Month: November 2023

Noticing

/ Scott / Leave a comment

Here in the Pacific Northwest the Thanksgiving weekend is shaping up to be sunny and cool, with temperatures in the 50s. The skies are a bright blue, and the lingering fall colors are a wonderful display of bright reds, oranges, and yellows. It’s a beautiful scene!

I’m well aware that the gray rainy days that define this part of the country are not far away. With that thought in mind, I want to make sure that I’m not only taking advantage of these sunny days, but also stopping and actually noticing them. It’s far too easy to get tunnel vision and focus only on our routines and daily tasks and miss the beauty that’s happening around us.

Whether it’s a beautiful day or the people around you, take time to slow down and actually notice them as the main even versus simply background displays or noise. There’s much to be noticed and appreciated by those who slow down enough to see it.

An Abundant Life

/ Scott / Leave a comment

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” ~Jesus (John 10:10)

What makes for an abundant life?  When we think of abundance, it’s easy to consider only of material things: food, money, leisure activities.  While we can certainly have a life with an abundance of these things, I think there other, more important items that make for an abundant life.

As a Jesus-follower, when I think of what makes for an abundant life, I think of non-tangible things like: peace, joy, deep connection with friends and family, and contributing somewhere in a meaningful way, are just a few examples.  Even though these non-tangible items of abundance can be myriad, they can also be easily overlooked.

Take some time this Thanksgiving week to ponder the intangible items that bring abundance to your life, and perhaps even choose to invite more of these items into your life.  The abundance you seek is likely just a choice away. 

Being Curious

/ Scott / Leave a comment

I heard someone talking about mindfulness recently, in a way that I hadn’t heard it discussed before.  They mentioned that when you’re mindful, you’re able to be curious about how you’re feeling in a situation before you just automatically respond to it. 

For example, if a car cuts you off, is your first inclination to lay on the horn, assume the worst about the other driver, or worse?  (Yeah, me too!)  If, however, we’re being “mindfully curious” we might instead ask something like:

  • “Why am I so upset by someone else’s driving? “
  • “I wonder what caused them to do that?”
  • “Why do I feel the need to vent my frustration at this person?”
  • “Is this how I’d want another driver to treat me if I accidently cut them off in traffic?”   

I’ll speak for myself here, but it often seems like I have an autopilot of negative responses that assume the worst in people.  These responses manifest themselves in my thoughts, words, and behavior with hardly any effort on my part.  They feel almost automatic.

Being a person, whose knee-jerk reaction is to respond negatively, is not who I want to be.  As a result, I’m going to work on being more curious of how I feel when I want to react negatively, so that I can gain some perspective and make a better decision.  A decision that better aligns with the person I want to be. 

Now We Have A Deadline

/ Scott / Leave a comment

For years, my wife and I have been saying that we need to get a will done.  It’s one of those things that’s extremely important, not super urgent (that we know of!), and is easy to put off.  We finally connected with a professional to help us.  One thing I appreciate, is that we have a day on the calendar when we will sign off on the completed document.  Now we have a deadline.

While we still have some work to do, having a “complete-by-date” on the calendar is just the motivation (and accountability) we need to ensure that we’ll see this task to completion! 

If you’re struggling to complete a task that you know needs to be done, consider creating a real deadline.  What would be even better, would be to link that deadline to someone who will hold you accountable.

Sometimes a date on the calendar is all the motivation you need.