The Wins

Remember those X-Ray glasses from last week that helped us see The Weight people were carrying around?  I was sharing that idea with a group of leaders last week and one of them remarked, "I wish there was a way for those glasses to also show us the joys that people were carrying around too."  

That really struck me!  Perhaps because of some of The Weight I am carrying around myself right now, I hadn't really thought about the opposite also being true. Maybe those awesome glasses wouldn't just show us the weight, but they also revealed the joys and gratitude people had!

The very next day I was with another group of leaders and one of the people brought up the idea of celebrating our Wins, even if they are small.  They shared how they can often get so focused on the difficulties they are facing that it's easy to lose sight of the good things happening in their lives. So, they have started a practice of regularly looking for the small Wins in their life - the moments or interactions that are a reason to smile, be grateful, and experience a little joy!

Obviously, I was being handed a message from the Universe to pass along to you this week!

What if these awesome X-Ray glasses not only revealed the weight people were carrying, but also allowed us to see the Wins in their lives?!  Perhaps that would add a smile to our faces and hearts!  Maybe it would create an opportunity to celebrate and share in their joy with them.  What if it meant we got to see something and name it for them, because they were having a hard time seeing it themselves?  The glasses helped us notice a Win in their life they didn't even realize was there, and we got to see it and help them celebrate.

As I've been thinking about this image some more, I'm picturing the Wins are like helium-filled balloons which are attached to the Weight we are carrying.  Every time we notice and celebrate a Win, even a small one, the weight is lifted, even if it's just a little bit.  It's not as if the Wins remove the Weight, it's just that the Wins help to lighten the load of the Weight.

What kind of Wins could you celebrate from your life this past week?  Do you have something coming up which you think could be an opportunity for a Win, and what would it take to pay attention and make sure you didn't miss it when it happened?  Have you seen some Wins in the lives of others around you and how could you point that out and celebrate it with them? Are you working with or leading a team that got a Win, and how could you recognize it together so it brought some joy to everyone?

Here's to creating smiles and lifting loads through some Wins this week!

Be Well,

Stephen

Center was created to support individuals and teams so they can live from their Purposeful Center. We specialize in professional coaching and leadership development and we'd love to support you! Click on our Services page to book a free consultation.

The Weight

Sometimes I wish I had a pair of X-Ray Glasses. No, not the ones that would let me see through walls or outfits, but the kind of glasses that would let me see the emotional Weight people are carrying around with them. 

I am personally aware of 5 different people who are currently in various hospitals around the country, and each one of those individuals touches countless other lives - spouses, children, extended family, friends, etc.  I have another friend who has two vehicles and both of them had mechanical issues on the same day!  I know people who just lost jobs, people who are looking for jobs, and another person who just had to let someone go. I even know someone whose dog got sprayed by a skunk just before they were leaving to go to the airport on a trip and they didn't have time to change their clothes or they were going to miss their flight!

It's all Weight people are carrying.

It might be tempting to think that because my job involves having personal conversations with lots of people that I happen to know more stories like this than others.  While that may be partially true, the more important point for us to consider today is, if we could put on these special X-Ray glasses and we looked around, we would notice that everyone is carrying some emotional Weight around with them.  Sometimes the Weight might not be as heavy as others, and sometimes it's extra heavy, but I think these glasses would show that everyone is carrying something! 

Now let's say we all had on a pair of these special glasses and we could see this Weight we are all carrying around. I wonder how that might impact the way we talk to one another or how we interact with others - even strangers? Maybe we would be a lot quicker to extend grace to someone who was acting grumpy or got frustrated quickly? Perhaps we might smile more or take a few extra moments to just pause with someone and let them know we are in their corner? Maybe we would be willing to accept the kindness of others because they could see the Weight we were carrying instead of just acting like everything was fine?!

While the glasses would be an awesome reminder, the reality is, we all know this is true for all of us right now. Everyone is carrying something! How might the reality of that Weight impact the way you interact with people around you this week? If you are leading a team or facilitating a meeting, would this change the way you approach those individuals or that session? When you get frustrated with a situation or find yourself having a short fuse, would you give yourself some extra kindness and grace knowing the Weight you are carrying yourself?

Here's to being mindful of The Weight in all of our lives this week!

Be Well,

Stephen

Center was created to support individuals and teams so they can live from their Purposeful Center. We specialize in professional coaching and leadership development and we'd love to support you! Click on our Services page to book a free consultation.

UnFiltered Reality

Have you seen those posts on social media where they show the filtered version of the picture, but then they also show the "reality" version? 

Filtered: "Here we are at this amazing, exotic location with no one else around!" 

UnFiltered Reality: "Here we are with all the people who were also there that we had to crop out of the photo!"

In some ways, I think the flood of images on social media has almost created an unrealistic expectation of what life is supposed to look like! The problem is, Reality doesn't automatically come with a Filter. We may try to add it, either to fit in or to be polite, but what it inevitably does is insulate us from making real, vulnerable connections.

For example, I was chatting with a colleague last week and we were remarking how the question, "How are you?" has basically lost all of its meaning in our world. It's essentially just a polite platitude we use in place of hello. Most of the time we aren't looking for a real answer when we ask it, and we often don't give a real answer when we are asked - it's usually just a simple, "I'm fine, How are you?" in return. 

But what if we decided to remove the Filters a bit and leaned a little more into Reality? Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for oversharing (we've all met those people in the line at the grocery store!), but I do think some genuine curiosity combined with some authentic vulnerability, can go a long way to making better connections. I also think this is true if we are leaders, friends, partners, parents, colleagues, etc. This is about opening ourselves up and inviting others around us to open up to the common space of simply being human together - a little bit of UnFiltered Reality!  

As you think about your life and the possible connections around you this week, where might you take an extra moment to be a little curious and ask, "Seriously, how are you?" and then wait for an unfiltered answer? If you get asked that question yourself this week, how would you answer it in a more authentic and vulnerable way? Are there individuals in your life that you know are experiencing some extra strain, and if so, what could you do to check in with them in an unfiltered way?

Here's to leaning into UnFiltered Reality just a little bit more this week!

Be Well,

Stephen

Center was created to support individuals and teams so they can live from their Purposeful Center. We specialize in professional coaching and leadership development and we'd love to support you! Click on our Services page to book a free consultation.