Decisions

Decide to live humbly. It will make it easier when life decides to humble you.

Decide to live simply. You'll be ready when the simple pleasures are all you have.

Decide to live boldly. You'll attract other bold people who'll shore you up if your boldness fades.

Decide to share lavishly. What you share with those who need it will enrich you both.

Decide to leave quietly. You're more likely to hear if someone asks you to stay!

3 Lessons from Today

• Don't email your response to an angry email. Call or talk directly to the person who sent it. Ask them to help you understand the issues that concern them. Listen intently. It works.
  
• Try to take risks on people who display determination. Even if they fall short in some areas, their tenacity has all kinds of potential to create something rewarding.
  
• Become comfortable with the intriguing and unexpected twists in life God sends you that you could never anticipate or engineer yourself. Pray for the peace to accept and appreciate them.

Make Your Case

Today's first reading at mass was the story of the golden calf from Exodus. After the Israelites had worshiped the idol, God was planning to inflict his wrath upon them. He relented because Moses made a convincing case for why he shouldn't do it.

Quire incredible.

So next time your boss plans to do something that doesn't make sense or is wrong, think about Moses. If he was able to make a convincing case to God, surely you can put together some basic facts and logic to sway your management's point of view!

A Pre-Lenten Reflection

It's been most of the month with no posts. That wasn't intentional; just reflects a lot of things going on right now.

Lent starts on Wednesday, so it's a time to think about what's keeping me from getting closer to God. It's challenging that a lot of the factors standing in the way of writing here during February are the same ones I wrestle with as we enter Lent.

Specifically, spending more time on Twitter to reach a wider audience is one of the things to work through and resolve in the next few days.

As I do that, here are a few ideas I first shared on Twitter that are relevant for Aligning Your Life's Work:

• I watched Fr. Mitch Pacwa recently. One of his messages was that you can't separate your spiritual life from how you conduct yourself in all other aspects of your life.
• Do you perform at a stronger level when you boss is around? Don't. You should be performing at that level all the time.
• Are you deliberately looking for and sharing good news with the people you work with? Maybe you should!
• Being kind and spreading hopefulness are both talents. Use these talents today!

Let's pray for each other to have a truly profound Lenten season.

If I Had a Hammer . . . What If You Already Do?

“The world is more malleable than you think, and it’s waiting for you to hammer it into shape.” -Bono