What does it mean to visit 50 states?
- Accomplishing a goal
- Doing things together
- Finding ways to connect with others, appreciate others, see others
- Searching for beauty, joy, new
- If we fail, we’ve had 48 states where we accomplished that
Leadership:
I’ve had people blame me for things I had nothing to do with.
- Often times I take the blame.
- Sometimes this means I am saying I am in charge so I am ultimately responsible, sometimes this means I am saying I made the decision when in fact I am not.
- This is what leaders do.
I’ve had people give me credit for things I had nothing to do with.
- Even when I point out that I was not directly involved with what they are appreciating, they will say, “but you made it happen” or “you created the environment” or “you allowed it to happen” or “you supported the cause.”
The gospel I grew up with is positional
- Either-or
- Better-than
- Heaven-hell
- Heaven1-Heaven2-Heaven3
- Heaven1a-Heaven1b-Heaven1c-Heaven2-Heaven3
Prayer vs. Prayer
- Sometimes I am told that prayer is when I align my will to the will of God.
- If this is true, then prayer is for me, not God.
- This makes sense, and seems to be a possible universal truth, closer to meditation than revelation
- Sometimes I am told that prayer is how I usher in the power of God to my life or others’ lives.
- If this is true, then prayer is for God – it provides instruction to God
- This does not make sense.
- The people I know that only help people if they ask – even if they know that person needs help – are manipulating others.
- This is a great inconsistency
- This pushes me to compare my unmet prayers with others’ stories of met prayers
Failure
Most of my life I’m told that failure helps me learn
Some things I am still terrified to fail:
- Marriage
- Children
- Maybe these are things I feel I only get one shot at
- If there is a life after this one that is based on what I accomplish in this life, then I should be afraid of failure.
- If there is a life after this one that is based on my intent, then I should be afraid of trying
- If there is a life after this one that is based on nothing, or no life after this one, then I should be afraid of today’s pain
- Maybe these are the people I am most worried about hurting, or damaging, or disappointing
I used to be terribly afraid of some things, but I’m not any more:
- Failing in my career
- Now I recognize that career can be restarted, many people do it, and I’m a hard worker
- Life after death
- Time management
- Maybe this is the same as life after death
- Somehow having a strong conviction in life after death created a sense of urgency for me regarding what I spend my time on today, but only as it prepared me for life after death.
- In some ways, worrying less about how today prepares me for tomorrow has repositioned my perspective on today
- I’m more focused on how my today choices impact people around me today
- I’m more appreciative of today time because I am not sure there is a tomorrow, in this life or the next
The things I am afraid of failing now are different:
- Remembering important things and events
- Leaving my loved ones unprepared for something