Connecting dots with The Idea Dude
Earlier this week, Liz was thinking about the sound of words. It got be me thinking too, how words are affect our hearts, moods and minds. Take for example.
Adversity The word is ominous, like an unscalable mountain.
Stephen blogs about facing adversity with examples from his own life. Sometimes adversity is real, other times, it is a perceived position we choose to take in our minds. Stephen talks about our debilitating habit of comparing ourselves to others and how it makes us feel small. It did not feel good. That’s exactly what your ego wants you to feel. He chides himself for that temporary weakness by recognizing, that each and every one of us is exactly where we are supposed to be, right now at this very moment. (If you love his attitude to life, you’ll love his story on self-acceptance.)
Liz looks at it in a very similar way when she says, It’s the knowing that I’m going in the right direction that counts. . . . Who do I want to be? was where my focus belonged. Being true to myself suddenly became easy. Believing in ourselves is the beginning.
Sometimes an adversity is just a setback.
Tony tells us the best weapon against setbacks is momentum. It’s about taking responsibility, picking youself up and saving yourself. Tony is smart (btw, he also draws terrific cartoons). Hmm, if we view any adversity as a temporary setback instead of a failure, we have hope. Hope is belief in the future.
Responsibility
Being responsible for our own setbacks is something Terry wrote to himself when he was faced with an untenable situation. On that particular day I decided to take control of my life. . . . From that point, I can imagine Terry felt more like the master of his destiny than a victim of circumstance. It made him believe in himself and his says, I still believe.
Hope
April coined a very interesting word, Opi. It means future you. It’s a wonderful concept, she says it’s writing about your future in the present tense. To me, it’s about focusing on everything you could be despite where you are today. It’s about setting your own ceiling.
Terry is a terrific singer. To all this week’s dots, I’ll leave you with these words that Terry sang at SOBCon, I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words. How wonderful life is while you’re in the world. . . . It’s for people like you that keep it turned on.
Terry, I believe too!
May the dots be with you!
Phil Gerbyshak says
August 12, 2007 at 7:08 PMWow Vern, this is an awesome connecting of the dots. Through it all, the feeling of belief rang loud and clear. Keep going, you can do it!
Thanks for the reminder. I appreciate that very much!
Vernon Lun says
August 12, 2007 at 7:25 PMThanks Phil, you hit it right on the head, we often need to be reminded about things we already know deep down.
That’s what finding terrific dots do for me too.
Vern
Stephen Hopson says
August 12, 2007 at 7:29 PMVern,
WOW. My good blogger friend Phil Gerbyshak alerted me to your comment about my “Adversity University” article on how sometimes we tend to compare ourselves to others.
You know what’s intersting is that after I wrote it, I began to wonder if I was allowing myself to be too vulnerable by opening my heart like that. But after thinking about it for a day or so, I realized how can one be authentic if we aren’t willing to share our innermost vulnerabilities with our readers? After all, we aren’t superhuman, right?
Thank you for connecting the dots with me today. Indeed, we are only strangers once…..
Stephen Hopson
ME Strauss says
August 12, 2007 at 8:16 PMStephen,
Your article was inspiring. An open heart is strength one hundredfold. You’re a hero.
you’re not a stranger anymore. 🙂
April Groves says
August 13, 2007 at 4:47 AMVern,
How excited I am to be reading this on a Monday morning. This inspiration is better than a cup of coffee. Thanks for thinking of me, although I must add that Liz and yourself were the inspiration for my dot.
🙂
Stephen Hopson says
August 13, 2007 at 5:55 AMLiz:
Thanks for saying my article was inspiring. You’re right – an open heart is strength one hundredfold and people respond to that. It’s about being authentic, isn’t it?
Thanks again Liz!
Stephen
ME Strauss says
August 13, 2007 at 6:37 AMHi April!
I love the magic in which we raise each other higher just by doing what we do well. 🙂
ME Strauss says
August 13, 2007 at 6:39 AMHi Stephen,
Yeah, it’s about being authentic . . . Autenticity makes everything so much easier. Sure it’s hard to get used to trying it out, but boyhowdy once you do — the world responds by opening up. 🙂
Stephen Hopson says
August 13, 2007 at 7:33 AMLiz:
I love how you used that word “boyhowdy”!! What a cute word. Yes, once you try authencity for size, you attract the right kind of people in the world like magnet. I’m experiencing that right now in unbelievable ways.
It takes courage and risk to do that because we’re taught to “fake it to make it” or at least not “put all our cards on the table.”
If more people knew the value of being open, honest and accessible, imagine the world we’d live in!
So, I’m with you boyhowdy!
Stephen
ME Strauss says
August 13, 2007 at 7:37 AMHi Stephen!
Bowhowdy! Yeah!
If more people knew the value and joy, the world would be more fun. 🙂
Terry Starbucker says
August 13, 2007 at 11:38 AMVern, this is a wonderful post and I appreciate your kind words and the link – what I wrote about in that post was clearly a turning point in my life, and I’m grateful to have been given a chance to share that learning experience. In addition to being in the great company of Tony and April, you’ve also introduced me to Stephen, whose post on the “comparison habit” is just outstanding. As for you, my friend, I continue to admire and appreciate what you are doing to positively affect our hearts, moods and minds. Please don’t stop, and I’m glad you believe too.
BTW, as for my singing, I wonder if anyone out there in the SOB universe has any requests for next year? Given what we’ve started here, by next May I’d think something like “Overjoyed” might work best…. 🙂
All the best!
Vernon Lun says
August 13, 2007 at 9:10 PMHi Stephen,
Thank you for your courage in opening up on your blog that way you do. I recognized a lot me in your stories. I’m sure it did for many others too.
Vern
Vernon Lun says
August 13, 2007 at 9:12 PMHi April, your post about ‘opi’ was inspiring, I never forgot about it… just waiting for the right moment, and this was it!
Vern
Vernon Lun says
August 13, 2007 at 9:17 PMHey Terry, when I read your post, I remembered I was there too a long time ago and I wished I had your wisdom to help me through then. I must have believed because I’m in great company now!
Re: singing, this time, I’m expecting not only one song but an encore!
Stephen Hopson says
August 14, 2007 at 2:08 PMVern:
Really? You recognize a lot of you in my stories? That’s cool. It confirms that we are all from the same peas in a pod. (is that the right way to say it? If not, then I think you know what I mean).
Anyway, I can’t thank you enough for recognizing my writing the way you did in this post. I am grateful for it.
Stephen
Stephen Hopson says
August 15, 2007 at 2:08 PMTerry:
Wow, thanks for your thunderous compliment about my “comparisons habit” article over at Adversity University. It is people like you and others who encourage me to keep writing and showing my inner self. The results of writing like that have been nothing short of astounding!
You also keep going – your words are truly touching hearts of those lucky enough to see your work! Don’t stop!
Stephen