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Communication Evolution

March 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Our methodology of keeping up with one another certainly has evolved over time. I was thinking back, remembering party lines! I’d pick up the phone and find that someone else was using the line. Gosh, if they had a lot to say, I might have to wait several minutes before I could call my friend with my most important teen-ager news. My fifteen year old niece has no concept of a rotary dial phone, let alone a party line! And I sent a card to my grandparents for birthdays. How wonderful it was to get a letter in the mail from a pen pal!

If I want to talk with my kids today, I can text them. That usually produces a one-word response but hey, they answered! My cell phone shows me who’s trying to contact me. I can pick up or choose to ignore. I can talk with several friends at a time or see them on Skype!

Facebook probably has been the biggest breakthrough in communication in my lifetime. I can know daily what the kids are up to, how my brother in California is faring and see pictures of my grandkids. I can communicate with clients, find new clients and make new friends that I’d never have the opportunity to meet, were it not for ‘friends of friends’.

I met Sean Anderson when AOL ran a story on him a few years ago. Sean was enroute to a healthy weight, having once weighed in excess of 500 lbs! Many of his friends are now my friends too.  I look forward to his daily snippets of wisdom. Oh yeah, and he wrote a book too – Transformation Road!

This morning, as usual, I checked the birthday reminders, and my dear friend Janet Carmine  popped up. I guess her family is maintaining the page, but Janet left this world on August 18th, 2010. The reminder pulled the strings of my heart – again. I miss my friend so much.  I wonder if she has Facebook in Heaven? She’s truly there, singing with the Sweet Adolines and dancing with Al!

I recently was hacked on Facebook. Honey Jones will remain in my memory as the blonde bimbo who used my identity to sell Nike sneakers. Now, who in their right mind would buy shoes from a Facebook hacker? I have no idea.  I finally was able to regain control of my account, but in the process, lost many of my friends, and friends of friends.

I learned a lot from the hacker – guard what you hold valuable. I’ve changed all my passwords  – email, bank accounts and of course, Facebook.  You can rest assured that I will change passwords with great regularity in the future.

I am left wondering from this whole thing. I can’t imagine the contributions to society that fell by the wayside, because some talented individual placed their efforts into hacking, rather than something helpful. It makes me want to be the very best person I can be. I want to contribute. I want to make a difference.

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Who Are Your Heroes?

January 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Remember Sully Sullenberger?

He’s the pilot who miraculously landed a jet on the Hudson River without losing one of his 155 passengers. He was ranked second in TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential Heroes and Icons of 2009. When asked about his biggest accomplishment, Sully didn’t cite the landing; he said, “Our daughters.”

In 2010, Sully interviewed another hero – Chief Master Sergeant Tony Travis, who created a makeshift control ‘tower’, where planes could bring sorely needed supplies into the earthquake ravaged Haiti. Water and supplies insured survival for thousands of Haitians. Bet you never heard of Sergeant Tony Travis! He’s an unsung hero.

There are many unknown heroes, but you rarely hear about the boy scout who helps an old lady get across the road these days. I went hero-hunting on the internet and found a bunch of people that I not only I didn’t know, but also wasn’t significantly impacted by their heroics. This lead me to wonder about who my heroes are. I have a few and want to take this opportunity to say, “Thank you.” I’d much rather write about them, than people I don’t know.

I was first introduced to Ann Lamott when a friend sent me a copy of her book, Traveling Mercies.  It was at a time when I felt like my life was spiritual, but I didn’t necessarily worship in community. I developed a curiosity about possibly returning to church but even better, I loved her style of writing. It was more like somebody talking; it was kind of like how I talked and it birthed an ‘ah-ha’ moment for me – I could also write a book! And I did! So, thank you Ann! I’m one of the people who’ve you’ve impacted.

In 2005, burned out by 25 years of managing communities, I prayed for an angel who’d help me figure out what I could do with my life, and was introduced to Coach Lorraine Edey.who walked with me while I turned dreams into goals and finally  become a life coach and motivational speaker! She helped me with the business side of becoming a coach and when I inadvertently shared that I always wanted to write a book, encouraged and supported me until the boxes of Trust God and Buy Broccoli arrived on my doorstep. Lorraine held my intentions to become a spiritual coach; I believe that I wouldn’t be the intuitive coach that I am today without her intercession. Thank you, Coach Lorraine for your impact on my life.

Perhaps there’s some heroes in your life too, that you’ve just never really thought about how they changed your direction or assured you on your present path. Why not take a moment today to thank them?

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Happy Easter

April 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Easter Sunrise

Good morning, and Happy Easter to my Christian friends. And a blessed Passover to my Jewish friends. We started our day out with a beautiful sunrise Mass at our little church, Blessed Sacrament in Cocoa, FL. The sun did rise with some brilliance but then disappeared behind a cloud for most of the service, which was a good thing, as we faced east.

Perhaps it is my imagination, or perhaps just my own stuff, but it seemed to me that there was alot of excitement about Easter this year. Many Christian friends posted notes throughout Holy Week, full of anticipation of the Ressurection. My reaction was more quiet and reflective on Good Friday, thinking about where I am and what I’d like to do differently. And then I awaited Easter Morning. This morning it truly felt like a day to celebrate. I don’t quite know what is different, but it feels like change is on my horizon.

We have finally outgrown the “Easter Bunny.” This is my eighteenth year of no sugar, so of course, no chocolate bunnies for me. We were shopping yesterday and I asked Dave if he wanted some candy, but he thought it’d all be half price tomorrow and he’d wait. I didn’t even decorate eggs. No grandkids to celebrate with me this year, as they stayed in Atlanta for the weekend.

Easter can just come and go for me, or it can be an opportunity to make a difference. I feel like that difference for me this year is to be more quiet.  I don’t have to be running the show all the time. I also am really going to slow down, travel less and do some nesting. The next two months are hectic travel-wise, but there are less trips scheduled over the summer. I want to concentrate on me, my almost ten-year marriage to David and our home.

So, Happy Easter to you. What will this day bring for you? Is it just another day, or an opportunity to experience the greatness of change?

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November – the Gratitude Month

November 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Gratitude

I am someone who looks at the positive things in my life more often than dwelling on the negative. I once heard that if my cup is always just half empty (or half full), get a smaller cup! With an attitude like this, my life is always overflowing with wonder.

Many recognize November as a gratitude month, and that suits me! For a long time, I’ve kept a gratitude list, recording at least five things each day for which I am grateful.

On Friday, a friend of mine lost her husband. I called to extend my condolences and thought about how much I love my husband Dave, even though he can get on my nerves at times. Suddenly, his corny jokes were funny again. I guess that Wayne Dyer was on point when he wrote, “When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.”

For many years, my parents, five siblings and their families converged on the home of my youngest sister in North Carolina to celebrate Thanksgiving. At last count, there were twenty-seven of us. Now there are many more, as our children raise families of their own,

Our Thanksgiving celebration always started with the entire brood attending Mass at Sandy’s church. Later, the brothers became gourmet chefs for the day, and the meals were always sumptuous! The women, children and any non-cooking brothers raked leaves on their rather large country front lawn. What fun, making big piles of leaves, jumping into them and acting like children! We probably made a bigger mess than actually helping my brother-in-law!

Sandy rented a big tent so we could all be together for the meal. One year Sandy’s husband Craig, asked that we all take a turn to say one thing for which we were grateful. Most of us shared how wonderful it was to have such a great, loving family. Yumi, their foreign exchange student from Japan attempted to speak but was so overcome with emotion that she just started crying and buried herself on Craig’s chest.

Now our families have grown and we no longer make the pilgrimage to Sandy’s place. It’s a fond memory though!

November seems to be a perfect month for gratitude, so I decided to record one thing every day on my facebook page. I am also making at least one phone call a day to thank the people in my life. It seems like such gestures when I really look at, and acknowledge the abundance in my life.

I’d like to challenge you for the rest of November, to find one thing a day that makes you happy. So, what are you grateful for? I bet you don’t stop at one!

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