Flexibility wins the game

The times are testing our flexibility, one and all.

Perhaps you're being forced by circumstances to become more comfortable with ambiguity.

Or perhaps you need to become more comfortable with finding a new and unplanned way to reach a goal.

You may also learn, at times, that you need to set different goals.

If one or more of these scenarios is familiar to you, too, here are a few thoughts that may help:

Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.
Lao Tzu

If you cannot accurately predict the future then you must flexibly be prepared to deal with various possible futures.
Edward de Bono

One measure of how creative you are is how you respond to changes in your circumstances and environment. How flexible are you? Consider how water adapts to its environment: evaporation, condensation, snowflake, melting, flowing, goes around rocks, fills containers.
Unknown

There are eight words or references that light up employers' eyes:
languages, computer, experience, achievement, hard-working, overseas
experience, flexible, and task-oriented.
Carol Kleiman

I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.
Everett Dirksen

There is no short-cut to art, one has to work hard, be open and flexible in your mind, keep the child alive inside you, and through a whole lifetime be ready to learn new things and of course, be mentally prepared for a hard punch on your nose.
Bente Borsum

And for a bit of amusement, and thought provocation, here's one that made me smile:

The least flexible component of any system is the user.
Lowell Jay Arthur

Lean Cuisine next to Haagen-Dazs?


Lean Cuisine and Haagen Dazs?, originally uploaded by jcgr.

Hmmm…poor product placement, I'd suggest.

Here, Lean Cuisine is a neighbor in a local freezer to ice cream and dessert toppings.

Need there be this many temptations so close to the low-fat dining options?

Or, in fact, does the close proximity fortify resistance to the marketers' and merchandisers' best attempts to move desserts, as well?

“It’s like recharging an iPod”

"I'm glad you had good time off. We wish we'd seen a little bit more of you over the break, though," I said to our son as he was heading to bed the night before spring semester began.

It's the all-important junior year of high school. Everything counts. Yet we know how fast this semester will fly by. Sooner than we know, senior year will be here and gone, as well.

"Yes, but it's like recharging an iPod," he said.

I laughed. I do understand.

For Matt, recharging happens most easily when he's playing football with friends, taking a long and challenging run, strategizing about possible baseball trades for his favorite teams, or watching a great movie.

Recharging happens differently for each person.

How do you refresh most easily, and gather energy for whatever is ahead?

Toast to a fresh new year


New Year’s Eve, originally uploaded by jcgr.

A new year provides much fresh potential for new, different and better days ahead.

Yes, 2009 will have its challenges, as has every year in the past.

Even so, and primarily, there will be many wonderful moments and experiences for each of us in the days and months ahead.

They’re there to be noticed, created, and allowed to happen, as well.

Here’s a toast to the great things that are ahead!

Listening well is a gift

What's a resolution family members, work colleagues and maybe a friend or two wish many of us would make?

To listen better.

Listening well sounds easy. It's not.

When was the last time you felt fully-listened to by a family member, work colleague or friend?

And when was the last time you were thanked by someone for doing the same?

Here's what a few others have to say about the value – and difficulty – of listening very, very well.

Most of the successful people I've known are the ones who do more listening than talking.
Bernard M. Baruch

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
Winston Churchill

Deep listening is miraculous for both listener and speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand.
Sue Patton Thoele

A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something.
Wilson Mizner

The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.
Woodrow Wilson

Many a man would rather you heard his story than granted his request.
Earl of Chesterfield

If speaking is silver, then listening is gold.
Turkish proverb