Friday Review: Family
What does “Family” mean to you? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.”
“Children are the living message we send to a time we will not see.”
Tag Archives: Barry Demp Coaching
The story you tell about yourself is your greatest work of art
“The story you tell about yourself is your greatest work of art.”
—Tara Conklin, NYT Best-selling Author
Image from Unsplash by Natalia Yakovleva
Most of us have at least a handful of stories we repeatedly tell ourselves and others.
They may be tales of wit, humor, insights, adventures, and accomplishment, but they are all reruns, and rarely have much to add to our todays.
Although many are comforting and familiar, they rarely move us forward in any significant way and can often limit us from evolving and becoming an even better version of ourselves.
EXERCISE:
What new and improved stories can and will you write with this day to make it a more beautiful masterpiece?
Stories are like little time capsules
“Stories are like little time capsules. They carry pieces of truth and meaning over time.”
—Mark Nepo, Author of The Book of Awakening
Image from Unsplash by Reuben Juarez
How old are you? Imagine you have a box containing a time capsule describing each year of your life. They contain listings of the people in your world and a vivid description of the events and stories you captured that year.
Which of those stories carried pieces of truth and meaning that still resonate for your today? How did these stories shape your personality, character, and the core values that continue to guide you?
What stories are you writing these days that you will find the next time you open capsules years from now?
EXERCISE:
Create your own time capsule over the coming weeks or months. Capture in words and Images the pieces of truth and meaning that influence you the most.
Creativity doesn’t wait for the perfect moment
“Creativity doesn’t wait for the perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones.”
—Bruce Garrabrandt, Artist, Author, Speaker
Image from Unsplash by Alice Dietrich
Where in your life do you experience the most creativity? Where are you and what are you doing during these special moments? I tend to experience many of these moments when I am cooking, coaching, and more recently, when playing with my grandchildren.
Adapting a recipe with new ingredients and spices, engaging in deep dialogue, and being open and playful during seemingly ordinary moments often generates both positive results and delight.
Creative sparks are almost always the outcome of various elements coming together in new and different ways.
EXERCISE:
How can you combine seemingly ordinary moments and life ingredients into more creative ones?
Consider welcoming other cooks into your kitchen to create something tasty today.
What small achievements can you celebrate today
What small achievements can you celebrate today? How?
—Calm App Reflection
Image from Unsplash by krakenimages
What make a good day a good day? How important is it for you to achieve something of great significance to place a gold star or even a check mark in the box for the day?
If our accomplishments need a certain critical mass each day, most of our calendars will appear a bit empty. Take a few hints from clever parenting charts, on which young children get stickers for eating their vegetables, putting away their toys, brushing their teeth, potty training, or simply for saying please and thank you.
EXERCISE:
What small achievements do you tend to overlook on a typical day?
In what ways can you acknowledge your efforts and progress today, and add a few more gold stars and happy faces to your calendar?
Friday Review: Luck
Friday Review: LUCK
How lucky are you? Here are a few related quotes you may have missed.
“I wish you way more than luck.”
“Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”
“You can attract luck simply by sharing your work publicly.”
If you can’t see what you’re looking for, see what’s there
“If you can’t see what you’re looking for, see what’s there.”
—Mark Nepo, Author of The Book of Awakening
Image from Unsplash by Anne Nygård
What is your relationship with reality? How often do you find yourself upset by the fact that your expectations of things go unfulfilled? Many of us often resist aspects of our lives only to notice during times of “heel digging” that these things seem to become even more persistent.
My meditation practice over the past several years has increased my capacity to accept and allow more things to be as they are, and appreciate the law of impermanence. Looking harder for things that aren’t actually there prevents us from seeing what it is that we can actually work with and influence.
EXERCISE:
Where is it time to take off your rose-colored glasses and see things as they are? How can and will you work with and influence your reality to improve the things you can, and accept the things you can’t?
The cult of productivity has its place
“The cult of productivity has its place, but worshiping at its altar daily robs us of the very capacity for joy and wonder that makes life worth living.”
—Maria Popova, American-based writer of cultural criticism
Image from Amazon
Even the title of Clay Christensen’s book, How Will You Measure Your Life? is a profound question worth pondering. Events in recent years have had many of us consider issues through a more holistic lens, to determine what is truly important and what constitutes a meaningful life.
Where have you rearranged your priorities? What activities moved up, moved down, or were eliminated from your list? What has happened to your need to be productive at all times in order to keep up with or beat the person next to you?
EXERCISE:
What changes have and can you make in your life to score more points on your joy and wonder scoreboards?
I recommend that the Statue of Liberty be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the west coast
“I recommend that the Statue of Liberty be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the west coast.”
—Victor Frankl, Austrian neurologist, author, and Holocaust survivor
Image from Unsplash by Miltiadis Fragkidis
As a relatively new grandparent, I’ve become interested in parenting approaches in today’s rapidly changing world. When I think of the phrase “Teach your children well,” I recall my own upbringing and our efforts with our two adult children, now in their mid-thirties.
Even if you are not a parent or grandparent, consider your own upbringing. How much liberty and how much responsibility were taught and modeled by your elders?
As we fast forward to today, what lessons do our children — and for that matter all of us — need to live healthy, happy, and responsible lives within our various communities?
EXERCISE:
Where do you stand on the pursuit of freedom and liberty in the world? What is your perspective on the benefits of greater responsibility? What steps are needed coast-to-coast and throughout the world?
What new chapters do you want to write with your life
What new chapters do you want to write with your life?
—Calm App Reflection
Image from Unsplash by Maegan Martin
I love the idea that thoughts can become things and that what we think about can come about.
What is your relationship with the written word? Have you kept a journal, written a blog, written a letter, or perhaps even published a book? How often to you text, tweet, or use email?
Alternatively, how often do you think and speak? What are the words that you form and utter that do not necessarily make it into print but have the potential to become real?
EXERCISE:
What would you include if you wrote an autobiography?
What new adventures and engaging stories can and will you write with the rest of your days?