Maybe It's Time - Febuary 3, 2013

"There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go." – Robert Frost

Over the last couple of weeks, these words have been tumbling around in my mind like socks in a dryer. As a man of extremes, who loves to travel, it's easy for me to jump quickly to the conclusion that the quote is a challenge for me to quit my job and become a full-time traveling teacher, journeying to all stretches of the planet. 

One day that may well happen, but extreme thinking is often an internal excuse for maintaining the status quo. The logistics of selling everything and hitting the road is so overwhelming that I can just as quickly dismiss the idea and go back to my comfortable existence. I'll mull over Frost's words later when I have a better sense of how such a bold act would unfold.

That absolves me from considering that maybe there's another message in the quote, an invitation for me to depart from other stations in my life that aren't as extreme - a toxic relationship, a bad living situation, hanging on to lost dreams from the past.

However, doing so can be frightening when there's nothing new to take their places, when there's "no certain place to go."

Fear is part of what holds us back, but I also believe that we get sidetracked by looking for certainty before we act or, in my case, looking for signs. It's been my experience that in the past when I came to major crossroads in my life I seldom had obvious, Road to Emmaus type clarity but, instead, just rolled the dice and kept moving forward.

Since signs are often not forthcoming, we have yet another convenient excuse to not act. We have the justification to remain in a familiar place.

Over the next few weeks, I'll continue to mull over situations I need to leave behind in my life. Perhaps, it's a good exercise for us all in this new year.

The Neglected Art of Compliments - January 27, 2013

Book stores, pharmacies, and watering holes are full of products aimed at helping us feel better about life, but last night, I received a spirit-boosting gift that can’t even be seen, cost the giver nothing, and is still putting a smile on my face– a compliment.

The compliment, itself, isn’t important. What is important is that the person took the time out of her busy schedule to share a few kind words and acknowledge something I had done.

I’ll bet the e-mail she composed took less than five minutes, but the effects are still resonating. Immediately afterward, I felt a shot of adrenaline and slept peacefully throughout the night.

This morning, still in high spirits, I was moved to send a compliment along to another friend and to write this post, all because of the unexpected gift I received last night.

When I met my friend Umit in Turkey, she always stressed the importance of cultivating and surrounding oneself with positive energy because it leads to more positive energy and more positive outcomes in life, just as negativity tends to attract more negativity and more negative outcomes in life.

Sincere compliments are such an easy way to spread positive energy, and can mean so much to both the giver and receiver, but daily we tend to let the opportunities to distribute them pass by.

Maybe, part of the solution to our angst lies in the often forgotten compliment.