With a lot of fear and negativity circulating on the planet these days, I have been aware of strengthening my positivity muscle.

Recently, my daughter and I took a trip to Stowe, Vermont, for a girls vacation. On the drive back to Connecticut, we stopped at restroom in a gas station. We’ve all had occasion to visit some of these seedy locations. I was pleasantly surprised at how supplied and sparkling clean it was.

When I returned the key, I made a point of saying loudly how wonderfully clean and pleasant the restroom was – that, indeed, it was the best I’d ever experienced.

You should have seen the look on the cashier’s face, “Really? Wow. Thank you. I just cleaned it.”

“Well, it’s a joy.”

“Wow. Thanks.”

By acknowledging a largely thankless job I noticed a visceral shift in the body language of not only the cashier, but everyone else waiting in line.

It’s too easy to point out what doesn’t work. Try - just for today – to acknowledge what does work and where others add value. You might just sprout something new.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com

Mark Twain once said: “A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn no other way.”

We all have been there – many days, months or years later, we say, “that was the best learning experience I ever had.”… but while we are going through it, we are cursing the day this person or situation came into our lives.

Here’s to appreciating the gift of the painful lessons. I suggest not shying away from whatever it is that seems distasteful to you, especially when you know there are high rewards – if you can “suffer through it.”

Suffering is so overrated. Let’s skip that part – just for today. Carry the cat anyway.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com

~Oscar Wilde, Lady Windemere’s fan, 1896

We seem to only pay attention and really get the learnings when we make mistakes. Is it possible to garner great experience and start learning with grace and ease – without having to make mistakes?

And when you make mistakes do you take the time to reflect on what the learnings are?

This is the ultimate paradox of life. Sometimes you just have to throw yourself into the wind and know you’ll land on your feet.

To live is to risk.

To risk is to live.

Go for it.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com

We live in incredible times. I can be sitting at the beach watching the fireworks and have you “there” with me. Snap, crackle pop – sideways!

Fireworks

“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.”   ~Erma Bombeck

Today, I attended a very close friend’s father’s funeral. He was 91 and had an illustrious career as a physician in a specialty area at a prominent New York City Hospital. As with many occasions like this, I was moved by what his family and colleagues said. They spoke about his manner in making the contributions he made to his patients and medicine. He was described as “an old school physician” who had a personal touch, even once driving a patient in an acute state to the hospital in his own car while the patient threw up! His children spoke eloquently and emotionally about the kind of man their father was. I knew him and will miss him.

My friend’s husband said, “It just makes all the politics and office stuff seem so trivial.”

We all have defining moments like this when we are moved, touched by how fleeting life is and called to respond to something larger than ourselves and our view of the world. And then we go “back to reality.” Or, go back to sleep.

All strategic planning processes start wtih the end in mind. What’s your life strategy? What do you want your obituary to say? Morbid. Maybe. But if you don’t envision the totality of your life and what you want it to be about, you may swim real hard upstream, and miss the boat. Or be on the wrong boat.

So set your sail and do some envisioning of what you really WANT and feel CALLED to accomplish – at home with loved ones – and in the world - with how you make money and give back.

What do you want your reality to be? Question your assumptions and perceptions about what is possible. Have you ever had an erroneous belief?

© Copyright Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC    All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com

We are human and it takes something cracking us open to be present sometimes – or to really get something. It’s not about being present every moment. That is not realistic. It’s more about doing it more and recovering more quickly when we find ourselves not present, zoning out or hiding from what is really happening.

The greatest tragedy is that we often miss the beauty that is around us in all ways everyday. Usually this awakening happens through our connections or disconnections – relationships – with one another.

A friend of mine is running her own business and trying to juggle it this week while spending time with her father in his last days as he lay in the hospital gravely ill. She captures this awakening so brilliantly on her blog.

Thank you Liz for helping us all have a moment of pause.

What is your moment of pause today? I am looking out my window appreciating the brilliant blue of the sky and early green buds of spring. Heaven on earth. As I sit here at my computer, it helps me feel more connected to nature.

© Copyright Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com

The Sage Leader understands the power of appreciating others. Yesterday was earth day and many are continuing to honor and celebrate this day with different activties this weekend. We are intricately connected to each other.

What we do effects those around us and the planet. Just for today, focus on what is right and good. Appreciation is one simple, underutilized, yet powerful tool that can save us from ourselves and further destruction of our planet. If we can’t live here, what good is a nice home or designer shoes? Benefits of gratitude are no longer fluff but becoming a scientific reality.

To inspire, check out Heartmath’s efforts to connect us. Connecting a Million Hearts

© Copyright Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.     www.sagelead.com

A great leader is in command of navigating the nooks and crannies and ups and downs of life.  A friend recently emailed me this “handbook” for life. There are a ton of emails and blogs out there with similar stuff but I liked how this is categorized, practical and simple. It starts with health, which is the foundation for your life. When you master your personality, you can get out of your own way so you can contribute to society. This is how to have a happy life. Enjoy.

HANDBOOK 2010

    Health:
    1. Drink plenty of water.
    2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
    3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
    4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
    5. Pray.
    6. Play more games.
    7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
    8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
    9. Sleep for 7 hours.
    10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

    Personality:
    11. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
    12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
    13.. Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
    14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
    15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
    16. Dream more while you are awake
    17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
    18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
    19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
    20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
    21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
    22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
    23. Smile and laugh more.
    24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

    Society:
    25. Call your family often.
    26. Each day give something good to others.
    27. Forgive everyone for everything.
    28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
    29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
    30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
    31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

    Life:
    32. Do the right thing!
    33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
    34. GOD heals everything.
    35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
    36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
    37. The best is yet to come.
    38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
    39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

    Last but not the least:
    40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about, I just did.

Author Uknown

Today is a full moon, a blue moon (full moon twice in one month) and a partial eclipse. Contrary to modern popular belief, this is not the time to plant the seeds for the new year. Instead you want to clean house and intention what you want to get rid of. What didn’t work for you in 2009? How about going into the new year lightening your load – whether it is being more stringent in what you take on or getting rid of old stuff. Old stuff can be clothes not worn in a year or outdated belief systems. Clean up and get with the times of what is current and works for you in the present.

2009 kicked my butt in terms of change - and some of it was painful. Often this pain can be due to our own creation – usually resistance. Here’s to transforming with grace and flow. Time to make room for possibilities…

It may be interesting to reflect on the last decade and dream about anticipated changes for the next decade. Many times we unconsciously recreate the same experiences. New things can only happen when you create the space. Time to shed and invite in true change. Why not?

Copyright 2009 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC     www.sagelead.com