Fun in the sun

Ross County 2 - Celtic 0

The wee team triumph! Fantastic.

Not only did they win the game, they were the better team. The first division minnows outplayed the Premier giants.

And... this wasn’t a midweek replay on a sodden pitch at a tiny football ground - it was a showpiece semi-final at the national stadium, in bright sunshine. Big stage, big occasion, huge performance by County.

I should note that I’m not a Ross County fan, but I do like to see the underdog come out on top - and this was an epic tale of the underdog. A cup shock that will become a legend.

So what was the difference between the two teams? For me, the key to County’s success was having fun. They seemed to enjoy the occasion, and played with a freedom that created confidence. By contrast, Celtic seemed to be playing with the fear of failure.

I also see this scenario being played out at work. Those who are afraid to make a mistake, whose goal is compliance with the rules and minimum expectations rarely (actually, never) flourish. Those who take a few risks, follow their instincts and enjoy what they’re doing seem to generate much more productivity. Aye, it also applies to me - I get much more achieved, and much more satisfaction when I have fun, use my creativity and flair, and challenge a few norms along the way; than when I fall into the despair of box ticking and paper pushing. So next time that I’m in that pit, I’ll remind myself of Ross County, and (hopefully) put a smile on my face and some freedom into my work.

(By the way, I’m looking forward to an all first division final. So tomorrow I’ll be cheering for Raith Rovers - and I don’t support them either!)

Living intentionally: ... edging closer?

... or adding more stuff to sift later?

It’s not worth getting out of bed unless you are determined to alter some small corner of the world.

 Tom Peters

Thoughts like this do help me get up in the morning - even when we’re in the middle of a blizzard at the end of March!!

Living Intentionally: towards a definition?

I came across this quotation yesterday:

Your capacity to change yourself, change others, and even change the world, may boil down to how well you know your brain, and your capacity to consciously intervene in otherwise automatic processes.

Dr David Rock

Your Brain at Work

The last section about ‘consciously intervening in otherwise automatic processes’ seems to go a long way to defining what I mean by living intentionally. To live intentionally is to be aware of what you’re doing; how you’re using your time and other resources; not drifting un-thinkingly into auto-pilot. It doesn’t necessarily mean that processes can’t be automated, but we need to be clear about our purpose, productivity and effectiveness in what we do and how we do it.

Intriguingly, Rock’s research indicates that ‘improving cognitive control’ happens when we slow down and allow the brain to idle. This seems counter-intuitive within the context of intentionality, but maybe it’s exactly what we/I need to develop to allow the thought processes to develop more naturally.

Now I need to slow down and let this permeate my rock-like brain (pun intended!).

Living Intentionally: Eat a live frog every morning!

... or the value of daily planning.

One of the ways that drift happens to me is my failure to plan - in advance - what I’m going to do.  If I start the day without a plan, the drift is inevitable.  In fact, if the plan is not written down and prioritised, then things are likely to be pear-shaped.

I know that this isn’t rocket-science, nor is it in the realms of original thought.  But these things don’t make it any less real for me.  I find that this happens at home as well as at work.

I was reassured to find that this was one of Michael Hyatt’s “10 Reasons you aren’t done yet”.  The idea can also be found in Gina Trapani’s Work Smart article (or you can watch the video below).  I was amused by the Mark Twain quotation that she mentions:

Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.

— Mark Twain

The opposite of intentionality

Drift – it’s a word that sums up a whole family of unpleasant human experiences. Going gently, slowly where we don’t particularly want to go. Suddenly realising that we’re way off course and the place that we’re heading for is rapidly becoming unobtainable.

Paul Mitchell

Radio Scotland: Thought for the Day

02 December 2009

Drift - what happens to my blogging all too frequently.


Drift - where I’ve been recently.

Drift - where I don’t want to be anymore.

Stop! In the name of love

I’ve had this song in my head for a large chunk of today… since I read this blog entry from Michael Hyatt.

The connection?

Michael Hyatt’s entry describes how I’ve been feeling for a few weeks now – amongst other indicators is the sporadic nature of entries here. As I was reading his thoughts, and diagnosis, I came to the conclusion that the only sensible, possibly the only viable, option for me is to stop, take stock and regain a sense of control and composure; to think through my priorities; and to recover my daily disciplines.

In essence I need to step back to go forward. I need to do it for myself and for those that I love – hence the song title bobbing around in my head.

And if you haven’t given up reading already, you get the bonus of reaching the bit where a video of The Supremes singing the song is embedded.

If you have given up already (aye, I know it disnae make sense!), maybe you should check out Seth Godin’s offering for today.

Silhouettes in the exits

I came across this CBS interview with Chris Martin of Coldplay. It seems to fit with a number of themes that are on my mind just now - including striving. It lasts 12 minutes or so, and I think it's worth watching - probably best to watch it before (or instead of) reading my ramblings below.




Watch CBS Videos Online

I love Steve Kroft's summary towards the end which includes this:

"They're... confident that they're not yet as good as they are going to be."

This epitomises the striving aspect that I was writing about yesterday. In Coldplay's position, it would be easy to cruise along in 'survive mode' for a while, using their back catalogue to generate royalties, resting on their laurels or just bumming around. Instead they're continuing to write new music - seeking the unattainable perfect song. I like that!

I thought that the way that Martin seeks feedback at concerts was intriguing - the silhouettes in the exits. Makes me wonder if we have learned where to look for genuine feedback on performance.

I agree with Chris Martin's sentiment:

"Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically..."

I'm pretty sure that my own worst performance occurs when I'm half-hearted about things.

I enjoyed the way that he didn't take himself too seriously, and admitted his difficulties in dealing with questions about his wife - there seemed to be an honest approach throughout the interview.

Also, I can identify with his electronic messages and scrawled notes - I'm struggling to organise the various scribbled notes that are cluttering the study at home, as well as dealing with all the electronic articles etc that I've accummulated in recent years. I carry a wee voice recorder with me in the car, so that I can capture any thoughts that come to me (my memory's not too great).

Finally, I liked the way that he gave credit to Dylan for the quip that he used. (I have a bit of a hobby horse about acknowledging the source of material!)

Survive or thrive

In all aspects of life (spiritual, financial, work performance, creative etc.) there is a level at which we can settle. I call this the SURVIVE mode. It's not necessarily a bad place to be, but it does stop short of the optimum at any given point in time.

The optimum place is what I call the THRIVE zone. This is where improvements have been made and we feel energised and inspired. This is where we are most creative and alive.

To move from SURVIVE to THRIVE, we need to STRIVE. This is where we see the potential for improvement and through commitment, discipline and grind we take steps towards our vision of what THRIVE looks like.

of course, THRIVE can become SURVIVE after a while - especially if you're ENDLESSLY RESTLESS.

Now hear this - or read it if you prefer

I came across this article today, which is interesting in some ways. Judges (certainly in this country) seem to have a habit of offering opinions without any evidence to back it up - beyond their own opinions. A bit like bloggers really!!

I wonder if the real issue isn't the difference between listening and reading, but instead is related to our concentration spans. We have become used to sound bites and quick summaries, and perhaps have lost the capacity to focus on anything for more than a few minutes.

I know that I've lost my ability to concentrate for any period of time, and now plan my work and other activities in half-hour slots to try to deal with this.

I also have a theory about the way that we should write for computer-based texts, but I'll keep that for another time.

Comfort zones

His Girl Friday reminded me about the talented (and gorgeous) Alison Krauss. I’m not at all familiar with her bluegrass music, but I remember being completely blown away by her collaboration with Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin fame).

Some genius came up with the idea of taking these two singers from completely different backgrounds and putting them together – and it worked. Both Alison and Robert have spoken about how they felt quite intimated by being removed from their comfort zones, which got me thinking…

If we always do the same things, in the same way, with the same people there is a real danger of complacency and the loss of innovation and creativity. Of course, it’s hard to move from your own comfort zone unless you’ve got the discipline to challenge yourself. It’s much more likely to happen when we’re forced into a situation, or when someone else challenges us.

This is quite topical for me as I’ve been challenged lately in a couple of areas where I think that I’m pretty good at what I do. The details don’t matter, but I’ve been doing these things for many, many years and – on reflection – I have become quite complacent. So I needed the constructive criticism to give me the impetus to look at how I’m performing and to raise my game.

It’s not exactly pleasant to be challenged in this way - then again, it’s not too easy to be the challenger either. So I’m grateful for the timely comments.

Pilot House

Yesterday’s photo was of the Pilot House in Irvine Harbour. The Pilot House stands at the entrance to the harbour, and provided vessels with an indication of the state of the tide – and therefore, the depth of water in the channel in to the harbour. The idea was that a serious of ‘globes’ were raised and lowered automatically according to the state of the tide.

I can remember the pilot house working when I was a child, but – sadly – it has been out of action and in a state of disrepair for many years now. The globes are lying around the building, slowly rusting away.

I don’t know if the pilot house was unique. However, it is indicative of a once thriving harbour, which is not well used nowadays.

It strikes me that our lives could use a pilot house system – indicating when we are operating at capacity, when we are fully charged, when we need an injection of something to get us back on track etc, etc. Unfortunately the indicators for our well-being are not as obvious as globes rising up a mast outside a building. So we need to find other ways of assessing how we’re doing. This is part of ‘developing daily discipline’, which I’ll write about another time – and maybe in another place.

I CAN stand the rain

I don’t get it!!! I make an appointment with God – similar time every morning (a wee bit later when I’m on holiday), and sometimes he doesn’t show up.

Take this morning for instance. I was there raring to go – nothing. Then the rain started to fall, heavy rain, very heavy rain. After a while I realised that God had stood me up, so I went for a shower and breakfast. I was listening to the news as I munched on my muesli and the travel report came on. Not good! Not good at all! Major roads closed because of flooding.

This was really inconvenient. The Restless family had planned to go out for the day. Dolly D was getting up early to make sure that she was ready on time. But with roads closed and major traffic delays we had to abort the mission.

So instead we went about various tasks and activities around the house. I was doing a bit of organising in the study and I picked up a book (as you do). I flicked it open randomly at this page:

My real dwelling
Has no pillars
And no roof either
So rain cannot soak it
And wind cannot blow it down!

It’s by a Japanese poet called Ikkyu (in an anthology called Soul Food). Somehow it seemed to be appropriate for the day.

Later in the day I was dealing with e-mail, when the monthly newsletter arrived from Tearfund. The first story was headlined “Pray for rain”… it kind of stopped me in my tracks. It was about the drought being experienced in East Africa (you can read about it here).

Maybe, I’d made a mistake about the time of my appointment with God.

I think I learned a valuable lesson or two today. And it gives me an excuse to include (again) to Ann Peebles' wonderful version of “I Can’t Stand the Rain”.

lincyn-loncyn

I believe that the word that I've used as a title means "slowly" in Welsh. Years ago we were at Spring Harvest in Pwhelli and the guy who was in charge the activities for Dolly D's age group used this word to try to maintain a semblance of order. It sounded like "linky lonky" and really captured the imagination of the kids (well, for a while anyway!).

So what's the significance today? Well, I've been thinking and reading quite a bit lately about needing to slow down. It's ironic that since I started my other blog on 'developing daily disciplines', things have gone to pieces around here. Not from a lack of discipline per se, but a combination of having two of my sister's teenage children here for a week; swapping Dolly D's bedroom and our study; and some wet weather meaning that the garden has gone nuts - along with the usual chaos and mayhem that we call everyday life!

But rather than get uptight about it, I'm adopting 'linky lonky' as my catchphrase for the next few weeks. I'm going to slow down - which may mean even more inconsistent blogging and replying than usual. So be it.

I'm going to slow down:

- to listen to God;

- to do things thoroughly;

- to see what is important;

- to reflect on and apply the things that I learn/read;

- to choose wisely;

- to laugh and to love;

- to focus on the positive;

- to be balanced and proportionate;

- to rest, relax and re-create;

- to be me.

Those sound like 10 pretty good reasons to me. In fact, if I like it, I may never speed up again.

(Note to self: remember to breathe!)

Tuesday afternoon - it must be our weekly senior management team, and the chance to bond together and share our difficulties with each other - not!

I found myself writing at the top of the agenda - not doodling, but writing instructions to myself!

"PAUSE, THEN BREATHE, THEN SPEAK"

The wicked witch of the east is mis-managing yet another project, and finding scapegoats by the truckload. As I sat there fuming and restraining myself, I realised that it really wasn't worth the self-inflicted stress. So I thought about breathing for a wee while, calmed down and turned back into my normal well-balanced, cool, witty, dashing and modest self (well, something like that!).

I think it was Oscar Wilde who refused to enter a battle of wits with an unarmed man - kind of sums up how I felt.

Anyway, having calmed down a bit I survived the rest of the meeting.

It was absolutely freezing when I stepped out of the office - and my coat was in the car about 150 yards away. But as I walked towards the car, I didn't notice the cold because I was distracted by the wonderful view of Arbroath Abbey. Puts things in perspective I think!

Mind the gap

For a wee while now this phrase has been something of a mantra for me. As part of my attempt to develop daily discipline and improve what is known as "time management", I've been conscious of the gaps that occur during the day (both at work and at home) - e.g. time between meetings. Productivity is improved if the gaps are used wisely.

Something else that I've been contemplating for a while are triggers - little signals that indicate all is not well-ordered in my world. One of these is that my pile of reading material is growing ever larger. Strangely I don't mind this happening at home, but at work it's a warning sign.

Anyway, a while back I came across some research on the BBC website which stated the following:

... a study in Holland had suggested that the more people's days were fragmented, the more they read, regardless of their educational background.

"Which is completely counter-intuitive but I don't see anything to contradict it."

Another study he had conducted had indicated that people felt they did not have enough time in their days.

Certain activities were almost fixed - like going to work, picking the kids up from school then taking them to ballet lessons - and required them to co-ordinate with others.

Inevitably there were sometimes breaks when the co-ordination was not precise.

"What I'm arguing is that over the last 30 to 40 years the organisation of time has become fragmented, less predictable - someone is late, or you arrive early and are waiting for the kids to come out of school.

"Those moments are good for reading."

Put the two thoughts together and progress is made - fill the gaps by reading some of the backlog.

That Hideous Man has a similar but different thought process going on...

Pathways of prayer: The charismatic path

This week Pathways of Prayer moves on to the charismatic path.

Actually, that's not quite true. I seem to have got out of sync with the course. But that's OK, as I'm planning to keep going with the cycle of pathways beyond Lent.

So this week, I'm moving on to the charismatic path. But the word 'charismatic' seems to carry so many connotations/values, that I'm calling it the pathway of worship. (I've never been too great at following all of the rules all of the time!).

This pathway is summarised by St Augustine's prayer:

Lord you are great and greatly to be praised!

awaken us to delight in your praises,

for you made us for yourself,

and our hearts are restless

'till they find their rest in you.

The doodle had now reached its final state.

The contemplative path

This week Pathways of Prayer moves on to the contemplative path.

"The contemplative tradition in Christian spirituality describes the steady gaze of the soul upon God."

So that's the objective for this week. It'll be intriguing to see how this develops during what passes for 'normal life'. Will I be able to focus sufficiently during the working week?

I'm comforted (again) by the bit of Heschel that I was reading today:

"God is not hiding in a temple."

So maybe I will be able to contemplate while at work.

Doodle's moved on a bit more.

The sacramental path

The Pathways of prayer course has moved on to the sacramental path this week - the idea being that we should consciously meet with God, but also recognise his presence all around us.

Coincidentally, I was reading 1 Cornithians 13 today and it struck me that through regular, instinctive, habitual meeting with God we should be slowly transformed. This will involve growing, learning and un-learning, because as we get to know God better, we will (in a limited way) begin to see ourselves from his perspective. Of course we need to be willing to change, to bend and to be re-shaped.

Heschel puts it better than me:

"Stirred by a yearning after the unattainable, a pious man is not content with being confined to what he is."

And my pathways of prayer doodle has moved on a bit!

The Incarnate God

After yesterday's rant I wanted to post something a bit different.

I'm currently reading John V Taylor's "The Incarnate God" (which I may blog about later - when I've finished it). In the meantime, I thought I'd post this.

In the preface to one of the section there's a prayer that Taylor used as a daily dedication. I like it; I hope you do too.

Lord Jesus Christ

alive and at large in the world,

help me to follow and find you there today,

in the places where I work,

meet people,

spend money,

and make plans.

Take me as a disciple of your Kingdom,

to see through your eyes,

and hear the questions you are asking,

to welcome all others with trust and truth,

and to change the things that contradict God's love,

by the power of the cross,

and the freedom of your Spirit.

Funny (strange) wee book

The subtitle of this book is ‘Discovering what happens when you stop’, so I figured that it might help with my thinking about life’s rhythms and the dimension of Sabbath. And I liked the cover (shallow but true!).

I started to read it while sitting in Starbucks having a double espresso at the Metro Centre (for those not familiar with it - this is a monolithic shopping mall in north east England). The fishwife and Dolly D were shopping, and I was doing my own thing – not very patiently.

Anyway as I read the first chapter, I started to relax. In fact, I started to stop! Some of the comments seemed to be aimed directly at me:

"I have allowed busyness to invade my life so much that it gets harder and harder to be in touch with that other part of me which thrives on the creativity of indolent wastefulness."

"There was a restless impatience within me."

So with my mood lifted, I tucked the book away and carried on ambling around the shops, and watching what people were doing, having a chat with the shop assistant in the cookery shop etc etc. A good start.

However, the next few chapters were disappointing. They were an encouragement to become a Christian. No problem with that, except that there was no indication about this on the cover notes. It seemed a bit disingenuous. However, I persevered and things improved.

Modern life is crowded and cacophonous. Everywhere you turn there are more people shouting at you, demanding attention and wanting to consume your time. Drastic action is needed. So chuck out the instant coffee. It’s not just that it tastes horrible; I want back the time it robbed me of. The superficial attraction of its speed didn’t save me time; it just encouraged me to cram more in. What people need in their lives are things to slow them down. Labour-creating devices and time-wasting strategies are what I’m after. They will generate opportunities for stillness and reflection.

I particularly agree with the bit about the coffee! But more than that the essential message of the book is that we need to slow down, to take the time that we need to enjoy life AND to get in touch with our creative side and our Creator.

I’ll chuck in some more quotations over the next few entries.