The Shack.. and other lessons learned

I LOVE holidays. I just spent the morning in bed finishing a book. LOVELY! What a book it was. Have you read "The Shack" by Wm. Paul Young? If not, please do. It's not a long read, and it's as deep as you will let it be for you.. really read it. I get very VERY frustrated with the "rules" of religion, they never made sense based on what I thought (& at one point was taught) that God was all about. It is truly thrilling to have someone put what I have felt for so long into words, not just words but a story, a beautiful story. I do want to clarify one thing.. just because it reaffirms what I have believed for so long.. and what my frustrations have been with the types of churches many of my family attend that does not mean I have been very good a "practicing what I preach," still PLENTY of work to do there! Anyhoo.. my point.. read the book. If enough people do of ALL faiths and nonbelievers it could change the world.

Onto some other stuff this brain has been working on!

I had a Program Director once named Geoff Poulton. Geoff loved his "self help" books and loved to put into actions things he learned from them.. Truly it was a joy. Stop rolling your eyes, I know the whole "self help" world can get a touch over the top but you can't kick a guy who's heart is in the right spot for trying. Try he did! He was VERY successful in many many ways. Some of his ideas backfired - BIG TIME, some of those backfires I am pretty sure he still isn't aware of, but other ideas were fabulous.. but even better.. he had ideas and tried to make the world a better place! I learned three very important lessons from Geoff that I still carry with me to this day, lessons that were just readdressed in "The Shack". First. We can't see in every ones backyard. Sometimes it gets pretty frustrating.. decisions are made that make no sense to you what so ever. You react with frustration and angry. But here's the deal. You only know what is happening in your backyard. I ran a promotions department at the time.. I knew pretty intimately what was going on in promo world.. and in programing to a certain degree.. but decisions would be made that didn't seem to make sense. Why? Because I couldn't see in every ones backyard. You forget that the person above you makes choices on a bigger picture.. and so on up the chain. If you can remember this it will help you deal with choices that you don't like, choices that you can do nothing about and/or present your distress in a MUCH better manner if you truly feel something in "your backyard" has been overlooked! This brings me to the second lesson.. Get the facts. We react so fast to a direct hit, we rarely get the back story.. that guy that blew the red light is rushing to the hospital where his daughter was just admitted.. BOOM that changes how much swearing you are doing in your car.. If we took the time to understand why someone is doing what they are.. or if we can't find out rather than assume they are morons assume that there is a reason life would be so much more peaceful! Number three. You are not as important as you think. Let me clarify: You are not any more important than the person next to you. This lesson started with Geoff and has evolved over time. Yes we can make an impact on peoples lives, but that doesn't make you anymore important than the next guy when it comes to the bigger picture. At this moment I am at a loss of words to explain what I mean without using another person as an example.. and that would be mean. Sometimes I feel weird about blogging because it seems a touch ego fed.. So let me ponder and I will fill in the blanks another time.

Have a great weekend! And please. read. The Shack.

xx