Baseball Practice

As a child playing Little League baseball, I had my first coach who yelled at us constantly. Coming off of my dad being a coach, it was a severe shock. The change was dramatic and for the first time in my life, I hated baseball and dreaded practice.

The thing that got me through was my mom staying during practice. She’d be sitting in her tan Chevy Malibu off under the trees, and whenever my frustration was peaking, I could look over, see her and know that the practice would end soon enough.

I recalled those moments so vividly during some challenging times recently, thinking how wonderful it was to know Mom was there. Having a sign of comfort was critical then, and I’ve carried that concept with me to this day. It’s always helpful to have those people who we know are there for us when the challenge subsides. They are the really important elements in our lives that are present regardless of how the rest of the world treats us or feels about us. And when they aren’t there, they are really missed.

A couple of weeks ago, our priests were gone and I wasn’t able to get to daily mass for several days. If it wasn’t completely clear before, it was then – daily mass is my biggest source of comfort. Two days away, and I could feel the difference and was much worse for it.

Whatever your faith, find and hold on to your comforts. They’re essential in challenging times.

Blessings,

Mike

Catching Up

Sorry I haven’t written for several weeks. It’s not because this subject matter has been far from my mind. Rather, it’s been front and center while working through various issues that have emerged and required attention.

I’ll get to a bunch of topics that came into clearer focus during the past few weeks.

The first is Psalm 28.7, which was featured in a Positive Thinking book last week: “The LORD is my strength and my shield, in whom my heart trusted and found help. So my heart rejoices; with my song I praise my God.”

That’s a good starting point for summing up the past month!

Blessings,

Mike

Sharing a Perspective

I met Yolanda this past spring through a mutual friend. We’ve stayed in touch as she completed her degree and has been looking for a new job. She’s been through a tremendous amount recently, and this email from her last week struck me profoundly given the recent conversation here about what it means to be poor in spirit. Here’s someone with some real insight on the topic:

“I guess that I just need to vent to someone and who better to do so with. Well, knee deep in this life of mine I've come to a great discovery. We don't really need much of anything to survive. You see I have lost everything I love in a matter of one day, recently. The only things that I haven't lost are the people I love; they are the ones keeping me afloat.

“In this world of a bad economy and lost wages, I have nothing, and yet I am surprised by my endurance. With no real money or things to hold me down I can look with a clear and unfoggy window into what is really going on. The major players of this country and the world are making us think we are in trouble but really we could just take their bluff and make them weep. Meaning they are playing a hard game of cards with all our lives and we just all need to wake up. You can make money wherever you are with nothing at all, with talents, with a little hard work.

“What has history taught us? It will repeat itself. Thanks for the listen. Yolanda”

Based on a phone conversation with Yolanda this week, her faith has been a tremendous help in getting her through her recent challenges. Her outlook is phenomenal and so moving spiritually. She’s an incredible person. Say a prayer for her as she goes through the final stages in securing a new job.

Blessings,

Mike

I Know It’s What I Asked For, But Not Like This…

One challenge with prayer is that God will “answer” it, but “answer” isn’t defined as “exactly what I want!” When you pray, “answer” means God won’t allow your prayer to pass without one of the apparently infinite number of responses at His disposal.

I bring all this up because it became clearer to me Sunday morning that I think God is in the midst of “responding” to a prayer that I’ve included in my intentions off and on for some time.

The thing is that the response feels like it’s going to be an answer similar to one from several years ago – an answer I tried to rebel against. Interestingly, the start of this response even appears to tie to the exact same weekend that the one a few years ago did. And going back even more years, God has used this particular weekend repeatedly to initiate changes in my life.

So while I don’t think at first pass I’ll like the answer any more this time than last (and my first inclination is still to fight it), I CAN look back and see the incredible positives that resulted last time.

With that, my prayer will have to be one for acceptance, patience, and to stay out of God’s path a little better this time.

Don't Speak

It's important (but very difficult) during prayer to be silent and listen more of the time. How else do we expect to hear an answer?

In the spirit of that, I'll shut up now so you CAN listen.

Good Words

I heard the following comment on an old radio broadcast of Bishop Fulton Sheen the other day. I had nothing to write with in the car and couldn’t find the quote online, so here’s the best approximation of it:

“Good is still good even if no one is good. And bad is still bad even if everyone is bad.”

Those are valuable words for living all aspects of life – personally and professionally – with a foundation. And just in case people don’t read comments, here’s a meaningful prayer that Scott offered last week in a comment on the June 26 message. Thank you for sharing this Scott:

“My grandmother (who raised me from 3 to 12) gave me this little newspaper clipping to me when I was around 16. I am not sure who wrote this prayer or where it came from. However, going through some difficult times in college, I was drawn to it. I actually lost the piece of paper but committed the prayer to memory. This prayer helped me through some trying times in my life and I still try to pray it daily (though I often forget). It goes as follows:

“Thank you God for the kindness you have given me along the way. I am grateful for the patience you have shown me day by day. Thank you for the countless favors that help me to struggle on. New found faith when my faith falters. Hope when hope is all but gone. Thank you for the many blessings. Like my loving family; feet to walk with; arms to work with; eyes that let this mortal see. For the many blessing you give me I owe you a priceless debt. My heart cries when I offend you. Trespasses I cannot forget. Thank you Jesus. Guide me onward. Make me follow your advice. So that I may gain your favor, and meet you in paradise. - Amen.”

Blessings,


Mike

A Most Difficult Prayer

Several years ago I began saying a prayer during daily mass called “The Litany of Humility” composed by Merry Cardinal del Val, secretary of state to Pope Saint Pius X. It was at a time when I was experiencing career changes, with responsibilities that seemed narrower in scope.

I began praying it out of a hope it would help in dealing with the changes more positively. After awhile, however, it seemed to be causing me greater anxiety as the prayer’s petitions were being realized, i.e. being excluded, overlooked, etc. This was disconcerting when success is clearly defined as being sought out and consulted more frequently. As a result, I stopped saying the prayer for some time since it seemed to make my attitude more negative.

So what was the lesson?

It’s becoming a familiar one in these posts – I was trying to outthink God and make judgments based on how the world judges, not how God judges.

After a time, I went back to the prayer and it became clear to me that it was really about a release from the desire for being preferred and approved. And that was exactly what had happened. As my yearning for these things decreased in answer to the prayer, I grew in using other talents with a greater intention of helping others and more focus on daily spiritual life. Realize that none of this was me; this was God answering the prayer.

I now pray the litany much more frequently with a sense of wonder and a realization that I have no clue what will come of it, other than that through surrendering and getting out of God’s way, his will can become more manifest.

Click on this link for the prayer, but realize that you may be in for a challenging time.

Blessings,

Mike

"Why Am I Here?" - Washington, D.C. Edition

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 10, 2008) – I haven’t written directly here or in my strategy blog about “core purpose.” Not surprisingly, it’s top of mind for me as we sit in an airplane waiting to take off amid a violent thunderstorm on the runway at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

Today was a presentation on strategic thinking to a very small audience at the ASMI Branding Excellence Conference. Shortly after arrival on Monday night, I became very ill - the same kind of illness that put me in the hospital overnight in Cleveland a couple of years ago through flu-related dehydration. I was incredibly blessed then to be traveling with Keith Prather, my strategic partner, who was truly the Good Samaritan. He stayed with me in Cleveland while his wife and daughters had to drive to Oklahoma for a dance competition by themselves.

Since then, my parents ask me on nearly every trip I take whether Keith will be along. I always assure them I don’t need Keith to travel with me and that the hospital stay was a fluke. Until last night.

Since that time two years ago, I travel much differently with a lot more meds and a realization that I’m not invincible. So without Keith as God’s representative, I have to depend on God’s intervention through other means, including my loving wife and our neighbor back in Kansas City. Of course, God provides, even to the point of the meeting planner offering to let me skip doing the presentation.

But God didn’t bring me here to not do the presentation; this is where my core purpose comes in. Despite having my regrets during the day about making the trip, my core purpose would say that there was someone in the audience that I needed to reach. The thing is I don’t know who it was, although I have my suspicions. Having said that, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it were someone else that I hadn’t even talked with directly. That would be God’s way, and who am I to try to outthink God, since he provides the core purpose in the first place.

And now, we’re #1 for take off. God bless us.

Blessings,
Mike

P.S. We made it back, although we were more than 90 minutes late. Thankfully, our neighbor took my wife to the airport so that she could drive me home. She was a true sweetheart and waited the extra time because I couldn’t have gotten myself home that night. Thank God.

Poor in Spirit

I never understood what “poor in spirit” meant until an adult religious education class several years ago. And then my understanding was really enhanced last week by listening to a radio show on the Beatitudes.

The question the host asked was in what areas we consciously choose to be poor - even if we’re not materially poor? Where do we do with less, or do without as a reminder of our dependence on God providing for us.

That’s a challenging question for those in my area where we live and work amid some of the wealthiest zip codes in the state and country. There’s such a cultural pressure for bigger and more. As a marketer, there’s a clear bias to sell more and get more for it. And a variety of stigmas are associated with anything that's “less.”

Let’s all ask - what are we willing to sacrifice that’s truly meaningful to us?

Blessings,

Mike

A Creativity Prayer - Take 1

Lord,
Thank you for creation itself and the incredible gifts and talents you so generously entrust to me. May I recognize and appreciate these talents, always recognizing that they come from you and remain yours. Guide me in using them for the benefit of everyone that I touch, so that they may be more aware of your creative presence and develop the creativity entrusted to them for the good of others. Help me also to use your talents to bring a creative spark and new possibilities to your world, living out my call to be an integral part of your creative force. Amen