In all honesty, I was dreading this week a little. On Monday, we had the farewell luncheon for our office manager. (I really wasn't ready for her to go. Also, I dreaded being without her asisstance.) Then, I spent two days in Parkersburg for a training that my organization provided. We had wonderful contracted trainers/consultants to provide the information, but I still went up to help facilitate and do registration, etc. So, I was dreading the trip and the time away from the office because there is SOOOO much to do!!!!!!!!!!
However, it was a blessing in disguise. Tuesday was an empowering day. One attendee said it best on her evaluation comments, "I felt as though I have gained a better working knowledge of [the topic]. I also leave this training feeling empowered with new skills & abilities." WOW! I felt the same way. During a group exercise, success stories of organizations emerged. One story lead to another and soon tears began to flow without guard or apology. Stories of children having a joyous holiday (when they weren't expecting to receive anything), families having a warm place to stay, welfare moms making it and becoming successful professionals, teenage mothers having neccessities for themselves and their children, more and more.....
Pauses during the sharing session were only evident when the words were hard to form through the emotion. Every attendee was involved, whether it was verbal or just shown through their body language. There were nods of understanding and hands over mouths to help keep the emotion from purely erupting from their bodies.
Today's training was a little less emotional, but greatly informative and engaging. Today also gave us an opportunity to dive into each other's life experiences and successes.
It's so often that we just go through the motions...not knowing what impact we have on one another. One of the many things I learned (or at least was reminded of) this week is that our lives do not go unnoticed. That we are all intersecting beings and we all have impact on others. It is our choice whether it is a postive or negative one. I hope that my impact is positive.
We will never know what we mean to another....or how many we have touched. But, what we do know and remember are the people that have touched our lives. So, as long as we pay that forward, then we can make a difference.
Two quotes that I think are appropriate:
"I believe that everyone is the keeper of a dream - and by tuning into one another's secret hopes, we can become better friends, better partners, better parents, and better lovers." Oprah
"Unless you choose to do great things with it, it makes no difference how much you are rewarded, or how much power you have." Oprah
And just a quote that I received in an email forward today from my friend, Michael, that really helped me today....
"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business." - Michael J Fox
I just want to thank ALL of you that have helped me in a variety of ways. Thank you.....
***For those of you who think this might be cheesy, I truly wish that you could have been at the training this week. I truly believe that events like these can be LIFE changing. You just have to accept the message that was given to you. The message I received yesterday is that things are going to be fine and that I am making a difference and that my work and life is worthwhile. It's hard to not yell it at the mountain tops when you get this kind of message.
My response is, "I hear you loud and clear."
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1 comment:
looks as if you had a special week as well as charlie! great!
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