Tag Archives: spirituality

Running Toward Your Purpose

by on May 22, 2006 in Career, Creative

Since making the big announcement of our plans to hitch our wagon for Austin, TX, we’ve received a wide spectrum of responses from friends, family, and a few strangers. For the most part, the response has been overwhelmingly supportive bordering on admiration for taking such a grand leap of faith. That’s always appreciated considering there are times when both me and my wife look at each other with that wide-eyed gaze which silently says, “There’s a fine line between courageous and crazy…which side are we on now?”

To the other end of the spectrum lies a few folks who tend to believe that we must be running away from something. Else, why would we take such a grand leap? Perhaps I’m running from a job that’s lost its meaning…or we’re running from a place where we’ve lost a sense of community…or perhaps we’re just running away to be running. Any way you slice it this perspective evokes a sense of fear; like being in a low-budget horror movie, running from the demonic dog or masked killer who can never die.

But, throughout this unfolding adventure, I’m coming to a different space where I ask, “What if we’re running toward something?” Running from the monster is just running in any direction to get away from the beast (though it usually involves long, dark hallways). I feel we’re actually focused and running toward a richer, more soulful life. There is a lot of hopefulness in our decision and it’s that sense of hope that guides us through the inevitable turbulence.

Our decision is to make a radical change in where we call home. But the concept of running toward can apply in several other choices – some of which are more of the everyday, garden-variety types. So, how do you know if you’re running away or running toward? Take some time to reflect on these questions:

Which is more painful for me…staying the same or making a change?
Some folks are motivated by pain, some by pleasure. Let’s face it, though…most individuals view change as pain, loss, or a combination of both. If you’re stuck in a rut, it’s the fear of change because of pain that’s keeping you there. So, ask whether staying in the rut is worth all the trouble. If you’re hesitant to face a possible conflict with a co-worker or supervisor, where’s the fear/pain coming from? Instead of running from the possibility of conflict, ask whether it’s possible to run toward the improved relationship or the learning of how to communicate more effectively. Which leads to another question…

Will I learn anything about myself (or others) through this decision?
Running away from a toxic work environment or a bad personal relationship may be the right move in the short-term, but without taking the time for sufficient self-reflection you might just land in the same spot again later on. Running toward something better means you have the insight and personal understanding to run in the most appropriate direction. Which leads to yet another question…

Do I have a purpose for tomorrow?
Running toward is all about moving in the direction of a greater purpose. It means putting in the time, energy, and discipline to figure out what needs to happen in order to make that purpose a reality. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to have it all planned and mapped out. Hell, if that was the case, no one would have ever took to the seas to explore new worlds, no one would have had the courage to scale Everest, and no one would have taken great leaps of faith to find their life’s calling.

If you find yourself wondering if you’re running away from a problem or a place, reflect on some of these questions. Explore whether there is hope or fear in your heart. And don’t worry if you’re not able to take a great leap at first. Aim to take just a small risk. Over time, your confidence will grow and so will the boldness of your actions. Just remember to run toward.

Redefining Our Joy At Work

by on May 16, 2006 in Career, Creative, Work

Opus the PenguinWhile in Austin, TX this past week, I had some time to kill and discovered the wonderful BookPeople store. While browsing through their business section, I stumbled across a gem called Joy at Work by Dennis Bakke. The subtitle is A Revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job (there’s that word ‘fun’ again).

What is most compelling about the book is Bakke’s vulnerability in talking about the ups and downs of trying to create a values-driven and profitable company where people are free to bring their full passion to their work. Simple on paper, quite the opposite in practice, particularly when your organization is a publicly traded energy company employing over 30,000 people. What I most appreciate is Bakke’s unwillingness to break from his guiding beliefs: that joyful work must be fun and challenging; that each employee – regardless of their position in the organization – must have the power to make important decisions; that a business’s prime objective should be to benefit society while continuing to pursue financial viability. And he had plenty of opportunities to deviate from these beliefs, particularly when his Board of Directors felt his ‘experiment’ was costing the company profits and neglecting the stockholders’s interests.

One of the big takeaways for me, so far, is Bakke’s reintroduction of the word opus. To me, opus is a cartoon penguin (see picture above) and a term used in classical music (though I did not know that opera is the plural form of opus). What is new for me is that opus is a latin word meaning work, especially work that is a voluntary act imbued with creativity and meaning. That’s powerful and certainly reflects that kind of work we all want to do in our lives.

Bakke continues to offer a spiritual perspective of work when we writes:

God intended that the workplace be beautiful, exciting, and satisfying. Work was to be filled with joy. Work was a major reason for our creation. It was intended to be an important act of worship. It was one of the most significant ways in which we could honor our Creator.

We are challenged to bring the sublimity of the opus into our lives rather than merely settle for the more mundane drudgery of labor. What can you do today to bring your opus to life?

The Greater Sin Is Not Dreaming Big Enough

by on April 22, 2006 in Career, Creative, Life

I’ve been meditating on a particular prayer that prefaces a sermon written by Davidson Loehr, a Unitarian Universalist minister in Austin, Texas. Through this prayer, I’m facing off with that great demon known to us as Playing-It-Safe. Davidson writes:

If we must fail, let us fail at high endeavors. Let us not fail to be mediocre when we could instead fail to be absolutely brilliant. Let us not fall short of being moderately compassionate. Let us rather fall short of being fully compassionate.Of all our failures in life, perhaps the saddest are those in which we failed even to try and serve the highest and noblest ideals.

It is a sin to fail at low aims. Not because we failed, but because we aimed too low.

But it is not a sin to fail at very high aims, like aiming for truth, justice, compassion and character. Because even our failure puts us into the company of the saints, the company of those who also believe that rising to our full humanity and rising to our full divinity may be the same rising.

Striving after low and mean ends is a boring sin, not worthy of us. Let us have greater ambition for our failures. Let us vow never to fail at anything that wasn’t noble and proud, never to settle for lower aspirations for ourselves, our lives, our country or our world.

We will all fail at some things. But let it not be a failure of vision, a failure of aspiration. If we must fail, let us fail at high endeavors, and then let our failures bless us – for they will.

Amen.

You can read the full sermon here.

The passionate idea of working toward great and noble ambitions in our lives offers both comfort and strength. When put into this context, we are free to set our mind and body toward the light we want to create. Even failure cannot touch us or our soul.

I think this prayer ties into Curt Rosengren’s recent post on an interdependence of dreams and actions. When we gather the courage to dream big things and then take action to follow our heart’s calling, we move beyond the small ideas of success and failure. These are often inaccurately measured based on someone else’s notion of the world. Instead, we journey on a path which is uniquely our own…where the endpoint is uncertain, but clearly a paradoxical place of excitement and solace.

Extended Play (04/23/06): My friend Garth at exploreplay has a great quote from Jon Krakauer’s book Into The Wild which really accentuates the power of following your sense of adventure. It starts: “So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism…” Visit exploreplay for the rest of the quote…you’ll be glad you did.

The Best Gifts Are The Simple Ones

by on January 24, 2006 in Creative, Life

Over the past couple of months, I had the privilege to be a part of something magical. It all started when a great fella named Dave Rothacker had a hair-brained idea: wouldn’t it be neat if a group of people took a book which had a lot of shared meaning – each signing it with something nice – and sent it back to the author? Dave, being the hardboiled optimist that he is, dismissed the difficulties of coordinating such a feat. He didn’t care that the book would need to touch over thirty people dispersed throughout North America and Europe. He also stuck out his tongue at the very thought of trying to do this during the busiest time of year for mailing services – the Christmas/end of December holidays. And yet, it all worked better than anyone could have dreamed.

Those of us who make up Rosa Say’s Ho’ohana Community got a chance to let Rosa know how much she means to each of us. All of us have read her book, Managing with Aloha, and have been inspired to bring more of ourselves to our work. What started with Dave’s humble, yet powerful, idea snowballed into a project of love that involved each person giving something of themselves. Folks in the community coordinated personal handoffs with each other, they took pictures of themselves and the book, they wrote notes in the margins detailing how a particular part of the book made an impact on them.

It brings a smile to my face just imagining (and reading a recent email to the Community) how Rosa feels. All of us who write want to know on some level just how much of an impact their words have on others. In the end, what turned out to be just a book was transformed into a living testament of how one person has made a difference in the world.

All of this is a gracious and beautiful reminder that the best gifts are those given with simple intentions. Creating the gift may not always be easy, but when offered with true love from the brightest light of the soul, the gift assumes a power that is truly magical. And it encourages greater acts of light and love in other ways and in other places. Those of us in the Ho’ohana Community now ask, "What else can we do now?"

Cheers, Rosa. Your magic begets even more magic by those who are blessed to know you.

Practicing Small Kindnesses

by on December 4, 2005 in Creative, Life

Think making a huge difference in someone’s life takes a herculean effort or a lot of time? Just ask Scott Hodge who not only rediscovered the power of a buck, but the power of simple generosity.

What I love about his later reflection is how this isn’t only a lesson for him, but for his kids. Scott writes:

This is going to be Elise’s bedtime
story tonight. Why?  Because I want her to be this kind of person. I
want her to understand the value in helping people – even at her own
expense. It’s easy to open a door for someone. It’s easy to help
someone carry something heavy. But it’s not always easy pulling out
the $5 dollar bill.

Think the world’s going to hell in a handbasket? Nah, that’s just overrated, cynical chatter. The chance to experience and return small kindnesses is all around us.