Inspiration

Who Taught You About Respect?

Posted by

0

We each had someone in our life that very clearly taught us things that we will always remember. My father taught me about respect. It was important to him. Although he sometimes had a funny way of showing his respect to others, (he was not always respectful) we were taught how to respect him. I guess you could say that he taught me what to do and what not to do by his actions.

My father showed us to respect our elders, the things in our home, or the things that we owned and how we should take care of them. In his own way, he maybe made me into a bit of a perfectionist. Since I grew up poor, I did not have many things that many others had. The things I did have I cherished, and took excellent care of them. That has carried through my life to my home, and those comfort items I own today. I think there were multiple people in my life that taught me about having respect for myself. You can tell this by how you react to the way others treat you.

Sometimes I think when another individual is not respectful, it actually starts with them not respecting themselves. Each encounter we have with someone else is a learning experience, and teaches us how we can be better individuals, and how we can treat others better. Whether it is a work situation, or something with a family or friend. Each time you are direct, clear, and say what you need to, it helps for that next time when you might need to speak up and stand up for yourself or another person.

Due to the fact that respect was ingrained into my thinking at a young age, this initiative by “Futures without Violence” resonated with me. It is called: “The Respect Challenge” and asks for individuals to contribute to the question: Who taught you Respect? You will want to check out this video, and I encourage you to submit your answer to their question.

Who taught you about respect? Are you a parent, aunt, uncle, or teacher that is teaching someone about respect?

“Year of the Girl”

Posted by

3

Randomly the other day I was reading a publication for a time share company. An ad in this publication was for Girl Scouts. Having been a Girl Scout myself, I was interested. Upon further reading I realized that the ad was actually for: “Year of the Girl.” Girl Scouts are celebrating 100 years and they have dedicated 2012 as the Year of the Girl. What a cool idea. This year has been such a full year for women, it always reminds me that rights for women have come so far, but that we still have so much more to do for women’s rights!

This link on the Girl Scouts website, discusses the many thing that girls are doing in their community. Strong leaders, saving the earth, and many other success stories. I wanted to share a few nuggets of information from their website:

  • Only one in five girls believes she has what it takes to lead.
  • Fifty-nine percent of girls say the fashion industry makes them feel fat.
  • Eighty-five percent of middle-school students say they’ve been cyberbullied at least once.
  • Although more than 90 percent of girls in fourth grade want to continue studying math, by twelfth grade that number drops to 50 percent.

While I do not remember if my years as a Girl Scout taught me about leadership, I do remember many of the campouts, activities, merit badges, and friendships. Due to all that I learned, I am hopeful and confident that what the Girl Scouts organization is doing for girls today will help them to feel confident about themselves and create leaders for the future.

Go 2012! Go Year of the Girl!

Work In The Office or At Home?

Posted by

2

Working environments. A friend recently shared this article from The Christian Science Monitor called: “Why America loves its office culture.” After graduating from college I worked in an office, then we moved to Portland and I worked from home for nearly a decade. I am now working in an office again. Which do I prefer?

I like both options. Working from home I would roll out of bed in my pajamas, make tea, and rev up the laptop to start my day. I always wanted to get up and do all these things before I started my day, but for some reason I was like a magnet to my laptop. I found my mornings were usually those of the liquid diets. After my tea, I had a green smoothie, and after that coffee. By then it was lunch time. I have to say I was VERY productive working from home. Which is interesting because this article just came out from Fast Company titled: “Working From Home Makes You More Productive.” There are some interesting statistics in the article that companies should look at to see if telecommuting should be an option for employees when possible.

Now I am up at 5:30/6:00 am and have my green smoothie, post my blog, check emails, and shower and am off to work. I like my morning routine. I am not sure why it was so hard to get up and have my own “personal time” routine when I worked from home. I guess it was easier to roll over and close my eyes again and again since I did not have to worry about traffic. Or, a shower.

That is my morning routine. You care right? So what I loved about working from home was how much I was able to get done. I was never one to do home stuff or watch television. Everyone always asked how I was able to stay focused. I always had so much to do that I never had time to think about distractions from home. I loved the quiet and the focus I could have in my own space. But. Yes, there is a but. I missed being around people. Sure I would often be on conference calls all day long, but it is just not the same.

Now that I am back in an office I love the interaction and face-to-face time with other people. I love the people I work with, everyone is so interesting, intelligent, and I learn so much from them every day. The hardest part for me is since part of my job involves writing, it is at times hard to find the quiet mental space to write as I was more easily able to do when I worked from home. It is a balancing act in the fast paced world of the office.

Both have its pros and cons. Many people also have the best of both worlds. Some have days in the office, and days at home.

What is your preference?

Did You Know That You Matter?

Posted by

5

Do you ever have those days when you wonder if what you do matters? That you matter? I recently read a good Daily Om article that was a good reminder that each of us matters.

There are so many areas in our personal and work lives that are perfect opportunities for helping others remember that they matter. Internal communications within an organization is a great way to utilize messaging to remind employees that what they do matters. It is an opportunity to share vision, team success, gratitude, and push employees to look to the future, grow, and challenge themselves. Managers have the opportunity to find ways to show their employees that they matter. Whether they manage a fast food restaurant, a department store, or a large corporation, managers have an opportunity to coach, guide, and find different ways to help employees feel valued for the work they are doing to drive the company in a forward direction.

In your personal life, do you go out of your way to tell your spouse or partner that you are grateful for them? Do you know if it means more to them when they hear your words of affirmation? Some of us have more confidence than others, and some of us are refueled by the words of those that love us the most. It is always something I try to keep in my thought, that just because someone I know and love is confident, it does not mean that individual does not need reminders of my gratitude for them and their place in my life. I love this quote from the Daily Om article:

“Our very existence affects countless people in countless ways. And because we are each essentially a microcosm of the larger universe, our internal experiences affect the whole of life more than we could ever imagine.”

If you do anything today, tell someone at work or in your personal life that they matter. Be sure to be genuine about it. Find something in the other person that you are truly grateful for, and tell them. You never know what your words can do to change and add life to someone’s day.

You matter.

The Infinite Uses of Creative Thought

Posted by

0

Over the Labor Day weekend we were walking through the Annual Art in the Pearl festival in Portland and saw this quote on a nearby gallery window:

on a window in Portland…

It really resonates with me. “Inform and delight.” If you do not know Milton Glaser, you can check out his website. He is most known for creating the I (heart) NY slogan. I love this idea that art should: inform and delight. I can get behind that. We all have ways that we are creative in our lives. Do you ever wonder if you are an artist? Does being creative inspire you?

There are so many ways to be creative in this world. You can be a jeweler. A baker, a candlestick maker (just kidding – well I guess you could be). A designer, a cake maker, you can design fonts, or logos, or PowerPoints. You can design rugs, or blankets, or scarves. You can be a food photographer, or photograph people, or landscapes. You can be a painter (visual) or a house painter. You can be an architect, or a builder, or a landscape designer. You can be a product designer, or a graphic designer, or a product engineer. You can be a chef, or make pastries, or develop the grapes for a fine wine. You can design a website, or an app used by the multitudes. You can design furniture, or appliances, or cars. You can sew, or be a ceramist, or work with metals. Oh the mirad ways to be creative, and I have just named a few.

You can be a writer, or an editor, or a strategist. All require some effort of design.

Whatever role we fill each day, try starting your day using your creativity to “inform and delight.”