Happy First Day of Spring!!
Spring is one of the four conventional temperate seasons, following winter and preceding summer. The specific definition of the exact timing of “spring” varies according to local climate, cultures and customs. At the spring equinox, days are close to 12 hours long with day length increasing as the season progresses. Spring and “springtime” refer to the season, and also to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection, and regrowth. ~ From Wikipedia
I Want to Look More Closely At….(post by Kirk Weisler)
I want to look more closely at our words and our tendency to be critical of things we can’t imagine. ( This is a revised review of a T4D from 2008 that I felt the need to revisit)
We were having a family discussion about why some kids and adults seem to find it necessary to tease, berate, call names or bully others. I was impressed with the reasons my kids came up with which follows.
- They are insecure
- They don’t feel good about themselves and don’t want anyone else too feel good either
- They feel threatened in some way by the person they are attacking (lot’s of possibilities with this one – Jealousy & Envy
probably the leading causes) - They don’t like themselves
- They don’t really understand who they are
After a good discussion about how what we say to others and how we treat them is much more a reflection of us than anyone else I felt a renewed confidence in my children’s ability to respond to people who are critical of them…or just critical in general.
It’s been my experience that people who have the strongest sense of who they are spend the least amount of time talking critically of others, or worrying about what others may think.
Part 2 –
Recently someone criticized a political candidate that I admire in many ways calling him a phony. I asked the critic on what grounds did he consider him a phony. His reply, “Nobody has a family like that, they’re all a bunch of fakes.”
“Like what?” I said, probing for specifics.
The critic referencing a recent interview he had watched responded, “You know, that they all don’t all get along like that. Who has family discussions without talking over one another, acting all respectful and stuff? Families just don’t look, talk, or act that way…they were a bunch of fakes.”
I knew immediately the video clip he was referring too… it was one of main reasons I identified with the candidate. What my friend was calling phony, was to me, a living reality. What he couldn’t fathom as being real, is how I would like to think, my own family culture operates “most” of the time. But since what my friend saw was so far from any reality of his own life experiences, he couldn’t bring himself to accept that it could be genuine. In his mind families really could not act and communicate in that manner. In his mind the only explanation for it was it must have been a phony. He saw the world not as it was but as he was. Or more accurately he saw the world differently than I saw it. But my concern wasn’t so much that we each saw it differently – it was in considering what is lost to us and our potential when we close in our minds because we are convinced that we are right.
As I was pondering on these 2 thoughts – an idea came into my mind that I have tried to capture below.
What we can’t imagine or envision as a reality in our own lives, we often dismiss as a fanciful fantasy or phony in the lives of others. In so doing we stop ourselves from not only seeing another potentially better way, but of becoming better ourselves. ~Kirk Weisler
Friends
Positive Inspirational Quotes ( PIQ)
5 ways to avoid workout burnout
The first few days of a new workout routine can be magical, but much like a thriving relationship, an exercise regimen requires attention and creativity to maintain its allure. True, any exercise is better than no exercise, but who wants to always hit up the same ol’ treadmill?
Remember, the healthier you are overall, the better chance you have of avoiding eye conditions like hypertension and glaucoma, which often result from larger health issues. Mix up your workouts to help avoid gym boredom, and give these 5 activities a shot!
Roll with the punches
We’re all about the “no hitting” policy, but that doesn’t mean we can’t channel our frustrations into a punching bag every now and then. It’s a great way to improve agility, balance,
circulation, and general fitness. With proper precautions and protection, you can enjoy a stress-relieving, heart-healthy workout.
Get your yoga on
Throw a twist into your yoga routine by trying aerial yoga, Cy-Yo(cycling and yoga combined), or floating yoga on a paddleboard if you’re feeling particularly adventurous. Even small scale changes, such as moving your routine to the backyard or a different room in your house, can be invigorating and help you avoid the workout doldrums.
Bounce around
If you just so happen to have a trampoline hanging around, put it to good use and get jumping! If not, scope out the alternative workout scene in your neighborhood for a trampoline dodge-ball or cardio class. While an excuse to burn calories and improve muscle tone is reason enough to get jumping, the fun factor is also a plus.
Cross train it up
This approach is especially good for those who enjoy structured and compact workouts. Push your normal workout boundaries by letting your instructor guide you and your classmates from squats, to sprints, to weights, to whatever he chooses. Be forewarned: you’re in for some sore muscles the next day!
Swirl the pounds away
Hula hoops are no longer just for kids, although you can use the little ones as an excuse to squeeze in a wacky workout. Grab a weighted hula hoop for extra resistance and fat-burning power, and get swirling. The best part about this activity is you don’t have to leave your house (or your TV!).
post from –http://www.vspenvisionnewsletter.com/2013/03/5-ways-to-avoid-workout-burnout/#.UT9yBtY4uAU
Stepping Stones
Positive Inspirational Quotes ( PIQ)
Trust and Home Shaking Like Harlem (post by Kirk Weisler)
Recovering from the “Hit and Run” – I remember when Stephen Covey was asked how to rebuild trust after it was broken.(organizationally or individually) His answer was profoundly simple. After emphasizing that do so is never an easy task, and one that generally takes a lot of time, he said that the best way that he knew to go about it was to “Make a promise and then keep it. Then do it again, and again, and again.” He emphasized that the size of the promises made as not important…but not breaking them was essential.
Speaking of Trust – Most are probably aware of the “Harlem Shake” video trends. I was aware of it..but didn’t know it would hit so close to home.
A couple of weeks ago Rebecca and I were away for a weekend leaving the kids in charge of themselves. They love it when we go away and assure us that “they have it handled”. We always come home to a very clean house, bathed and happy children – with the little ones saying how much fun they had with their big brothers and sister…BUT we’re never really sure what goes on while we are gone. This time however we caught it all on video…check it out.
Shake it today… and BUILD TRUST
Simple or Insecure (post by Kirk Weisler)
Thank you Jim Tingen for sharing this with me… from “The Power of Simplicity”, by Jack Trout.
“When Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, he had 20,000 words with which to work. When Lincoln scribbled the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope there were about
114,000 words at his disposal. Today there are more than 600,000 words in Webster’s Dictionary. Tom Clancy appears to have used all of them in his last thousand-page novel.
“Insecure managers create complexity. Frightened, nervous managers use thick, convoluted planning books and busy slides filled with everything they’ve known since childhood. Real leaders don’t need clutter. People must have the self-confidence to be clear, precise, to be sure that every person in their organization – highest to lowest – understands what the business is trying to achieve. But it’s not easy. You can’t believe how hard it is for people to be simple, how much they fear being simple. They worry that if they’re simple, people will think they’re simple-minded. In reality, of course, it’s just the reverse. Clear, tough-minded people are the most simple.”
Hear What Isn’t Being Said (post by Kirk Weisler)
“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.” ~Peter Drucker
This couldn’t be more true…. or more difficult. It really does take a deliberate effort to cultivate the habit of seeking understanding of what is being said. It’s so easy to want to “get it” quickly so we can move on. This usually results in our thinking we’ve “got it” when we really we don’t. Then we end up responding to the “wrong thing” in what we think is the “right way”…. but we’re just plain wrong and all because we didn’t “really” hear what was being said. We only heard the words but missed the intended meaning.
To accomplish this we must listen with our brain, our ears, our eyes and our heart.
Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Understand?
Mzsunflower's Say What? 