Anyone who’s been in a business setting for any length of time knows that meetings can quickly overwhelm a calendar. For me, today happens to be a light day for meetings, at least the formal scheduled ones. The amount of work done is exponentially greater as a result. Meetings serve one of three purposes: inform, act or decide.
Inform - the most common and generally the hardest to measure value. If I own the meeting, my goal should be to make sure the intentions of the meeting are clear in order to limit and compel those that have an interest to attend.
Act - a working meeting where value is measure in completion of tasks
Decide - all meetings involve decision making at some level, but a meeting established for the purpose of making a specific decision requires substantial planning: making sure the correct information is presented, that the decision request is clear, that those making the decision are present and it’s clear who owns the decision. The value of these meetings are measured by clarity of the decisions.
My goal is to make my meetings matter. Whether I facilitate or attend, be prepared, be clear, be decisive.
What bothers you more: Things that you disagree with or things that may change you? I suppose that being forty means that I’m set in my ways and have formed strong opinions about many things. I have a core that will not easily be shaken.
Sitting in church today, I learned about a series of upcoming sermons that will be focused on the parables of Jesus. Though familiar, there will be some perspectives shared that will be uncomfortable for me and others. To Pastor Dave I say, “Bring it on.” I don’t expect the essence of the gospel (part of my core) to be challenged, but I should be open to the idea that what I understood the meaning of a parable to be for thirty years, might be a bit more confusing ,challenging or paradoxical.
Tomorrow I’ll read the news. I’ll see and hear many ideas and opinions that are different from my own. In most cases, I can articulate why I disagree, but I will certainly listen to the opinion of others, first to understand, second to decide whether or not it matters to have a strong opinion, and third to form/adjust/share my opinion.
The next time you’re bothered, figure out why it matters so much to you. Then do something about it.
I see it often with my kids. One of them will come to me crying because of some great injustice. Just a little bit of probing reveals that their ‘injury’ is minor and that they’re more upset at what was intended to harm them. We learn this and perfect it as we grow older.
Remember the last time someone cut you off on the freeway? Or when your child repeatedly disobeyed you? I do and both times my reaction was beyond what was appropriate. I’ve been reading a little book by Richard Baxter on anger management. I don’t consider myself to have ‘anger issues’ but it is an area for me to improve. Baxter discusses occasions when anger is sinful. Some examples:
- When it disturbs our reason, and hinders us from thinking rightly.
- When it causes us to act unbecomingly, so as to use sinful words or actions.
- When it is greater in measure than that which provoked the anger.
What’s my point? I think a lot of us, me included, feign anger, hurt, many other things, for personal and selfish reasons. When things are not going our way we try to redirect the situation. There may be circumstances where this can be justified, but think about it the next time it’s not. What’s a better way to respond? For someone who does this all the time, watch Everybody Love Raymond.
Santa Lucia
We’ve just come through a season of giving. Everyone is familiar with Santa Claus. His origins are numerous, both pagan and Christian, but are typically associated with generous giving. On December 13th, or near to it, our family celebrates Santa Lucia Day. Saint Lucy lived around 300 AD and, as told in one story, helped Christians who were hiding in the catacombs by bringing supplies to them. We commemorate this act of giving each year by having one of our daughters wear the candle crown and sharing food with the rest of the famiy. Afterward, as a family we talk about ways we can help others and then we do just that.
Though we give throughout the year, we take even more time to consider it in December because we are surrounded by more visibile requests and we’re thinking about taxes. Uncle Sam does both giving and taking, but we can influence how much he takes through charitable contributions and we can direct giving to those we most want to support. Some of the places we give cannot be deducted, but many are.
Here are some of the people (through organizations) that we’ve been able to support:
Local:
National:
International:
Check out the links if you’re interested. It’s clear that many charitable organizations are financially challenged.
What prevents you from starting something? Writers call it writer’s block. A physicist might refer to it as static friction. Some may say procrastination, fear or lack of time or resources. Others might just say, “Does it really matter?” Now this is a good question. Does what I have to say or think matter to anyone but me? My daughter went to school where the front-and-center question posed to each student every year was, “Are you ready to change the world?” The school is trying to instill optimism in each child and we all share that hope at times. There’s something very good about that.
This blog does not set out to do anything grand. I expect it will be read by someone, somewhere, some time. And perhaps one or more will comment. I write with some trepidation, knowing that what goes on the web stays on the web. Sometimes I think we’ve forgotten that people aren’t perfect. We are not perfect, but we are all on a journey in this life and we are changing this world.
My advice: Start small, think big
