A friend recently shared a valuable lesson he learned as a child. He and his dad were headed for the dumpster one afternoon with a couple bags of trash. A neighbor, running the same errand, noticed and graciously stopped and offered to take theirs. Not wanting to be...
Even extroverts need some alone time now and then – but solitude and loneliness are two very different things. Loneliness is a sadness that envelops us because our social needs aren’t being met. Our post-pandemic world, with more people working remotely, is...
Imagine you have a flat tire. You pull over and unfasten your spare. You have the jack and lug nut wrench ready to go. A good soul stops and offers help. But you know how to change a tire and you’ve got this. So you politely decline and they leave. After you’ve...
A little kindness can go a long way. It’s a value we can practice in every aspect of our lives. It’s not always a grand gesture – kindness can be subtle. Don’t underestimate the impact a small act can make – holding a door open for the next person, letting someone in...
Practicing a spirit of service invokes gratitude and empathy. It perpetuates kindness. Volunteering your time and skills pushes you outside yourself and plunges you into your community. Carrying a heart of service simultaneously and subconsciously acknowledges you...
Extending grace to yourself and others makes life sweeter. Grace encourages us to “try again” after a failure. When we give grace to others we foster an environment of learning and growth. It permits open discussion and understanding. Acknowledging you were...
I don’t know about you, but I hate being late. If I say I’m going to be somewhere at a specific time, I want to actually be there early, when possible. My daddy called it Bear Bryant time. If you ain’t five minutes early, you’re late. Have you ever heard the old...
Suffering through the loss of a loved one can be devastating. Textbooks list the stages of grief in great detail, and while they aren’t wrong, it seems trite to reduce them to mere words on a page. Each stage is deeply personal – the whole process entirely...
Careful, thoughtful communication is important to building and maintaining meaningful relationships. Speaking clearly is also an important key to successful communication. Sometimes, we speak clearly, but when we leave out the “careful, thoughtful” part of the...
Do you remember the last time you moved out of one place and into another? Maybe it’s when you left home for the first time. As you packed, did you notice that everything in your house was a reflection of yourself? Your life, a physical representation, was literally...