Reality – downtoearthpositive

Live Into

Have you ever been challenged to describe yourself? What would be the word or phrase that “describes” who you are, or what you do? I’ve been thinking through this one, but honestly, it is very difficult to pick one word or phrase. THEN when you do, you realize that word, or collection of words can be interpreted 86 different ways. However, it doesn’t hurt to do a little self-reflection.

Back in my “leadership days”, I used a phrase quite often, “Live Into”. When I was working with a group of people, my job was generally to help them define who they were personally, or as a group. We would do many exercises to help define, for instance, the purpose of a particular group and the direction that group would take. When the essence of that project was named, I would say, “Now, Live into it!” Meaning, if you have a goal, or hope for the future, you live NOW as if it has already begun to occur.

This is a both fun and frustrating exercise. Helpful, as it brings clarity. Frustrating, as it usually needs interpretation. The end result though is worth the frustration. One of my favorite tools for thinking is called bubbling. You begin with a word or phrase, then simply write words that come to mind. There may be many layers, (thus secondary levels of bubbles). This is done as a brain-dump, in other words, don’t put too much thought into it, just write down what comes to mind. You can return later to refine.

This example is the result of the word GARDEN to give you an idea of how it works:

As you can see, a lot comes up, for instance, Plant leads to tomato, which lead to types of tomatoes, then I would have to add another category called blight because we deal with it here on our land.

Now imagine that you put your name in the center . . . what descriptive words would be in those first bubbles? What else would be added to those first words. Which ones do you really want to describe you? What ones do you want or need to cross off the list? Yes, it’s fun and frustrating! Now, which ones will you “live into”?

Living into is acting as if it already is, therefore becomes reality. Thus one of the reasons I always close with Enjoying the Adventure!

Enjoying the Adventure!

Dr. Dink

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Please visit my other Blog: Brown Bag Letter

I encourage you to visit other bloggers. You’ll find almost everything imaginable that can be written, in every form, from all over the world!

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The Terminal

The situation of my own eyes, caused me to look around the terminal. Faces amaze me. Maybe it is because I worked closely with people for so many years, I’ve become relatively good at “reading” faces. Oh sure, there is some conjecture and you don’t know all the details . . . but emotions can be a billboard.

I flew home in a bit of an emotional whirl. I was so sad leaving my heart, my Grandson. By the next time I see him, he will have so many more skills, and will continue to get taller and his vocabulary will become clearer. He will more than likely get over that “being two” stage too, (I think he’s almost there) . . . I’m so grateful for video chat and instantaneous photos. But it’s not the same as being there. Of course, I had a tear or two at the airport. I was misty eyed.

I also missed my husband and couldn’t wait to get home to see him. Love is a good thing! Then I received the text with the ultrasound photo. Oh my! There is really a baby in there! Sadness, joy, excitement, love, longing, expectation . . . All at once? Oh come on, you would be misty eyed too!

My plane was full. Evidently not one seat was empty if I heard the stewardess right, or is it steward-person now? That explains why the airport was so busy! I overheard a woman in the terminal say to her friend, “Yes, I’m heading home for a bit, at least we got Greg over from the brink of death.” They hugged. Not many heard her. Most people are so engaged with their cell phones in their faces and are physically there, but robotish, clueless as to what’s going on around them. But look, walking past, a young woman eyes deep-set, moving slowly . . .

she is in another world. Something has happened. She is shattered. Was it her boyfriend? Did he leave her? Or, should she leave him? Was she escaping? Did someone die? Did her brother not make it over the brink as Greg did? This was definitely a “love look.” Please, someone, give her a hug!
he is polite, yet guarded. He is “manning-up” but wants to cry like a little girl. Can anyone see me? Eyes averted.
A family . . . Mom & Dad look stressed, but the kids have sparkles in their eyes. You might think they were in line at Disney World, but this plane is heading to Pittsburgh, I wonder if it’s a connector or are they visiting someone special there?

On and on the possible stories go. I think sometimes it nice to just put the cell down, look around you. See people. Be Connected. Have a random conversation. When I do this, my world becomes larger. I think a part of this era of negativity is that (not only teenagers) are so busy looking at that small piece of electronics in our hands. Granted, I will look too, and frequently when my kids text, send videos or post cool things, but you know as well as I do that we can become quite mindless staring at our phones.

Here is a challenge in the next few days, put down the phone —look around you!

Enjoying the Adventure (Let’s all go on one!)

Dr. Dink

____________________

Please visit my other Blog: Brown Bag Letter

I encourage you to visit other bloggers. You’ll find almost everything imaginable that can be written, in every form, from all over the world!

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Grateful

Today is Memorial Day here in America. There will be remembrances in nearly every community. For the most part, those ceremonies have been the same each and every year since “anyone can remember”. I’ve been to many, participated in a few. They make me grateful.

The evolution of this weekend has become a celebration of picnics, the beach season officially opening, summer is here so gas prices rise and traffic jams along the coast & to mountainous resort areas increase for most. Yet, it is good to remember the real reason behind this holiday which has become a good excuse to buy a six pack, or another bottle or two of red.

Memorial day is about Death and Gratefulness. Death has been such a huge part of my life as I was a pastor for 22 years. Death was a reality I was always prepared to face, yet not quite ready to face. There was an expectation whether that death had just occurred, or was imminent in the next few months that I would be intimately involved in the process. When you are intimately involved with death on a regular basis, it can make you or break you. Think about it, there really isn’t a middle ground, is there? Well, I guess, middle ground would be numb.

Dealing with death has made me grateful. I know it hits others in different ways, but for me, grateful. I live with the understanding that each and every day is a gift. A gift to be opened, enjoyed and used. A gift to show off to your friends, and decide not to share with those . . . . well, you don’t want to share your daily gift with!

Yesterday, I spend some time with a friend at the grave of her father, she talked of his untimely death, “too young”, she said, “he was two years younger than I am now”. He, like my father, served in the Korean War. It was a precious time we had, talking of our Dad’s, being thankful that they served, but didn’t die in the war. Private, personal ceremony. A time to remember, it was beautiful. I walked away grateful.

When I think of the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the military, and of their families who have had such great loss, of someone they loved gone, usually, “incredibly too young”, I am grateful. I’m grateful that because of them, I have the right to express my opinions on this blog, on social media, at the coffee house or on a public square. I’m grateful that I could choose to walk away from my career of 22 years because I couldn’t accept the ethics any longer. I’m grateful that I could start up and close a business or two. I’m grateful that I can talk on the phone, or text my family. I’m grateful that I can have a dog and a fish.

I started this blog because of the negativity pandemic that is going on in our society right now. I hate it, truly. But I’m grateful that we have the right to be miserable if we choose to be. Although I’m not a march-in-the-streets-protester, I can protest the life-sucking-negativity, in my own way because I have the freedom to do so.

So, my ceremony for today is my new discipline of early morning writing. I’m grateful I have that choice. I’m grateful for the many lives lost that give me the right to be who I am and for you to be who you are. I’m grateful for many years of being intimate with death so that I can celebrate life . . . daily.

What are you grateful for today?

Enjoying the Adventure, (And greatful to have the freedom to do so!)

Dr. Dink

____________________

Please visit my other Blog: Brown Bag Letter

I encourage you to visit other bloggers at the following sites. You’ll find almost everything imaginable that can be written, in every form, from all over the world!

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Daily Post

Postivity-ness-ly-ism to the Core

When you’re sad, or stressed, you don’t necessarily need to wear it on your shoulder, but that plastic smiley face you have glued to your nose really doesn’t hide a thing.

I started writing about being positive to the core and stopped, I knew I was writing a book, each word was requiring at least a paragraph, leading to a chapter. The attitude and ability to be positive doesn’t mean that you have a forced smile, it means that you live in reality, with real issues that may affect you in real ways. It means you do your best to live through them. It means you try to see beauty in the midst of the ugly. It means you recognize and be responsible for the financial stress, the worry about the sickness, the project at work. It means living life . . . honestly.

So Dr. Dink, how do I remain positive? Guess what . . . some days you can’t. That doesn’t mean you don’t have hope for another day. It may mean training yourself to see and experience positivity. It may mean separating yourself from that negative influence. It means being honest and dealing with the situation (s) that pull you down.

Having positivity-ness-ly-ism isn’t faking it. Isn’t denying life. However, it is living though the messiness of life and still trying to smell roses anyway, looking for beauty, having hope for a new day and helping others deal with the messy shit in life in a real way so that the world, our word can be a better place.

Even when I’m not trying to write a book, I still see the outline here, sorry that’s frustrating. Life is complicated. There is hope. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is today, let’s make the best of it, eh?

Enjoying the Adventure! (Even though sometimes that Adventure is messy!)

Dr. Dink

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