiful Miss Utah; it is a BEAUTY contest, after all.  But it is 2013, social media is EVERY where – it caught you, Miss Utah - and the word has been out for a reeeeeeealy long time now.

I am going to attribute Miss Utah’s “HUH?” answer to beauty pageant jitters and I chose to believe she would want that moment back and more clearly tell the viewing audience (which will probably continue to grow) that she is amazed that 50 years after JFK signed into law that women must have the same rights as men when it comes to fair workplace opportunity, but that women still make just 77cents to the $1 that men are paid for the same job.

She might want to add that, while we have come a long way (baby!), the journey must continue and large and small businesses alike must recognize the meaningful contribution women have always made – in and out of the workplace – and that women continue to aspire to contribute more – and can!

Miss Utah might want to add that all companies, employers, and society in general – should applaud women for the graceful balancing act (talent competition?) women do each day to maintain the necessary semblance of order between home and work.  

  

If she really gets going, she might want to throw in the willingness women exhibit to ‘do the work’ and declare that women do so tirelessly.

If time permits, she could mention the mandate that women live under to contribute to the rebalancing of the socio-economic condition of the world to ensure their children and grandchildren inherit a better world full of more – and equal – opportunities.

OK, now she’s walking down the runway and she’s looking the audience straight in the eye and she’s telling women to support other women; she’s telling men to encourage women and appreciate women…now she’s declaring her candidacy for __________________.

I digress….

So, IS it just me, or do you, too want to say “thank you” to Miss Utah for getting out there and for letting the world know she is not the only one who is confused by the 77% ratio of earning for women.  INDEED, WE ARE ALL SPEECHLESS!!!

Thank you, Miss Utah; you truly are a beautiful woman!

 

What’s your story?

Is it just ME, or do you, too, love listening to a well told story?

So, how good is your story?

Would someone want to listen?

Could sharing your story help – or heal - someone else?

In a recent blog (You’re never too old to go to camp), I shared a bit about an amazing experience I had a Venture Camp (VC) 1.0.

While there, a member of the VC Team asked if I would sit down for an interview; I was happy to do so.

I didn’t know the questions in advance, there was no “rehearsal”; just a half-dozen, or so, questions, and it went very smoothly.

During the interview, a couple of people quietly slipped into the room.  After the interview, someone asked me how I had responded so quickly and provided so much information in spontaneous response. 

My immediate response to that questions was, “It’s my story; I better be able to tell it”.

Here’s my question to you: do you know your story?  Can you speak it, do you own it, does it flow, and is it worth hearing….?

Now, I’m not saying that your story needs to be wildly fascinating or above average in any way; mine isn’t!  Just own it.   Own it with conviction, with passion, and with purpose.  Then, be willing to share it – and leave other grateful for having heard it…

When you speak from experience, you cannot be wrong.

When you speak with passion – and compassion – you will always be right.

When you speak from the heart, people get it.

Honesty resonates; so, too, does lack of it. 

I had a fascinating conversation with a member of The International Women’s Leadership Association (TheIWLA) today.  Her story was not to tell her story when and where it need not be told.  Her story is profound and full of pain.  It is also full of triumph and that’s where she wants the story she shares to begin.

She gets that she is where she is today, quite possibly, because of all she had to endure in her past.  I would agree, yet she will not allow herself to be labeled “victim” based on current, more favorable conditions in her life.  She wants to empower others with what is possible, not gain your sympathy for what was.  What a story!

Circumstances, audiences, timing, and purpose are but a few of the elements that may determine what story you should tell at any given time…  That is not to suggest you create a story just to be heard!  When you know the “role” you are playing in any set of circumstances, let you brain take you to your most powerful reference points – your experiences – then let your heart take over and you will always have a story worth telling and a story worthy of sharing, a story others will be glad they heard.

So, IS it just me, or do you, too, appreciate when others share with you what will help you, not them, the most?

Own your story!

Share it!

You’re never too old to go to camp…

Is it just Me, or do you, too remember the days when everyone was getting ready to go to camp…

Except for weekend trips with the Girl Scouts, I never went to camp; I never wanted too.  In fact, I really didn’t love the weekend trips away from home much either; I knew I’d be missing something happening on the home front and have to settle for the stories when I returned.

I remember my best friends getting ready to go to summer camp: the trunks came down from the attic, got packed, and the big “mean truck” would come to pick them up.  I was sorry to know they would be gone for most of the summer but never really thought I was missing anything.  We all cried the day they departed.

Well, guess what?

I just got back from camp:  VENTURE CAMP, and WOW, did I love it…here’s why…

I was in a beautiful, private estate with a professional chef (best sliders ever, Chefski!), amazing men and women from points far and wide, and, despite the fact that everyone was there for “serious camping”, I had fun.

I came to know about VENTURE CAMP when The International Women’s Leadership Association (TheIWLA) member, Giadha DeCarcer, introduced me to the concept and the plan that is now an amazing incubator for aspiring and expanding Entrepreneurs.

Giadha is the CEO of this amazing transformational opportunity that places a dozen, or so, Entrepreneurs in this amazing setting so each can pitch his/her idea for a new business.  Quickly, competition turns into cooperation and teams are formed to advance the potential launch of the ideas THEY feel are most viable.

Former competitors now become team members and, hopefully, business partners as the 8-week VC experience advances.  I love camp, now!

Camera crews move about and among the Entrepreneurs capturing the diverse perspectives, personalities, and potential that is buzzing around the mansion all to create opportunity, launch businesses and develop a Docudrama Series for television.  I really, really love camp!

I arrived at VC about ten days after the Entrepreneurs did; one Entrepreneur had already exited:  Entrepreneurship is serious “way of life” that not everyone is cut out for. 

I could not have imagined that, after such a short time, these virtual strangers were not only living among each other, sharing rooms, dining together…they were blending into teams with palpable concern for each other’s success:  how refreshing, how restorative to the notion that people  really can get along.  I was so impressed…within minutes of arriving, I was shedding tears of celebration for this concept, these people, and this spirit.  

Giadha invited me to speak as a Mentor; first to the collective group, then on a more organic basis in smaller groups to those who wanted to share more with me, to learn more from me.  I was so honored to be invited in this capacity and could not be more pleased with how it all went. 

I know it was a successful mission, because I felt I got as much out of the experience as I hope I gave.  Don’t you love what giving and receiving can do for everyone?  

 

I am going to follow the journey of these Entrepreneurs, most especially, Konstantina Malliah and Susan Musleh, who learned about the Venture Camp opportunity through The IWLA and with whom I shared the deepest and most emotional moments.  These two amazing women, along with the other Entrepreneurs, promise to push possibility to its greatest degree of potential and leave Venture Camp strengthened, empowered, and determined to follow their own dreams and meet their own goals.

So, IS it just me, or do you, too, wish you could go camping?  Guess what?  YOU CAN!

Click on Photo to Register

To register for a future Venture Camp experience, please click the link to the right, below, register, and wait to hear back from The Venture Camp Team.

Help Yourself…

Is it just ME, or are you, too, amazed at some of the clever ways people are promoting themselves these days.

A good marketing plan, powerful advertising, and credible public relations have always been part of the success formula; they have also always been a challenge.

Social Media provides more opportunities, of course, but the competition continues to grow and everyone continues to become smaller fish in a bigger pond.

Coming up with new ideas is a must to keep one’s competitive edge to some how, some way, stand out in the crowd  -  for the right reasons.

What to do?

Thinking is good; ACTION IS BETTER…now while this might not work for everyone, I want to share this video and salute the brains and the guts of this woman who took extraordinary action.  Kudos!

http://on.aol.com/video/woman-takes-her-job-search-to-the-street-517806565?hp=1&playlist=127164&ncid=wsc-dl-cards-image

So, IS it just me, or do you, too, give this women credit for putting herself out there in such a great way?

Can you help her?

Just say, “Thank you”

Is it just ME, or do you, too, know people – especially women, who don’t know how to take a compliment?   Are you one?

I love a day that teaches a lesson by 10am; that’s a great start to any day!  I learned something today that I want to share; it is so simple, yet so significant at the same time.  It’s just about giving and receiving compliments.

First of all, don’t give them gratuitously; mean them.

Don’t use them as bait to receive a compliment back; that’s selfish.

Appreciate that when a compliment is given sincerely, the giver is in a good place.  Her opinion matters to her and she wants it to matter to you, too.  Shirking off a compliment suggests that her opinion is not valued by you.  Her moment is gone and you have assumed control; you have ruined her moment.

The best response to a compliment is a simple – and sincere – “thank you”.  Don’t explain it away…here’s what I mean…let’s say someone tells you that you look nice.  Responding by cluttering your answer with such things as, “oh, this old thing”, “I think I look awful today”, and the like, diminishes her worth to you and possibly her worth to herself.  No one has that right!  Just say, “thank you”.

It is not necessary to compliment back just to compliment back.  If you truly wish to “exchange” a compliment do so, with a genuine softness and be specific.  Don’t just say, “You look nice, too”.

In receiving a compliment, I am prone to offer back information, such as, “Oh, Thanks, I got it at Macy’s”, thinking I was offering information that may be of benefit or value.  I am an information sharer and I thought that to be a generous thing to do.  I now see it a bit differently.  I will hold those details until – and if – asked for them.

It seems the best response is a plain and simple, “thank you”.  Expressed correctly and sincerely, those two simple words can have a huge impact on the person receiving your appreciation; your approval of her standards.

So, IS it just me,  or are you eager to give your next compliment and to receive one, as well.

Thank you

Character counts…

Is it just Me, or are you, too, in awe of the courage shown by teachers at those dreadful times when life’s lessons are best taught and learned? I know millions agree with me on this – how could they not… Here to share a personal perspective on this topic is Michael Josephson…Michael writes: Teachers and Tornadoes Once I got past the awe of witnessing Mother Nature’s astonishing power to wreak devastation in Oklahoma, I was awed by something more positive and uplifting: the instinctive capacity of our species to care about, come to the aid of, and — for those caught in the middle of the calamity — to even sacrifice their own lives for others. Every day we are surrounded by examples of the dark side of human nature — selfishness, greed, dishonesty and cruelty — which make it hard to resist cynicism. It’s a pity that it often takes a disaster and the heroic actions it evokes to provide compelling contrary evidence, to remind us of the best in human nature. How can one resist tears hearing of the teachers in Oklahoma who put themselves at risk by shielding children with their own bodies? I suspect lots of other adults would have reacted in a similar fashion, but I think teachers really are special. With the current focus on competence and accountability in education, we tend to undervalue one of the most important qualities of most teachers: their genuine sense of responsibility and affection for the children they teach. Over and over we’ve seen the powerful instinct of teachers to protect children in school shootings and, more recently, in the horrific tornadoes. Teachers willingly and without hesitation treated children as their own and put themselves at risk to protect them. It should be a comfort to parents to know how much teachers really care. Henry Adams once said, “Teachers affect all eternity. You never know where their influence stops.” He was referring to the way they shape lives by transmitting information and learning skills, but teachers often do so much more. Though only rarely called upon to risk their lives, they regularly touch the lives of students with their commitment and love. It’s been said that kids don’t care what you know unless they know that you care. Let’s do all we can to commend, congratulate and celebrate teachers who show how much they care. Remember, character counts. So IS it just me, or do you, too, agree with Michael and millions of others who owe a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid to all those who teach our children, who guard and protect them, who love them as if they were their own; so much so as to lay down their life for them!

Teach by example.

Lead by example.

A million tiny steps…

Is it just ME, or do you, too, notice the panther-like movement of a professional athlete?

Take a tennis pro – always moving…

Look at a thoroughbred stallion – never standing still…

A boxer – always bobbing and weaving - unless it’s about to be over!

The first law of physics teaches us that a body in motion stays in motion…and so it does.

I remember my Dad coaching and teaching his students to keep moving; never stand still.  During my own tennis lessons, he would say “…a million tiny steps, a million tiny steps…”  He said pretty much the same thing off the courts, as well, “…never stop moving, don’t stand still, move, move…”

When a body is in motion, it is easier and faster to take a step in any direction and at any time then doing so from a flat footed stance.   Again, it’s physics.  The lesson, then, it rather obtuse:  keep moving.

Millions and millions of steps can get you anywhere you seek to go.  Not taking the first step thwarts all goals and probably makes it harder and harder to decide to take that first step – eventually.  The result is stagnation, self-paralysis, boredom, and a life of wondering, ‘what if’.  That’s not living; that’s just “to be”.

I have always been fascinated by those who take ten minutes to tell you why they don’t have five.  As NIKE says, “Just Do It”.  Stop finding excuses…Find out if you made a good decision, did you take a step in the right direction, and have you given yourself a clearer view of what the NEXT step should be?  Have you learned?  Have you discovered?  Have you grown?  Have you contributed?

So what if the first step wasn’t in the right direction? One less option to try – good news, you’re getting closer!

A million tiny steps added together are to cross a continent, to travel the world, to discover what you never will by standing still.  MOVE!

What’s really great about moving is that it doesn’t exhaust you; it invigorates you; you breathe better, sleep better – you ARE better.

So, IS it just me, or do you, too feel like taking a step forward – any direction will do … then another … then another…………

Thanks Dad

(I really did listen; I really did learn!)

Baby #59

Is it just ME, or are you, too, amazed at the outcome of the global story about “Baby #59”?

It’s hard to be a child in today’s world.  Despite the options and opportunities that present themselves to our next generation of leaders, there are as many obstacles, so many temptations.

BUT, could you even imagine (I really don’t think anyone could!) coming into this world with a more horrific start than Baby #59?  (Let’s hope we never hear a more horrible story!)

We have heard the story on the news, seen the pictures, wondered about the how, the why, the WHO.  WHO would carry a baby to full term to deliver him in a toilet only to have him sink into the filthy pipes and waste?  WHO?

The WHY is it easier to imagine – but, please – let it never become a norm for desperation, fear, or abandon.  PLEASE!

I have learned that casual sex is rather common in China, where this birth, turned rescue, now miracle occurred.   Young, frightened, abandoned by the “Baby Daddy”, this mother may have panicked, she may have thought she had no alternative…what was she thinking…WAS she thinking?

Quick to assume this was an attempted homicide (I did!), the story broke – so did our hearts, for this 6 pound, 4.8 ounce baby boy who proved he deserved to live; that he wanted to live.  Ah, the lessons children can teach.

Just a few days later, Baby #59 has been discharged from the hospital and entrusted to the care of his maternal grandmother, who never knew her daughter was pregnant!

I was very joyfully overwhelmed to hear that the mother was present during the entire rescue and that it was she who sounded the alert.  No criminal charges have been made against her.

So, precious little boy, you have reminded me how powerful one’s will can be, how worthwhile it is to  live and survive under terrible conditions,  and that all of us are worthy and deserving of love and second chances.

I don’t want you to know how your life began; I want you to blend into society and not bear the scars or trauma of what you have been through.  I want you to take the strength you showed us in your first two hours after you were delivered to live and grow within you and I want you to do great things with your life. 

But, I would want you to know that hearts went out to you from around the world and that supporters showed up immediately to welcome you as a member of their family, were you not wanted by your own.

I hope you never have to actually forgive your mother; I think she may have enough trouble forgiving herself.

You have taught the world that so much is possible, that strength is born in all of us and that we should never give up.

So, IS it just me, or do you, too, wish you could hold and hug this child, but for a moment, and mesh your love with his determination.?

God bless you, Baby #59 #1

If you know – or are aware – of a young mother-to-be who seems to be struggling during a pregnancy, please consider reaching out to her – and the baby she is carrying – it may very well prove to be a life changing experience for all three of you!  Thank you.