Warmth in Storm Lake, Iowa
So, this video might be a little tongue and cheek, but the students in Storm Lake are amazing. I am not going to pretend that I understand how they live in that kind of weather, but what an out-going, vibrant group of students. Thanks for the warm reception, Storm Lake. I had a blast. You Matter.
Storm Lake Matters from Every Monday Matters on Vimeo.
One Person Can…
I am leaving tomorrow for Montgomery, Alabama. On paper it seems like one of those places that wouldn’t be too exciting to visit. I am flying from LA to Atlanta, then hoping on a tiny jet to Montgomery. It will literally take me about 8 hours to get there. Another few hours and I could be in Paris… but that’s besides the point.
The fact is that I am going to Montgomery to keynote an education conference and to train the staff of some of the schools that are implementing our YOU MATTER K-12 Curriculum. And, that is exciting to me.
But there is something else I am excited about. I am going to visit the Rosa Parks Museum and the exact location where she refused to give up her seat on the bus. And, I can’t wait. Because there is no doubt that one person can, in fact, change the world. If Rosa Parks is not a prime example of that, then I don’t know what one is. Rosa Parks matters. Stay tuned for more…
Homeless Matter
Last week, I went out with a group of Gallo employees to help the homeless in Modesto, CA. For 3 weeks, Gallo employees collected items such as blankets, jackets, umbrellas, socks, hats, gloves and more. The amount of clothing they collected in just 3 short weeks was amazing. So powerful. Awesome.
So, together, we headed out on the town to find homeless men, women and children to distribute everything we collected. And, unfortunately, we found way more of them than we wished to see. Fortunately, though, we were well prepared and every single one of them got much-needed supplies.
For me, the offering of clothing and umbrellas was cool, but it wasn’t what stuck with me… now a week later. What I can’t get out of my head are the conversations I had with them… because they were just like me. They weren’t drunk, they weren’t on drugs… they were just real people who found themselves on hard times. Seems pretty common these days to me.
We talked about family, about work, about life on the streets. They were organized, had a plan. They even showed me the coupons they had clipped from the paper and how much they were looking forward to certain sales taking place around town. And, most of all, they seemed to be at peace. They were amongst friends and shared a common journey.
I walked away that night with such a sense of joy. Not because I have things they don’t have, but because quite the opposite. They literally brought joy to my life. They told me stories. Jokes. We laughed. They even invited me to church… in the park every other Sunday. And, I hate to admit, but it more meaningful conversation than I often have with my own friends.
So, next time you see a homeless person, don’t be too quick to judge. Instead, maybe take a second to strike up a conversation. Hear them out. Get to know them. And, maybe you will find… they are just like you too. Our homeless matter.
You Matter Because…
You Matter! Yes, you. The person reading this blog post. You matter to your friends, to your family, to your classmates, to your co-workers, to your community, to your company, to your school, to your pets, to your…
But how often have you thought about this? If someone came up to you and asked you why you mattered, could you answer the question? My hope is that you can… with ease. Because you do. I guess my challenge to you is to get to know why you matter and live everyday of your life being the best you can in that area. If you say you matter because you are a great dad… then be a great dad. If you say you matter because you are a good listener to your friends… then be a great listener. You get the point.
So, fill in the blanks to this statement: “My name is _________________ and I matter because ________.” Then own it. You matter.
Overthankful
Somehow it is already Thanksgiving, again. Time for overeating, overnapping, overfootballwatching, and… Well, you know the drill. But, we also want to make sure we don’t overlook the significance of being thankful and grateful. So, we want to thank:
Everyone who bought our book.
Everyone who has joined our movement…and has told their friends and family to do the same.
Everyone one who has chipped in professionally to help us grow.
Every friend, family member, and loved one who has supported us.
Everyone who takes the time to make a difference in the world and to understand how much they matter.
Every teacher and student who have embraced our YOU MATTER curriculum and are impacting their schools and communities.
Every company that has brought on our Corporate Social Responsibility Program and are actively engaging their employees in making a difference.
Every non-profit organization that has welcomed us and our volunteers.
Every fan on Facebook.
Every company and organization that has invited us as a keynote speaker.
Everyone who wears their YOU MATTER wristband everyday.
Every champion who has gone the extra mile to support our efforts.
We hope you know that we will never overlook you. If anything, we hope to be overthankful…if that is even possible. Thank you, again, for everything. YOU MATTER.
Catastasis: A Cat Story
When we got home on Sunday, Detective Kitty Beckett was missing. The kids and I travelled to California for five days. Sometime while we were gone, our cat must have slipped out the dog door in search of us. Or an incredible journey. Or to solve a murder mystery. She was after all, nicknamed for television’s Kate Beckett on Castle.
We waited to see if Kitty Beckett would show up at the backdoor Sunday night. Two raccoons came by, but no Kitty. (Unless she had donned a raccoon mask in our absence.) The kids went to bed praying she was safe and would come home soon.
Monday. Still no cat, but Ryan, Paige, and Katie continued to pray. I tried to tell them she might have gotten lost and wandered into someone’s backyard and another family adopted her. I gently hinted that we had a lot of coyotes and other animals in the woods around the area. Paige wanted to know why I wasn’t praying for our kitty. So I prayed.
But honestly, I struggle with prayer that way. Growing up, my grandma would pray to find her misplaced car keys or glasses. I know people who pray for good weather, for parking spaces, for sports teams and for the big stuff: healing and restored health or other major miracles.
I pray less for outcomes and circumstances and more for my attitude to handle whatever comes my way. I pray for patience when things or people drive me insane; or wisdom to see things in a different light. But even as I say these prayers, I wonder if I somehow limit God with my skepticism and notions of a God who will not/cannot tamper with free will and the natural laws of the universe.
Big thoughts over a little cat. The kids went to bed, and I remembered to check my phone message before I went to sleep. I missed a call from my neighbor across the street: Did I have a cat who might have climbed up her tree?
Their dog had chased a wandering cat up their towering cedar on Friday. They thought it had climbed down, but when they were outside this evening, it was meowing pitifully from the top branches.
Oh Lord, help my unbelief! In the morning, I told the kids our kitty was in the tree of our neighbor’s house. They ran across the street looking for it, but we couldn’t see anything up that high. I sent them to school promising I’d find a way to get the cat down.
The internet is amazing, and with a quick search I found Cat in a Tree Rescue (www.catinatreerescue.com) and Mike-the-tree-climber, promised to be at my neighbor’s house within the hour. For a mere $150, Mike would climb to the very top branches of the tree, lovingly cradle Kitty Beckett into his rope sack, and bring her down to me. Whoever coined the phrase, “No such thing as a free lunch” could add, “No such thing as a free cat” either.
But what do you do? Leave your cat in the tree to die? And what price can you put on having your children’s prayers answered? (Apparently $150 for an answered prayer!)
It was much more exhilarating than the Chilean Miners though it didn’t garner the media attention of Fox and CNN. I grabbed my camera for exclusive photos of the cat rescue.
When Mike landed on the ground, he handed me his rope bag, and I crooned to Kitty Beckett. He warned me not to open the bag or in her panic, she could shoot back up the tree. We carried the rope bag back to my house to welcome her home, but just before we got to the garage, she wiggled and squirmed and forced her head through the opening at the top.
It wasn’t Kitty. I mean, it was a kitty, but she wasn’t our kitty. She was white and short-haired, and she didn’t look like the kind of feline who appreciates Nathan Fillion. Our kitty is gray and long-haired and loves murder comedies.
I had just written a check for $150 to rescue someone else’s cat. And my kids would be crushed. And now I had a cat in a rope bag that I didn’t know what to do with. Mike said, “This has never happened to me before.”
I wanted to tell him that I routinely hire men to rescue neighborhood cats from trees, but I was late–late for staff devotions and prayer at work. We had a quick conversation about a lost cat flyer on the mailboxes, and Mike offered to call the telephone number for me. A neighbor was at my house in 10 minutes to claim her cat. She was overjoyed, and she kindly replaced my check for Mike-the-tree-climbing cat rescuer.
Someone’s prayers were answered, but not my kids’ prayers this time. At least, not with the answer they sought, but they’ll be okay. They are talking about keeping a kitten from Megan’s pregnant cat at her Dad’s house. They’re also still hopeful that Kitty Beckett will return.
Their resilience amazes me. So does their faith. And so does their unending enthusiasm for adding another pet to our full household.
I want them to believe in a God who hears their prayers and cares deeply about what’s on their hearts. But I suppose I worry that teaching them to pray for specific outcomes will end up disappointing them and negatively affect their faith. I fret that prayer should be more about keeping company with God than approaching the Santa of the Universe with endless wish lists. So I hedge my prayers with “Your will be done Lord” only to hear my children pray with abandon for all kinds of things (”Help the prices of the toys I want for Christmas suddenly go down, Jesus.” Or “Make Katie obey Mommy so we can go the zoo.”) Amazingly they remain undaunted when their requests go unfulfilled.
A child-like faith indeed. I listen to their conversations with the Almighty, and I envy their expectant optimism. In the end I have to acknowledge that the power of prayer is a mystery to me. Good news is, I love a good mystery.
Catastasis: noun. third part of an ancient drama in which the action is heightened for the catastrophe.
People, please! Clean Up Your Act!
Today, my family and I spent a lovely day at Lake Coeur d’Alene. It’s truly a little slice of Heaven, if you’ve never been. Ranked as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world; it has crystal clear waters edged by jutting rock outcroppings and bordered by mountains covered in towering evergreen trees. Absolutely beautiful. That view is one of the reasons that my husband and I moved to the Northwest. I love it every time. Today, however, I was just a bit dismayed.
One of our favorite ways to experience this lake is from the water. We happen to prefer one of the people-powered methods: kayaks. It’s truly a great way to appreciate the loveliness of it all. We can silently paddle next to the shoreline, admiring the view and the solitude. You can look into those waters and hope for a glimpse of a darting fish. Wait, was that a soda can? You can watch the osprey as they screech and dive towards the nest in the top of a tree. Is that a sock hanging from the limb? We listen to the waves crashing against the rocks and investigate the crevices carved by the water over years and years. Wait, what is stuffed into that crack? And, Mommy, why does that rock have writing on it? (Thank Heavens that word isn’t on the sight words for kindergarten list!!)
People, please! Clean up your act!
This will show my age, but I remember having “Give A Hoot, Don’t Pollute” drilled into my head on a regular basis. Maybe it stopped when Saturday morning cartoons became all day, everyday cartoons but where did that lesson go? I’m not pinning this on the youngest generation, especially since some of them are just plain fantastic and frankly, we need them to be. I also know very well that those of us old enough to recognize the slogan sure need a refresher course from Woodsy Owl!
The phrase, “Pack it In, Pack it Out” does not apply to spray cans, I’m certain of that. And while I enjoy decorating an evergreen with bright shiny items for Christmas, I don’t get quite the same warm holiday joy from beer cans hanging from the limbs of a tree still growing next to a gorgeous lake. Speaking of holidays, what on earth possessed someone to toss their red and white Santa cap high into a tree…and leave it there?
Along the way today, my five year old son picked up coffee cups in the parking lot and found a proper home for them. My husband plucked some trash out of the lake and it rode back to shore bungee corded to the front of the kayak. We couldn’t do much about the items crushed into or painted onto the boulders but that trash likely got there one piece at a time and we can clean it up one piece at a time too.
Just one last parting plea to all those who walk, boat, sail, ride or amble into the amazing spaces and places all over this planet….please, clean up your act.
The Promise of A New Notebook
It’s the notebooks. They get me every time. I confess that I am a big nerd. I have always celebrated the approach of the new school year. I relished in the annual school supply shopping trip as a kid. Now it’s me driving the car to fill bags with new notebooks, pencils and markers. I don’t know what it is but there’s something about opening the cover of a new notebook…pristine, with unfrayed edges and still smelling brand new. I think it must be the promise of all of the words, ideas and knowledge that will fill those pages. It’s like a clean start.
Now that I have dried my tears about my “baby” entering kindergarten as a “big boy”, I can really reflect on many things, including what this new start will mean to him. It makes me a bit jealous, actually. Sometimes I wish that I had a first day of school to give me reason to reinvent myself or to joyfully open a new notebook and embrace my inner student.
Even so, I believe that I can still do a bit of that, even as an adult. Who is to say that these opportunities are left to the young? Why can’t I partake in some of the small lessons that September brings?
In honor of my son and kindergarten, let’s just boil it down to a few very simple ways to get that September-fresh start sort of feeling:
- Learn something new. Come on, those notebooks are selling for like two pennies each. Buy one for yourself in your favorite color and put some new ideas in it.
- Read something. My son is just aching to read independently. Pick something; anything that doesn’t come in the mail with an account number on it. Choose something that doesn’t require an antacid and pain relief chaser. Read for pleasure or make it two-for-one and read something that teaches you something new.
- Make a new friend. Since we don’t all hang our briefcases in cubbies, you might have to look to either side of yourself. Extend a hand, try smiling and remember what we tell our children…you don’t have to be everyone’s best friend but you do have to be nice. Extra credit for reaching out to an old friend that you haven’t seen all summer.
- Bring a lunch from home. This one is a win-win-win. Healthy, less expensive than going out and oh, so convenient.
- Move your body. Can you say recess?
- Make the morning easier. It sounds hokey but when the clothes are laid out, the lunch is packed and the backpack is by the door, life is so much easier. You’ll be glad that you did when everything goes haywire in the morning. You know it will. Just take some steps that will help you to outsmart Murphy. Then smile your way to the car. Hey, it worked for the Cleavers.
Here’s my parting shot. I always tell my son to “Be Happy, Be Silly, Be Kind.” Every now and then, I find an adult that should remember the same things.
And when all else fails, take time to have a cookie and carton of milk. You’ll get a gold star if you share with a friend.
Will it be Curtain 1, 2, or 3?
Sometimes life can feel like the game show “Let’s Make a Deal.” I trust that most people have seen this show at some point during their life, as it first hit television screens in 1963. Right from our own living rooms, we have all probably made a bad deal with host Monty Hall.
Anyways, if you recall, costume-dressed contestants, if selected, had the opportunity to make a deal with Monty. Contestants were first presented with an initial offer, but were also given the opportunity to choose what was behind curtain #1, #2, or #3. Monty would use any trick imaginable to confuse the contestants and throw them for a loop. Often times, the biggest prizes came in the smallest packages, and contestants just always hoped they chose correctly.
And, this is why I feel like life is like “Let’s Make a Deal.” It seems that everyday we have choices, options, and tough decisions to make. Will it be curtain #1, #2, or #3…or will we take the initial offer? Sometimes we will pick the “wrong” curtain and sometimes the “right” curtain, but, the bottom line is that we always have choices.
The interesting part, however, is that we always need to remember that not every curtain is bad. Like the game show itself, behind at least one of the curtains was always a gift that stood head and shoulders above the rest. In other words, every single situation offers a good prize…a “happy” choice.
And, I am not even necessarily looking at it from a “there is always a silver lining” perspective, which I happen to believe as well; rather, what I am saying is that some curtains may not be the one we wanted to open, but that doesn’t mean all curtains are that way.
I know this is a bit of a stretch, but there is a point to this. I have some friends who are going through really tough times right now. They are stressed, stuck in ruts, and it just seems like they have lost their joy. Sadly, it has gotten the best of them, and they just can’t seem to find the happiness any more. For some, it has gotten so bad, that is has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more they see only the negatives of any given situation, the more they create only negative potential outcomes. It is as if they only focus on sabotaging having happiness in their life, but don’t even realize they are doing it. Every curtain is “bad.”
Now, I say this from an “I understand” place. I am not judging my friends at all, because I have been there before. I think it is fair to say that most people have been there at some point in their life. And, because I have been there before, I have total compassion for what they are going through and do all I can to help.
Because, I know that, in any situation, there is always a positive outcome. A “winning” prize behind one of the curtains. We can’t loose our faith in the fact that life is good and that there are blessings in every situation. It is just a matter of how we approach things.
So, if you are going through a tough time, just think of “Let’s Make a Deal.” Even if you pick curtain number #3 and get the “brand new tricycle” instead of the $2,000 Monty initially offered you, you have still won. But if that is too much of a stretch and you can’t help but hate the new tricycle, just know that there is something behind one of the other curtains that will make you happy. Fortunately, in life, unlike the show, you always get to make another choice. And, you will find your prize.
There is always a “happy” curtain in every situation.
A Tough, but Important Question
Have you ever asked yourself the question: “Why do I matter?” I know it is not a typical thing to ask yourself, but it is a question I think about quite often. Actually, I have realized just how important of a question it is to ask…and to answer. Let me explain…
First of all, we all have to know in the deepest depths of our hearts that we matter. We are all important to the world. We are all significant in our own unique way and we all have a purpose. In my opinion, this is a fundamental understanding to living a fulfilled life…a life bigger than yourself. (Note: this does not mean that the world is “all about you,” rather simply that you matter to the world.)
With this understanding, we can then ask ourselves the question “Why?” “Why do I matter?” And, this is when it gets both fun and profound.
Over the past 2 years, I have traveled all over the country and have shot video of over 5,000 individuals saying why they matter. It is the most beautiful collection of videos you have ever seen. I promise it would put a smile on your face.
Just recently, I was the keynote speaker at a state-wide education conference in Nevada. It was me on stage and 900 high school student council leaders in the audience. In a word, “daunting.” After talking to them for a while, I decided to try something I have never done before. I asked each and every student to stand up and, in an organized fashion, form a line around the room, with the person at the front of the line standing on stage right next to me.
Then I gave the command, “Now that all of you know that you matter, I want to know why you think you matter.” And, for the next 20 minutes every single student walked onto the stage, grabbed the microphone, and said: “I matter because…”
It was one of the most powerful things I have ever experienced. Imagine 900 future leaders sharing with the world why they matter. You could hear a pin drop in the room…and that is not easy to do with 900 high school students.
They said, “I matter because…”: “I am leader at my school,” “I love my younger sister,” “one day I am going to be our country’s President,” “I volunteer at a soup kitchen,” “I am a child of God,” “my parents love me and I pass that love onto other people,” “I love to smile,” “my team mates rely on me,” “I am the first person in my family to go to college,” “love is the only way,” “I am going to find the cure for Cancer,” “I will be the best mom one day,” and so on.
And, what came over me was…if each one of these young leaders truly makes their answer to the question their focus in life (their personal mission statement), then the state of Nevada is going to be in great shape for many years to come. That’s inspiring.
So, this week, stand in front a mirror in your house and ask yourself the same question. Then, out loud, give an answer: “I matter because…” And, then live it. Write it on a piece of paper. Look at it everyday. Because I know that if it becomes your personal mission statement that you realize and live into everyday, your life, and the world around you, will be pretty special.
You matter. Now, go show the world why.
