Joe: “My boss came into my cubicle and said, “You’ve been late 5 times this week. Do you know what that means?”
Pete: “What did you say?”
Joe: “I said, that means it’s Friday.”
Month: December 2023
Episode 7: I Begin Journaling as a Way to Face My Suffering & Grieving
Episode 7 in my Podcast, Journey from Grief to Healing M tells me how journaling helped her deal with her emotions and suffering while she grieved Peter’s death. As I thought about journaling I realized I’d been stuffing my anger. I wondered if stuffing my anger added to my suffering and grief. You can listen to the podcast on any podcast venue or click this link: https://raycalabrese.podbean.com/e/m-encourages-me-to-journal-as-way-to-deal-with-grieving-and-suffering/
Episode 6: I Learned Everyone Grieves Differently
Episode 6 from my podcast Journey from Grief to Healing shares an important truth I learned by attending a grieving group. Those who attended the grieving group with me became my teachers. I learned that we all grieve differently. For each of us who grieve, the suffering hurts like hell. M encourages me to start making new friends.
Click on the following link to listen to Episode 6.
https://raycalabrese.podbean.com/e/i-learned-not-to-judge-we-all-grieve-differently/
Thinking Out Loud: Recognize the Good Things Happening in Your Life
Learning to Appreciate. A look at appreciative inquiry. Excerpts are taken from, Appreciative Inquiry Handbook (2003) by David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, and Jacqueline Stravros.
“Appreciative inquiry begins with three fundamental questions. One, can you describe a high point experience in your organization, a time when you were most alive and engaged. Two, without being modest what is it that you most valuable yourself your work and your organization? Three, what are the core factors that give life to your organization without which the organization would cease to exist?” P. 23
Note: We can apply these questions to our daily lives They take our attention away from the dark spot on the wall and allow us to focus on the good that exists. Have you, for example, let a single negative comment from a family member, friend, or colleague ruin your day? I think it’s happened everyone. I know it’s happened to me. While we give that one comment an inordinate amount of power there are many other god things happening simultaneously. When appreciative inquiry asks us to describe high point experiences when we felt most alive and engaged that not only happens at work, but it happens in our daily lives outside of work. And it happens every day. Tonight, when you’re sitting at dinner, why not ask each other to describe a high point experience that happened during the day when each of you felt totally engaged. I think that happens to each of us every single day. I’m writing this on Sunday morning after I returned home from mass. On the way into the church, I met a friend, and we had a most wonderful conversation. I left the conversation feeling uplifted. That was a high point experience. When we begin to think of our lives this way, our lives take on a new hue of optimism, hope, and affirmation.
It’s Time to Exercise Your Brain – Take the Anagram Challenge
Today’s mind sharpening anagram is a two or three word phrase. Can you unscramble the anagram to discover the two or three word phrase? It’s time to exercise your brain!
Today’s Anagram:
Today’s Inspiring Quote by John Keats – Love Versus the Ego
Its better to lose your ego to the One you Love than to lose the One you Love to your Ego
John Keats
Episode 6: We All Grieve Differently
Encouraged by M, I attended my first grieving group support meeting. I learned that we all grieve differently. For each of us who grieve, the suffering hurts like hell. M encourages me to start making new friends. Listen to my Podcast: Journey from Grief to Healing at https://raycalabrese.podbean.com/e/i-learned-not-to-judge-we-all-grieve-differently/
Thinking Out Loud: How Healthy is Your Relationship?
Learning to Appreciate. A look at appreciative inquiry. Excerpts are taken from, Appreciative Inquiry Handbook (2003) by David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, and Jacqueline Stravros.
“Three factors that give life to healthy organizations are continuity, novelty, and transition. Research has established that visionary organizations and their leadership have the capacity to learn and apply lessons from the best of the past (continuity), to surface and develop ideas for creative acts (novelty), and to enact actual changes in systems and behaviors to progress toward a desired state (transition).” P. 21
Note: I think these three factors, continuity novelty, and transition give life to healthy relationships as well. In healthy relationships the partners are always learning and applying the lessons they learned to their current context. They never stop trying to grow. Great relationships are never static, they are always in growth mode. They apply novelty to their lives in the sense that they look for creative ways to express their love for each other and to find ways in which they can enjoy each other’s company. And they’re always cognizant of life’s transitions. They have desired goals. Their goals are organic and constantly evolving. How is your relationship? Do you have the three factors that make a relationship healthy and alive? It’s never too late to start.
