I Am Blessed

Walking around Birmingham airport at 5:45am, still half asleep, I handed my ticket to the lady at the gate. She had a really big smile and on her face and I asked her how she was.

She replied, “I am blessed.”

That response took me by surprise and made me stop rushing to get through security.

I took my time as I thought about how I just spent the most amazing Easter weekend with my family complete with baking cookies, a birthday party, an egg hunt, worship on Good Friday and Easter, make-overs, jumping on the trampoline, my brother’s favorite Threes Company reruns, daddy’s jokes, momma’s hugs, and laughter – lots and lots of laughter.

I am thankful for the humble spirit of a stranger reminding me just how blessed I am. Blessed indeed.

A Bunny for a Day

I agreed to be the Easter Bunny expecting that wearing the bunny suit would be two things:

1. Hot, very hot – I cannot recall a time in my life when I felt like my whole body was on fire except in this suit. I bet I lost ten pounds just in sweat. Note to self – ask for a suit with ventilation in the head next year.

2. Rewarding - My first “performance” as the Easter Bunny was visiting local Clients. I caused quite a stir in the lobby of Farm Bureau Insurance as I sat on their leather sofas waiting to surprise a few potential clients complete with my furry suit and pink tennis shoes. People giggled, took pictures, waived, asked for candy and smiled a lot. It felt great to brighten people’s day.

My second and third “performances” as the Easter Bunny were at local nursing facilities. As expected the children that were visiting were really glad to see me and most of them were eager to have their picture made. But nothing touched me as much as watching the eyes of Residents light up.

Though as an aging adult, majority of them had lost a great deal of functioning from loss of hearing to loss of memory, they were so happy to spend a few minutes with me. Many of them hugged my neck and giggled out loud. I quickly began to forget how hot I was and became humbled that I had the opportunity to bring joy to their night.

I heard it said by lots of people yesterday that they would never dress up in a bunny suit. But if only their heart could feel as full as mine when I got home last night…there would be a waiting list for bunny volunteers.

Count me in as a bunny in 2006 and Happy Easter!

The Lesson of the Coffee Pot

J.C. Dominguez, President of SCI companies recently gave an inspiring talk about how you can tell a lot about the people who work with or for you based on the coffee pot.

Have you ever really wanted a cup of coffee only to go to find the coffee pot completely empty? Somebody in your office had to have had the last cup of coffee yet they didn’t have the decency to fill it up for the next person.

J.C. states this is a major red flag for working for him and an act, which if you get caught taking the last cup and leaving the pot empty, will get you fired. Sounds dramatic right?

But if you cannot trust your employees to be thoughtful enough to fill up the coffee pot, how can you trust them to look out for your organization, your team or your Customers.

Simple yet profound.

So often we hire people who have all the right “technical” or “required skills” to perform the task for a job but we don’t really find out about their ability to relate and care about people.

We have to continue as organizations and leaders to hire smarter. To ask tough questions to ensure we are hiring superstars. To be patient and not just hire to keep a position from being empty. To bring people to our teams that care about refilling the coffee pot.

Big Fat Liar

After reading Seth Godin’s new liar’s blog it reminded me of a recent lie I was told.

I received marketing materials from a local lawn care company last week complete with a mini-catalog with a headline that read, We will be spending a lot of time at Walnut Bend Road this spring.

Big fat liar.

So I shouldn’t have been surprised when I was awakened early Saturday morning from this same lawn care company. A polite gentleman proceeds to inform me that his company will be spending time at Walnut Bend this week ensuring my lawn was well maintained and asked if I had any questions.

I started laughing and stated I only had one question, “Did you know you are a liar?”

He said excuse me with questioning in his tone. Then I proceeded to inform him I didn’t have a lawn. I live in an apartment complex.

He immediately apologized but I found it necessary to coach him before I hung up the phone…

“Your company might want to spend more time researching their “leads” before they waste their money and my time. And I am deeply saddened that your company encourages you to lie to me especially on my day off.”

Gender Earnings

I have had the pleasure in the last two months to be invited to partipate in Euchre tournaments. Now for my friends down South - Euchre is a card game that involves lots of strategy and a little luck of the cards.

The first tournament consisted of 16 people and everyone put in $10 a piece. The winners were the two people with the highest points, person with the most loners and the loser got their $10 back.

Now I didn't agree with the loser getting their money back but we will save that argument for another post.

The second tournament consisted of 20 people and everyone put in $10 a piece. The winners were the man with the highest points, the woman with the highest points and the person with the most loners. Plus they rewarded the male and female loser with their money back.

I immediately had to be clear...are we basing earnings of this game on gender?

The gracious host explained she and her family have played Euchre for years and she was taught that men play more aggressive, which can lead to more points, so you have to pay based on gender.

I wanted to scream bull crap but my momma taught me good manners and I respected that it was her house. But since I am blogging and in no one's home...

BULL CRAP!

What a stereotype! It is not like we are playing tug-of-war here where physical strength was involved. It is a card game based a strategy and luck.

Women accepting what they were taught about gender differences and allowing those explanations to still exist is the reason statistics prove men continue to earn significantly more than women in the same position (though the percentage continues to decrease).

So if the next time I play Euchre and I play aggressive to gain points, that will not make me a man. It will make me a woman who likes to win.

And a woman who hopes to change gender stereotypes, even if it is over a card game.

Don't Waste the Pretty

I came across this phrase in my recent reading of “He’s Just Not That Into You.” I bought the book for two reasons:

1. I suck at dating.
2. All the press and hype over the book peaked my curiosity.

I enjoyed the book and realized I understand a lot more about dating and relationships than I thought I did plus I learned a phrase that I can apply in any area of my life…

“Don’t waste the pretty!”

Now the author said this phrase as it relates to women settling for less than they deserve in relationships. He says you are too pretty to waste energy on why he didn’t call or why he says hurtful things, etc. Just get out of the relationship and move on.

But this doesn’t just apply to women and relationships.

So many times we (me included) expend so much time and energy criticizing, doubting and judging ourselves that we forget to let our true selves shine. Don’t give yourself over to negativity. Find people and things that compliment, support and encourage the person you are and the person you desire to be.

Today is the day to “Stop wasting the pretty!”