Like attracts like.
Be who you are,
calm and clear and bright,
asking yourself every minute
is this what I really want to do,
doing it only when you answer yes.This turns away those who have
nothing to learn from who you are
and attracts those who do,
and from whom you have to learn as well.
— Messiah’s Handbook, Reminders for the Advanced Soul,
by Richard Bach
Illusions. It’s all illusions. We invent the world.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
From the first hello on the phone, I have looked forward to every word from Drew McLellan. Drew has a magical way of seeing the world that combines humor and humanity into compassion.
So I wasn’t surprised to find out that Drew is on the board of Variety US, a charity serving children. Nor was I surprised at the way he chose to explain his “purely selfish” reasons for being there. A humble guy would make sure that you’re looking the kids not at him.
Why would a guy get involved?
Why Variety?
Honestly, for purely selfish reasons. I admit it. I serve as an Iowa and US Variety board member for myself. After all, isnââ¬â¢t this the whatââ¬â¢s in it for me era? So what do I get out of it? Joy. Pride. Laughter. Opportunity.
Joy? I am literally immersed in joy overflowing every time I participate in a Bikes for Kids rally or see a childââ¬â¢s face when they realize that the technicool wheelchair really is for them. The kids and their uncensored awe creates an energy that you canââ¬â¢t help but get caught up in — and I get to carry that with me for days.
Pride? How lucky am I that I get to use my god given talents and skills to change my little part of the world? I am so proud to be associated with the amazing staff and volunteers who give their all to raise the money that allows a young boy go to Diabetes camp or provides new school supplies so a little girl wonââ¬â¢t get teased by her classmates and can actually look forward to her first day of school.
Laughter? Whether itââ¬â¢s a board meeting, fundraiser or just because, the incredible people that Variety attracts have enriched my life with their friendship, warmth and laughter. There is an aura of determined giddiness that seems to flow from these good people who make the time in their busy lives to help kids who will probably never meet their kind hearted benefactors.
Opportunity? Variety is my chance to say thank you. Thank you for a healthy daughter. And a blessed life. Itââ¬â¢s my way of trying to tip the scales and share some of what Iââ¬â¢ve been given because truth be told, in a blink of an eye — it could just as easily be me whoââ¬â¢s pacing outside a peds ICU room or trying to understand why my child will never walk.
Iââ¬â¢m sure most people give their time to Variety for the kids. But in my case, itââ¬â¢s all about me.
___
Thanks, Drew, for your purely selfish reasons.
It’s the “purely” that makes the difference.
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.
. Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.
I remember on my first trip to England, how surprised I was when I got into the countryside. Somehow I had expected, from looking at maps, that the small country compared to my own, would be small everywhere.
It wasn’t.
As my dear friend and I road out over the highway, I saw green rolling hills, villages in the distance, and a view took my eyes all of the way to the horizon. I had long before discovered the value of a visual change as a vacation, but this was much more than that. I was filled with a feeling of belonging.
All that I saw, the trees, grass that covered the low hilly country, the occasional bigger hill, every bit felt right in proportion and distance. I felt room to relax, to let my mind stretch out. This country perfectly suited my sense of space. I even remarked on it.
A sense of space and my place in it had I thought about it before that day? I don’t know. I do know that, when we talked about a sense of space, I was talking about something that always had been a part of me.
This morning I look at the space around me. I realize there isn’t any. I’ve turned my desk into a tiny country, with satellite nations on my file cabinet, the credenza, the table, the box beside it, the floor . . .
If it looks like that around me, I wonder how it must look inside my head?
I’m going to take a half hour to empty some places around here. I know that if I do, my shoulders will relax and I’ll start to sit back. I’d like to see whether being empty-headed might be a really nice feeling.
Space, my frontier. I’d like to explore where it takes me.
I’m going out the door to see wide open space. As soon as I get outside, I’ll be looking at that horizon under a BIG Illinois blue spring sky over Lake Michigan. I won’t be thinking about what I have left behind that needs working on.
Most things I do are not things that involve the question of whether a life begins or ends if I’m not there. The world can turn without me.
I’m going to stare at the horizon while I think about nothing. I’m going to explore space — that frontier of reflection in my mind.
We all have moments of self-doubt. Maybe not, but I sure know I do. As we get to know ourselves and find our feet, the moments get shorter. I don’t expect they ever disappear completely. The seems a momentary reminder of our fragile humanity.
This week I had a tired moment of self-doubt.
Tariq called at that same time. This lucky girl is getting to feel familiar with that blogger synchronicity, but I’ll never stop being captivated by its joyful and genuine surprise.
While Tariq and I talked about the options that stood before me and the barrier of self-doubt that I was holding up, he said something so simple. These aren’t his words, they’re mine. How could I remember word-for-word? I was listening from inside a box I’d built around me. But what Tariq almost whispered went something like this . . .
Liz, I know you know what to do. . . . . You wrote in a blog post last week. . . You tell other people all of the time. Tell yourself now.
“Act like you know what to do,” was what I answered back.
“That’s it,” he said. “Just do it for you. You do it for everyone.”
Then I saw myself on the other side of that darn barrier. What had been the scary thing that made me think I needed to stop myself from trying?
I did what I had been afraid to do. Nothing could have been so well-received.
Tariq had reminded me to know what I already knew.
It changed my life that day.
Friends do that for each other.
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.
. Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.
When I was a young manager, I didn’t know it but, I saw myself as a knight in shining armor. I had decided that rather than look to my boss for approval, I would look out my people. I would be their champion.
When a person on my team came to me with a problem, I would immediately want to make that problem be gone. I would listen in depth to the story and talk with the person about strategy on how to handle it.
Sometimes the best strategy would be for me to step in. Defusing problems became removing road blocks and slaying dragons. Not the best way to look at things.
Armed with sword of the story that I’d been told, I would head over, up, or down to the location of the other people involved to meet about the issue. Sometimes the meeting would include the person who brought me the problem. Sometimes it would be a meeting between me and my counterpart in another department.
The meeting would happen. I would lay out the “facts” as I had been told them in the fewest words from beginning to end, and when I was finished. I would have slayed the dragon.
All too often that would be when manager peer would tell me the other side of the story and I would look down to see a slain kitten.
These days, when I hear a story of how someone has been wronged. I listen so carefully. I put myself in that person’s shoes. I think and feel as I were the person talking. Then I do what I might to get the other side of the story. I look for innocence, compassion, and forgiveness enough to give to both sides.
I’ve sworn off slaying kittens.
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
______________
If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.
. Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.
When I wrote the title of this post I thought I was going to say something else, but just as I was about to type I got an email. A friend sent me a message she said I could share.
Stop for a second and look outside. See the colors? I know you can’t hear the mourning dove, but it’s singing, too. So are lots of other birds I don’t know the name of.
And here’s a quotation from something I read last night that also made me think of you –
The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. – Frederick Buechner
It speaks to me about your being called to building humanity. It’s about having no choice but to live your dream.
Jean Hopman is a blog reader.
Thank you, Jean, for inspiring me.
Think of how inspiration changes your world view.
Go on inspire someone.
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
______________
If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.
. Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.