Are you in the midst of change and trying to balance the need to take ownership of that change with the need to walk by faith?
Years ago I was struggling to find that balance and wrote this:
I feel like I have been on a path of stepping stones.
Most days this path is surrounded by intense fog that is so thick you can’t see anything – not even the next stone.
As I drove into the driveway, I noticed something in the window of the garage door.
When I drove in and closed the door, I realized that the “something” was the largest butterfly I’d ever seen.
He was pressed against the glass looking back at the world he had come from, and although he could see it, he could not touch it. (It is important to note that this was a “Louisiana garage” – a carport with a roof and a garage door on the front, a wall on one side, a fence and open skies on the other side, a covered walkway and more open skies on the rear.)
This butterfly was so focused on looking back that he did not realize that the open air was just beside him and he could fly away at anytime.
A short time ago, I wrote about some of the major adjustments of our recent move to become first-time expats in a big sandbox and shared that the hardest time for me after any move consistently occurs four and six months after each move. (I’m in that zone now.)
Three weeks ago we were blessed with a two-week vacation to see the people we love, and to do some traveling. Now everyone is asking if it is even harder to go back to the sandbox.
Yes – I’m tired. I think that’s from the traveling and the heat and humidity we returned to.
No – I did not miss my “cloak of invisibility” – I did not dig it out once the entire time we were gone.
Yes – I still miss blue skies and puffy clouds. (I took this photo of puffy clouds on the plane.)
No – I didn’t think I missed driving that much, until I saw my car. When I saw it I literally had to go sit in it, and open the sunroof and imagine I was cruising down the road on day filled with bright sunshine and cool breezes. (Unfortunately, driving it will have to wait until the next visit with the hopes that there will be more time re-tag it and get it out of storage.)
However, many of my friends said that after a summer away from this place, returning was harder than usual. (…And not being able to load their children in a car and take off go wherever and whenever they want to, is one of the reasons for their struggle.)
Yesterday as I sat at the grocery store waiting an hour for my bus, not being able to drive hit home at a higher level:
This story originally posted on The Lead Change Group Blog:
About the time that Steve Jobs died, I received this message from Erin Schreyer:
~Steve Jobs~ Born out of wedlock ~ Given up for adoption at birth~ ~ Dropped out of college ~ Then changed the world~ What’s your excuse? ~
Instantly inspired I shared it with friends.
So here’s your reminder:
Seemingly ordinary people in ordinary positions are impacting our world right now.
And YOU can be one of them!
Two weeks ago we started a series about the best way to develop leaders based on a powerful quote with an uncommon perspective. This quote and series has filled some people with instant fear, some with instant empathy, and others with a clearer perspective, a deeper resolve and a stronger drive.
This series is written for individuals and is designed to offer a vision, inspiration and hope to anyone that is outside of their comfort zone, feeling in over their head and struggling. If you fit that description, read on! (If you know someone that fits that description please share this with them!)
In the first week, former FBI Agent LaRae Quy and the author of “Secrets of a Strong Mind“ shared a personal story about how that quote resonated with her with this story: The single best way to develop leaders… Throw them in.
Dr. Hoda Maalouf a civil war survivor, a professor and department head at Notre Dame University in Lebanon and the mother of twins shared her story in this post: Seriously? You develop leaders by throwing them in?
This week Alli Polin, a first-time expat who is beginning the second year of a journey that has taken her from Corporate America in DC to reinventing her life and her profession in the outback in Australia, shares her story:
