today’s Musing written and published from
Morning walk: 12C/54F, calm and lower humidity – a sense of feeling hot first thing in the morning is one of my most enjoyable and memorable elements of summer . . which suggest a hot day and hot night will follow; Gusta met two new friends, a spaniel type in a previously dog-less yard and a Doberman pup with a full-grown bark in its imagination.
Consider this proposition . . .
Unexpected reversals of direction, thinking and actions – produce ‘amazing’ if we let them – to stop instead of go, to stand up for something rather than sit on it, to yelling on the outside instead of screaming on the inside, to have something to say about something instead of having nothing to say about everything.
When you least expect it, a small action will have a major impact on your life. Can you imagine how many more opportunities we might find like that if we were actually looking for them - rather than just having them show up?
Sometimes, we don’t have to figure out anything – we just need to show up. For work, for play, for friends, for strangers, for your community, for the world – all you need to so sometimes, to do the best work and the most good – is to just show up.
Wednesday nights, for the past 5 ½ years, I’ve spent at Toastmasters; last night was our annual pot-luck BBQ gathering, not about speeches but about being social and hanging out with our friends – the dynamics feeling more like a mix between a family gathering and summer camp …. where the best rewards come in small moments with people who, not very long ago, were complete strangers but how they are now indispensable friends who simply show up on a regular basis.
About six years ago, an email arrived in my in-box from AJ. It invited replies, from those interested, in forming a singles Toastmasters group. I thought . . . sure, Toastmasters, I’ve heard of that; I thought, hmmm, singles . . . hmmm . . that could be fun, so I said sure, yes, sign me up, count me in, yup, yo, you bet, uh-huh. Soon, months had slipped by – then, one day another e-mail, ‘come to an organizational meeting’ it said. I went. I went back. Again and again. I brought friends. Others brought friends. Over time, lots of friends have come, and gone. A core group of stalwarts have remained.
My point this morning, is that an eclectic group of strangers gathered, not knowing what they were doing, not knowing each other – but wanting to say ‘uh-huh’ to something which would, regardless of their reason for showing up, change their lives.
I won a couple of awards this year (Toastmaster of the Year and Most Contributing Member for my club) of which I am very proud. They acknowledge me and validate what I know to be true – that my friends and fellow Toastmasters have helped me along the way to become a better speaker, a better listener, a better evaluator, a better leader, a better writer and a better person; thanks AJ.
Sunny - describes my disposition – though not a single problem got solved overnight, not one obstacle removed from my path – yet the therapeutic value of a good night’s sleep, pie for breakfast and hot coffee is hard to top.
~~~
ONLY ONES - archived poetry
Beginning, sense of
arrival, sense of
jumping off
to new place from
old place, seeing
new face
born of actions
otherwise
not created
like a child one
anticipates
only to watch
to see when
nurturing ends
it takes on a
life of its own
direction,
all its own,
trajectory
and route
wanting
to fly high
straight
and true, it
one day lands
in a place
called
destination –
creators
looking back,
say it was good
because
they are
only ones
who care
only ones
who matter.
~~~
Mark Kolke
321,532
213.8
RESPONSES/COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME; send to: dailycolumn@markkolke.com
June 23 Comments
June 23 – IT IS ALWAYS YOUR MOVE – Am still here and have been enjoying your musings...so many thoughts of which I share, particularly today's referencing "proactive attitude/acts". I share your thoughts in so many ways as do other readers. You are very, very talented, SY, Honolulu, HI
June 23 – IT IS ALWAYS YOUR MOVE - When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. - Audre Lorde , Just subscribed for the second time, VD,
June 23 – IT IS ALWAYS YOUR MOVE - for yr library of quotes: The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet. ~James Openheim, JW, Calgary/Cochrane, AB
Comments