ELAN Blog Reboot

Two days ago I ceremoniously hung a new calendar on the wall. The kind that is nearly the size of a flip chart and has large squares for each day on the monthly spiral pages. I know, we all have phones that are smart enough to store events, synch with other devices and send out reminders. But there is something about hanging all of that blank space on the wall waiting to be filled. What will the end product look like 362 days from now? What will I do with this gift of nearly six thousand hours of waking time?

It is exciting but also a bit unnerving to have blank space in front of us. The neatly lined grid dividing days, weeks and months is comforting. It would take super-human concentration and focus to turn 365 days of completely blank space into something meaningful by the time the last page of the year is turned.

This gift of time is partnered with responsibility. Naturally there are duties we must fulfill in order to live and work in a cultural society. These automatically take over and take precedence, right or wrong. But what about the discretionary time? How many hours are there that are not consumed by the daily needs of living and contributing?

I choose to dedicate a portion of that discretionary time to writing in general, the blog specifically. The format will be somewhat looser than the 2013 ELAN Blogs. Beginning on Monday, ELAN Blog will rotate themes each week day, cycling through the ten ELAN Principles plus five additional topics. The fourth weeks of the month may be dedicated to reviewing a current book that relates to all things ELAN (Elevating Life Attitudes Now). From today’s viewpoint, the outcome is wide open. That is exciting. And a little scary.

How will you fill the white space of undedicated time stretching across the calendar of 2014?

“In this year of Jubilee everyone is to return to his own property.” Leviticus 25:10

“No indolence, no laziness; but employ every minute in your life in active pleasure or useful employments.” Lord Chesterfield 1694-1773

ELAN Blog ~ Week 49, Day 248

ELAN Blog continues pondering the wide open spaces of 2014. Perhaps your year is neatly blocked, one square for each day, larger blocks for each month. You may know what to expect going to work and when you have scheduled vacation time. There may be monumental events approaching ~ graduations, weddings, births or even milestone birthdays. Annual events, holidays and family rituals may connect some of those dots.

In a way I am anxiously waiting for January One when the large wall calendar will be taken down and replaced with a blank one. Yet I don’t want to rush out of the upcoming celebrations with family and friends. At the same time, there is an underlying wondering; what new paths will begin? Which old ones will be left to grow weedy and untended?

It’s exciting, isn’t it? The human spirit is so full of hope. Something as simple and every day as the turning of a page promises a fresh start, a new leaf or another step up the ladder of progress.

TODAY, as you ponder your own wide open spaces remember the importance of striving toward the illusive perfection we so often seek. It is in the striving, rather than the arriving, that we meet ourselves head on. May you celebrate the person you have been all year and find excitement and joy in a renewed version revealed one day at a time in the coming year.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10: 24

“Paths clear before those who know where they’re going and are determined to get there.” Anonymous

ELAN Blog ~ Week 49, Day 247

How is your reflection of 2013 going? Have you checked your list of goals to see where you are compared to where you anticipated by year’s end? Are you encouraged to repeat the process for 2014 or discouraged? Why?

This is not the same as setting the dreaded (oft and quickly forgotten) New Year’s Resolution. By now you may consider that to be a tongue-in-cheek parlor game, knowing it is all fantasy. It is more a time of personal reflection…where was I one year ago? Where have I gone? Where am I headed? Do I need to change any direction? If so, what resources will help me do so?

Here is one resource that takes time but no materials other than pencil and paper. It is from How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael J. Gelb, called 100 Questions: make a list of 100 questions. There are two guidelines – do this in one sitting (the big challenge) and make sure they are important to you. It can be any kind of question as long as it is significant to you. Write quickly, not worrying about grammar or repeating the question with different words.

TODAY set aside an hour or so to write your 100 questions. Review them for themes and then choose your top ten. Use those as a catalyst to reflect, review and look ahead.

“This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.” Exodus 12:2

“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.” Naguib Mahfouz, as quoted in How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook

ELAN Blog ~ Week 49, Day 246

Yesterday I was given a gift. I am happy to say, I completely used it up. It was the gift of time. The day stands out among 350 identical gifts so far this year because I made a promise to spend it in reflection. What tools were used? A calendar. Goal sheets from the past twelve months. Questions rolling out ahead of me, many of which will remain unanswered. Workbooks and books from various authors. Faith. Doubt. Self-love.

There are fifteen days left to 2013. How will this odd year end? What percentage of goals will be checked off? Of those remaining, which should be carried over to the even year marching boldly to meet us?

TODAY set aside some time to reflect on 2013. If you wrote some goals a year ago, review them. Chances are, if they were written with ink on paper or binary code on a screen, most may have been accomplished. If not, why not? Too lofty? Not really important? If there is a disconnect between where you projected you would be today and where you are, do some hard thinking on why. Are your priorities in line with what truly matters to you? Are you allowing tiny but seemingly urgent needs (perhaps of others) to disrupt your flow? Go easy on yourself. Compare where you are today with December 16, 2012. Celebrate all you have learned and gained. If you are the type of person to make lists or write goals, do so before the madness of the year’s end takes over.

May you welcome January one with no regrets and excitement of filling all that white space with passion and pleasure of working toward worthy pursuits.

“Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come?” Ecclesiastes 8:7

“There are years when nothing happens and years in which centuries happen.” Carlos Fuentes, 1928-2012

ELAN Blog ~ Week 48, Day 245

Balance is one of the things I seek most often, even knowing that life is all about imbalance. Life is also about making tiny adjustments to right yourself before the tipping point of toppling occurs. Have you challenged yourself to stand on one foot, eyes closed? How many seconds can you maintain equilibrium before you swing your arms or put a foot down? If closing your eyes is too challenging (we don’t want any reports of broken bones or bruised muscles) try it with eyes wide open. This is a good physical exercise, training your muscles to work in concert with your inner ear to hold yourself upright. Most disciplines will foster balance of some sort. Daily meditation or prayer will balance our tendency to be of the world with a more spiritual posture of being in the world. Trading an hour of binge watching with reading will balance mental decline with intellectual stimulation. Tipping the scales toward fresh, lively fruits and vegetables on your plate and away from dead, colorless or processed food will tip the more dreaded scale in your favor.

Time alone versus time with loved ones. I need some of both. Silence is golden but music is energizing. Pondering the Big Why all day long leads to a Big Nothing. At some point questioning and reflection must be backed up with actual work. In seeking balance I look to nature. Green things turn brown. They wither and die. Fields become fallow. God’s green earth renews itself time and again despite storms, droughts or fires. We, too, have the ability to renew.

TODAY seek balance. What one thing threatens to topple you? How can you return to a state of equilibrium?

“He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8

“Old Earth, worn by the ages, wracked by rain and storm, exhausted yet ever ready to produce what life must have to go on!” Charles de Gaulle, 1890-1970

ELAN Blog ~ Week 48, Day 244

ELAN Blog has been all about seeking this week ~ seeking the Big Why, seeking solitude, seeking silence and today, seeking sunshine. The sky is bright, but it is gray. Through the years the view from my office has changed. I miss staring across the bay during moments of reflection. On days when a winter storm blew in I would get lost in the murky water rolling and chopping. At times the sky would fog and the distant horizon would be lost, leaving a monotone view of storminess. My view today is monotone as well – the silver, metal roofs of the houses across the street are blending in with the bright gray sky. The lack of color emits a perception of cold, chilling me to the bone.

On days like this I must remind myself that an afternoon spent curled up in my reading chair, favorite fuzzy slippers on and warm blanket wrapped ‘round, are worthwhile days. Although they may not be physically productive (no written works to show or closets cleaned) they are just as valuable. Such days add sunshine to my soul, just as a warm bowl of soup warms the body.

On days like this I remember that internal sunshine is as readily available as the eternal love of God, found by closing hands together in prayer, offering words of praise and quiet acceptance of His love.

TODAY seek your sunshine, even if it means sitting still for just a few moments surrounded by thoughts of gratitude and love.

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8:22

“The sun does not move.” Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519

ELAN Blog ~ Week 47, Day 240

What is your current juice? What one thing are you passionate about learning? Is there something you plan to pursue…one day? The tenth and final ELAN Principle is Be a Life Long Learner. I like to use my dad as an example for this. He will 95 next month and is still downloading books to his kindle. He told me recently he has more than 70 titles and he has read most of them. Astonishing for anyone, but considering his age and the fact that he has only had an electronic reader for a few years, amazing. He is a role model for many, to be passionate about learning every day as if he were a young boy just going off to school.

May you never consider yourself to be beyond learning. That would be as wasteful as admitting to feeling bored. There is an infinite world of wonder at our feet or within our grasp. We only need to open our eyes with naïve wonder or reach our arms for a book or a mouse.

TODAY think about a new area about which you know little. Go ahead and make it something that sounds interesting to you –– we would not want to feel like we were in high school and required to write a theme on some boring topic. Carve out a few minutes a week to learn some tidbits. Switch one half hour TV show or one lunch break for an depth study session. Be a life long learner. You have time and your brain and heart will thank you for it.

“For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.” Jalal ud-Din Rumi, 1207-1273

ELAN Blog ~ Week 47, Day 239

ELAN Blog Principle number nine is Watch Your Language, something I need constant reminders to do. It has more to do with the words we choose while forming self talk than vocabulary. Words have tremendous power. If we carelessly throw thoughts around we will reap a crop of useless weed seeds, in the words of James Allen.

Words are the basis of our thought. We either buy into words we hear from others and accept them as truth or we choose our own words to form our thought. Either way, that thought creates an attitude and from there it is a short step to determine our behavior. This is the formula for the ELAN TAB exercise: Thought Attitude Behavior. It all begins with a chosen word that defines that thought. The trick is to choose wisely. Our bodies, minds and moods respond to the thoughts we carry around.

TODAY watch your language. Pay particular attention to the words that live inside your mind. What station does your train of thought stop at each day? “A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on our character and circumstances,” James Allen states in As A Man Thinketh. “We cannot directly choose our circumstances, but we can choose our thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape our circumstances.”

“Jesus answered, ‘ It is written, Man does not live on bread alone, but on every world that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Matthew 4:4

“It is a well known fact that one comes, finally, to believe whatever one repeats to one’s self, whether the statement be true or false.” Napoleon Hill, 1883-1970

ELAN Blog ~ Week 47, Day 236

ELAN Blog continues a two-week recap of the year’s posts, which have been based on the Ten ELAN Principles. Today ~ Make Things Happen, as in for you, not  to you.

On a scale of one to ten, how much of your life is spent reacting to circumstances? What percentage is given to being proactive, instead? “Be Proactive” is the number one habit in Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He recognizes that we hold the ultimate power to choose our response to stimuli. We can harness that power through self-awareness, imagination, conscience and independent will.

“Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions,” Covey states. What does he mean by that? People that fall under his category of proactive do not blame circumstances, conditions or even their conditioning for their behavior. Rather they make a conscious choice to choose behavior based on values. In contrast, reactive people give over that power to the behavior of others, allowing the weaknesses of others to control them.

TODAY be conscious of thoughts that flow through your mind. How often do you yield control of your own life to the varying winds of others’ behaviors? How often do you fail to act (make things happen) due to perceived thoughts or opinions of others? Many ideas and seeds of useful thought appear, but we often quickly dismiss them as being silly or unattainable. In The Book of Good Habits, Dirk Matheson encourages us to act: “Always follow through on your ideas, even if it amounts to nothing. Then act again. This is the ONLY road to success. Remember, as a wise guy once said, ‘You can’t plow a field by turning it over in your mind.’”

“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” Proverbs 14:23

“I have learned as a rule of thumb never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seatbelt. The most remarkable things follow.” Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

ELAN Blog ~ Week 46, Day 235

Are you still feeling thankful this day after Thanksgiving? The fortunate among us may have shared a filling meal with loved ones along with warm offers of gratitude. May the feeling of fullness continue throughout the year.

What do you believe to be in short supply? Is there some thing that you are fearful to let loose of? Something that you best not share with others because there is a finite amount available to the billions of us that share this world? It is natural for us to believe that money, time or even love is limited. We may even hesitate to share knowledge with others.  We feel if we help another advance in the same field we pursue, it will push us down or hold us back. We become stingy with feelings of affection or expressions of love. We wrap our fingers tightly around the tangible goods we own.

Wayne Dyer, in You’ll See It When You Believe It, says a shift in attitude encourages abundance. Our days are the true currency of our lives and what we choose to focus on is that which expands. He encourages readers be against nothing; be thankful every day for what you have and who you are; and observe ways in which you are using your mind.

TODAY consider what it would mean to be an outrageous giver, no strings attached. If you freely share love, observe love manifest manyfold in your life. If you choose to give of your time, see it multiply time to do that which truly matters. Perhaps you will adopt a policy to offer a dollar to every person who asks for help. Examine your thoughts about abundance vs scarcity. Take a risk and give away that which you are afraid to lose and see what happens.

“But just as you excel in everything –– in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us –– see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” 2 Corinthians 8:7

“Anything that is of value in life only multiplies when it is given.” Deepak Chopra, 1947-