I may have alluded to this before when it comes to fun and the like.
Maybe it is just me, but assigning a name or a designation to a time seems confining. Restrictive. Potentially harming to a sense of presence. After all, it literally means “free time”.
I have found some leisure on the way to work, a cold call or to meet with a client. The radio might become an unwary sponsor to that chance to chill, play drums on the steering wheel or sing into your Yeti.
Some of my manic cleaning/organizing activities present a sense of leisure when I happen onto a better way of arranging things, knock something off the list and bring a sense of order to clutter. It can be a true source of release.
Cooking too. Knowing what the time will yield in a steaming, delicious dish for dinner. A creation beckoning for seconds and even a scoop or two when you are putting it in the fridge. Having your casserole and eating it too.
Here I go again; pulling some weeds, picking up some sticks and trimming away the dead parts in the flower beds. Free time to feel free, gain a sense of release and attain some instant gratification.
Leisure is free time.
So don’t spend it overthinking, putting it on a calendar, planning around it and costing you time to arrange it. When time makes its presence known, be in that moment and take it. Doing that provides you with something very profound and lasting.
I have a feeling I have answered this. The duty inherent in the prompt calls one to contribute. So this time, mark it down, I will keep it to the point.
Working in the yard. I know, not fun according to Dr.Rick.
Making chocolate chip cookies.
Writing.
Going to church.
Coaching.
My mind has no boundaries as of late. So it lumps yard work into other cleaning/organizing/improving functions I love to partake in. Providing one with an instantaneous helping of gratification.
Soup and grilled cheeses, making burgers and chicken wings on the grill and helping cut up veggies and such so my best friend can create ANOTHER amazing meal are part of the cookie attraction.
Well, you are witness to this one. I like being with you in this format.
Church centers me. And being off kilter for most of my life, I need the balance it brings.
Coaching has spread from the gridiron to other fields of life. We all want to be part of a team. And helping others accomplish that is the best way to give all of this back.
Reading some of the day’s gospel and watching the sun come up puts one in a great place. Things can take on a different meaning and assume a whole new gravity in the peace of a January morning.
Today, Jesus gathered the disciples and appointed twelve apostles. Deeper into the reflection, Bishop Barron quotes St. Thérèse of Lisieux, offering how He worked in her soul.
“He does not call those who are worthy, but those whom he pleases.”
Being somewhat of a newbie to this and other aspects of life, I went further to better understand her intention. His call, is a gift of grace, not a reward for merit.
As simple as that.
And being a gift, it is meant to be given away, to all we encounter along our way. Nothing economic or transactional about this whatsoever. Merely a loop of grace. We are given it. We give it away.
Looking at things that way surely lightens the load. I can just be today.
It touches one’s soul and brings a comforting sense of peace and serenity. I can stay right here in the moment.
There is no need to promote or call attention to how you go about it. If you simply are, that in itself will exert a pull. Providing other means of giving out this gift. Completing the loop.
Upon some reflection over the past few days, I think it is presence.
Being there for others physically is very important. The language that only the body can speak is crucial in certain situations and circumstances. That settling stature when calm is needed to overcome a tempest. Rolling up the sleeves and getting after it with the team to help lessen a stressful load.
A firm, loving, parental engagement when discipline is called for and correction is needed. A hand on the back, an arm around the shoulder or a smile when the feces hits the fan. Joining in with your own lame, success dance when things exceed expectations.
As a leader, it is crucial that others get to know you in this fashion. From the outside in. Authenticity is meant to be just that. Anything feigned on the outside will only reveal what is actually going on within. The two cannot be at odds with one another.
Quite literally, “what you see absolutely has to be what you get.” Any acting on the part of a leader will be seen precisely as that. A dishonest delivery will be seen by all. This isn’t about the academy taking notice. It is about supporting, affirming and growing those around you.
That being said, a leader must possess an equally visible, palpable and honest appearance in a somewhat metaphysical or spiritual sense.
We all operate and are guided by a personal philosophy. A foundation that was poured as we were raised, renovated by every experience encountered and reinforced by how we chose to respond to them. From a leadership standpoint, the bar then gets raised substantially. For how we see ourselves is largely going to dictate how we view others and what we see in them.
If you are convinced that you know it all, have to control everything and that no one on your team can do it as well as you, those around you will recognize that approach in you. The terse tone, the commanding body language, direct sentence structure and the development of leadership cliques will make your “style” quite apparent. Unless you recruit a group of indivudals that have no sense of value or worth, have been shamed their entire existence and are willing to be bullied, then you can pretty much hang up your leader hat.
A leader recognizes that his time is temporary. That he or she will move on to another challenge or different phase of life. That being said, it is incumbent on the leader to learn of the talents and aspirations that surround them, and acknowledge what they lack themselves so that all can contribute in a genuine and lasting way to the growth and success of the group. And one another.
This tone, the open body language, inclusive sentence structure and coaching of leadership radiates through all. The genuine care and support are felt not only within the group, but ripples out. Those on your team express their gratitude and experience to others, funneling potential recruits towards the group. They not only want what is best for themselves, but they also want the same for others in their lives.
This is humility plain and simple.
An admission that I am in need of all of you to achieve what it is we set out to do. I am not able to do this alone. I do not have the talents, skills and drive that we have together. And I am not going to be here forever. Ultimately, my “job” is to help you to grow into a position that you can all work and learn to lead yourselves.
“Man is made or unmade by himself. By the right choice he ascends. As a being of power, intelligence, and love, and the lord of his own thoughts, he holds the key to every situation.”
James Allen (1864-1912) British-born American essayist.
Ultimately, how you respond to any given situation is your choice.
You can fold up, cave in and just let things happen to you. Or, you can choose a more arduous course – and – happen to things.
When choices, situations, responsibilities or commitments seem to be gunning for you, only you possess that singular opportunity to decide just how you will respond. And in many ways, that decision acts to determine just how it will turn out.
It can be grim. It can be mediocre. One of those “I knew that was gonna happen” moments. Or, you can simply choose to turn it into your shining moment.
Therein lay the opportunity inherent in all challenge, difficulty and adversity. Each of those moments represents an opportunity to choose how you will respond. Each can become precisely the outcome that you have the ability to determine.
So as Mr. Allen posited, you can choose to be unmade and exist with all that entails. Or, you can choose to be the lord of your thoughts and be made to ascend.
...my temporary assignment. 