Who doesn't deserve your unity?

January 25, 2017

The soldier's life ebbed into the foreign soil.

She knew the risks, but the siren call to dedicate her life in service to the United States was the call she answered. The fabric of her country is diverse in color, texture, strength, density, and weave; no swatch is the same.

She loved her republic in spite of the stains, wear patterns, snags, and tears which strain the seams. The inner beauty of her people's shared purpose, freedoms, independence, and charity amplified the physical beauty of the land.

Under the armor, her heart pulsed with hope. The possibility...

How do you display unity?

January 24, 2017

Age
Cars
Rings
Money
T-shirts
Mission
Country
Uniform
Language
Safety pin
Fight song
Brand name
Greek letters...

How do you define unity?

January 23, 2017

I snapped a picture of the flyer because the words were toppling with irony. The coffee shop flyer announced a get-together celebrating "unity" and a bulleted list of those to whom it applied.

The list did not include my demographic.

Thankfully, my love cup was not chipped.

If I crashed the party, were welcoming arms awaiting me, or would I have been the lone guy in the corner receiving sideways...

How do you prepare for trials?

January 22, 2017

The U.S. spent $100B to ensure the swing of a second hand turning the millennium, did not crash the modern computer infrastructure during the run-up to Y2K. Pending hurricanes quickly clear store shelves of plywood, batteries, bottled water, milk, bread, and toilet paper. Insurance and financial advisers pitch solutions to mitigate catastrophe and reach personal goals.

How do you prepare for the storms of life during...

How is your dash?

January 21, 2017

Humanity expends considerable resources to cancel the effects of aging and fighting death. To date, there is not a remedy. Dwelling on death provides motivation for today.

You and I choose every moment how to use the minutes that comprise the dash between our dates of birth and death.

Picking out a handsome headstone this weekend will calibrate our thoughts about the time invested in replying to the click-bait opposing political comment on social media. The anger infused passionate argument is justified at the moment.

You click "submit" and your time is gone.

Is it worth investing your precious life on this post that will be buried in tomorrow's deluge of bickering? Your dash isn't big enough to include a cut and paste of your carefully crafted witty comment.

When was the last time you walked through a cemetery and considered the shortness of life? Where are you wasting your life? What changes need to be made to make the most of your time?

Soon, you will exhale, and the stone cutter's hammer will rest with the dash complete.

How can you create beauty that will outlast you and me?

How do you look beyond your current trial?

January 21, 2017

Being stuck in the middle of the storm sucks.

It is scary.

Uncertainty abounds.

The feeling of everything you have is slipping away and never to return spikes the urge for fight or flight. The need to lash out at those closest to us causes long-term damage. Shortness of breath and the inability to sleep sends us deeper into the death spiral.

However, popular memes and business seminars quip...

How did a trial expose your grit?

January 19, 2017

"Everyone has a plan 'till they are punched in the mouth" ~ Mike Tyson

Trials, suffering, pain, work, sweat, the grind, being wronged, and every other hardship is an event.

How do you choose to interpret these events?

How did the experience increase your...

What storms did your parents endure?

January 19, 2017

Until recently, very little changed between generations. Children would grow up knowing the same world as their parents. Not so today. Our parent's generation lived in a time we will never understand.

My mom walked through former orange groves and watched the construction of Disneyland on her way to school. She experienced some strange family situations as a young girl, her oldest daughter dying in a horse accident, divorce, life as a single parent before remarrying and enduring me.

My dad watched his brother fight polio and wither...

How have trials shaped you?

January 17, 2017

Pressure creates diamonds.

Poverty, abuse, persecution, racism, death, bullying, and a myriad of other wrongs influence how we encounter the world.

The social norms of the day may have swept events under the rug or threats silenced the reporting. But, you remember and carry these memories in your bones.

Writer, Debbie Millman (@debbiemillman), openly discusses the sexual, physical, and mental abuse she received as a child and youth. Counseling has helped her...

How do you come alongside during trials?

January 16, 2017

Live long enough, and life is going to hurt.

I have, and it does. However, others have encountered far darker days than my experiences.

Seeing this misery silences the complaining tongue that compares with others. It is easy to be jealous of those with the fancy houses and exotic vacations. But, if we play the treacherous game of comparison, it is appropriate to compare to those...

How do you welcome trials?

January 15, 2017

The theater fades to black. The screen flickers to life and the feature begins. The film whisks me through the standard story arc in 90 minutes. The introduction of the hero sparks empathy and our hero plummets from bliss to chaos. The last quarter of the movie displays the resolution and rising out of the ashes to the new normal.

I am a sucker for a story and my emotions quickly buckle up for the pending roller coaster ride. This plummet over the edge of sanity always gets my heart racing and somehow my eyes leak as if on cue from the director.

We watch our heroes and celebrate their return home. We revel in the entrepreneur's...

How do you bless your children?

January 14, 2017

A quick Google search of the world's major religions includes some form of blessing children. Jesus blessed the children; Abraham blessed his son's, religious leaders bless children at birth or upon attainment of specified milestones.

Merriam-Webster defines the act of blessing as, "to ask the favor or protection of God for." Regardless of your religious or non-religious tradition, this practice is an opportunity to communicate care and love for our children.

The Bible's Abraham blessed his two sons with specific words of encouragement, details of their inheritance, and prophetic words about...

What have you sacrificed as a parent?

January 13, 2017

Our decisions have implications, beyond the immediate context. Every "yes" means a million "no's." Viewing seemingly small choices through the lens of hindsight, we reveal seismic shifts were attributable to chance, serendipity or an afterthought.

Circumstances, adoption, or birth delivers our children to our arms and alters our future.

The odds were long that being a Godparent would be anything more than a dedication to love. But now your new daughter is upstairs grieving the...

How were you wrong about parenting?

January 12, 2017

The universe is unfair. The most basic electronic gizmo is packaged with at least a couple of pages of instructions. And yet, your precious baby comes out of the wrapper without a hint of operating instructions.

I was thrilled when my kids began to understand language. The ability to communicate took our relationship to a new level. I didn't like playing a game of 20 questions before I realized what toy she wanted.

Among the errors, I...

What has parenting taught you?

January 11, 2017

My short list:
Joy
To laugh
Patience
Humility
Weariness
Frustration...

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Engage

These INQUIRIES are here for you.

My intention is for you to ask better questions and think deeper.

Our fast paced, always on, society provides little time for reflection.

After answering the initial inquiry, dig a little deeper and follow-up with a bit more thinking:

What do I think about it?

How can I make it better/worse?

How does this influence my life and those around me?

How can I be more generous?

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kenneth Woodward and IOTD365 with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Give me a chance to say "Yes".