Posts Tagged ‘relationships’

Don’t take the bait!

My sons and my son-in-law are great fishermen. They love to get away, through a line in the water, and wait for a bite. But I have a problem. I don’t enjoy waiting. They tell me that after you’ve found the right bait, you will find yourself waiting and waiting for the fish to take…

Read More

Connection

There are few moments in life that feel as unexpectedly wonderful as when you discover someone who “gets” the thing you’re passionate about. It can happen over the simplest topics — a hobby, a story, a childhood memory, a movie quote, or something you’ve been thinking about quietly for years. And then suddenly… someone else…

Read More

Every Moment Matters

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”  Colossians 4:5–6  Every moment with people matters; time is precious. Most of us would agree that time is life’s most…

Read More

Pleasing people

Trying to please everyone is exhausting. It can be frustrating because not everyone shares your priorities. Early on in my journey with God, I was taught that pleasing people was a no-no. A verse from the book of Galatians was often cited as the “text-proof” evidence: Galatians 1:10, the Apostle Paul asks, “Am I now…

Read More

Wake up routine

This may seem pretty basic for most of you, but I find there is a recurring issue in my life, so I thought I’d blog about it. Here’s my observation: I tend to wake up in the morning with a “bent” or an “attitude.” Before reading the Bible, praying, checking my schedule, or even initiating…

Read More

You’re not the center of the universe

“The universe doesn’t revolve around you.” You’ve heard this before and said it yourself. But here’s the crux of it: most of our lives are spent preoccupied with ourselves. We worry about what might happen to us and how our feelings might be hurt. It’s not inherently negative, but it narrows our perspective and limits…

Read More

Leadership and relationships

Leadership in the corporate world tends to be very sterile. To put it another way, it’s often without emotions. Here’s the premise: “Don’t get wrapped up in relationships when it comes to leadership because decisions have to be made. Sometimes they’re unpopular, people get hurt, and feelings become a factor.”  However, I believe there is…

Read More

Double edged sword

You’ve heard the expression “a double-edged sword,” right? In a literal sense, a double-edged sword is a sword that has two sharpened edges. You probably don’t have one unless you’re a Viking, but you’ve seen pictures and movies. Figuratively, a double-edged sword refers to “something that has both good and bad consequences.”  Maybe you’re familiar…

Read More

Highlights for Children

Highlights for Children is an American children’s magazine. I can fondly remember spending hours thumbing through the pages. I always looked for the “Hidden Pictures” feature. I was so excited as a kid to look for the smaller hidden images found within one large picture. Actually, I hate to admit it, but I found a…

Read More

Connections

If you want to influence somebody,  first you need to build a connection. Influence presupposes a link, a correlation, a rapport or a bond with the person. When you’re in sync with somebody, you have a better shot at leading.. The over-used word for this is “relationship.” I’m a bit reluctant to use it because…

Read More

What do I need to focus on?

With every “smartphone” update, there are new features to try out. My latest update features a way to “focus” your attention on a specific project without distractions. This is really helpful for me given my propensity to wander. But, it reminded me of the importance of figuring out “what do I need to focus on?”…

Read More

Want to improve your leadership?

Most of my real estate friends would agree with this statement: “The three most important words in real estate are – location, location, location.” To be sure, location is huge in both residential and commercial sales. That being said, “What might be the three most important words in developing and growing in leadership?” Most experts…

Read More

Hate

Hate is such a strong word. But as strong as it is, we use it indiscriminately. For example, we’ve all used it like this: I hate this restaurant. I hate the weather. I hate my homework. Consider how this can be a problem. The more you say you hate something, the easier it is to tell…

Read More

Time-sensitive

“Time-sensitive.” Have you ever received a bill, a notice, or an appeal of some sort with those words attached to it? It’s used to describe a product that has to be delivered by a particular time or information that is only useful for a particular period. Now many clever salespeople will use “time-sensitive” to get you…

Read More

Loving well

TIME magazine, February 23, 2015, makes an intriguing statement “research shows married couples enjoy greater longevity than singles.” That report makes “’til death do us part” even more of a commitment. Married couples have been found to have lower rates of substance abuse, lower blood pressure, and less depression than singles. Even though the study is a few…

Read More

The Rest of the Story

Paul Harvey was an American radio broadcaster. His program News and Comment reached as many as 24 million people each week. Harvey was best known for his famous The Rest of the Story segments. According to Wikipedia, these segments consisted of stories presented as little-known facts on a variety of subjects. But what kept your attention until the end…

Read More

Love God

James 2:8 “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.” “Ama et quod vis fac” It’s Latin and it sounds cool. Better is what it means and who said it. In English, it’s “Love, and do what you want!” It was written by Aurelius…

Read More

FRIENDSHIP – Relationships

Some people are “people magnets.” The people who are always surrounded by a plethora of people. Don’t you love that word, “plethora?” It means an overabundance. In high school I envied people magnets. They were the life of the party, the center of conversations, the talk of campus. Most often, not always, they were the…

Read More