Raw Coping Power

I’ve been reading Joel Bennett’s new book, Raw Coping Power: From Stress to Thriving.  He uses a Joseph Campbell quote, “The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.”  It’s my first Army parachute jump, and I am the 1^st jumper.  I walk to the door, look down, and immediately think, “I could die doing this”, green light/jump master yells GO, and I’m still standing at the door.  But after a kick from the jump master, and a perfect jump, I discover I have something inside of me - a spirit that for 66 years has energized my life.  Read the book and learn to “thrive”!

Mind-Body Genomics

Link - Gene Expression Tied to Inflammation We’ve all been there, those moments in life we want to blink and find it was all just a dream. But they are real, and challenge our abilities to let go, and cope. The Relaxation Response (1975) was written a year before I broke my back and reading it changed my prayer and meditation life forever as I laid 6mths in the hospital and spent another 6mths in a full body cast. Harvard researcher Herbert Benson showed that meditation or prayer with a breathing focus alters the body’s stress response. His most recent work suggests the relaxation response alters gene expression tied to inflammation. Take time-out today to deep breath and change your life forever.

Soulful Intention

Have you noticed how the word “intention” is being used more often to describe individual / team attitudes, purpose or actions?  Yesterday, as I taught and listened to life stories from employees about work life stress, I was reminded of Richard Carlson’s words about soul intention, “less effort is sometimes better….the less significance we give our thoughts, the easier it will be to connect with the deeper parts of ourselves.”  Nourishing the spiritual parts of ourselves enables us to be kinder, gentler, and more compassionate and loving, which brings us joy and happiness.  Be intent on living soulful today.    

Believe

My senior year of high school 11,363 soldiers died in Vietnam, and my school guidance counselor kept bugging me about when I was going to enlist.  I had two close friends, a girl friend, an English teacher that liked my poetry, and a coach that believed in me.  My mother would lose her fight to cancer in less than a year and my dad was bankrupt.  Looking back, I realize the only thing holding my life together was a coach that believed in me.  He gave me a sense of pride for just being me, and recognized/nurtured my endless energy.  Show someone today you believe in them. 

Sprint for Life 2014

All through Saturday’s 17^th Annual Sprint for Life Walk / Run I could feel the tears on the edge of my eyes; MaryBeth and I had a challenging cancer year.  For many years, I’ve served as the start and finish line announcer working to make participants feel connected and special for supporting ovarian cancer research. Thousands walked / ran the 5K, but it was the Tot (under 3) race where my tears finally followed them down the trail as I prayed we end all cancers today.  Hours later, during cleanup a friend turned and said, “It was a good day to be alive”, and I thought it was a good day, filled with the energy and hope to ensure none of the Tots ever face cancer.      

Life Energy

Life is all about the energy we have and share with others along the journey in so many different ways.  I was physically drained from too many days on the road, but days I had been surrounded by the nourishing energy of friends.  Standing at my hotel window in Atlanta watching the sunrise, Rabbi Harold Kushner’s words rang so true, “When your life is filled with the desire to see the holiness in everyday life, something magical happens: ordinary life becomes extraordinary, and the very process of life begins to nourish your soul!”  What kind of energy will you share today in nourishing your soul?  

Empowered by Our Values

It was a two day meeting and I had been the opening keynote with a talk about “whole person living”.  We were in Napa California at a resort that sat on the side of a hillside vineyard.  A light rain danced across the vineyard where only the rabbits and I were up.  I had used George Sheehan’s (author of Running and Being) writings to talk about values and now as I walked in the freshness of a new morning I felt his words, “Individuals are empowered through the commitment and practice of their values”.  I stopped and reflected on the power and passion of my values.  Take time today to reflect on your values.