Ask
In a recent note on Facebook, Jodee Bock wrote, “ASK is a great acronym to remind you to ask for what you want. Ask and it is given; Seek and you will find; Knock and the door will be opened for you. Ask, Seek, Knock. Each of those words reminds us to take action in the direction of our dreams!”
Jodee’s note reminded me of a story I have told many times. It seems worth repeating now.
Why You Are Here
You are here because at least some of us, and perhaps all of us, need you to be here.
You are the proverbial butterfly in the Amazon; the flutter of your wings makes a difference even if you don’t know about it. It may ultimately contribute to a storm appearing hundreds of miles away, or it might prevent the storm. I have had recent experience during which I discovered a difference made by actions I took nearly thirty years ago. The other person involved expressed gratitude. It seems that what I did then prevented a deadly storm. I have had several such experiences.
7 Reminders About Writing A Book
[I dug this out of the cobwebs on an archived blog of mine because I am about to launch a new book project and I wanted to remind myself of its contents. It still rings true so I am sharing it here with minor changes.]
The challenge of writing a book is as much about the process as it is about the content: maybe more. I’m a process kind of person, so I pay a lot of attention to it.
Nothing To Prove
On a birthday with a zero in its number, in an unexpected flash of clarity, I understood that I have nothing to prove to anyone. The catalog of things I had tried to prove before that moment is long: that I am smart, clever and creative, that I am competent and capable, that I am successful, sexy, and insightful, that I am one of the guys during happy hour, that I belong almost anywhere I go, that I understand both the outer and inner game of baseball, that I see what is wrong with the world and what is needed, that I see what is wrong with an organization and what is needed, that I see what is wrong with you and what is needed, that I am quick-witted and funny, that I have taste and style, that I can write, and probably lots of other things that I can’t recall at the moment.
Thanks To Harry The K
Harry Kalas died today. He was the broadcast voice of the Philadelphia Phillies, and I’ve been listening to his smooth resonant tones and brilliant game-calling for 38 years. The man was an all-around class act.
In one of the best tributes I can imagine, Dewayne Staats, a broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Rays, said that Harry was the personification of someone taking his gift and doing what he was supposed to do with it.
I invited Harry into my life somewhere around 4000 times so, while not a death in the family, this gets pretty close.
My Place In The Grand Scheme Of Things
Two recent experiences showed me just how insignificant I am when measured on a scale more grand than my own immediate concerns (which can loom as monumental if I let them).
Grains Of Sand
The first experience was stimulated by an exhibit in the underground Johnson Geo Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The exhibit consisted of four clear acrylic towers, standing in a line, each of them containing a quantity of sand, each grain of sand representing one year.
“What you do makes me cry at night.”
Have we gotten the message? It was sent in 1992. The messenger was a thirteen year old Canadian girl, Severn Suzuki. The setting was the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Let Severn speak for herself; no further comment from me…
(6.49 minutes)
Link to Video at YouTube
![[Bloglines]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/bloglines.png)
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Google]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[LinkedIn]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/linkedin.png)
![[MySpace]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Squidoo]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/squidoo.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Technorati]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Twitter]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Windows Live]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/windowslive.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://www.ridingondragons.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
Living Life In Five Minute Chunks
Last summer David Zinger showed up at Jodee Bock’s annual Bigger Small Talk Summit. I heard him say that he can do almost anything for 10 minutes so tends to break down difficult or unappealing tasks into 10 minute chunks. That sounded wise to me and I determined to try it out. When I returned home, however, I quite promptly forgot about it.
When I need to pay attention to something but forget about it, reminders are sent my way. So along come Alexys Fairfield and Curt Rosengren, both suggesting 5 minute chunks; Alexys writes about contemplation and Curt about writing. They shrink the time frame, but the principle is the same.
