Tag Archives: Awesome

Something, something, about something

A few weeks ago I posted about being STUCK. I experienced a release of words. The words had been accumulating in my mind for weeks. I spit them out.

Now what?

Keep going? You bet.

One lesson I learned through the brief period of no words is the need to continue. Writing begets writing. A body in motion stays in motion. So I continue to write. The writing does not need to be brilliant (even if I want it to be). My words need to leave my head. Create, create, create. Keep moving and exercising the brain muscle.

I read quite a few blogs published by professional writers. They blog on a variety of topics, but one thing they have in common is they post on “how” to write. They are very generous with the supposed secrets of their craft. There really aren’t any secrets. Most of the information shared by them has been shared with them at one time or another. Now I’m going to lean on them, use them, learn from them, and write. Sooner or later my writing will improve. My writing “voice” will be refined. My message will come into focus. Jon, Jeff, Andy, Michele,…………..thank you!

What am I writing about?

I’m glad you asked.

You name it. I’ll write about it. For me, right now, the topic doesn’t necessarily matter so much as the actual practice of writing. A few topics rolling around in my head, and scribbled in way too many places (yes, I need to learn to use one system) include Baseball, Communion (The Lord’s Supper), Masculinity, Selling, Family, Community, Depression (specifically as it relates to men), etc.

There are plenty of topics available to me. Now is the time for me to be bold, create something, and hit the pesky “Publish” button.

As I post more often, I’d love for you to participate. Leave comments. Ask questions. Help me define my message and find my voice. Go back through my small collection of posts and ask me questions about what I’ve written. Please.

As I sit here writing this morning, I’m also have a text conversation with one of you. I’ve been given one more great prompt for writing. “Who” As in, “Who am I writing for?” What a great question!

So there you have it friends.

Thanks so much for your continual encouragement.

Thank you for your honest opinions.

I’m excited for the #Next3Decades!

A Baseball and My Fear

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I’ve been carrying around a brand new baseball for a little over a week.

I found it in my car when I was cleaning it out and transferring the contents to a new car. Why was it in the trunk? Back in September I made a trip to Nashville for a conference. The Start Conference was created as a companion to the book Start. Earlier in the year, Start was released by writer Jon Acuff. It is the follow-up to his highly successful book, Quitter. I read Start. I joined a crazy crew of people for a wild adventure dreamed up and built up by Jon in July. The conference in September allowed me to meet up with some of the crazy people (now friends) I had met online. Unfortunately not every one of the over 2,000 people in the online group were able to attend the conference. The baseball in my trunk was for one of those people. A baseball fanatic. Ethan Bryan.

I had planned on having the baseball signed by the crazy online friends who were able to attend the conference. I actually brought two baseballs with me. With over one hundred people needing to autograph a ball, two would be necessary.

I forgot. The baseballs stayed in my trunk.

That’s actually a lie.

I didn’t completely forget. I chose to leave them in the trunk. Why? Why didn’t I follow through? How hard could it be to have a few dozen people sign a baseball for an “online” friend? Well for me it was impossible. One simple thing got in my way.

FEAR.

Now, six months later, I laugh at myself. I laugh at the irony. I laugh at the ridiculous thought of not being able to walk up to these people and ask for an autograph on a baseball for one of our friends. The irony comes from a portion of the subtitle of Jon’s book. Here’s the full title:

Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters

Yep. Right there in the title. Also the focus of the conference.

Jon even had a punching bag set up so we could put on boxing gloves and punch fear with our fists.

Photo used with permission.

I was nervous and shy. Up until that first afternoon of the conference, I’d never met any of these people in person. I had chatted online and spoken on the phone with a few of them, but no face to face interaction. I was excited to go to the conference. I wanted to be inspired by Jon and the other presenters. I thought I wanted to make face to face contact with my new friends. Fear was holding me back. I’ve been a sales consultant since 1997. I talk to strangers every day. It is a vital part of my job.

This was different though. This was a crowd of people. I don’t like crowds. I avoid small-talk. I’m not the person standing around with a half-dozen people after church chatting about, well, whatever “those people” chat about. I’d much rather sit with you at a table in a coffee shop.

Back to the baseball.

It is now the middle of March. Spring Training for Major League Baseball is in full swing. In less than three weeks my Detroit Tigers will open their regular season with a home game. Their opponent? Ethan Bryan’s beloved Kansas City Royals.

The baseball for Ethan goes with me in the car every day. It comes with me to my desk. I roll it around in my hand and try different grips while I work. When I’m home at night, I have it with me. Watching TV, reading a book, whatever I’m doing, I have it with me. My wife and boys think I’m weird. I’m okay with that. I know why I’m holding it. Ethan knows why I’m holding it.

Baseball is back.

Someday I will give this baseball to Ethan. Soon. Will it have a few dozen signatures from our mutual online friends on it when I give it to him? Maybe. But maybe I’ll save that for another time. Maybe this one will be special. We’ll play catch with it when we meet in person for the first time. And then I’ll autograph it and give it to Ethan to keep safe until the next time we meet.

What does FEAR keep you from doing?
Let me know in the comments. Join the conversation.

#Next3Decades

To learn more about Ethan Bryan, check out his blog: http://ethanbryan.wordpress.com/
He is a great writer and storyteller.

One Word

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A few days ago I sent out a tweet asking some friends, “What should be my #oneword for 2014?” Instead of making the traditional “resolutions”, I want to select a word to focus on for the year.

My Friends, Practicing My Word

Here are some of the suggestions offered by my friends in response to my tweet:
Courage
Intentional
Proactive
Awesome
Relevant
Delight
Abide
Present
Faith (in yourself and God)
Forward
Trust
Soon J

One friend emphasized that no matter the word I choose, “walk in it boldly!” Good point. To focus on one word for 12 months, one should certainly be bold about it. This also reminded me to choose wisely.

One word for the year is a big deal.

For the last 8 months or so of 2013 I attempted to focus on the word “intentional”. My life was turned upside down at the end of April. (You can read about that HERE.) I needed to work on some major changes in my daily life. I’m sure I’ll continue to focus on being intentional in 2014, but I’m at a place to add on to it and grow more as well.

While I pondered my “word” and read the responses to my tweet, I was also reading “Love Does” by Bob Goff. As the tweets came in, I was reading Chapter 21. The chapter title is “Hearing Aid.” As I read, and as the tweets came in, one word continued to roll around in my head.

LISTEN

I thought about the word for a few days. Would it work as a word to focus on for the year? What does it mean? Can it encompass multiple aspects to help create movement in my soul?

In his chapter “Hearing Aid”, Bob writes about “selective hearing” (married folks, you know what he means). He also writes about how we often have selective hearing when it comes to God speaking to us. Are we being lazy? Not trying to determine what God is saying to us? Do we need to listen harder with our heart?

I’ve been in that situation. Listening with my heart was not happening. At some point this past summer I realized I wasn’t listening, or living, with my heart. (You can read about it HERE.) As I intentionally searched my head and heart, I began to discover I was lacking quite a bit when it came to my heart.

Now as I look to 2014, I’m going to be intentional with my listening. I believe I can learn how to listen. Not only listen to God, but also to everyone around me.

Wife, Sons, Family, Friends, Co-workers, Mentors, Ministers, God

As for the words offered by my friends in response to my tweet, I’ll use them too. I believe each of those words ties in well with “LISTEN”. Over the coming months I’ll write about each of those words and how they have worked in conjunction with listening.

Here we go! Happy New Year! I’m ready to “LISTEN”!

What word did you select for 2014? Share it in the comments. Join the conversation.