Not Enough Good Leadership (Post #4)

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Good leadership can often feel like a difficult maze of trial and error, navigating endless issues and convoluted drama. But, I contend, that nothing is as rewarding a good leadership and nothing transcends every area of life like leading well. Whether leading a major corporation, a medium-sized urban church, a rural community group, or a household, leadership pays off in big ways.

I am often saddened by the lack of good leadership I see in the world around me. People in high positions that have been grossly promoted beyond their leadership capacity and without a hunger to grow and learn to lead better. I admit, leadership is a journey. One never really “gets there” but it is in the growing that we learn to do better, lead wiser, dust ourselves off, ask forgiveness for our failures, and move forward better than we were before.

I believe we owe it to the people around us to keep learning how to lead better…the people and organizations you lead deserve the best you can give and they are worth the effort!

The Secret Sauce…(Post #3)

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In today’s fast-paced, super-sized world, don’t we all just want to hit the easy button…you know, land that deal of a lifetime with virtually no effort, lose 10 pounds while you sleep, and create the perfect home life in 3 simple steps. Yet, we all know the old adage that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

The truth is, there is no easy button. Doing the right things well takes effort and intentionality. It always has. There are natural, universal laws at play – we reap what we sow. The farmer cannot reap a harvest of soy beans if she planted a crop of peas.

And so it begs the question: if we reap discontentment, what are we sowing. Or, to frame it another way, if we want to harvest a fully-satisfied, joy-filled life of contentment (otherwise known as The Enough Life), what should we be sowing?

There, my friends, is the secret sauce: contentment. How can we be intentional about planting seeds of contentment, satisfaction, and joy in our lives? What can we do to focus our minds on our gratitude for what we have rather than ruminating on what we lack?

One suggestion to start with – start a gratitude or blessing journal and write down everything you are thankful for, every blessing and joy in your life. Spend at least 1 minute at the start and end of your day in your journal.

Enough gratitude…that just may be the secret sauce!

Enough during “The Holidays” (Post #2)

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So, the Christmas holiday is over, and the new year is here. I have taken time over the past couple of weeks to really think deeply about the idea of enough. It seems that the period between Thanksgiving and New Year, known as “the holidays”, is laden with extremes. Either it is marked by excess or scarcity.

For many, this time of year is marked by excess. We often think of this excess in the form of eating and drinking – consuming way too many calories this time of year. Perhaps we recognize the excessive spending this time of year as well – the credit card debt and skyrocketing costs of the family feast. But have you ever thought of the excess we experience this time of year in terms of stress as well, such as all the extra errands, parties, obligations, fake smiles we give and receive, demands, etc.

For many other people, this time of year is marked by scarcity. This scarcity stands in stark contrast to the cultural excess noted above – no food to throw the family feast at all. Or worse yet, no party invitations and no one to worry about giving a gift to, let alone the worry of how to acquire it. This scarcity brings a very real stress of a different kind. The stress of loneliness and feeling marginalized. The stress of wanting. The stress of having needs that go unmet.

What could enough look like during “the holidays”? Might it look like:

  • Making gifts rather than buying?
  • Giving one thoughtful gift rather than four thought-less gifts?
  • Providing one dish of comfort food that feeds our loved ones’ souls as well as their stomachs rather than six dishes that stretch our time, sanity, and wallets to their breaking point?
  • Finding ways to politely decline a few invitations so we can joyfully accept a few others that will really add special meaning and memories to this season of life?
  • Taking time to savor the aspects of the holiday season that really add meaning and value to our lives?
  • Those experiencing a time of excess sharing a bit with those experiencing a time of scarcity?
  • Mindfulness in spending to ensure good intentions don’t suddenly move us from financial stability to instability due to excessive holiday debt?

What are your thoughts? What did you experience during “the holidays”?

What is Enough? (Post #1)

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How do you define enough? I mean how do YOU define enough? Have you had enough? How would you know? What I do know is that too little is not enough and too much is more than enough.

Dictionary.com defines “enough” as: “adequate for the want or need; sufficient for the purpose or to satisfy desire”

You see I believe there is a continuum with too little on one end and too much on the other, and enough right in the middle: too little – enough – too much.

I have spent most of my life striving and straining for the next “thing”, only to run right past the point of enough to the point of exhaustion. We strive and strain and worry in order to find enough, but we end up with more than enough – we end up with excess. We pass right by enough and don’t even notice it. We think that when we get more we will feel satisfied. Yet, when we get to too much we still aren’t satisfied. How can this be? Since too much is past enough, then wouldn’t that be more than the amount needed to satisfy…like super-satisfy? Yet, it isn’t satisfying at all. Do we shoot right past fully satisfied to unsatisfied? It sure seems like it.

Perhaps the continuum ought to be: unsatisfied – enough – unsatisfied. Could it be that the only place of full, true satisfaction isn’t more and more, it’s just enough?

Are you ready to stop the striving and embrace this Enough Life?