A lifelong teacher learns something new
“Do nothing, and keep moving.” That may sound like confusing and contradictory advice. But it’s something a few friends and I came up with recently, and I think if we all heeded it, we’d be healthier, happier, and in better shape mentally and physically. As individuals and as a society. The discussion started because one of the members of our group is a high school teacher who is retiring at the end of this school year, and we were asking about her plans for the summer and beyond. She told us that people had already given her plenty of...
read moreIs your gratitude showing?
“Count Your Blessings” was the theme of our Toastmasters meeting last week, and the person in charge of Table Topics decided to focus on gratitude. As she opened up that portion of the meeting, she told us that in preparation, she had Googled the word “gratitude.” What she said next caught me totally by surprise. “I’m not sure what made me think to do this,” she said, “but after I typed in ‘gratitude,’ I added the name, ‘Betty Liedtke.’ Do you know how many hits I got?” My mind started to go numb as I sat there...
read moreFaces, friends, and reconnecting on a weekend trip
My friend Tabitha and I drove to Chicago last weekend to attend the Lead Like Jesus Facilitators’ Reconnect. Part of the program was devoted to the work we did in Uganda last October, so I was invited to attend even though I’m not yet a fully-trained facilitator. We arrived at the hotel around noon, but weren’t able to check in because our room wasn’t ready yet. So we went to the café next door to have some lunch. As we approached the restaurant, I could see two members of our Uganda team who were seated at a table next to the window....
read moreDance of Life? It’s the Hokey-Pokey!
The Hokey-Pokey. That’s what I’ve decided is the dance of my life. I’ve never thought about my life as a dance before, and probably never would have if I hadn’t been asked that question during the Table Topics Speech Contest at the Toastmasters District Convention last weekend. The exact question was this: “Life is a dance that you learn as you go along. What dance represents your life?” When you’re asked a Table Topics question, especially in a contest, you don’t have time to think things through and plan out what you’re...
read moreInsights come from tea and cookies and favorite people
I got some great advice and ideas last week, which I plan to incorporate into my business as well as my personal life. These insights came during conversations with two different friends. I was meeting one of them for coffee. The other I spoke to on the phone as we were rescheduling a planned get-together. We had to reschedule it because my friend, who is almost 80, is moving into a new townhouse. She calls it her “penthouse” and is excited about its big window and bright, sunny view. She is looking forward to having her grandchildren...
read moreA Table Topics question revisits resolutions
“What New Year’s Resolution did you make this year, and how long did you keep it?” I was asked that question last week during Table Topics at a Toastmasters meeting I attended. Table Topics is the time, during every Toastmasters meeting, when we practice thinking on our feet and organizing our thoughts on the fly. The Table Topics Master asks a question, and then calls on someone to answer it. That person then has to spend one to two minutes responding to the question. Note that “responding” to the question is not necessarily the...
read moreWashing of feet much more than a symbol
Wash your feet. That’s probably not something you hear or say very often. We wear shoes and socks much of the time, and most of the walking we do is indoors or on paved roads and parking lots. You probably wash your feet when you take your shower every day, but most likely you don’t think about it even then. You just do it. “Washing of the feet,” however, is something many of us think about during the Easter season – especially on Holy Thursday, when people of many religions relive the story of the Last Supper. This is when Jesus...
read moreMorning sun brings an enlightening experience
I didn’t ask for a message or a miracle, but that’s what I got. I was sitting on the sofa in my family room, doing my prayer exercise. This is a ritual – part prayer, part journal, part asking God for advice – that grew out of a class I once took. Now it’s something I do every morning. The past few weeks had been extremely busy, with the kind of work that made me feel like I was taking one step forward and two steps back – spreading myself too thin, being pulled in too many directions, and leaving too many tasks and issues...
read moreA surprise discovery comes on someone else’s birthday
I attended a friend’s surprise 50th birthday party on Sunday. On the birthday card I got for her I added the note, “Welcome to the 50’s!” And as I sealed the envelope it occurred to me that it won’t be too long before I’ll be waving goodbye to the 50’s from the other direction. A similar realization struck me not long ago, as Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season approached. I follow my faith’s Lenten rules of fast and abstinence, which include abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent, and fasting by...
read moreA morning meeting generates dynamic dialogue
I’m generally not fond of meetings that start at 6:30 or 7:30 in the morning, but lately it seems I’ve been going to more and more of them. When my alarm goes off, I often ask myself, “Why am I doing this again?” But then I get there and remember, “Oh yes, this is why.” That was certainly my reaction one day last week when I attended a meeting whose purpose was to talk. Just – talk. Actually, there was a bit more of an agenda than that. The meeting was a Stewardship Dialogue sponsored by the Stellar Impact Foundation. I’ve...
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