Tag Archives: experience

“People don’t take trips. Trips take people.”

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“People don’t take trips. Trips take people.”

—John Steinbeck, American author

Photo from Flickr by EBImagery

Photo from Flickr by EBImagery

The calm riverboat cruise my wife Wendy and I took down the Danube was a trip of a lifetime, providing us lots of time to reflect on our lives. Of particular interest was how this journey took us back in time to visit the lives of people who lived hundreds and even thousands of years ago.

We were accompanied by 136 fellow passengers from around the world, who generously shared their friendship and bits of their lives with us as we toured a number of cities, sharing good food and conversation.

EXERCISE:

As you enter the summer months, how can you more fully embrace the places you visit? What can you do to look beyond the surface and experience these adventures more completely?

“Life is like a camera. Focus on…”

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“Life is like a camera. Focus on what’s important, capture the good times, develop from the negatives, and if things don’t work out, take another shot.”

—Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Martijn van Exel

Photo from Flickr by Martijn van Exel

I like this quote so much as it is that I’m going to skip right to the exercise!

EXERCISE:

  1. What is of such importance today that you will give it your fullest attention and focus?
  2. How can you pace yourself today to fully capture all the good you experience?
  3. How can you embrace the “lessons learned” from any negatives or setbacks that may occur during the day?
  4. Finally, should your picture of things not turn out as you wish, determine how you will refocus your life lenses, add the light of a positive attitude, and take another shot in the direction of your choosing?

“Life is like a road trip…”

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“Life is like a road trip. Enjoy each day, and don’t carry too much baggage.”

-Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Georg Sander

Photo from Flickr by Georg Sander

When I first met my wife Wendy almost forty years go, she would often tell me stories of her family’s famous road trips. Her mom, dad, and two sisters would spontaneously jump into their station wagon and head off to places unknown. Each passenger had their turn at directing the driver, telling them to continue on the current road, or to turn right or left.

When they got hungry, they would discover places to eat. When they got tired, they found places to rest. They often traveled with only the clothes on their backs, and little else.

EXERCISE:

How can you live today as if you were on a road trip?  What can you do to enjoy it to the max, taking little or no real or mental baggage along for the ride?

“I would like to travel..”

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“I would like to travel the world with you twice. Once, to see the world. Twice, to see the way you see the world.”

—Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Nilanjan Sasmal

Photo from Flickr by Nilanjan Sasmal

The majority of my coaching clients would include travel as one of their core values. They want to see and experience more of the world with the precious time they have left. To some extent, they have a bit of regret that they haven’t made a bigger dent in their bucket lists.

Have you ever noticed how much joy and excitement is experienced when a baby is born?  Perhaps it is because this new life allows all of us—especially the new parents and grandparents—to start a new life “adventure” with a child who is seeing the world for the first time.

EXERCISE:

How can you be far more intentional in your efforts to see and experience the world, and at the same time, double your pleasure by looking through the eyes of those who share the adventure?

“All things come to pass.”

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“All things come to pass.”

—Heraclitus, pre-Socratic Greek Philosopher

Photo from Flickr by Kpcmobile

Photo from Flickr by Kpcmobile

We’ve all heard the phrase “Nothing Lasts Forever.” This, of course, includes the good things as well as the bad. After each great storm the sun shines again, and then the clouds and storms return.

Given these facts, how might we gain power from Heraclitus’ words of wisdom? Perhaps we can choose an optimistic frame of reference to both maximize and celebrate the good in life, and also minimize the times when life brings us down.

EXERCISE:

How can you accentuate the positive and eliminate or at least minimize the negative, which will come to pass throughout your day?

Consider making the exercise above a daily practice to support you in living an even more extraordinary life.

Is the juice worth the squeezing

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“Is the juice worth squeezing?”

– folk Proverb

Image from webstaurantstore.com

When she was a child, my mother lived in an apartment above the fruit store her father managed. She would sometimes help him polish the apples and display the fruit as engagingly as possible to attract customers.

Have you ever bitten into a shiny apple, only to find out that what was inside was mushy? You would never use such apples for juice.

Exercise:

Look at your own life as a fruit basket of people and experiences. Where are you putting your efforts? Is the juice of your life worth the squeezing?

 

Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower

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“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.”

—Albert Camus, 20th Century French Philosopher

Image of bright autumn leaves

Image from Unsplash be Val Vesa

Our society embraces youth, beauty, and vitality. These qualities seem to coincide with the spring and summer, where new growth begins and we bloom into our fullness.

As we age, we enter the autumn of our lives. I embrace the metaphor of leaves, in all their wondrous colors, being a second spring. With aging and life experience, we can discover new forms of inner beauty and wisdom.

Exercise:

How can you embrace every moment and every season of your life?

What beauty can you find in where you are and who you have become?

#24: “Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.”

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– Vernon Sanders Law, Major League Baseball pitcher

My first career was as a school science teacher in Philadelphia. Those who know me know of my passion for learning. What I found through all my education and the process of educating others, was that very few lessons really stuck unless they were combined with some experience, such as a lab experiment.

When we see and hear, and then act on what we learn, we internalize a lesson and it sticks.

Exercise:

What lessons are there to be learned from the day-to-day test you are taking?

What experiences can you initiate to speed up the learning process?

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