Leaning Toward Wisdom

Today is a free form show about some critical elements of life that we can all control: forgiveness, hatred and bitterness. Along the way we’ll talk about a few other things, too. How Can You Help The Podcast? Subscribe at iTunes | Stitcher Leave us a review at iTunes Pick your favorite way to support […]

Strawberry? Vanilla? Chocolate? I love ’em all. I’ll take one of each, please. Wait a minute, what? They’re 2700 calories each. I’ve been on a restricted calorie diet now for weeks. I don’t even allot myself 2700 calories a day. That means I could decide to take a bite of each. Three bites. How many […]

Concentrate on 2 words during today’s show: gratitude and neglect. Well, there are gonna be other important words, too, but those are upfront in today’s episode. Two Bible stories illustrate both words well. The first is found 2 Kings chapter 5 and centers around a commander of the ancient Syrian army named Naaman. He was well-respected […]

I know I told you – over the Facebook group – that I was working on a different show, but that was before the death of Chris Cornell. I never got my mojo back on the episode I was working on when that news broke. So I’m “parking it” as they say. For now. I […]

An abbreviated episode about a recent epiphany. Actually, it’s an awareness that should have hit me long ago. But better late than never, right? It’s about the value of sharing our experiences with one another and why it matters. Enjoy! How Can You Help The Podcast? Subscribe at iTunes | Stitcher Leave us a review […]

I have been working on episode 4110 for a few days off and on and then news broke that Chris Cornell died. It set me back because I was working on a show I had entitled, “A Little Light Is Breaking Through.” It just didn’t feel right, you know? So I tabled it because I […]

I had clunkers. A $400 blue Chevy station wagon. A 1954 GMC pick up truck that had been left in a farmer’s field, or barn. Then a brand new 1972 Pontiac Lemans. Orange. Sundance Orange according to the GM color code. White leather interior with a black dash. Bucket seats. No console. It was a […]

A quick hit is a short riff, rant or observation. An idea worth sharing, but not worth waiting on for a full-blown podcast episode. And not worth devoting an entire episode to either.

This morning I did my usual glance drive-by on Facebook and other social media platforms. I noticed this post by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook:

For some years now I've been increasingly focused on the mental health and fitness of business people. Particularly business owners and CEOs. In fact I recorded an entire podcast episode about what I think is going to be increasingly top-of-mind moving forward. It's my work or business related podcast over at GrowGreat.com. This particular episode was focused on the mental wellness revolution that is bound to happen because of the pressures of doing and being in business.

Business owners and leaders suffer an isolation that seems paradoxical. Surrounded by lots of people, yet lonely. Socially often busy, but alone. During the times when the biggest challenges and opportunities arrive, business people are mostly alone to figure it out. I'm working to put my own mark - a very tiny mark - on the problem by helping a small group of business owners overcome isolation and loneliness by helping them make better decisions in real time, by helping them more properly execute those decisions inside their business and by helping them do it more quickly --- because speed is a critical competitive advantage for small business.

EMPATHY

Talk is cheap. And it's everywhere. People talk a big game when it comes to empathy, but I don't see it exercised much.

Maybe people don't know how to do it. Or maybe they don't really have much of it. No matter, the outcome is usually the same. People who are too focused on themselves to notice. I'm a noticer. It can't be helped. It's not some calculated thing, it just happens. A conversation is happening among a group of people. Somebody says something, maybe seemingly innocuous, and in a moment one person silently walks away. Maybe it's a slight drop of their head. Maybe it's a look in their eye. Something triggers in my brain making me know that what's just been said has hit them in some way. I follow, approach and ask, "You okay?" Sometimes tears start immediately. Sometimes expressions of anger. Sure enough, something was said that caused them to feel something. Something they didn't feel comfortable sharing in that moment. But here we are. Just the two of us. And they're sharing.

It happens for me with great regularity. I'm not looking for it. It just happens. There are dozens of other examples of how my empathy drives me. But that gives you a clear idea (I hope) of how vision and noticing work for me (and I know I'm not alone).

I've now been on the planet going on 60 years. Hard to believe. But that's long enough now to know how rare (some might say "odd") I am. Until the last few years I didn't think much of it. I didn't think what I did was out of the ordinary, but I'm finding out that it is extraordinary. Not much about me is extraordinary, but I've learned in the past few years to tell people that I know I have a couple of super powers. Empathy and connection (communication). Well, okay - they may not be SUPER powers, but they're qualities or characteristics that are at the forefront of my life.

And as I look back to my youth, I've always had these. It begs the question, "Are these innate qualities or did I learn them?" I'd argue both. But I don't really know.

My childhood is riddled with stories of neighborhood kids who got into it with me getting between them, talking them off the ledge before somebody started throwing punches. I've always stepped forward quickly to make peace. At school. On the playground. In sports. At work. Everywhere. Partly it's about keeping peace,

Natalie Hemby is from Puxico, Missouri, population 881. She was born and has always lived in Nashville, a likely better fit given her talent. Some years ago, around 2011, she began a documentary about this little town, not so much because the town was special, but it was home to a man who was important – her […]

“Oh, don’t pay him any mind. He’s a dreamer.” When I was a kid I’d hear that said of other people sometimes. As I grew older I’d sometimes hear adults talk about some “wild eyed” dreamer. Usually it was aimed at a man who couldn’t keep a job. Or a man who’d jump around from […]