If you rehearse the mistakes of the past you will repeat the mistakes of the past.

Often we tell ourselves we could have done something differently. Or we could have done more but in reality, we probably did everything we knew to do.

Memories can be torturous. If only we had acted differently. But we didn’t because we didn’t know how to. Can’t change that. Just because we would act differently now doesn’t matter.

Now here’s the kicker. If you keep going over your past mistakes in your mind you are destined to repeat them. Learn from them yes, but don’t keep rehearsing them.

The past is the past. It’s best leave it there since it rarely has any place in your future.

What do you think?

It’s amazing to see how new babies bring new meaning to people. I heard someone say that grandchildren are a consolation for growing old. Might be true.
My wife Kim loves being a ‘Gama’. I hate being ‘Papa’, but love my grandkids. We all adjust differently to change.

Wow! What a week!

Several hundred delegates flew, drove and hitchhiked (okay maybe not hitchhiked) to fill the auditorium of C3 Church in Atlanta and be part of the C3 Americas annual conference.

To get a bit of a feel for the conference checkout the #c3americas Twitter feed.

There were a few highlights for me. Well… maybe just a slight bit more than a few.

Phil Pringle’s session where he talked about faith and conscience had to be the absolute best teaching on that subject I have ever heard.

Phenomenal!

If it becomes available for download I’ll link it here. (which incidentally would be a good reason to subscribe to my RSS feed. Hit the link at the top right.)

The thing that constantly amazes me about Ps Phil is his ability to break down a difficult and controversial subject and leave you saying ‘of course, why didn’t I think of that before. It makes so much sense.’

“Your body is designed to be a temple, not an entertainment center! You were designed for God to inhabit!” Phil Pringle

“If your sincerity supercedes your faith you will find yourself living in performance.” Phil Pringle

But hey… there were many more speakers. Everyone shared absolute gold. Each one was completely unique. And Ps Chris Pringle’s session should rid you of any remaining religious devils OR make them manifest. Get the audio of the sessions if and when they become available. — hint rss feed (audio sessions are available here)

One of the many things I love about this family of churches is the freedom to be yourself. I mean really, how many of you are under constant pressure to be or act a particular way? Wouldn’t you just love the freedom to just be who God made you?

When you see the massive diversity of gifts, talents, personalities, capacity, training and experience of people throughout this movement you realize that there is a place for nearly everyone. Admittedly the religiously judgmental, the critically proficient and the defenders of tradition may find it somewhat harder to fit in… at least without a merciful reshaping of their fundamental values and insecurities. (…But God)

Oh.. did I mention the loud, worshipful, motivational, impartational, blow your mind loud, incredible, presence of God, forward looking, humbling, faithbuilding, honouring, really loud, can we do it again Stadium Night at Center Stage, Atlanta.

No?

I guess I didn’t. Why don’t you ask someone else who was there about it or if you were there, leave a comment below.

What do you think? Let’s talk.

Okay I know I was ‘complaining‘ sorta about the noise yesterday, BUT…

So I was on twitter last night… just catching up on friends and stuff. And like I occasionally do on facebook, I was checking out who is friends with my friends… (sounds complicated I know) That would be friends on Twitter not Facebook.

Anyway… I discovered that Barack Obama is on Twitter. I click the button to follow him since I think it could be interesting. Now this morning I get an email letting me know that Barack is following me.

ME!

My voice is not really that important to the Obama campaign… trust me on that one. (I’m Canadian) And it’s probably not even Barack but someone on his staff that (wo)mans the Twitter account. But even so, there was something emotionally satisfying in the thought that a presidential candidate just might care what I have to say (or tweet). (okay he’s a potential presidential candidate.. I do have some clue about American politics)

Looking through my twitter friends I realize that there are a few others there that I might consider higher level individuals (don’t read anything into that statement). It means something that they are following me. Doesn’t that somehow satisfy a human urge for significance. IT DOES FOR ME. Maybe technology really can contribute to our emotional health not just waste our time and resources…. and add to the noise around us.

I know there are all types of social media out there. Facebook is certainly connecting people who wouldn’t otherwise be connected. My wife discovered a brother she hadn’t really known before.

I’m really starting to like Twitter. It feels more like a conversation than correspondence. Maybe if a blog felt more that way others would get involved. Who knows?

So tell me… would you say things differently if you knew someone you respected was listening?

What if today

• you smiled when you could have frowned
• you shared encouraging words while others critiqued
• you stopped to help someone struggling instead of rushing to your next appointment
• you paused to hear the sound of silence… if you can hear that
• you said I love you one extra time
• you listened.. I mean really listened before you spoke
• you noticed your breath
• you walked when you could have run
• you came early to an appointment
• you drank more water
• you called a friend on the phone… not facebook
• you smiled at a child’s laughter
• you went to work a different way
• you got up an hour earlier
• you read a new blog
• you told your spouse how much you appreciate them
• you hugged someone for just a little longer
• you smiled at yourself
• you walked backwards
• you really, sincerely, genuinely enjoyed your day

What would your world look like? What would it feel like? Let’s talk!

Sometime ago fellow blogger Alex Shalman asked what I get out of serving. Since I’ve taking soo long to answer the question I figured I better have a really good response.

I’d like to be altruistic and super principled and say that serving is it’s own reward, however that’s not the complete picture. While serving others definitely leaves me feeling fulfilled there are other things at work.

Sowing and Reaping

One pretty important life principle to me is the law of sowing and reaping. (I know others may call it Karma or the Law of Attraction)There are returns to everything I do. If I’m building into other people’s lives then ultimately there will be a payback in my life. I don’t really serve for what I can get out of it but I know I will get something back.

I think this law plays out a lot in the blogverse. There are people that particularly demonstrate it. Three people that live this out most obviously to me are:

• Aaron Potts at personaldevelopmentpartners.com
• Liz Strauss at successful-blog.com
• Jonathan-C. Phillips at smartwealthyrich.com

These are friends who are constantly doing things for others and as a result, they themselves are benefiting. They don’t use people to get what they want. They genuinely devote themselves to seeing others succeed. They are great examples of the sowing and reaping principle.

Which leads me to the other benefit I get out of serving others.

FRIENDS and great connections.

’nuff said.

What’s your take? What do you get out of serving others? Why don’t we start a conversation in the comment section. Let’s talk!

My recent experiments with using Jott to post to the blog haven’t been exactly successful. I mean they weren’t too bad but I think this particular service has a ways to go before it will become really useful to the blogging community in that area anyway.

On another note, the party over at Liz’s Place (successful-blog.com) was an incredible success. Liz is one of those people who connects with everyone. Actually she connects everyone with everyone. I don’t think I have ever had a conversation with Liz when she wasn’t suggesting I meet someone or read a particular blog or connect in some way with someone else. Liz is the ultimate connector and such a great encourager of people. Ultimately she’s the one responsible for me understanding that blogging is a conversation among people in a growing relationship. She recognizes successful and outstanding bloggers every week with the SOB award. Liz is what the blogging community is really about.

Happy 2 Year Blog Anniversary Liz!!

I’ve been using Twitter a bit lately. Not that I need another distraction! Anyway… Chris Brogan shared a link that I think is particularly relevant. Some of you may know that my day job is leading a church (yes really!) and as a result this post on social media for non-profits really caught my attention. Trying to leverage available media when you are a non-profit (low income… no income) is often quite a challenge. I think this post will be really helpful to many people and groups out there.

So tell me, what’s happening in your life? What are you reading? Care to share some of the more interesting links you’ve recently discovered? Let’s talk!

The life which is unexamined is not worth living. — Plato (c. 428 – 348 B.C.)

What does it mean to have an examined life?

Do you regularily examine your life? I mean your life not just your goals or strategy.

I think there are times when we get so caught up in pursuing our goals that we completely forget about who we are. We have countless examples of people through out history who thought that the end justified the means.

And then there are some of us who carry bitterness, anger, resentment or even hatred without ever bothering to ask why. WHY?

I know there are times when I just feel angry and if I don’t ask myself why… if I don’t examine what’s going on… I end up taking it out on those closest to me. WHY?

Do we examine who we are and what our assumptions are? Do we ever take a good look at our character? If not, why not? Are we hiding things even from ourselves?

Unexamined!

The big question is how do you examine your own life? Phil Gerbyshak asks some great questions somewhat along these lines. What questions do you ask? When do you ask them and who else asks? Do you tell the truth?

Let’s talk about it!

This week I met a remarkable young woman who’s living with Cerebral Palsy. Well I didn’t actually meet her meet her. We discovered each other on the internet. Her name is Glenda Watson Hyatt.

She proves that limits don’t have to be limiting!

I first noticed Glenda’s name in a comment on another blog I read. I would link to it if I could remember which one it was. At least I think that’s where I first noticed her name. Funny how those things work. The little details get lost in the more important ones.

The fact is, I didn’t meet her until she sent me an email. She was wondering what part of Canada I lived in. I guess she noticed my face among the myBlogLog readers on her site and decided to say hi, after first checking out my blog.

Anyway the point of all this is to get you to read Glenda’s blog. It’s called doitmyselfblog.com. When you get there, on the right sidebar is a little button that says help me blog for a year. Click it and vote for Glenda.

I think Glenda is a champion.

She’s living the GREAT life that she desires.

A few days ago, Liz Strauss wrote a great article about Boomers, GenY and changing the world. Read the whole article. It’s quite thought provoking.

Boomers and GenY

As I read her article, it seems there are three things that characterize the two generations.

• Authenticity
• Views and values
• The necessity for active communication

It is those things that make us more similar than different. (for the record, I’m a boomer)

When I was growing up, I heard a lot about the "generation gap". I’ve since been told that it’s a myth. Yet there is a gap if we don’t learn how to work together. There is a gap if we don’t bring our unique strengths together to enrich the world.

With the dreams and energy of GenYers and the dreams and wisdom of Boomers, who knows what could really happen. IF… we found the synergy between two different generations.

I’m really interested in exploring how we can bring two great generations together to impact the world.

I know there are several GenYers who read this blog and I’d love to hear what you think. Jonathan, Alex, David… what do you think? How could boomers contribute to your life? How do you think we could better work together?

What about the boomers? How can we work with GenYers to change the world? How could GenY contribute to your life?  Liz… you started the conversation. What do you think?

Being very careful not to accuse anyone else of being in the boomer camp, how about Wendy, Char, Dawud, Aaron, Rory, Robyn and Adam. What do you think? I think your opinions are really important. I would love to hear from you. Let’s talk!