Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: hope

  • Quote to Consider: More Than Logical

    quote-to-consider“If we were logical, the future would be bleak indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope.”

    Jacques Cousteau

  • Loving Monday: Dreading Monday

    loving_mondaySome Mondays don’t seem worth getting up for.

    Some Mondays hold nothing but dread for us. It could be the dread of facing a seemingly insurmountable problem. It could be the dread of enduring another day of intolerable boredom. It could be the dread of overwhelming volumes of work.

    In apparent contrast to all this column stands for, a reality no amount of perspective, wisdom, or encouragement can erase is that some days simply feel impossible.

    What does one do? From what source do we muster the courage to show up in spite of how we feel?

    I’m not going to even pretend there is an easy answer. But I will dare to suggest a two-pronged approach.

    1. Give yourself permission to feel crappy.
    Instead of talking yourself out of these feelings… Instead of pushing your way through these feelings… Instead of judging these feelings as immature, pathetic, weak, or any other put-down you tend to use…

    Instead of fighting the dread, acknowledge it. Affirm it. Congratulate yourself for recognizing it. Pat yourself on the back for being honest with yourself.

    2. Pick one thing you will address today.
    Give yourself the gift of focus. Take one thing at a time. If everything is overwhelming you, then select something.

    Yes, maybe in an ideal world you would be able to sort and prioritize, multi-task and juggle. But today is not ideal. You are dreading today. So you need an (more…)

  • Thought Leaders Unpacked -> The Soul of a Leader #3: Daring to Dream

    thought-leaders“While many people think of reality as the enemy of dreaming, in fact, hard-headed reality must ground dreaming.” (p. 53)

    I‘ve long struggled with the tendency of dreamers to begin their process with tidy utopian ideals disconnected from the complex and messy realities of human frailty and inevitable systemic dysfunctions.

    The approach, (while the bread and butter of political campaigns,) is naive. Noble maybe some of the time… naive all of the time.

    The implementation of utopian ideals cannot help but be as messy and broken as the people and systems that embody them.

    While other thinkers have observed the importance of beginning the dream with a frank assessment of one’s presenting realities (e.g. Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline), core to the Christian worldview is the possibility that such honesty need never be the end of the story. Problems are never a death sentence, fate, or doom. They are simply facts.

    As mere facts, they can be brought out into the light and examined. Turned over and over and looked at from a variety of angles. Underlying causes can be explored. Complicating circumstances, personalities, and effects can be examined.

    No matter how disastrous, disappointing or desperate the results of our (more…)

  • Christmas Eve Leadership Lesson

    It was the night before Christmas, when all through the house
    Not a creature was stirring, except that I was lying awake thinking about my unmet goals for the year.

    Tomorrow morning, the kids will revel in the gifts and delights of the a holiday key to our family’s faith. I will muster my focus to participate fully and set aside the concerns that I did not accomplish all I set out to in 2007.

    What does the coming of the Christ Child represent if not the abrupt intrusion of the unexpected gift we need most?  We learn that we are not alone and because we are not alone there is always hope.

    And so, I do not beat myself up over missed targets. I learn. I get help. I look forward. I keep moving forward.

    There is always a way forward. Even if it is not the path I had originally planned.  I adjust. I try again. I stay in the game.

    I find my energies and efforts renewed by knowing that I am not alone and that there is always hope.

    I think I will have no problem being fully present with my family tomorrow morning. I hope you will learn from your 2007 as well, so we can all show up for a more vital 2008.

    Merry Christmas.