Of the series I've created over my eleven years in the blogosphere, this particular one has been among the most gratifying. Although it's been instructive to take note of my own takeaways from the year between each birthday, even better have been those times when some of you have shared here what you've learned since last November 23, birthday aside. I hope to see something this year from you as I have in many of the previous ten iterations of this series. My key learnings from year seventy-two:
* I've learned how reflexively repeating any story can limit my ability to see new situations clearly. The trauma my family of origin endured over this past year was the catalyst for me as I begin trying to avoid repeating a story I've re-told many times - to many people - over my entire adult life.
* I've learned that unleashing positive energy - via a blog post, a class on music, reading evangelism - is a gateway to deepening the pleasure of any day, regardless of what my life has hurled at me that day.
It's invariably more fun when some of you join me in this exercise. In any case, I'll see you here same time, next year.
I've learned to slow down and not DO so much and that less is more. I've learned to take care of myself. I've learned to remind myself often to be kind. That last one is a work in progress:).
ReplyDeleteInes; Three rich key learnings, for sure. I especially appreciate the "..work in progress.." re kindness. That learning - and realization of the room for more growth - would be enough for me for a year. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteGood morning, Pat. And Happy Day After Thanksgiving. I hope you and your family had an enjoyable day.
ReplyDeleteMy Key Learnings over the years have changed. When I was working, I would pay more attention to what I could do to improve my performance. To make things better for those that reported to me which in turn would tend to make things better for me. Since I've retired, my Key Learnings have shifted more towards what I can do with my time. Doing things that will help my family and friends and also help me - New interests or hobbies or simply having the time for the ones I had/have already.
I found it interesting that you wrote about repeating stories. Repeating myself has almost become a daily activity. And not because I enjoy telling the same story time and again. Usually it's because I've simply forgotten if I've told it to the person, or persons, I am with at the time. I've actually started throwing in a disclaimer each time I begin. Usually something along the line of 'I've probably said this 100 times before, but ...'. I've also started paying more attention to the response(s) I receive - verbal and non-verbal - as it does give some indication if I've said it before and how many times. But I believe it the situation calls for it - repetition may be ok.
And, as Ines has so wonderfully put, 'not DO so much'. Or at least try not to. Retirement has shown me a lot of things. And has given me the opportunity to spend more time with my wife and to help my kids and grandsons. But - as the old saying goes - being able to stop and smell the roses ... Not a bad thing at all.
Be well,
Bob
Bob; Thanks for commenting. The way you interpreted my use of the word "story" is an excellent example of how sometimes people can bring such disparate viewpoints to a simple word. The "story" I was referring to in this particular post is an internal one I've told myself vs. the external one(s) you speak of telling others. And BTW, I do that as well. But in this post I wasn't speaking of that type of story. Ah, communication.
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