[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”…and back to wholehearted living, no matter one’s age…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Younger friends tease and laugh at my quoting, some times, from the AARP publication that is meant for we “olders.” With warmth and care, I remind them that they will be “old” before they know it, as well. Time sneaks […]
Wholehearted Living Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”Way back in the last century…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] …when we were kids growing up on farms in Arizona (Judy…currently 72) and Oregon (Wes…now 74) it was the custom to have parties to celebrate couples, friends of our parents, who had been married 40, 50, 60 years. Being the last-born in our
Be Fully Alive…To The End Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”The ink was not even dry…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] …on the clerk and recorder documents, the BOLD CAPS emblazoned “Letters of Testamentary”. Ralph C. Wilson (not his real name) ascended into heaven right on schedule, according to the Father’s calendar not ours. He left behind a pile of property to distribute. It
Creating a Legacy Obituary Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”I am 54 years old…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] …husband to Kim, father to Chelsea and son-in-law James, and Grandpa-to-be for baby Evelynn. The answer to this question on success has radically changed over the past several years. As has the meaning of fully living my unique life in all 8 Dimensions, as
How Do You Spell S-u-c-c-e-s-s? Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”The start, and heart, of our Middle Third.” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Realization… …this word is a noun, with a simple definition from Merriam-Webster: the state of understanding or becoming aware of something: the act of achieving something that has been planned or hoped for. Realization characterizes the start of our Second3rd of
Realization, Realize, Real Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”…The Decade from 20-30″ size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] (In all my 74 years of life, in my own decades of having lived through my own bits of joy and tumult personally and in our world, I need to clearly state, with deep thanks to our Creator, that from across the globe I am having
A View of Life from an Emerging Adult… Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”Have you explored this question?” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] (In all the decades of life one may be granted, that first decade is crucial for life-long development in all of the 8 Dimensions of the Circle of Life. Therefore, faithful grandparents have written about the value of life-enhancing mentoring of those kiddos in
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”Think of a ‘Doctor of the Core’…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] During a recent Leadership Design Group Workshop, they gave me an assignment: “If I visited a ‘Doctor of the Core’ for a ‘core check-up’ What would I tell the doctor about the health of my core – Its values, integrity, and character?
Doctor of the Core Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”Good friends for decades.” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] The morning this is being written we, my wife and I, are in the home of these “good friends for decades” kind of friends: for over three decades now (but not the family in the picture above). This couple, now in their 60’s, live close
Why Look at Life in Three3rds? Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”Zero to 10…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] That’s not the description of a very slow car at a drag race. It’s the crucial years of a child’s first decade of life. Mentors and other leaders, who are familiar with Leadership Design Group, know we view life in terms of decades: 0-10; 10-20; 20-30;
The First Decade of Life Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”You Have 9 Decades of Life…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] What will you do with them? Life expectancy in the United States, you say, is only a bit short of 80 years on average, so what do you mean, Murphy, that I have 9 decades of life? My thinking: an average life expectancy
The 9 Decades of Life Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”Not to be trite or casual…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] …dying is a part of living. Between now and then, for you, how well do you plan to live? This we have been reminded of four times in the last three weeks. One friend was tragically murdered while trying to help a woman
Our Physical Dimension Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”‘But…I’m not creative!’” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Even around some of those on the planet with whom I am closest I too often hear this lament. That may be “slightly true” if comparison is being made to some friends who seem to have been born with a extra dose of creativity. BUT…that is
C. I. D. P. … Creativity and More Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”Let Your Life Speak…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] …Is the title of Parker Palmer’s small but potent book. It has become one of the most valuable books in my personal library. I first picked it up and read it in 2003 at the encouragement of a good friend. This is a big statement,
Vocation and Identity Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”Stop yer bellyaching!” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Growing up as a kid way back in the 1940’s and 50’s, this was my father’s comment to me from time to time. Those three words, sternly offered, meant that I had a limited about of time to change my emotions and attitude, get a better
Emotions and Attitude Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”‘Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.’ …Socrates” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] It was not her best day, thanks to me. Nor, frankly, was it one of mine. It was 1958, my Junior year of high school, in a small semi-rural western Oregon town. Ultimately there were 63 students in my graduating class. Most
Curiosity and Intellect Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”Alone…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] …High on a hill or tall mountain. This has been a place of significant renewal to me in the 62 years of my life. I still remember the joy of being an adolescent, alone high on the hill overlooking my hometown of Whittier, California. I could see my
Renewal in the Social Dimension of Life Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”Heroes…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] …at least the men and women I consider heroes, come in all sizes, capacities and conditions. Whether it’s imaginative, artistically created action figures of our comic book and/or movie heroes, or real time, living, breathing, eye-blinking heroes…heroes do come in all shapes, sizes and ages. One of my
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”Family…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] We all have one, but not all illicit warm, fuzzy memories. Sometimes families can be difficult. Estranged – or just plain strange! What is it about this dimension that can be so difficult and yet so foundational to every other aspect of our lives? You were born into
Your Foundational Family Read More »
[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”We were stuck.” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] $60,000 in student debt and newly married, I was in seminary and my wife was teaching. My car broke down and I needed a root canal. There was no money in the bank and no plan. We were toast. We were afraid! We were mastered by
The Financial Dimension of the Circle of Life Read More »
