opportunities

What’s This All About?

| Marie Griffith

The new website is coming along and we’re almost there. In the meantime, I’ll share the reason I’m doing this in the first place.

Fifteen years ago I was a young mother at the end of another exhausting day, and I wondered, is this it?

I graduated college, worked years at a great company, and quit a promising career to be home with my children to wipe counters, noses and bottoms all day?

Today, I’m sitting in my office with piles of paper scattered across my desk, emails to answer, phone calls to make, and numbers to crunch. And I wonder, is this it?

I know I’m not the only one. You feel the same way. The restlessness, the divine discontent, a desire within your heart to make a difference. We all want to know our lives count.

I was in my 20s when I read John Maxwell’s book “Developing the Leader Within You”. The most important words of the entire book were these:

Sociologists tell us that even the most introverted person will influence 10,000 people in his or her lifetime.

I was astounded. To think that I would impact 10,000 or more people in my lifetime was amazing and humbling.

The 10,000 statistic is a pre-social media number. It’s not a stretch to guess that the most introverted person will impact an exponentially greater number of people in his or her lifetime. Fifty thousand, maybe even 100,000 with Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and all the other ways of connecting with others.

The statistic might have changed but the main point of John Maxwell’s book is a timeless truth: at its most basic, leadership is influence.

In other words, you matter. I matter. And what we do matters. 

That’s why I’m passionate about Live Like it Matters.

A couple of years ago, I issued Live Like It Matters challenges on my blog to remind myself and others of the significance of our day-to-day interactions. The challenges connect our desire to make a difference with our everyday lives. The challenges include:

  • say hello to a stranger
  • write a note to a coworker.
  • give a 40% tip the next time you eat at a restaurant
  • volunteer at a local charity for a day/a week/regularly

The challenges prompt us to look for opportunities to live like it matters right where we are.

Because some of the thousands we’ll reach are the people we meet day in and day out. One of yours may be the tired unnamed waitress that served you lunch on Sunday, a young man in your daughter’s class struggling with his identity, the homeless couple who sit on the curb near the mall you drive past each day, or the flustered UPS guy hauling heavy boxes inside your office building each morning.

We don’t have to be entertainers, politicians, professional athletes or authors to touch thousands. We don’t need Twitter followers, websites, or Facebook pages. It’s those of us in our workplaces, at the schools, and in lines at the grocery store checkouts who make the difference. We can live like it matters at the bank, the park, or the gym.

We live like it matters when we change diapers, wipe snotty noses, and wash dishes. Take heart, tired young parent, take heart. Home is the best place to live like it matters.

When we live like it matters our routines are rich with opportunity, the mundane is meaningful, and our lives turn from ordinary to extraordinary.

My writing, my blog, my website….all of it is about learning to live like it matters and encouraging us in it.

I’ll issue challenges occasionally and continue the regular features, like Monday School and Beauty Break.

I’ll still write just to write, too. I hope it will give you hope, make you ponder a thought you never have before, unlock a memory, see someone in a new way, or make you feel less alone.

Anne Lamott puts it this way, “a writer always tries, I think, to be part of the solution, to understand a little about life and to pass it on”.

This is me passing it on.

When the new website launches, this website will eventually redirect to the new site, but I’m not sure if new posts will show up in the WP reader. I’m still learning about this.

If you want to be sure to catch the new site, new challenges and all my new stuff please leave a comment and tell me you want to subscribe to the new site and I’ll add you to my email followers. 

Photo by Mr Cup / Fabien Barral on Unsplash

Hello

| Marie Griffith

I’m bringing back a feature of my blog that I started almost two years ago called the “Live Like it Matters Challenge“. Some of the posts, like this one, will be repeat challenges. Others will be new ones. Either way you will have an opportunity to Live Like it Matters.

Each week or so I will issue a challenge to you to do something to make a positive difference in the lives of those around you, in the place around you, wherever you are.

This challenge is for me, too.  Because I forget to make sure to be aware of those around me. To see them. To smile or nod.

But I don’t want to forget.  I want to make a difference.  I want to live on purpose.

Unfortunately, I’ve been the one in the forever long check out line at the store, staring blankly at the air, lost in my own thoughts. Not thinking about the elderly lady behind me or the mom with 2 restless toddlers in her cart whining to go home. Not smiling. Not saying anything. Just there. Missing an opportunity to do something kind or good. Even if it’s just to say, “Hello, how are you?”  speech-bubbles-1379252_1920

And that’s the challenge this week. SAY HELLO to at least five strangers. Look them straight in the eyes and say hello. Make sure you’re smiling, too. It may feel strange at first and the stranger may think you’re weird and not respond. That’s fine. You tried.

Try again. Then again. And again. See what happens?

I bet you end up having a nice conversation with one of those strangers this week. I bet you make someone’s day just by smiling and speaking.

Because when you acknowledge someone, you’re telling them they matter.

And they do matter.

And you matter and what you do matters.

So live on purpose.

Live like it matters.  Say hello!

Share with me how the strangers responded.  What was your experience?

Maybe you do this all the time.  I’d love to hear about it.

10,000

| Marie Griffith

You’re more influential than you think!

I had the opportunity to share my favorite leadership lesson with a small group recently. Not only is it my favorite lesson….it’s been the most valuable.

I was in my 20s when I read John Maxwell’s book “Developing the Leader Within You”. The most important words of that entire book for me were these:

Sociologists tell us that even the most introverted person will influence 10,000 people in his or her lifetime.

I was astounded. To think that I would impact 10,000 or more people in my lifetime was amazing. And humbling.

I still have the copy of the book I read twenty something years ago. The 10,000 statistic is a pre-social media number. It’s not a stretch to guess that the most introverted person will impact an exponentially greater number of people in his or her life……50,000. Maybe even 100,000 with Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and all the other ways of connecting with others.

The statistic might have changed but the main point of John Maxwell’s book is a timeless truth: At its most basic, leadership is influence.

I know God used that truth to inspire the way I live my life. That’s why I’m so passionate about Living Like it Matters.

Jesus said “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16  light-bulb-1246043_1920

We’re mistaken if we think our influence only happens when we’re speaking in front of a crowd or leading a team or managing employees.

Part of the thousands we touch are the people we meet day in and day out. In the grocery store, at the bank, in the park and at the drive-thrus.

Part of your thousands is the tired unnamed waitress that served you lunch on Sunday. It could be a young man in your daughter’s class struggling with his identity or the homeless couple sitting on the curb near the mall you drive past each day. The flustered cashier ringing up your medicine at the pharmacy or the UPS delivery guy.

Do I see them? Do I smile and connect with these that come across my path? Do I ignore them or dismiss them? Or think they’re less than?

Our influence reaches even to those that are watching us from a distance. How we live matters. Our attitude and actions toward others. How we work and play and love and give. It matters.

I’ve missed too many opportunities to be light or to speak life-giving words or to simply smile and acknowledge the person beside me.

I don’t want to miss any more…..I have thousands of lives to impact.

So do you.

Live like it matters.

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For the next several weeks I’m going to post ideas on how we can Live Like It Matters. I began my Live Like It Matters challenge 2 years ago on this blog. Some of the challenges will be new ideas and some will be reposts of past challenges. Either way I know I can use the reminder to live like it matters. Maybe you can too.

 
Identity

Embrace the New

| Marie Griffith

When I began this post, I didn’t realize this was going to be another installment in my Live Like it Matters Challenge. But it is.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the challenge of getting back to my running routine since we’ve moved to our new home in a post called My Groove. There are no long quiet country roads like in our previous place. To get to any roads that would work for me, I’d have to cross a busy highway. A few times I ran on our little road without crossing the highway…..back and forth and back and forth, to the highway and back down…..again and again. It wasn’t terrible but it was terribly boring.

My husband reminded me of the park in town but I wouldn’t think of it. I like to walk out my front door and start running. I don’t want to drive to the park to run.

But last week, I drove to the park to run. And I did it again two days later. And I’ve done it again a couple of times since.

So I guess the park is part of my new groove and I’m glad it is.image

First, it’s forced me to rethink my fitness. I still run, but not daily. I’ve included other things into my fitness and I needed to do that anyway.

Second, I’ve met some really cool people at the park. Like Mark. He’s an older gentlemen with 3 dogs and a disability. He doesn’t work. His wife passed away several years ago with cancer. In the only conversation we’ve ever had, he told me about his father, his wife, his disability, his dogs, the mission trips his father took, and some other things about his life. I listened.

I think he needed someone to listen.

I also met Adam. I saw his t-shirt when he ran passed me in the opposite direction and I made a comment. When I saw him again he was running in my direction and slowed down to speak. He and his family live near the park. He loves to run and has recently competed in a Spartan Race, which is where he got the t-shirt. I’ve heard about the Spartan Races and thought about doing one. I found out more information and…..who knows. I may see him at a Spartan Race one day.

Now I understand that this “new” thing, this new groove of mine, is another opportunity to Live Like it Matters.

There’a always going to be something new in our lives. Some new things are big. Some are small. A new job, a changed job description, or a layoff. A different house, another kid, a friend moves away, your dog dies or your water heater bursts and ruins every floor in your house.

New is different and sometimes it hurts. But any new thing in your life can be an opportunity.

There’s really no other option but to embrace it and make the best out of it if you want to be a happy person.

Because you matter and what you do matters.

 

Tasty

| Marie Griffith

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Colossians 4:5-6 (NASB)

I don’t make the most of every opportunity. In fact I believe opportunities fly past me as I rush from place to place. Opportunities are there but I have to notice them first.

Jesus was great at this. He noticed. Everything. Jesus would never avoid going down the cereal aisle when he saw your daughter’s friend’s mom coming from the other end. I’ve done this.

Instead, Jesus would smile at her as he walked toward her. He would ask her how she was doing. Then he would listen as he looked into her eyes. And he would be genuinely interested in what she was saying. Your daughter’s friend’s mom would leave knowing that she mattered. She would be so uplifted by that short but real conversation that she would go home and do the same for her family. Then maybe her husband would do the same for his hurting co-worker the next day. And her teenaged daughter might reach out to a lonely classmate.

One conversation with Jesus can change everything.

What if I do the same? What if I take the time to notice? What would happen if I slowed down enough to see those around me. Not just see, but notice. Speak. Listen. Love.

It starts there. With the opportunities. At home. In the grocery store. At the salon. In your neighbor’s yard. At work or church.

Be tasty…..”seasoned with salt” as the verse says. Bring out the best in others in a conversation.

Someone needs you to see them.

Someone needs you to smile and say hello.

Someone needs you to listen.

In response to The Daily Post’s prompt Pay It Forward.