What we have here is a failure to change….

May 11, 2015

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be. – John Wooden

There seems to be quite a bit of failure to recognize changes in our society lately, especially in Washington and various state legislative bodies, as they deny and try to legislate against the changes taking place. Perhaps these are really attempts to hold back change, which is also doomed to failure.

afraidChange is very scary to many and confusing to others. Things aren’t as they always have been and that is frightening. Anxieties are fueled not by facts; but, rather, by fears of the unknown. After all, THEY are not like US; and that can’t be good, can it? Their values don’t match OUR values, so they must be wrong, because we know that we are right; RIGHT?

It’s all very vexing, this change stuff. So, the thought process might be verbalized like this – “Maybe there’s a way to hold back change. Maybe if I make change illegal here it will go away. At least that’s my theory. Maybe I can pass laws that make people behave the way the WE behave; or at least I can make it illegal not to behave the way that WE behave. If that doesn’t work I’ll make sure that at least THEY don’t get the same rights and privileges that people who behave like WE do get. That’s OK because we’re in the right; RIGHT? After all WE have GOD on our side; Right? Here, let me show you passages in MY Bible that say that WE are right and THEY are wrong. Shame on THEM; Right? I feel better, now.”

The good news is that these hypocrites are now in the minority. Even though they currently hold economic and political power;  in the long run, there is no way that they can gerrymander the political maps enough to hold on to that power for much longer. The economic power issue will take longer, but they too will change. They have failed to change and theydinosaur are failing. They are in the process of fighting a rear guard action to hold off change for as long as they can; but it is a losing battle. Change is inevitable and unrelenting and patient enough to outlast these holdouts. They will join the dinosaurs as relics of our past.

Rather than spend time searching for Biblical passages that seem to justify their position, maybe they can find a way to embrace the overall messages about love for neighbor and inclusion in God’s kingdom that was the real intent in those same Bibles. Finding a way to embrace change and to value differences would seem to be a much better use of everyone’s time.

As for those who continue to resist change, rail against it and pass laws to stop it; we should continue to try to help them to get over their fears and see the benefits for all of a more diverse and inclusive society. We need not be angry at them (that is a waste of our energy) nor pity them (that is an empty emotion); but rather keep reaching out them with love and helping handsunderstanding. They are afraid of the change and we need to help them get over that fear. Not making that effort and leaving them behind would constitute a failure on our part. Remember to love thy neighbor as yourself, even if he is currently ranting against you. You must continue to reach out to the hands that have been slapping your hands and help them see that they need not be afraid of change.

Have great day and a great week ahead.


Be a friend to a fault…

May 9, 2015

“If you are looking for a friend who is faultless, you will be friendless.” (Rumi)

I’ve written recently about taking proactive steps in the lives of others who need your help. That’s what real friends do.man thinking
They don’t sit back and say,”Tut, tut, look how he/she is screwing up their life.” Real friends jump in and ask how they can help or maybe insist that their friend get help. Perhaps it is a good test of whether the relationship that you have with the other person should be classified as a friendship. Maybe they are just acquaintances.

We get very few opportunities in life to form strong friendships. Hopefully your relationship with your life partner is based upon a strong friendship and not just matters of physical attraction, because eventually that could turn into a fault that you will find in them. I think women tend to have a greater ability to form bonds of friendship with other women and perhaps overlook the faults that might be there. Men sometimes are on athletic teams or in military situations where strong bonds of friendship can grow (especially when the men are far from home soldiersand under daily combat stress) . Sometimes those bonds of friendship will outlast the team or the military unit that brought them together, but it seems to be harder in the general work-a-day world to find enough in common to encourage friendships; maybe that’s because so much of the work world is competitive in nature rather than cooperative. Men may have lots of “buddies” but few real friends that they can count on.

It is all too easy to find fault in others; and, because of those faults to avoid getting involved with them. Sometimes those in whom we see faults are already our friends and perhaps their perceived faults really bother us. In some cases the “faults” that we see are just cases where they have a different opinion about something than we do – social policies, religion, politics, etc. Perhaps they are more tolerant of something or someone that we cannot stomach. Maybe they have other friends that you cannot tolerate. Maybe the problem is you. Those are not faultsthinking woman of your friend; those are faults that you bring to the friendship.

So, rather than spending time finding faults in your friends; expend that same amount of energy celebrating that you have a friend. So what if he/she is a little late every now and then (maybe even all the time), at least they are there and the world did not end because they were a little late. Does it really matter that they lean towards the left and you are a solid right-winger? Has the bitter divide in politics really gotten so wide and so strong that it can break up friendships? Is it really that annoying that they dress differently or wear their hair differently or perhaps wear a little too much perfume or body wash? Maybe you can help them with some of those things in subtle ways, as a friend; but certainly don’t let things like that ruin your friendship. Maybe you can have an on-going and friendly dialogue about your differences; all the while strengthening your friendship.

Some people like to befriend people who a lot like themselves; others tend to try to have friends that are the opposite of themselves (in hopes, I guess, of some of that’s friends traits rubbing off on them). Whichever is your penchant, don’t girls huggingthen get annoyed with the faults that you may find in that friend – they just came along for the ride. Focus on the things that you like about your friend, not the things that annoy you. Try to understand your differences, not just be annoyed by them. Then, when you’re alone, spend some time exploring why you get annoyed by those supposed faults. You have just discovered one of your own faults, so maybe you can change that trait in yourself and stop annoying your friends. Perhaps you can ask your friend how they’ve been able to put up with you.  It’s a good thing that they weren’t looking for a faultless friend.


When you’re done being sore, it’s time to soar…

May 8, 2015

“Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over, she began to fly.”  (Dr. Happy)-  from my favorite source of daily inspiration, Jack’s Winning Words.

Life certainly throws enough at all of us to leave us sore sometimes, down and thinking that we’re out. We tend to cocoonwithdraw into our own protective cocoons sometimes. Hopefully we’re not holed up in there for long and come out as that butterfly to soar anew. I’ve written enough here about dealing with pain, sorrow and anger that I needn’t repeat the advice from all of those posts. Here are links to a few of latest ones  –

https://normsmilfordblog.com/2015/05/04/repairing-a-ding-to-the-soul/

https://normsmilfordblog.com/2015/05/02/move-on-to-the-next-chapter/

https://normsmilfordblog.com/2015/04/22/the-stronger-you-get-the-easier-it-seems/

I think the idea of the butterfly emerging from the cocoon and flying away is a great visualization of what can happen in life, once you unburden yourself. That was sort of the underlying story in this recent post about finding new roads  –

https://normsmilfordblog.com/2015/05/06/find-new-roads-use-gps/

I get to see this happen more often than many people because, in my real estate business life, I deal with so many people who are undergoing stressful times in their lives – a divorce, a death in the family and illness forcing them into some form of care or other circumstances that usually involve having to do something with their home. I often suggest that they read a few of the posts, but never push it on them. I try to play the role of being the calm person (sometimes the only one) in the midst of the stormy situation.

It’s interesting that so many of these little sayings about resiliency and persevering through tough situations use the female gender as the protagonist. I suspect that it is because the authors know that men will always try the more macho girls huggingapproach of toughing things out before giving up and curling up in despair into a fetal position (seeking to return to the protective cocoon of the womb I guess).The other thing that I written about before is the tendency of men to approach life’s problems alone, whereas women will more often seek help, usually from other women. While the butterfly emerging from the caterpillar cocoon analogy would seem to indicate a lonely stay in the cocoon, women seem to have a way of inviting others in so that their cocoon becomes more like a coffee klatch – a much healthier and efficient way to handle crises.

Some who go into the cocoon wrap it around them so tightly that it shuts out everyone and everything in their lives – they descend into the darkness of depression and some never make it back. There is no comfort or sense of safety in that cocoon for these people. There is help available, but many do not seek it. These single mompeople need help to get to the road to recovery and to being able to emerge and take flight. That is where you might come in. Every now and then you have to get outside of your own comfort zone and take the risk of trying to intervene in the life of someone that you truly believe needs help to break out of despair or in dealing with overwhelming anxieties.

Providing help to someone can often be as simple as just being there to listen to their problems. You don’t need to try to play the role of the amateur therapist, just play the role of the good friend.  Help them see that it’s OK not to know what to do, but that it’s not Ok to let that take them down into depression.  Suggest that they see a professional or their pastor or someone else who can get them the help that they need. Tell them that you’ll stick with them. Volunteer to drive them there if needed. That kind of help goes a long way and you’ll be surprised how good it makes you feel later.

butterfly1So go rap on a few cocoons that you may know of and yell, “Are you OK in there? Can I help?” There’s a butterfly in there somewhere that may need just a little help to get out and take flight. You may not be Dr. Happy, but you can sure be a “good friend.”


Find New Roads – use GPS

May 6, 2015

Yesterday I wrote a post based upon a play on the Chevrolet ad tag line “more than you expect for less than you imagine”. It turns out that Chevrolet’s newest primary tag line “Find New Roads” is also a good line to play off of for life advice. I haven’t a clue what it’s supposed to mean in the commercials, but here’s what I think it an mean for life.

Life tends to lead us down many dead-in roads or detour us off into the boonies some times. I shouldn’t say that life does that to us; because, we do it to ourselves.  We explore different paths in life, some good and some that leave us in a ditch somewhere, wondering how we got there. Sometimes we just wander along, unsure of our destination or how to get there. Many times we may find ourselves lost in unfamiliar surroundings.

car-gpsIn my car I have a wonderful Global Positioning System (GPS) with a nice big display to show me where I am and to provide instructions as I go about when and where to turn. I don’t always follow the instructions, especially if I think I know a better way to get somewhere. Sometime the GPS seems to get really annoyed with me when I don’t follow its instructions. My wife gets a kick out of me talking back to the GPS voice telling “her” that I’m not going to make the turn that she just suggested. My GPS spends lots of time recalculating the route.

Many people use AAA Travel Services when planning a trip on new roads. I always get a TripTik® whenever we’re traveling; not just for the map, but for the handy information guides that they give you too. It helps to see what interesting things there might be to do as we travel along.

Life is like a road trip. When we’re young, with a keen sense of adventure and a feeling of invulnerability, we take many of in the ditchlife’s dares to wander down dark roads. Some never make it back, ending up lying in the ditch at the end of those bad roads. Most turn back in time to try other roads in life. As we get older, and hopefully wiser, we tend to take safer roads; but we may still be heading in the wrong direction. The voices telling us to turn back from bad roads tend to be friends and family, but we don’t always take that advice.

Since life is usually a long trip, it’s good to make use of trip planning help; to have a TripTik for life. Fortunately we all have GPS available – God’s Planning Service. We do need to ask for His help; but, when we do ask, we find new roads for the trip. We can more clearly see the roads to avoid and our route is constantly recalculated to keep us headed in the right direction. Our eyes are opened to all of the opportunities that surround us as we journey. And, if you’re the type who prefers to use a map as your guide, there was one created centuries ago that still clearly marks the right pathes – the Bible.

prayingSo, as you start out each day, pause to get a GPS update. You may wish to use this little prayer – “God, I’m not sure where you’re taking me today; but I know that if I stick to your plan I’ll never get lost; so let’s go.” Maybe He will lead you to a stop along the way where you can be of service to someone else or maybe one of your fellow travelers will render a service for you. Take it all in and enjoy the trip; confident that you will not get lost as long as you are using your GPS.

Have a safe and wonderful journey through life and don’t ignore God’s directions – He knows where you’re going and He won’t let you get lost.


Get more than you can imagine…

May 5, 2015

“Get more than you expect for less than you imagine” That’s the tag line from a recent car commercial. The advertising guys always come up with catchy lines like that; although the current “Find new roads” tag line rings a bit hollow in Michigan, where we’d be happy just to find roads that don’t have potholes.

When I saw that opening line it immediately keyed a thought of how, with a slight twist, it might be applied to one’s faith. I would rephrase it as, “Get more than you can imagine for less than you expect.”

Putting your faith into those words is an acknowledgement of the limitations of our imaginations where God is concerned and an affirmation of the concept of Grace. It is saying that God can and will provide everything that we need in return for the simple and free act of believing in Him – the act of baring your soul, opening your heart and accepting His give of Grace into your life. It does not require that you perform great works or acts of piety. It only requires the humble and grateful acceptance of God into your life. Once you have reached out to God to say, “Not my will, but thy will be done in my life”, you will get more than you can imagine for less than you expect.

It is interesting that, from Biblical times into the present, those who seem to have the most in life have the hardest time making this leap of Faith. In the Biblical story in which Jesus told the rich man who inquired about what he must do to get into heaven that he should sell everything that he had and give it to the poor that man just wandered off muttering to himself. Yet, we often see images of dirt poor people celebrating their Faith in churches around the world, lost in song or prayer. They are not celebrating the material things that they may have, because in many cases there would be nothing to celebrate. Rather these are people who have embraced their Faith and found the truth of the statement, you will get more than you can imagine for less than you expect.

I’m not saying that everyone has to give everything away and be poor to receive God’s Grace. That’s not what God is asking us to do. What he is asking us to do is to rid ourselves of the protective mantle of our own egos; that arrogant attitude that stubbornly thinks we can solve all problems by ourselves and that we don’t need His help or that of anyone else. The concept of “free will” allows for that arrogant ego and perhaps that is where the Devil lives in some of us, clouding our view of God. That is the demon that we must cast out in order to re-approach God; and, if you do you will get more than you can imagine for less than you expect.

For most of us I suspect that the issue is not an arrogant ego that pushes God away; but, rather a complacency that is comfortable with a somewhat distant relationship with God. We know he’s out there somewhere. We go to church most of the time and listen to the Scriptures and the sermon. We pray at every meal and maybe some other times. We give what we can to the church and to other worthy causes. We have a Faith of sorts; it just isn’t close to the surface and doesn’t manifest itself in our lives. For this type of Christian, it usually takes a crisis; something that forces the issue of having to call on God for help; only then do we realize that you get more than you can imagine for less than you expect.

So, what can God do for you today? The answer is whatever you need, but you have to ask. If you embrace Him, he will embrace you and you will get more than you can imagine for less than you expect.

Have a great day!


Repairing a ding to the Soul

May 4, 2015

Over the weekend my Soul was damaged. No, not my soul, but my Kia Soul. It was one of those things that happens. You’re driving along, minding your own business when something falls off a truck ahead of you and bounces right into yourKia damage car – Bang! I thought it had just hit underneath the car when it happened, but a later inspection proved me wrong. The big piece of metal that hit me took out my passenger side fog light and cracked the plastic bumper on that side.  Bummer.

So I had to get on the phone over the weekend and put in an insurance claim to get my Soul repaired. It might be a little inconvenient for a day or so; but, I sure that my Soul will be as good as new when the repair shop is finished with it. They will have restored my Soul.

Does that sound familiar? Maybe it’s because you might have grown up reciting the 23rd Psalm in church. The fourth line reads, “He restoreth my soul.”

Life is full of little (and sometimes big) dings to the soul, things that come at you unexpectedly. Some may be just tiny scratches, perhaps an unkind word or a snub; while others cause more damage, like a death or a divorce or a break-up.  Sometimes you don’t have time to pull over to the shoulder and look to see what damage has occurred, but you will look later, in the quiet of your bedroom or elsewhere. You will examine your soul for the damage.

When those things happen in life that can damage the soul, it is important to assess them and then take the necessary action to get your soul fixed (restored). Fortunately you also have full insurance coverage for your life – it’s called your faith. praying handsCall on it and get your soul in for repairs.

If you are a DIY type, you can get out the repair manual (it’s called the Bible) and seek the instructions there to restore your soul. Maybe it will take prayer, maybe doing some service for others, maybe talking it out with you spiritual leader; whatever it takes, don’t put it off. Driving through life with a damaged soul can be dangerous for you and others around you.

So, I’ll probably get my Soul in this week for repairs. While it’s there I’ll have them fix that little ding to the windshield that a rock caused a few weeks back. I’ve been meaning to get to that anyway. As for my soul; I get a weekly check-up (well, OK, almost every week) at church and a daily dose of preventive prayer; and I know who to call upon in case I get a big boo-boo on my soul.

How about you? Have you taken a few hits to the soul that need fixing. Don’t you think your life would be much better if your soul were restored? I have a Great Mechanic that I can recommend.

Have a great week ahead.


Move on to the next chapter…

May 2, 2015

“You can’t start the next chapter in your life if you keep re-reading the last one.” (Michael McMillan) – as seen in a recent post to the blog Jack’s Winning Words.

In my real estate business I seem to hit situations like this a lot. I guess it’s because I’ve had a lot of clients who are going through divorces lately or who are disposing of the estates of recently deceased people. Some find it very difficult to let go, remorsefulto stop reading that last chapter in their lives and move on.

While a death is sometimes tough to deal with, it seems to be something that most people can cope with better than a divorce. Deaths seem to involve mainly sadness, maybe some sorry or regret from not getting to know the person better or not spending more time with them or perhaps an overwhelming sense of loss and loneliness, if the deceased was a life partner.

Divorce, on the other hand involves a complex soup of emotions, including loss, anger, fears and regrets, selfishness and angry couplemore. While death has finality associated with it, divorce does not and begs the issue of what’s next. Divorce may also involve a sense of betrayal and disappointment towards the other side, especially if there was an infidelity involved. There is almost always some since of failure in a divorce; and, especially if there were children involved, a sense of letting others down. It is tough in the early stages to see clearly what role one’s own actions may have played in the failure of the marriage, so a sense of blame often accompanies the rage that is near the surface.

So, imagine that I walk into the situation with the role of trying to sell the family home as a part of the divorce settlement. I am seldom greeted with open arms by all parties. In fact a good part of my job is usually to try to bring a sense of calm and order to the situation and to keep a lid on things until I can get the place sold. Since I am the most convenient target for the release of some of the pent up anger, I quite often get arguments over the pricing that I might suggest or the suggestions that I might make for things that need to be done to make the house more sale-able. These are usually not people in the mood to hear about working on a house that they just want to get away from.

But, enough about me. What about you? Are you able to let go of the last chapter in your life and move on, or do you keep re-hashing things and re-reading that last chapter? If you re-read it many times, does anything ever change? If not, move your bookmark and get on with life. Remember that old definition of insanity – doing the same things over and over and expecting different results each time. If you must go back over things from the past, do so only to learn from the mistakes that were made, so that you can do better in the future.

new stickerPerhaps you should go further and close that old book completely and put it on the shelf. Start a new book – a new you. The first thing you could do is write a new Forward for your new book of life. In that set of remarks before the new book starts la out the things that are your new goals and new commitments to yourself. Define who you wish to become and lay out the structure (chapters) of how you will get there. Then, instead of starting to read; turn the page and start to write the new book of your life. Remember that this will be an adventure book in which you will be exploring all new things, so enjoy the journey as you turn the new pages of your life. The great thing is that you get to make the main character whatever you want them to be. What fun! I can’t wait to read your story.


Don’t get on your own nerves…

April 30, 2015

“You know you’re really stressed when you start getting on your own nerves.”  From a recent post to the Jack’s Winning Words blog.

Sometimes I’ll do something stupid (more times than I care to admit) and then beat myself up about it. I suspect that we all do that from time to time; however, that’s really not a case of getting on my own nerves. I’m not sure that I’ve been stressed enough on get on my own nerves.man mad at himself

I think today’s little saying has to do with people who talk to themselves a lot, but may not enjoy the conversations. Maybe it involves long conversations about self-doubt or perhaps just fears. Maybe the dialogues involve trying to talk yourself into or out of something that you are considering doing. I can see how that can become annoying after a while; especially of you let it go into the mode of beating yourself up about it.

It seems to me that stress builds or a situation becomes stressful, when you have no idea what to do about the situation or what to do next. Not knowing what will come next or what to do next fill you with anxiety, which can easily morph into stress. Then you may make the situation worse by getting down on yourself for not knowing what to do – not having a plan. Some situations do not lend themselves to easy or straightforward solutions. Some things are not easy to map out, understand and see a way towards a solution; however, shifting gears into solution finding mode is one of the best ways out of that stress and helps keep you from getting on your own nerves.

So, my advice is to shift into problem-solving mode. I’ve written here about that before – see https://normsmilfordblog.com/2014/03/05/problem-solving-101/

By switching gears from reaction mode into the action mode of problem solving you immediately regain a sense of control, if not control over the situation, at lease control over yourself and your reaction to the situation. You can then focus upon going through all of the steps to finding a solution.

girls huggingMany times you may be in situations where you can’t figure things out by yourself and the advice of others would be helpful. I wrote about that, too –  https://normsmilfordblog.com/2014/02/15/why-is-it-so-hard-to-ask-for-help/

Sometimes you will hit stressful situations for which there is no solution. In those cases the best answer is not to continue the frustrating dialogue with yourself; but, rather to let go, admit that you will not resolve the situation by continued worry about it and seeking the peace that comes with turning to God for help. I wrote about that in –  https://normsmilfordblog.com/2014/02/02/what-are-you-listening-to-time-to-change-the-tune/
So, don’t let things and stress go so long that you end up getting on your own nerves – take action, or ask a friend for helpsmiling man or find refuge in your faith  all of those dialogues will make for much more positive and helpful conversations that just getting on your own nerves.


Be the good pebble today…

April 28, 2015

Did you ever notice that when you toss a pebble, no matter how small, into a calm body of water the small waves from that act expand until they have and rippled through the whole body of water? You can see it happen. If that body of water was roiled already with wind and waves, the same effect would occur, even if you couldn’t see it. You know that it’s happening and that in a few places the waves just got a tiny bit higher when they intersected the waves from your little pebble or maybe your little wave filled in a trough just a little bit and it wasn’t as deep.

Life can be a bit like that body of water. Most of the time life all around you is not still and calm; there are things happening in your life or the lives of others that roil the waters. It may feel like you are just that inconsequential little pebble in the big ocean of life; however, if you can cause just a little ripple by having a smile on your face for others, maybe you’ll be making a difference. Your smile may reinforce the good feelings that someone you meet already has and cause them to continue smiling at others, too. Maybe your smile will somehow fill in the trough of a bad day that another is having and help them get through whatever is affecting them. Maybe some will just wonder what the heck is making you so happy and that will take their minds off some of their own issues.

smile powerNo matter the starting point, the positive energy of your little smile can only add to the day of those who see it; so be the good pebble today and toss a smile into the mix. Imagine it rippling through the ocean of life making others smile or helping them cope with what was bothering them – that will probably make your smile even bigger.  If enough people start out each day by sharing a smile with others maybe we can bring calm to the ocean of life again and wouldn’t that be something to smile about.


Diary of a maze runner…

April 27, 2015

Over the weekend, I re-read the classic business book, Who moved my Cheese? That was the assignment from a Chamber of Commerce referral network group that I belong to locally. We will be discussing it in our next meeting.  I
reacquainted myself with the characters, Tiny people Hem and Haw, as well as the two mice, Sniff and Scurry. The story micebrought back memories of the many mazes that I’ve run through in my life and various careers, as well as the never ending search for more Cheese. If you haven’t read the book, it is available as a free download in many places on the Internet.

For most of us life is a constant search for new cheese or a new Cheese Station. Most get so engrossed in the pursuit that they forget to look up at the writings on the wall. It’s not that they didn’t know some of those bits of wisdom; it’s just that they forget or get distracted in activities that they mistakenly believe means that they are making progress. For many the focus upon being able to recognize and react well to change is a lesson yet to be learned. No one really likes change; but some do a better job of cheesedealing with what life throws at them.

Are you like Hem, refusing to deal with change? Do you really believe that doing the same things over and over will result I a different outcome? Are you stubborn enough to sit on one place and starve, rather than deal with the need to search for a new source of food? Perhaps you are too afraid of the unknown to even leave the safe haven of the bad place that you find yourself in. Download and read this little book. It only takes about an hour to read. Yes, it is annoying that it that much longer than a Tweet; but, life cannot be summed up in 140 characters. There are audio versions available, too; if that is more your style.

Change in our lives, both business and personal, is inevitable. Sometimes the changes are small and gradual; but sometimes big, sudden changes happen that throw us for a loop. How we react to either kind of change will greatly influence the quality of our lives and our view of ourselves. Very few people really like change. There is great comfort in things staying the same, because that does not require us to make any effort to deal with changes. That’s also not change beforerealistic. Life doesn’t just go on, it happens; and when it does happen, we need to react to what just happened. If we’re good at it we begin to see things coming before they happen and we start to take action ahead of things happening. We go out into life’s maze and find new Cheese.

I must admit that re-reading this little story has caused me to reflect on the fact that I’d taken on too many characteristics of Hem, I’d become too complacent with the dwindling supply of Cheese that I had and now I need to ask myself that tough-love question that Haw asked himself – “What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?” I need to jump back into the maze and find new Cheese. Now where did I leave my sneakers?

I’ll see you out in the maze this week.