Author: Peter Mis

There Is No Doubt About Your Greatness

“…We are not here to merely contemplate our own greatness. We are here to achieve it.”

I recently found myself on the USA/Canadian border where northern Maine meets the province of New Brunswick. The funny thing about the border in this area is that there is no actual physical border. No wall, no river, no razor wire. There are small markers indicating where the two nations come together, but for the most part the border is nothing but a line drawn on a map. With this line comes an understanding of it’s boundaries and limitations, agreed to and respected.

Standing on this borderless border, it would be very easy to cross over to the other side. But we don’t, because we accept the limitations placed before us.

Sometimes in our own lives we come face to face with our own personal boundaries and limitations. These are boundaries and limitations that we accept and respect even though there is nothing physically restraining us from moving beyond these self-inflicted Continue reading “There Is No Doubt About Your Greatness” →

Here’s What To Do When God Tells You That You Suck

I wouldn’t want to have that conversation. A conversation where God calls you into the office and tells you that you suck. That you’re less than perfect. That you are inherently flawed. That you are physically/intellectually/emotionally inferior. That you just aren’t good enough.

The good news is God would never call us aside and tell us any of this.

Yet how often do we have this very conversation with ourselves?

THREE VOICES There are worldly voices surrounding us which quite often influence our own opinion of who it is we think we are. These voices come in several dialects, but usually all they do is work Continue reading “Here’s What To Do When God Tells You That You Suck” →

Listening To The Acoustic Version of Your Life

“Sometimes all you need is some quiet moments to once again see the magnificence of what surrounds you.”

What would you do if you had your own National Park?

My travels this week brought me to the the coastal region of Maine, not too far from the Bar Harbor area. The Bar Harbor area is home to the stunningly beautiful Acadia National Park. Acadia was a place I had often talked about going to but actually visiting the park was one of those things that I had never done. A last minute change in my schedule gave the window of time I needed and off to Acadia I went.

Acadia is located on Mount Desert Island, sitting right on the jagged Maine coast, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It is a majestic place filled with glacier rock formations and old growth timber very much left untouched. The views are spectacular. Almost spiritual.

Continue reading “Listening To The Acoustic Version of Your Life” →

It’s All About Moving Forward

Go ahead. Grab the books off the book shelf in your living room. And the ones on your nightstand. And the ones in the bathroom, too.

It’s time to burn the books.

Don’t get me wrong. I love books. Sometimes I think I love them too much. I like non-fiction books that tell me how to do things. Things like building a deck, using my crock pot, or finding Jesus.

Not surprisingly, in a book store you’ll usually find me in the personal development section, scanning through the inspirational, self- Continue reading “It’s All About Moving Forward” →

The Problem with Optimism

I used to think happiness was something you could think yourself into. You know, “just look on the bright side” and everything suddenly looks better. And to some extent that philosophy is true. How we choose to see things greatly impacts what it is we actually see.

Getting to the bright side is one thing, but staying there is another. Eventually, the glossy shimmer of bright side thinking slowly fades, usually no match for the pressures and intensity of a world that can be very unforgiving.

Bright side thinking is a veneer of sorts. New wallpaper covering the same old cracks in the wall. As well intended as it is, it’s a thought process that usually lacks depth and substance. There is no root system to hold it in place during the storms of uncertainty, doubt, and Continue reading “The Problem with Optimism” →

The Most Important Question You Can Ever Ask Yourself

So here’s the question…Do you appreciate you?

No, I didn’t ask if you liked you.

Do you appreciate you?

Do you appreciate all that you already are and all that you were created to become? Do you appreciate all the talents, gifts, and abilities that reside within you? Do you appreciate your voice, your vision, your passion? Do you appreciate the importance of the contribution that only you can make in this world?

Do you appreciate your significance?

Growing up no one ever told me I should appreciate myself.  To be fair, no one ever told me I shouldn’t appreciate myself, either. Appreciation was only a topic of conversation when I would complain about all the stuff I didn’t have. That made me ungrateful and unappreciative. That’s as close as I ever got to discussing appreciation.

WORTHINESS The world has a word for people who consider themselves to be significant. Arrogant. Significance, in order to exist relies on a comparison to insignificance. But the significance I speak of is not an arrogant, ego-based proclamation of superiority over Continue reading “The Most Important Question You Can Ever Ask Yourself” →

Slow Dancing with the Three Sisters of Regret

And just like that, it was over. His life, and what it could have been was never given the opportunity to fully be.

For some reason I was thinking about a tragic event that occurred during my senior year in high school. I don’t know what it was that took me back. Sometimes my thoughts take me to places I never expect to go.

His name was Andrea McCoy. He was a member of the 1980 US Olympic boxing team. The US boxing team was heading to an exhibition in Poland when their plane crashed as it approached Warsaw. On March 14, 1980, 22 members of the team perished, including Andrea.

Andrea and I weren’t that close. We shared home room together, a few laughs, and a few classes. I remember his huge smile and his kind spirit.

I remember his empty seat.

Andrea was given an incredible talent, and for reasons well beyond my understanding, was given only 20 short years on this earth. On Continue reading “Slow Dancing with the Three Sisters of Regret” →

Confessions of an Ugly Snowman

“Daddy, can we go build a snowman?”

It’s been a relatively snowless winter so far here in southern New England. Finally, the snow gods paid us a visit, leaving several inches of the white stuff behind. Suddenly, it was Snowman Season, and my 3-1/2 year old daughter, boots in hand, was smiling from ear to ear.

There’s something very rewarding about building a snowman with a young child. I’m grateful that I can appreciate the gift that it is. Perhaps it allows me to revisit the simplicity of my youth, when the only worry was finding the just-right branch that would become the snowman’s arm. Or perhaps it is my chance to do something with my daughter that my always-working Dad never did with me Continue reading “Confessions of an Ugly Snowman” →

Black Friday at Walmart with Oprah

We’ve made it through the first half of the first month of a new year and I’ve yet to break any of my resolutions. It’s easy to do, especially when you don’t make any.
 
I used to a Resolutioner. I would boldly list all the things I was and wasn’t going to do in the new year. Once the ball dropped in Times Square I could then start to become the person I really wanted myself to be. But the initial euphoria eventually became work, and I eventually turned back into what I was on December 31st.
 
This doesn’t say much about my resolve, especially since I am an avid goal setter and achiever in many areas of my life.
 
Looking back, resolutions, to me, were simply fragmented independent ideas that were never a part of the big picture of my life. They were things that would be nice to achieve but really weren’t worth fighting for. At some point, resolutions tend to become a fight, a fight usually with yourself.
 
I’ve found that creating any significant lasting change in life requires a deeper context.  There needs to be a concrete reason, a fundamental motivation resonating from within our core which drives us to fight on through even when we tell ourselves it’s probably time to quit. An hour on a treadmill gets old real quick when the only goal is to spend an hour on a treadmill. Resolutions that lack depth lack sustainability.
 
“Enough already with the stuff that doesn’t enhance who you really are.”
 
These words from Oprah Winfrey really struck a chord with me. Her words create a new paradigm, a different way to evaluate the choices that I make. Oprah’s words challenge me to know who I really am, and in doing so further challenge me to look at all aspects of my life through an evaluative lense of if and how my thoughts, words, activities, and the world around me enhance who it is I really am.
 
In many ways, new year’s resolutions often feel like Black Friday morning at Walmart. The initial excitement and adrenaline rush eventually fades away when it becomes work, when you’re standing in the checkout line for an hour. But this thought process, the idea of rooting your life choices based upon their ability to enhance who it is you are, provides the perfect context for lasting change.
 
Decisions evaluated within the context of how they will enhance who you really are create the experiences that truly enhance who it is you really are.
 
Here’s to our collective happiness in 2012!
 
It’s a great day to be you!