I AM…..

I’m going to miss the Oprah Winfrey Show for a number of reasons, but among those is the many opportunities she provided to help us become better.  One show from a month or so ago has stuck with me. 

Tom Shadyac, multi-million dollar director had an awesome life.  He directed such movies as Bruce Almighty and The Nutty Professor.  He lived in a mansion, flew in private jets, drove fancy cars, etc.  Despite these many luxuries, Tom says something just didn't feel right.
"I was standing in the house that my culture had taught me was a measure of the good life," Tom recalls in his documentary I Am. "I was struck with one very clear, very strange feeling: I was no happier." 

After a brush with death, he set out on a journey to find out what would truly make him happy and help unearth what's wrong with our world.  He made major changes to his lifestyle. Today, Tom lives in a modest mobile home, bikes to work and flies commercial airlines—and he says he's never been happier.

He has filmed a documentary, I Am, about his findings from research and explorations. 

What he discovered revolves around three key concepts that are explored in I Am:
1. It is scientifically proven that the entire human race is connected.
2. It is human nature to be cooperative rather than competitive.
3. If you don't do what your heart wants you to do and follow your passion, it will destroy you.

It’s the second concept that has stuck with me.  Competition is all around.  Who’s prettier?  Who’s wealthier?  Who has the biggest house?  The nicest car?  The biggest diamond?  Whose kids are better?  Who has more trophies?  Who has the best behaving kids?  So many things to be competitive about.  So many opportunities to show we’re better than someone else.  So many opportunities to hurt someone else. 

During natural disasters, the stories that tug at my heartstrings, the ones that are the most memorable are the ones where real people emerge as heroes, helping each other.  Even in less dramatic circumstances, who won’t help out a neighbor or friend after a baby was born or someone has surgery, etc.?  That’s human nature.  That’s what matters. 

In our culture, despite us being a democratic society, cooperation is discouraged.  We should work as a team, but only so much as it gives us the opportunity to stand out from the crowd.  Be an MVP.   Don’t get me wrong, competition CAN be healthy.  It encourages us to strive to be better…to do our best.  That’s good.  It’s when we become competitive trying to make us ABOVE others.  Not just trying to stand out in a crowd, but trying to be so much above the rest that the crowd ceases to exist.  

So, who AM I? Who are YOU?  Whatever I am, it never feels like enough.  Not in a bad, feeling sorry for myself way, but in the way that I feel there is always something to improve, to work on.  It gives me inspiration.   I am…….

Life Lessons from Kung Fu Panda?

My husband and I took the kids to the movies this weekend.  That’s something we almost never do.  But the oldest was dying to see “Pirates of the Caribbean,” so dad surprised him with that.  I took the younger two to see “Kung Fu Panda 2.”  I had really no expectations for it.  The first one was cute, but not my favorite movie.  I was delightfully surprised by this movie! 

I was also surprised by the “life lessons” weaved into the movie.   Without any spoilers, there’s a point in the movie where Po, the panda, realizes that the goose who has raised him isn’t really his dad and he begins to question who he really is. 

He meets someone who tells him, “I’m sorry your story has a really horrible beginning, but that’s not who you are now.”  Pretty deep thought for a kids’ movie! 

I’ve known people who have let their future be predicated by their past.  They had a horrible upbringing…... their parents didn’t love them enough...their parents loved them too much...they were foster kids...they didn’t have the childhood they thought they deserved…...whatever it was, they used that as their excuse for not doing anything with their future.  Sad. 

I’ve also known people who came from those same kinds of backgrounds and have done everything to rise above.  Those are impressive people.  Those are people I look up to. 

It makes me think of a phrase that I learned from a teacher in school.  It’s a 10-word phrase made of all two-letter words, “If it is to be, it is up to me!”

I made a digital sticker for a reminder for you and me!  I put a butterfly on it because the butterfly is a great symbol of change! Click on the picture or the link to download. 

DOWNLOAD

The Power of Geese

I read this when I started college just a mere few years ago.  Okay, more than a few years ago.  I’ve kept this handy and read it on occasion. 

 

Fascinated by the conduct of flying geese, Dr. Robert McNeish, wrote "Lessons From Geese" for a sermon in his church in 1972. Demonstrating the power of a good idea, his essay spread and has become a classic statement of the importance of teamwork.

Fact: As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

Fact: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies to the point position.

Lesson: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources.

Fact: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Lesson: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.

Fact: When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.

Lesson: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

Fact: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

Lesson: If we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others. 

 

Mathematically, 1+1=2.  Synergistically, 1+1=3.  For example, you can lift a 10-pound weight with your right hand and a 10-pound weight with your left hand, but when you use both hands to lift weight, you an lift more than just 20 pounds.  Don’t believe me?  Try it! 

We’re better together than we are separately!