Fresh Eyes

Creepy crawly

Tarantula, originally uploaded by jcgr.

Spiders are just the beginning of the creepy, crawly and otherworldly symbols of Halloween.

Here a tarantula - a real one - makes its way through his or her day.

Hopefully, yours was a good Halloween with no creepy, crawly creatures in your way.

Celebrate as you move through big challenges

Big changes underway? Big milestones just ahead?

Good results coming in, in spite of challenges you had to pass?

Don't forget to include celebrations in your plans.

Here are a few thoughts about including celebrations as you move ahead:

Celebrate what you want to see more of.
Tom Peters

People often resist change for reasons that make good sense to them, even if those reasons don't correspond to organizational goals. So it is crucial to recognize, reward and celebrate accomplishments.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Never celebrate until you are really out of the woods. They might be behind the last tree.
Unknown

I will celebrate, but I know new goals and objectives will come and I am ready to take them.
Ronaldo

Run. Eat. Sleep. Repeat...and get some fun in there, too

It's a process, originally uploaded by jcgr.

This humorous perspective on competitive runners' world is easy to remember.

It's not easy to do.

In addition to doing the basics well - whatever they are in your world - it's vital to make time for fun now and then, too.

Make sure you have simple ways to release, refresh, renew.

Facts don't lie...unless you try to make the facts dance

Facts don't lie.

Unless you make facts dance, as Mark Twain suggests, below.

Here are a few thoughts on taking measurements, using them, and not leaving things up to chance:

There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery.
Enrico Fermi

The only man who behaved sensibly was my tailor; he took my measurement anew every time he saw me, while all the rest went on with their old measurements and expected them to fit me.
George Bernard Shaw

First get your facts; then you can distort them at your leisure.
Mark Twain

It's about time...

Sprinkles, originally uploaded by jcgr.

...for another Drop In & Decorate, a fun, community-creating, cookie decorating event that benefits people who could really use a cookie and a smile in their lives, even if for a moment.

I need to line up my regular crew...many of whom are applying for college about now...for a pre- or post-holiday baking, decorating, and taking some weekend soon.

Here are a few of the results, and more, from of our previous cookie experience.

If you're interested in hosting your own cooking baking, decorating and taking event, here's more information about Drop In & Decorate.

It's more fun than you can imagine.

And even more than that, it will bring smiles and a moment of joy to those who get to enjoy your beautiful edible art.

Think of it this way:

It's a small thing we can each do.

It's a big thing we can each do.

So...thinking about it?

Don't.

Just do it.

Solutions

Sometimes you find solutions to problems.

Sometimes you create them.

Here's a range of perspectives on making a new and better way:

You won't find a solution by saying there is no problem.
William Rotsler

You can simplify and simplify and simplify yet still find other incredible ways to simplify further.
Steve Wozniak

Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds.
Norman Vincent Peale

If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
Abraham Maslow

I now know that I learn by solving problems as they arise. Rarely do we learn significant lessons, or significantly improve, any other way.
Bob Parsons

Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists.
Edward de Bono

I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it.
Frank A. Clark

You never know what's around the bend

The sun starts to set, the miles extend, originally uploaded by jcgr.

Surprises can be grand.

Or they can present you a grand test.

What was the last great surprise you experienced?

And what wonderful thing would you love to experience, if you could have it next (surprise or otherwise)?

Tributes

It is my brother's birthday today.

The years are slowly adding up since he's been gone.

He was a wise man who loved the great outdoors - all aspects of the great outdoors.

When asked what his religion was, Don always said that he went to the Church of the Blue Dome.

That's a feeling I know, myself. The glorious Church of the Blue Dome.

When I wonder how to honor him, the answer that always comes is to get outdoors, spend some time in nature, somehow, some way.

When you think of dear ones now gone, what's the most appropriate tribute that comes to mind to honor them?

And when you think of loved ones who are in your life now, what's most appropriate to honor them?

It's likely there's a different way to honor each and every one.

Today's quote from my desk calendar made me smile. It reinforces the Church of the Blue Dome thought:

It's glorious the things an empty self sees!
I walk the stream to its very source, sit and watch the clouds rise...
If by chance I meet an old woodsman, we talk and laugh - no rush to get home.
Wang-wei

Ready to run...on a Monday?

I'm ready to run, ready to run!, originally uploaded by jcgr.

Running into and through Monday?

Or working through it at a crawl?

However you work your to-do list today, the work itself won't change.

But your experience of it may.

Dive into that to-do list with energy and enthusiasm (YES, even and especially on a Monday).

Even if you're just doing it as an experiment to prove the idea is wrong.

Give it a try.

You will appreciate the high energy call.

Thursday thought-provokers

A few thought-provoking quotes for the week's end:

Man's mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Don't try to innovate for the future. Innovate for the present.
Peter Drucker

One's vision is not a roadmap but a compass.
Peter Block

Some people think you are strong when you hold on. Others think it is when you let go.
Sylvia Robinson

You can't jump a chasm in two bounds.
Chinese saying

There is no risk-less way to the future, we must choose which set of risks we wish to run.
Jay Ogilvy

It takes less energy to be free and flowing than locked up in stress. We learn by releasing and letting go, not by adding on.
William Bates

Evolution favors the survival of the wisest.
Jonas Salk

Learning is a matter of intensity, not elapsed time.
Tom Peters