Defiant Enthusiasm

“Five golden rings!”

It’s amazing how much noise 132 elementary school students can make. But there they were, on stage for the annual Holiday concert belting out “The 12 Days of Christmas” for a very appreciative audience.

It was a beautiful noise.

These kids were fully animated. Each day of the 12 included a visual interpretation of each gift given, from lords a-leaping to maids a-milking. Their enthusiasm was so infectious the crowd began to mimic the actions of the kids from their seats. Even Santa, who was sitting in the room, joined in as well.

The enthusiasm and energy these kids brought this day was genuine and real. They showed up, lined up, and dove all the way in. The innocence of youth provides plenty of room for joyous enthusiasm to be fully expressed.

For the rest of us, well, enthusiasm feels like a lot more work.

Life does have a way of trying to beat the enthusiasm out of us adults, doesn’t it? Enthusiasm is Continue reading “Defiant Enthusiasm” →

An Unexpected Expression Of Humanity

I’d forgotten what college tour season was like. But here we are meandering from school to school with student ambassadors walking us through their campuses enthusiastically pitching us as to why they feel their school is the ideal place to spend the next four years.

After these tours, the Standard Operating Procedure has been each school’s admission office sending out a generic “thanks for visiting our school” email and reminding us of key dates ahead in the application process. In our old fashioned US Postal Service mailbox, though, we received an unusual surprise.

A hand written personalized Thank You note from one of the student tour guides we had visited. It’s the only Thank You card we’ve received from any of them.

Certainly you don’t decide on a college based upon getting a card in the mail after a tour. But in receiving such a card, Devin the student tour guide differentiated himself from the other equally competent tour guides we’ve interacted with through this process.

Devin’s note stirred up an inner conversation about gratitude and connection. The digital world of emails, texts, and faceless AI interfaces is cold and vastly impersonal especially when compared to the warmth and authenticity found in receiving something hand created specifically for you. Continue reading “An Unexpected Expression Of Humanity” →

Staring Into The Eyes Of Impact

It was an unexpected opportunity to learn.

Earlier in the week I was asked to present some grant awards on behalf of a local educational foundation I do some work with. The foundation awards these grants to meet specific teacher requests which typically fall outside the funding parameters of limited school budgets.

My presentation was to a group of extremely important people. I found myself standing in front of the teachers of the school my daughters attended many years ago. Many of these teachers played such a vital role in the transformation of my young elementary school daughters into the strong, confident, and empowered young women they are today. And I know my daughters weren’t the only kiddos to be impacted so profoundly by those who were sitting in front of me.

It was an honor to stand before them.

As I scanned the room I remembered defining moments of impact many of these teachers had Continue reading “Staring Into The Eyes Of Impact” →

Gratitude Is The New Caffeine

I do admit I miss the jolt.

It was like zero to sixty in just a few sips.

I could always count on my morning indulgence of caffeine to quickly get me into an elevated state. Something would shift in me, turning me from sedan to sports car with the greatest of ease.

My relationship with moderation can be, at times, challenging, with indulgences quite capable of morphing into over indulgences. Caffeine was no exception, which is the main reason why I go to great lengths to now avoid it.

I give caffeine a great deal of credit in its ability to awaken a daily dormant version of me, changing my subdued inner perspective to one of enthusiasm and possibility. But I would now need to find a different source of fuel to ignite me in the morning.

My new beverage of choice is gratitude.

Sometimes I forget about gratitude. In my ever busy world surrounded by an abundance of blessings I Continue reading “Gratitude Is The New Caffeine” →

The Problem With Gratitude

It’s a good question.

We know who we are grateful for in our lives, yet how often do we take the time to remind those who we appreciated that they are actually appreciated?

I was recently the recipient of a random act of gratitude. Unexpectedly, someone had gone out of their way to express how grateful they were for my contribution to a project we had both been working on. Honestly, I didn’t know how to respond, eventually finding the words “thank you” after instinctively attempting to minimize my contribution. The entire interaction, while appreciated, left me feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Why would something as powerful as gratitude ever feel uncomfortable to receive?

Perhaps it’s because we’re so used to not receiving it.

There is a degree of vulnerability associated with expressing gratitude. It’s often an interruption of the expected and usual conversations, and the recipient is left to wonder about the motivation behind why the gratitude was being expressed in the first place. The risk of being vulnerable is mitigated with our Continue reading “The Problem With Gratitude” →

The Immeasurable Impact Of Teachers

We have what has grown into an annual tradition here in town. As with most things which have grown into traditions, it began quite organically. Some of the graduating high school seniors decided to revisit their elementary school and spend a few moments with some of their favorite teachers, some of which they hadn’t seen in at least eight years. Just to say hello. Just their way of stepping back into their past and with their physical presence saying thank you.

None of these kids went back because their teacher taught them about the order of operations when solving a math problem. Nor did they go back because their teacher drove into them that I comes before E except after C. They went back because these teachers moved them, inspired them, helped them grow through certain challenges. Because their teachers believed in them, encouraged them, and helped them to become more confident as both students and as individuals.

On a day designed for partying and celebrating, they went back and let their teachers know how much they mattered to them.

This is what impact looks like.

When others believe in us it helps us to believe in ourselves as well. What we believe about ourselves determines our sense of identity of who we accept ourselves to be. That accepted identity shapes every aspect of how we will experience life. Of our own sense of worth. Of our own sense of value. Of our own sense of what’s possible – or not – for us.

Identity impacts everything. We will become who it is we accept ourselves to be. Nothing more, nothing Continue reading “The Immeasurable Impact Of Teachers” →

Rediscovering The Reverence For The Greatest Gift Of All

Sometimes I still need to call myself out.

Unlike so many other times I’ve called myself out, which tended to border on abusive, this was more of a conversation between equals. This was me holding me accountable for me.

It felt like another day in a series of another days. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow just one seamless repetitively insignificant blur. No urgency. No passion. Just sorta showing up and going through the motions.

“Is that any way to treat the most important gift you’ve ever been given…your life?”

There is so much to be grateful for, yet with all that I’ve been given I can’t remember the last time I started my day with the reverence the gift of my life honesty deserves. The abundance of blessings has become ordinary, just a given, simply expected, like luxuriously plush bath towels at an exclusive resort you’ve been staying at for way too long.

Yes, I am intentional with my gratitude. Daily. It feels like a box I need to check off on my To Do list. But it never quite reaches the magnitude of that awe-struck kid on Christmas morning standing in front of Continue reading “Rediscovering The Reverence For The Greatest Gift Of All” →

Indignity, Indifference, And The Contemplation Of Freedom

“Man’s greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.” – Frederick Douglass

Honestly, it’s not something I give much thought to.

The contemplation of freedom.

Like breathing, I guess it’s one of those things I’ve always enjoyed which is probably an underlying reason as to why I simply take it for granted.

On a visit to the city of my birth I made an unscheduled stop to the recently-opened Abolition Row Park in New Bedford. It is a relatively small park with a very big story to tell. Abolition Row Park sits across from two important buildings, both of which have been designated as National Historic Landmarks. Both of these buildings played significant roles as stations in the Underground Railroad sheltering escaped Slaves in a city which was an abolitionist haven. It was here in 1838 that Frederick Douglass was able to secure his freedom.

I cannot do the story of Frederick Douglass justice, not in this short format. His was an extraordinary life, his voice as an orator, writer, publisher, and preacher a significant and powerful voice in the abolitionist movement globally.

One of the most striking elements to be found in Abolition Row Park is a statue of Douglass. It’s not a Continue reading “Indignity, Indifference, And The Contemplation Of Freedom” →

When Was The Last Time You Pee’d On Your Kitchen Floor?

I thought the puppy was going to break into two pieces. The back half of Watson was shaking and twisting uncontrollably in one direction while the front half was shaking and twisting the other way. His head was bobbing up and down and his tongue wagging side to side.

Just because I was home.

I’m always amazed by how excited the dog gets when I come home. I mean, all I do is come home, something I do every day. But in his world that is something to get excited about. Sometimes so excited that bodily functions don’t function as they should and I’m cleaning up doggie pee off the kitchen floor as a result.

Just because I was home.

When was the last time you were so excited that you pee’d on your kitchen floor?

Sometimes life sucks the puppy out of us, doesn’t it? Sometimes we become that old dog, the one averse to the new tricks, the one content to simply curl up and stop chasing Continue reading “When Was The Last Time You Pee’d On Your Kitchen Floor?” →

Maybe Your Life Already Is Something To Get Excited About?

“Look, Dad. That’s Orion’s belt. See? Those three stars in a row. Do you see it?”

That was part of an unexpected exchange I had this week with my daughter in the driveway, her little finger pointing to where she wanted my eyes to go. We just came home from her dance class. Cold nights usually mean a clear sky, and on this night you could see to infinity and beyond.

As we got out of the car she threw her head back to find a sky full of stars. And for the next 15 minutes, despite the bitter cold, we scanned the night sky and found as many constellations as we could name.

“Isn’t this cool?” she asked, her voice filled with both awe and wonder.

One of the great things about having a younger child in the house is that they often remind you of things, things you used to simply always do before the whole adult thing showed up in your life and changed your focus. At some point life morphs into a pursuit, a race of attainment and the pressures and stress which come along with it. Instead of taking time to look up and enjoy, we put our heads down and push and kick and fight forward, looking for an ever-elusive happiness in the material things and the status which we feel will come along with them.

I remember awe and wonder. I remember when I wasn’t looking past what I was hoping to find, when I wasn’t so consumed by the future, so often at the expense of the awe and wonder of the present.

I can’t help but contemplate how much awe and wonder am I missing in other areas of my life? Do I see it in the people in my life, the opportunities I have, the physical world around me? Or even life itself? Am I too busy living that I am not really fully alive?

Look up. Look around. Look inside.

Awe and wonder are everywhere.

We just need to take the time to see it.

It’s a great day to be you!

Peter Mis LivingHalfFull.com

Lessons From A Life Unfolding

Category: gratitude