O Holy Night
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!
This post has taken me a while to write, in fact, over a month. Not because of writers block; however, due to fear of what others may think and it is not traditional to life and leadership. I say this; however, faith is an integral part of all of our lives no matter if you are a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, agnostic, and the list goes on. I will write more on faith in a different post and how it is integral in who we are as individuals and the impact it has in our lives and in our leading. The fear came in and the hustle and bustle of the position I work until I am able to support myself off of this idea of Path of One. Then I remembered my tag line Be Bold! Be Courageous! Be Fearless! Regardless of what you believe or think about what this post is about and this season, my prayer is that your heart and mind will be open and that you will find some hope, peace, joy, and love.
For those that don’t know me personally, I am a follower of the Way. You might ask yourself, what or who is a follower of the Way. A follower of the Way in modern terms is a Christian. If you like to know more about why I say this feel free to message me and I would be happy to discuss. So here we go!
Christmas has always been a favorite time of year for me. Growing up in Texas, we didn’t get much snow or cold weather, in fact, often times we could wear shorts and t-shirts. I would watch A Christmas Carol adaptions multiple times and would sing O, Holy Night whenever I could. In fact, I probably have a least 100 different renditions of O, Holy Night on my iTunes account and constantly look to find more versions every year. There is something so serene, powerful, peaceful, and hopeful that comes through these lyrics. For those that don’t know the song, I am adding the first verse so you can at least know what I am speaking of.
O Holy night! The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
'Til He appears and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees; O hear the Angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born
O night, O Holy night, O night divine!
To me Christmas is more than just about giving and receiving gifts. It is about the gift of the Creator taking human form and being born into our world. You can read the Christmas narrative from the New Testament in Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1-2. I will attest that the day we celebrate Christmas now, Dec. 25th, is not the actual date of his birth; however, the date was decided and we celebrate and remember this gift.
Some may say, well, I won’t believe a word you say because you believe in Jesus Christ, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit. To those that say this that is perfectly okay with me; however, I can chose to believe and have faith and I respect your belief to disagree with me. Yet I digress.
Christmas is about hope and peace. It is about joy and love. It is about sacrifice. It is about so much more than what we know of it today. I was having some conversations with fellow associates the other day about how it really hasn’t felt like Christmas or the holiday’s this year. As I drove home that night I pondered why. So much has been thrown around in the media, social media, and life in general that the miracle of Christmas is getting drowned out.
We get so busy from Thanksgiving to New Years Eve finishing the work year off strong. Finishing up projects, meeting deadlines, goal casting for next year, shopping for all those that you need to shop for, holiday parties, end of a semester, finals, and so much more. We get so busy we forget that this time is to celebrate and enjoy life. Be merry. We are so worried and wrapped up with ourselves, our dreams, our goals, what will happen in the future that we miss the biggest aspects of our lives. That is being present in the lives of those we love as we are not promised a tomorrow.
In our society today, we are so scattered brained, exhausted, depleted mind, soul, and body, that we just go through the motions of life. We have no hope, no joy, no love, no nothing. We are empty and depleted and have nothing to give and just hoping that we can make it until the end of the year. This time of year should not be about ]getting a huge to-do list done, getting busy doing whatever it is you have to get done. But to enjoy the gift of friendship, love, and family. There is hope, there is peace, and there is joy in this season. We all just have to pause and remember that. As for me I pause and remember what Christmas Eve and Day is about. I remember the hope, peace, joy, and love that it brings. If you don’t align with me that is your choice and I respect your choice. Just know that despite our differences in beliefs here, just remember that it’s not about gifts it is about time to celebrate with others.
May His peace be with you. May His light shine upon you and in you. May His love radiate around you and through you. May His joy fill you.
I wish you a Merry Christmas! To our Jewish friends Happy Hanukkah! To everyone else Happy Holidays!
Be Bold! Be Courageous! Be Fearless!
Joel
Every Path has Endings
As I contemplated this post, I had several ideas run through my head. This morning as I woke up, I was reminded of one of the most influential books I have ever read. No this is not the Bible; however, that is the top of my list. This book was suggested to me by a member of a small group I was a part of when I was in the mortgage industry and was searching for my next steps in life. I was at a crossroads and knew that an ending was coming; however, I did not know what that ending was and what the new beginning was going to entail. I was scared, confused, full of fear, lacked boldness and courage. To put it plainly, I was lost. I had no passion or zeal for life and was just barely making it. I was failing in the mortgage industry and in fact was doing a job that I was not created to do. For those in the industry I tip my hat to you as it is definitely a difficult job and necessary position; however, it just wasn’t for me.
This friend acquaintance shared with me a book that ultimately put me on the trajectory path to launch Path of One. This book is about business; however, the impact of the book can be felt not just in business, but in your personal life as well. Dr. Henry Cloud, a psychologist and leadership guru wrote a book many people will recognize Boundaries; however, this is not the book I am discussing. His book Necessary Endings; however, is this book. The premise is that sometimes in business you have to make necessary endings when dealing with projects that are wasting money and the payoff is not coming to fruition. Then there are times that toxic people just need to be let go and get them out of the organization. He calls these people pure evil and you just need to get the lawyers involved and move on. There are two other categories of people that Dr. Cloud talks about in the book and those are wise people that take direction and correction with ease and make the necessary adjustments. The third group is the foolish. Now this is not saying that they are fools running fools’ errands; however, more on that they are not growing in their position or they are not getting the job done. These people if given the opportunity to correct themselves and put into a performance improvement time frame may very well become wise employees; however, with expectations laid out they will know the outcome if they don’t perform.
Foolish may even contribute to where I was at in life. I was not performing well at all at the mortgage company I was at. I was making my calls, yet I was not making progress. I had these passions of helping people and I thought why not mortgage as I had already tried financial services and life insurance. These jobs caused me more stress than I could have imagined, and I needed desperate direction. As I said, this book is more about leadership than personal; however, I saw myself in that book and knew what I needed to do. I put in my resignation and began to take the time to figure out what was next. On a side note, I would not advise someone to just resign their position without a failsafe, i.e. another job. This is what I did and took a few weeks to regain some clarity in life and added other stressors; however, I swallowed my pride and went back to work in the hospitality industry.
Now, you may be saying how did your necessary ending impact you today? That’s a great question. See I went to work at restaurant where I live and quickly became a bartender and trainer within the organization; yet I still wasn’t feeling that I was headed anywhere and though I am good at what I do, I was not passionate about it. One night after work around three in the morning, I opened up my laptop and started Googling grad school programs. To this day I do not remember what I Googled; however, I found a Colorado State University – Global and was started the process of earning my Dual Master of Sciences in Management and Organizational Leadership with an International Business Specialization. My heart’s desire is to help as many people achieve their goals and dreams and make their path a path of brilliant colors.
I know many people right now are looking for change and very well coming up to a necessary ending in life. This can come in many forms. An ending in where you live and moving to a new city, state, or country. Ending a dead-end job and pursuing your dreams and starting a business or going back to school. Taking a necessary ending in a relationship that could be toxic or just has run the course. Whatever your ending is, make the decision to move and allow the ending to launch a new beginning.
If it is a project at work that needs a necessary ending begin the process of change management and being to communicate the change to key associates. During necessary endings and change, always make sure you communicate the why the ending is needed and what the plan is going forward. Allow your staff to process the change and be available to answer any and all questions needed so they are onboard and will help guide the team through the change. Necessary endings are never easy in business nor personal; however, they are needed and can ultimately catapult you to your passion and purpose.
Be Bold! Be Courageous! Be Fearless!
Joel
If you would like to read these books mentioned in the blog feel free to click on the links in the blog or click here: