Do your words build or destroy??? Build or destroy what you may ask… People. Fellow humans. The people who spend the most time around you… at home, at work, in your neighborhood… And let’s not forget the people who read/hear your words online. What about those words… Do they build or destroy??? As you ponder your answer, ponder this poem (which can easily be printed on a 4×6 photo paper if you want to keep). Build or Destroy By Les…
Are goals dead? Or do they still work? Is there a better way to create a better life? I think so! If you are like most people, your New Year’s resolutions are already forgotten. We mean well when we set them. We have good intentions. But good intentions are not the same as being intentional. Which are you? Changing is hard, especially when real life shows up with its normal vengeance and we feel forced just trying to survive. Somewhere…
Now that I have decluttered some of my physical space (as I shared in last week’s Monday Morning Boost), it’s time to clear out some of the mental clutter. As the old adage goes… “Out with the old, in with the new!” But what is “the old”? Old is anything that clutters, detracts, or confuses your direction in life. This could literally be the old stuff you no longer use, like all the piles of stuff I cleared out last…
Stuff can become a little overwhelming at times, especially when we let the stuff build up. Too often, we simply just deal with it, at least until it becomes too much and we have to dive in and tackle it. This year, I allowed my busyness to overwhelm my systems, and my office became a cluttered mess. Feeling surrounded by clutter created a mental mind block I had to work really hard to not let it become another level of…
The story of Christmas is also the story of community… A community of family, friends, and neighbors uniting together to Light the World with a little more hope, love, and peace. We help Santa out and shop till we drop and hope we remember one for everyone on our list. We wrap up the gifts to put under the tree and fill the stockings that have been hung up with care or tossed on the couch without much care. We make…
The Journey of the Heart continues as I share once again the story of the Christmas I spent in Iraq in 2004. My Christmas in Iraq was cold and scary, warm and sacred. Few experiences have touched my heart as deeply as that Christmas. As we remember those serving our country around the world, and as you remember your own loved ones who are unable to be home for Christmas, it seems fitting I share this story again. Of all…
I recently had an insightful conversation with our son Clint that sparked my contemplation about the legacy and future of Red Edge Mentoring. We are now seven years into this bold adventure of “Empowering Leaders to Create a More Intentional Life.” It’s been a wonderful journey filled with trials and challenges, triumphs and successes, and plenty of experiences living our promise to keep getting back up. The last two years after my heart surgery took a toll on business. While I…
Cora Howes was the old and frail white-haired widow who lived just around the corner from where I grew up. Her house was very small with only a small front room, one bedroom, and a tiny kitchen between the two. At some point, a bathroom was squeezed into the mix when indoor plumbing replaced the outhouse. The only source of heat during the cold winters was a small wood stove. My dad taught me it was my job to make…
Perhaps the most well-known Thanksgiving Day promotion ever pulled off was in 1978 by the fictional radio station WKRP in Cincinnati. Station General Manager Arthur “Big Guy” Carlson, in an attempt to exercise some kind of assertion over the “casually dressed people [who] seemed to think they have taken over the place”… now that the station had converted to rock-n-roll… cooked up the “greatest turkey event in Thanksgiving Day history.” Mr. Carlson’s “greatest turkey event” was to give away live…
Thanksgiving is a time for family gatherings, delicious meals, and celebrations. And for me, on five separate occasions, Thanksgiving has been a significant time of coming home. COMING HOME FROM WAR I remember first my homecoming from Iraq on November 18, 2005. The day was the Friday before Thanksgiving that year. The year I spent in Iraq was challenging, heartbreaking at the loss of life, rewarding for the bonds of friendship. I grew to love the men I worked with as brothers….