Focusing on Priorities

Since February is the month of “Love” (well, every month is about Love, but if you step into a mall or Hallmark store–you know what I mean!), I wrote a guest post called “What Do You Love?” for my friends at Empoword.

Have you ever noticed how one word can get you into a certain mood? This is the strategy behind Empoword. Their products and services—focused around the ‘words’ in our life—help to strengthen us in our journey.

For example, I have one of their cool window clings up on my bathroom mirror that says “Gratitude.” So when I’m drying my hair each morning and my brain drifts to all kinds of trivial stuff (which it does), the word “Gratitude” always catches me. Instantly, it centers me and helps to remind me how grateful I am to be me, to be healthy, and for the day ahead. Of course, my morning isn’t necessarily always that profound; sometimes the word “Gratitude” simply reminds me to be grateful that I am having a good hair day or that Bill wiped off the counter when he was done. It’s all about the little things!

Back to “Love”: You can check out my post here. Special thanks to Stephanie and Wendy at Empoword for inviting me to write a Love post; but more importantly for helping the world choose positivity by becoming more conscious of the words we use.

What’s the word that helps you stay centered and focused?

For the very first time I have been struggling with writing my next post. I do have two full pages of great topics on following your joy that I am so excited for and can barely wait to write about! But this week I had a hard time finding the inspiration to put words together. Really, it’s a quite simple task, but I was making it too complex and got lost in my head.

And then my dear friend, Liv, magically sent this picture of her adorable little angel toddler, Truman (“Tru,” we call him), in his “JOY” outfit…and everything became clear.

First off, Tru is our godson (lucky us!). The last time Bill and I were with their family, we watched in amazement as Tru went about his little world–full of wonder, curiosity, and awe; in full-out exploration of everything in his surroundings. He threw his head back with full-body giggles when the dog did something goofy. He studied his big brother’s every movement and “Star Wars” poses as though he were learning a new trade. He gazed adoringly at his mom and dad with eyes that said “I love you” like nothing else in the world mattered.

Tru inhaled each breath slowly. He was alert and awake to everything around him. He stopped what he was doing to Read more »

These two guys were pretty special in my life. And as we all know, life is fragile; and any of us can make the transition—at any moment—to the next place in life.

Uncle Tom died at age 42 of cancer. Cousin Tommy died at 7 of a rare disease of the immune system. Tom was my godfather; Tommy was my godson.

When I lead classes on effective time management or uncovering life purpose, I pass around a framed version of the photo above. Many of the class participants seem to struggle with just how, precisely, to identify what’s most important in their life with all that they have going on, tugging at them. I always say that when you get down to it, though, it’s not as tough to figure out as one might think.

The sweet picture of my two special guys always drives the message home.

At the core, we all do know what’s important to us. But life gets busy, things get in the way, and Read more »