Windridge Reflections

“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch heaven.” -   - Johannes A. Gaertner

I love this.... "A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song." Chinese Proverb "The song of life is born in every soul. But the song we are meant to sing does not come to us whole. It grows in us - louder, stronger, clearer, more fully - over the years until we discover, finally, that our call has been within us all the while. Learning to hear the song within us, finding the call within us, and then bending our lives to follow it to the fullness of ourselves is the key to happiness, to meaning, to fullness of life." Joan Chittister * taken from the book Following the Path by Joan Chittister

I posted this quote on Pinterest on Father’s Day: “The greatest thing a father can do for his daughter is to love her mother.” I believe this to be a truism for both daughters and sons—the love and respect two parents have and show for one another creates an emotionally safe space for children to grow up and learn how to love and respect others. As I posted it though, I wondered…alright, how about those parents who are divorced, how do they continue to show love (or at the least) show respect for someone they are no longer married to / partnered with and who they may not have the best relationship with?   Here are a couple thoughts that came to mind: Never, and I mean never, speak negatively of the absent spouse / partner in the presence of your children. Children hear and feel so much more than given credit for. They are like little sponges, and the tear between their love for the two most important people in their lives, who don’t like each other, can be emotionall...

"Ordinary happiness depends on happenstance. Joy is that extraordinary happiness that is independent of what happens to us. Good luck can make us happy, but it cannot give us lasting joy. The root of joy is gratefulness. We tend to misunderstand the link between joy and gratefulness. We notice that joyful people are grateful and suppose that they are grateful for their joy. But the reverse is true: their joy springs from gratefulness. If one has all the good luck in the world, but takes it for granted, it will not give one joy. Yet even bad luck will give joy to those who manage to be grateful for it. We hold the key to lasting happiness in our own hands. For it is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful." From Gratefulness, The Heart of Prayer by Brother David Steindl-Rast. Thanks to Brené Brown, Ph.D. for originally posting this on her Ordinary Courage blog.   Image: istockphoto

I don’t particularly like networking events because I’m an introvert by nature. I typically feel self-conscious and awkward. So when I read Peter Bregman’s Harvard Business Review post this week, and found out he feels the same way (who would have known?), I could so relate. Here is a wonderful take away for this last Friday in March: “People will trust you if you trust yourself. And to trust yourself you have to step out from behind the curtain. You have to expose yourself, free of titles and status. When you allow people to see you — as impressive and vulnerable as you are — then they will trust you. Because they will know you.” — Peter Bregman Thank you Peter for putting it so well! Image: istockphoto

Aging is at times emotionally and physically challenging..... On the other hand, I would not trade all that I have now, the people, experiences and maturity, to go back.

I remind myself of this every day - "In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet... Some will test you, some will use you, and some will teach you. But most importantly some will bring out the best in you." ( from Marc and Angel Hack Life - Practical Tips for Productive Living )

“The year rotates through the seasons like a wheel of fortune. Being present in each one, possessing its bounty and taking its inconveniences in stride, means living to the fullest every day of the life you get.” —Victoria Moran Life is lived in seasons, and I am slowly learning to appreciate and live fully in each season. Too much time spent reminiscing about what has passed, or waiting for what is to come is squandered time that doesn’t yield a positive outcome. Can you imagine spending your summer moping around and wishing for winter, or spending the beauty of spring worrying about fall? Granted, brief moments of: “I can’t wait to go skiing” or “The beach next summer is going to be wonderful,” are normal but living in a season one isn’t in at the expense of where you are is a sad waste of time. Honestly, each season has its golden moments, and I’m learning to notice those moments as well as enjoy them. This concept is always brought home to me after I spend time with family. Ou...

Last month I wrote a "Things I Want" list and one of the identified items was, “I want to have comfortable friends.” Today as I reread last month's thoughts I wondered to myself, so what is a “comfortable” friend and what constitutes a comfortable friendship? Is it the amount of time one spends with a person, is it proximity or identical preferences; what makes this special bond? I decided to take a little bit of my Saturday afternoon and jot down what makes a comfortable friend for me. Attributes of a “comfortable” friend, and thus, a comfortable friendship: We laugh, we cry, we rant, we tell secrets, we hold confidences and we know when to be silent. We listen. We respect each other’s strengths, and encourage each other to overcome our weaknesses. We speak with honesty, seasoned with grace. We forgive when boundaries have been crossed. We stand up for each other when the other person is not present. And at all times we can be ourselves, knowing that we a...

Love this quote - life is too short to become hung-up on the small things! “Often we allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. We lose many irreplaceable hours brooding over grievances that, in a year’s time, will be forgotten by us and by everybody. No, let us devote our life to worthwhile actions and feelings, to great thoughts, real affections and enduring undertakings.” Andre Maurois 1885-1967, Writer

"Each of us is unique...      Each of us is important... Each of us brings to the world a specific treasure box of talents and gifts that we are charged with bringing to fruition." Julia Cameron What talents and gifts you are focusing on in 2011? For help: Learn From the Past and Move Into the Future .

Chronologically we’re at the end of the year but the beginning of the journey. Sarah Ban Breathnach One of my favorite weeks of the year is this week between Christmas and the New Year. For some reason it seems the perfect time to take a “time out” to pause and reflect. I’m spending this week thinking about the past year, successes and challenges, and then shifting my focus to the coming year and identifying what my theme for the New Year will be. Then on January 1st I will sit in quiet reflection and record all of my thoughts..... Perfect! If you don’t start, You won’t arrive… Anonymous Use the questions below to map your course for 2011 2010 For the past year what was your overall theme? What were your three biggest wins personally? What were your three biggest wins professionally? What were the three top lessons you learned? What was the one personal quality that you developed in 2010? List the ways this quality helped you both personally and professionally. 2011 Lo...

“' A' earned his angel wings at 12:56 a.m. Fly high sweet boy…mommy will love you forever.” Today I read these words and they set me remembering my brief volunteer time with little A , rocking him while he fell asleep in my arms. I was at Children’s Hospital Seattle as a part of a Side by Side support team to his parents. Our goal was to help provide some normalcy in their lives during A’ s boring and sometimes terrifying hospital treatments. Looking back, it was actually a year ago this month. I remember one of the things the family wanted to do was take their other small children out to the pumpkin patch to pick out Halloween pumpkins. What they really needed was the comfort of knowing that someone was with their little A while they were away from the hospital. The nurses at Children's Hospital are excellent, but must divide their time among several patients, therefore, having volunteers who will come and support families with children going through treatmen...

Below is a short story to encourage you to identify and understand what you are doing day in and day out and why it matters. A manager wanted to see how his workers felt about their jobs. He went to his building site to take an informal poll. He approached the first worker and asked, “What are you doing?” “What are you blind?” the worker snapped back. “I’m cutting these boulders with primitive tools and putting them together the way to boss tells me. I’m sweating under this blazing sun, it’s backbreaking work, and it’s boring me to death.” The executive quickly backed off and went looking for another worker. “What are you doing?” he asked, “I’m shaping these boulders into different forms, which are then assembled according to the architect’s plan. It’s hard work and it sometimes gets repetitive, but I earn a good wage and that supports my family. It’s a job. Could be worse.” Somewhat discouraged, he went to a third worker. “What are you doing?” he asked, “Why can’t you see?” beamed t...

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my inner circle of both professional and personal influencers and friends and I came across this excellent post by Dan Schawbel. Here is how to break down people who should and shouldn’t be part of your inner circle:    Who should be in your inner circle?     People that you admire and wish to build a mutual relationship with.     People that you see yourself working with, whether at a company, your own company or side projects.     People that you have enough shared interests with so you can easily keep in touch with them, without appearing fake.     People that have complementary strengths.     People who understand the principles of networking and won’t use you and abuse you.     People who are passionate, caring and seek to help others. Who shouldn’t be in your inner circle?     People that have nothing in commo...

“A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.” William Arthur Ward

This my friends, is a stand alone: "The supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office. If his associates find him guilty of phoniness, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other." “The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose." —Dwight D. Eisenhower

“If, as Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things; if we consider ourselves so unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have time to make the long, slow journey across the desert as did the Magi? Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds? Or brood over the coming child as did Mary? For each one of us, there is a desert to travel. A star to discover. And a being within ourselves to bring to life.” - Author Unknown MERRY CHRISTMAS!

"To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right." -- Confucius * Photo – moonset LWC *** this photo is not photoshopped.

It can be difficult to remain focused when we are bombarded daily by good – bad news, our hopes – fears, positive – negative feelings and so on. How do you maintain your focus? How do you not get pulled this way or that due to the emotion of the moment? First, focus by setting measurable and attainable “end goals.” Do some personal development work to discover / uncover who you are, your strengths and what you want your life to be about. After you have an idea of who you are and where you are heading the next challenge will be in developing the ability to shift the seemingly unrelated or even distracting events of this world into positive outcomes that move you toward your identified goals. And remember, there will be times when you cannot shift the unsettling event, but must learn to sift through the situation and take the good, glean any “learning” you can extract and then let the rest fall to the sand below to be washed away by the sea of time. Ask yourself these questions: What do ...