The Daily Disturbance

How well do I know me, the number one audio visual?

“Be yourself!” would probably be much easier advice to take, if we only knew ourselves in the first place! “If you Know thyself and thine enemy, you need not fear a thousand battles” Sun Tzu declares. But knowing our ourselves is not an easy achievement, especially when we are told the first decades of our lives whom we are supposed to be! Buckle up, today, we go for a wild - and glorious - ride!

Communication is about connection. But how can I connect if I am not mindful of the people on the other end?

From their DNAs, their preferences to the state of their hearts, how much of my audience do I really know, meaning, “apprehend fully?” “Those who get along with you will go along with you,” Dr. John Maxwell reminds, so let’s look at how to read the “receivers” more clearly.

That’s a choice that you and I will have to make, again, and again, considering the trade-offs, as there are both benefits and consequences in taking this risk. For me, however, there is no other way. Intimacy is the core part of our humanity.

Discover 8 major considerations to make the journey of intimacy more holistic, more balanced, more meaningful, more fun! A good time to reflect and perhaps, make decisions. We overestimate the power of Decision-making and undervalue the impact of Decision-management.

By exposing yourself to one who cannot handle it, by setting yourself aside while completely favoring “others,” and by failing to connect -“getting intimate” - to a larger vision and more meaningful purpose for engagement.

It certainly can as it was designed to! Come A.L.I.V.E. with Awareness, Learning, Impact, Vitality and Empathy! But you must start with being intimate – fully apprehending – with self. Then, fully complete, you can overflow and connect with others.

You bet you do. To be intimate is to connect to the inner most part – intimus - of self and of someone else. Who prefers to settle with the outermost, superficial, shallow part of anything or anyone? Sadly, we still do, for “innermost” also means mysterious, unpredictable, dark. Still, it also means surprise, newness, and core. What a trade off!

I liken this challenge to running marathons. They are looooong races, 42,000 meters to be exact. I pick up lessons from 10 international marathons I have run to the finish to the hope of completing the marathon of life. Run with me!

We all can extend hope…sometimes without even knowing it. One key is to offer what we have, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. We can’t give what we don’t have. But we all have hope in some area of our lives: match that hope with a need that can benefit from it.

Ok, on regular days I am able to enough sources of light in my darkness. But there are those particularly challenging days. Can I be guided into a practical way of getting back in positivity and hope?