12 Ways to Use Childhood Wisdom to Start Living Your Life

Filed Under Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog | 23 Comments

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Stop Growing Up for a Second

Barring catastrophe, it happens that we all become adults. It’s the cycle of life. We find and define our journey. We leave behind our childish habits and ways. That seems the way a life is supposed to unfold.

I wonder whether we ought to reconsider before we put everything from childhood away. Young children seem to do some things far better than adults.

I’ve never met a small child on a search for personal meaning or one who questioned what life is about.

When we leave behind our childish habits, perhaps we should recall of the wisdom that we had back then.

12 Ways to Use the Childhood Wisdom to Start Living Your Life

Live without question. Young children don’t wonder or worry about life’s meaning. Life is. Anxiety is a habit we learn.

Own your life. Kids take for granted who they are. Ask and they’ll tell you their name. They’re on to dreaming about who they’re going to be. It sure seems to save time to do it their way.

Be alive now. Small children see living and breathing as the same thing. They don’t breathe so that they can live some future day. Kids don’t want to miss a minute. How many minutes have you missed while you were working on a future goal?

Have friends. Young children see everyone as a potential friend. Smiles come easily. Imagine how much friendlier the world must be.

Trust today. Kids meet today without worry of what went wrong yesterday. Without thinking, they trust in an abundant and positive universe. I’ve yet to find where a circumstance changed by worrying, but I know plenty changed by belief in a better day.

Have empathy. Young children care about other people, especially when other people are sad. The comfort given by a small child is humanity at its best.

Try. Small children jump in to what they want to do and pull us along by the hand. Trial and error is how we learned to read.

Be determined. Without determination no child would ever learn to walk. It takes a strong and clever grownup to thwart a small child with a goal.

Be silly. Young children make laughter a goal. Ever make faces for the sole purpose of getting someone to laugh?

Give and be fair. Kids know it’s not nice to take more than you give.

Be curious and grow. Small children figure out bits about how the world works every day. Have you learned something lately by watching a bug?

Listen to people who’ve been there. They ask for stories and constantly say, “Why?” Ever heard a kid say, That’s how we’ve always done it. ?

I’m not suggesting that we act immature. I’m suggesting we reclaim our childhood wisdom to be more alive. After all without childhood wisdom, we never would have gotten to be adults.

What childhood wisdom helps you live your life?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Business and Life: The Rules of the Road

Filed Under Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog | 17 Comments

about the rules of the road that make life flow more easily.

I’m not much for rules.

My husband says “Please don’t tell her ‘Don’t touch.’ She’s just like our son — if you do, then she’ll have to.”

But some rules make sense, like those that keep folks safe as we move in traffic. The rules of the road I’ve learned are simple to share, but often hard to remember. I’m thinking I should write some down now. . . . before I forget them again.

Before I set off, it’s good to know my destination or at least what direction I have chosen. I know I’ll constantly be making corrections, be stopping at times to make sure the plan is still a good one.

I need fuel to keep going. . . .

I need to know whether I’m good at mapping the trip, navigating, or making the journey happen. Hardly anyone is good at all of that. That’s why I need a few hearty traveling companions. The joy of sharing the experience, the people we meet, and the stories we make is the return on the investment..

It doesn’t slow me down when I stop to let someone go first. More often than not something good comes of it. I don’t get where I’m going any later.

When I drive extreme, I can’t pay attention to the details on the way there.

When I think I own the road, people act as if they agree, but they don’t. And they don’t see what I want them to see. They see me acting as if I’m important. In other words,

. . . when I think it’s about me, it’s not . . . It’s about them — what they need. Then I think it’s about them causing a problem, it’s not. . . . It’s about me –thinking I’m something special.

I don’t need a car to know the rules of the road — or the value in them. Even crossing the street, I know it’s best to look both ways first and to hold someone’s hand if I can. It makes the trip easier and adds to it.

And the road itself can take me anywhere I want to go.

What do you know about the rules of the road that you’re on? . . .

Personal Identity: What Is Humility?

Filed Under Branding, Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog | 108 Comments

humility.

Once when I was about eight, I saw this sentence written in an open space on a church bulletin.

The funny thing about humility is the second you think you have it, you don’t.

Obviously that sentence stayed with me. I revisit it often. I still see it. The original had been typed on the master sheet by a manual typewriter. As I reflect on the image, the sentence itself looks humble compared to what we look at now.

This morning, Karin and I talked about the meaning of humility, which started me thinking again.

I reflect on one idea every time I encounter that word humility It’s been the same since the day I first saw that sentence.

We get ourselves into weird shapes and strange configurations chasing after humility.

Humility is the recluse star of the virtues. It starts with the same H as halo.

I can tell you what I know about humility. Then maybe you’ll tell me more. That would be useful, because the ellusiveness of humility means we know more about what it is not than we do about what it is.

In fact, what humility is not is a good place to start. Humility is the absence of many things that we can do without.

Humility is not about deprivation. Humility is about more, not less. A humble heart gives more, has more room, sees more good, and is more generous.

Humility doesn’t make itself less. It doesn’t think of itself at all. So less cannot happen.

Humility does not bring itself down. It raises others up higher yet. A humble heart can hold up a chin. For a heart to do less would be to devalue everyone. Humility is about giving value, not taking it away.

Humility is not false. It doesn’t pretend to something it’s not. It doesn’t deny the truth about what is good. A star needs to shine fully bright to remain a star. A humble star knows that shining is what it does well and is generous with its light. Falsehoods in any form, are not humility. They are a denial of the truth, that’s something else.

Humility is without guile. It needs no plot, no plan. It has no needs at all.

Humility is not about me. It doesn’t make me bigger or smaller. It’s about everyone else.

We don’t know when we have it, because when we look at ourselves it is gone.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

SOB Business Cafe 08-18-2006

Filed Under Business Life, Community, Customer Think, Great Finds, Marketing, Productivity, Successful Blog, Tools | 5 Comments

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the title shots to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

A Consuming Experience offers us an in-depth first at the new Blogger Beta blogging software.

Christine Kane asks whether you’re the kind that marketers can hook?

CTBIZ Blogs explains how a test drive in a GM car proved the value of video as a quick, effective marketing tool.

Genuine Curiosity makes a great case for investing in yourself where the growth is likely to have the most impact.

It’s Not About Your Stuff reveals the secret of how to let go of that pile of stuff you’ve got taking up space inside your closets.

Related ala carte selections include

Creating Passionate Users shows us how to put star power into every customer experience.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like.
No tips required. Comments appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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