Just had to post this! Sent by leader team member, Willy in Florida and what a great idea!

I encourage you to visit www.letssaythanks.com.  You can pick a card created mostly by young children and send it to the troops in the Middle East.  What an awesome thing to do.

I don’t want to take away from this great project, but when we returning from our trip this past September and were lounging in the airport at Seattle; there was group of young soldiers seated around a laptop watching a training program.  Usually I’d be too shy (believe it or not) to approach them, but this time I did.  I went over and quietly thanked them for their service.

Others in our group saw me do so and one by one they went to the young men as well.  Now those guys were a wee bit embarrassed, but you can’t tell me they didn’t appreciate the gratitude we expressed.

One of our team members is a ‘military kid’ and a ‘military wife’ (retired now), as is at least one of our AWP members.  I know they support showing our appreciation and thankfulness for the young men and women who defend us at home and very far away!

 Doubt any of them are visiting here - but just in case - THANKS MUCH!

Visit www.letssaythanks.com and send a card of cheer!

Have an awesome evening and hug a loved one while you’re at it!

  Linda

Here’s the link to Samaritan’s Purse (www.samaritanspurse.org).  As I stated in this morning’s BUZZ, Franklin Graham’s organization is one of the finest international charities I know.  Franklin, son of the Billy Graham, is a man of considerable integrity and I had the privilege of hearing him speak at the National Religious Broadcasters conference in California, 1997 (just weeks before the birth of my first g’son!).

As you know if you’ve read “In Joyce’s Name” under “Pages” here at the Blog, we are a charitably-minded for profit business.  My heart is for women, especially those in third-world countries such as the Sudan and some Middle Eastern countries such as Afghanistan.  Can’t tell you why these women especially tug at my heart, but think much of it has to do with the oppression and violence they experience.  Some of these women have never known ‘freedom’ as we know it.  They are considered little more than ‘chattel property’.  Even the most horrendous abuse that occurs against women in the USA pales in comparison to what the women of Darfur have experienced everyday of their lives!

And then there’s the children!  If you want to see a grown lady cry, all you have to do is put me in front of a little child who drops his or her ice cream cone moments after taking it from Mom or Dad.  I hate to count the number of times I’ve rushed to the rescue with a dollar bill to replace the cone and dry the tears of a heartbroken little one!

Our purpose at AWP is not only to be a resource to those of us who’ve passed the “40″ threshold and know we’ve entered a new, different and hopefully exciting season of life; but to be a financial resource to women and children around the world.  Given that our membership now is free, it will take us some time to build up the paid “Affiliate” membership once it’s launched - so being a major financial resource is a wee-bit away!

But it will happen!  Because once we realize our purpose and the path or paths it is taking or will take; then things begin to happen.  And they happen rapidly - or at least at some point, it begins to feel “rapid”!  So once all the many opportunities and doors that are poppin’ open - open - we’ll be able to fund folks like Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse projects in Darfur and Afghanistan, as well as here in the USA.  By the way, did you know that Samaritan’s Purse provides micro-grants to women in Afghanistan to start mini-businesses (one small group of women started a bread-baking business and sells hot bread daily to those who pass by their stall - a common practice in Israel, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries). 

Now isn’t that just who we are and what we are about, albeit on a much larger scale?!

So I encourage you to take some time one evening or over a weekend and read “In Joyce’s Name” and visit www.samaritanspurse.org to learn more about why we think it’s a great place to put some tithe $$$s of charitable gifts.

Have an awesome day with much love and many blessings!

  Linda

We’ve started talking about ‘mentoring’ - what it is, why it’s important and how we can mentor and be mentored from afar, using all the new technology.  Today’s conversation focuses on mentoring as a form of ’sisterhood’ that results in both mentor and mentee gaining richly from the experience.  We’ll look at it from the “business of life” standpoint.

What in the world is the “business of life”? 

The business of life encompasses all of life - whether our personal businesses, professional careers, managing home and family.  Regardless of what it is that we do each day we call “life”, we are engaged in being busy with something that resembles business.  We organize, plan, strategize, network, develop, design and implement - whether a family meal; a home addition; a volunteer project or a new marketing plan for taking our career to the next level.

If we are not about these things, then we’re ‘whistling Dixie in the dark’ as the old saying goes.

Where does mentoring fit into that picture?  What is it anyway.  Webster says its a trusted teacher or guide - a “tutor” or “coach”.

From my perspective, a mentor is someone in whom I’ve entrusted myself because I know he or she is wiser and more learned in certain areas of life than me.  It’s someone from whom I can learn what I need to know at any given season of life that will make it possible for me to transition well to where I want to go.  Where I want to go with the wise counsel of someone who’s been there before and lived to tell.

Mentoring can occur in any number of ways.  Face to face in a trusted long-term relationship!  Or through distance learning.  When we look at the evolution of ‘coaching’ as a business or career, much of it is done electronically.  Oftentimes, coaches never see their clients face to face.

Mentoring can occur when we read what others who’ve “been there” write and share with us.  That’s why so many of us have gained such great knowledge as we transition - we’ve read those who’ve gone before and shared their similar experiences and the wisdom gained from those experiences. 

When we put into practice the shared knowledge, techniques and exhortations of those we come in contact with - up close or from afar - we gain - we change - we grow!

Mentoring is a part of our vision and mission for AWP.  It is intended to become much more than it is now.  But for now, it comes in the form of what is recorded here by those who share with all of us, what they’ve learned and experienced . 

Hopefully, we who do so, are often provocative enough to slow your pace and give pause for consideration.  Hopefully we are also learned and succinct enough to give tidbits and nuggets of wisdom many of you didn’t know or haven’t experienced before.

Mentoring is more than just friendship, regardless of how deep the bond.  Mentoring takes on an informal formality that educates without teaching and advises without giving advice.  It’s the fine art of listening when listening is required and speaking when to withhold words would be inconsiderate.

I hope I haven’t made mentoring sound like a ‘chore’ or something just for professionals.  Because it isn’t that at all. 

If mentoring is your desire because you’ve stepped from a world of familiarity to a land without signposts and a map to guide your way - we are here for you in that capacity.  If what you want is a tidbit or two of information that you didn’t have before - then we’ll try to give that when we know what it is you are looking for.

After all, mentoring is about the business of life and life is about finding our way through every season with grace, dignity and assurance - learning as we go.  Mentors are a part of the scenery and the guideposts that dot the landscape.

Have an exciting day with much love and rich blessings!

  Linda

Promised another anti-aging tip!  I’m hoping this is new news to each of you.  It was to me!

 It turns out that eating certain foods in tantum dramatically increases their antioxidant power.  For instance, broccoli’s famous cancer-fighting antioxidant sulforaphane is up to “13 times more effective when eaten with selenium-rich seafood or poultry”.  Additionally, adding avocado and tomatoes to a salad increases up to four times the amount of stroke-stopping lycopene (found in tomatoes and tomato products such as catsup). 

An additional tip is to drizzle antioxidant-rich olive oil on your cooked veggies to absorb more fat-soluble vitamin E.

Some more of the age-defying foods are strawberries, artichoke hearts, cranberries ( great for this time of the year), and raspberries.  Ground cloves, a staple in foods served during fall and into the holiday season, is also rich in antioxidants.

For an inexpensive way to exfoliate your skin, split one or two large grapes with a knife and remove any pits.  Gently rub the cool fleshy part over your face and neck.  Leave on 10 minutes and then rinse.

By the way, grapes are antioxidant rich as well.  A number of years ago, I took grape seed extract (from the health food store) on a daily basis as part of an anti-fungal diet regimen.  Equally healthy is olive oil. 

Oh, just so you know that I do occasionally know a thing or to about household hints, here’s another of my discoveries.  I finished the unfinished kitchen cabinets myself and used boo-coo coats of antique oil finish as the top coat. 

After wiping olive oil on a baking pan when recipe calls for oil and flour, I swipe the olive oiled paper towel around my kitchen cabinets until the excess dries.  Keeps them shiny and nourished as well.

That’s all for tonight!  Have an awesome evening with much love and many blessings!

  Linda

What eventful days these are turning out to be.  Perhaps it’s not all that bad to get more than one ball in the air at a time.  Especially when there are others who share the same mind-set willing to help hold them in the air (so to speak).

I want to return to some of the comments contained in the returned surveys.  It’s true that we talk in our opening pages about “mentoring, information and networking”.  That is one of our main objectives and a goal for establishing the online community. 

From a purely practical standpoint, bonding together via modern technology makes absolute fiscal sense.  Or has no one noticed the price of gasoline these days?  If we can accomplish the same visions, dreams and goals via teleconference, webinar and other tools of the information age - why not stay at home and learn, do and otherwise connect?

If for no other reason than simple economics - building a strong, committed, loyal online community makes absolute sense!

But can we develop and grow the same kind of bond and loyalty to each other without seeing and interacting with each other face to face?  YES, we can!  But it takes time and it takes consistent commitment to making it happen.

And it takes participation, at some level, on the part of each of us.

Let me say a little something about ‘mentoring’.  I’m a huge advocate of ‘mentoring’ and it’s ’sister’ - coaching!  In fact, as a recovering therapist, I more often ‘coached’ rather than therapized (is that a word?).

Mentoring is not the same as coaching, but it is akin to it in a less formal manner.  Mentoring is what is recommended of us by young Timothy via his mentor, Paul as Paul prepared to hand the reigns of his work to his young friend.  He says that those of us who are older and presumably wiser should “counsel” or “teach” younger women.  In our case at AWP, while there is, I assume, a broad age-range among us, it is more an aspect of helping each other through and over the challenges that come to us as we transition from one life season to the next.

It’s more those of us who’ve been there, done it and survived to tell who need to be a resource (or mentor) to those who are engaged in the process now or those who have just stepped through the ‘hall of transition’!

An example that occurred just this a.m.:  a dear friend from my graduating class called yesterday with some serious concerns about someone dear to her.  She said she needed to “talk”, so we planned breakfast this a.m.  In the interim, I got some information for her that she asked for and we met.  Between yesterday’s frantic phone call and this morning, some great things were beginning to take place in a positive way for her beloved person - and that is very good news.  But we talked about it; about the things I had discussed with her over the past several months and then our conversation turned to matters of our personal faith and faith relationship - a relationship we share in common although our personal experiences of same are very different.  The conversation was all about being mentored and being a mentor. 

Could we have done it electronically?  Of course!  We had been doing that for several months because our schedules are so divergent that getting together face to face was not going to happen in as timely manner as we both wanted.  What transpired was that mutual mentoring occurred in both mediums - electronically and face to face.  And the process brought about the beginnings of positive change and evolved into a deepening of an already deep significant relationship between two mature women of faith.

We learned from each other and that’s what mentoring is mostly about.  It isn’t a hierarchial relationship in which one is the ‘teacher’ and the other the ’student’.  It’s an ebb and flow.  Sometimes I’m the student and she the teacher; others I’m the teacher and she’s the student - but both of us are enriched and encouraged by the process!

And I never thought to refer to it as ‘mentoring’ until now!  But sure enough, that’s what it is and it’s exceedingly mutual.  She’s in the insurance and investment business for years with tremendous experience and integrity.  I’m what she calls the “inner expert”, the one who discerns what may be the underlying cause of something seen on the surface as simply a shadow of what lies beneath.  She says she needs that to remain on top of things in her personal and professional life and I certainly need the calm quiet demeanor that she brings to my somewhat tumultous personality and temperment!

Having said the above, I raise the following question; have we not been mentoring over these past several months since beta launch?

Not the way I ultimately want it to occur!  And perhaps not the way many of you want it to happen.  But everything takes time and it’s taking time to get us technologically to where all systems are go!

With that in mind, we’re using our conversations here, at the AWP Blog, as a forms of mentoring or teaching or sharing to enrich and encourage.

Since most of us are women of excellence in the marketplace, as well as women of faith; our focus here needs to cover a broad spectrum of topics that give value to each woman.  And that’s a real challenge!

Tomorrow, I’m going to talk more about mentoring and more about the challenges we face as ‘chronologically maturing’ women traveling through a very different season of life in which we know life as it is in the earthly realm, has limits!  Not on creativity, passion, purpose or any other aspect.  Simply in terms of linear time constraints.  And if it’s going to happen in my lifetime - it’s up to me to get on with it now!

And if others, coming along side me with experience and wisdom I’ve yet to have, are willing to walk me through it - then I’ve gained tremendously!  No matter that the ‘walking’ may be at a distance for the most part because more than ever - it can be in this day and age. 

And then there’s the whole aspect of who we are and what we do in the marketplace.  We’ll begin to look at that aspect too!  And as our technological process proceeds, our entire environment will get better and better - more encouragement, more enrichment and more empowerment!

Finally, we can all lead!  We can all be someone else’s mentor.  It doesn’t take great skill in much more than simply being a good listener and allowing our inner understanding to surface as we focus on the other.

And it takes patience - with ourselves, the other and the process.  When you think about having joined AWP partly for the mentoring process, remember that for now, much of that occurs here.

Also remember that it’s always possible to make a personal electronic appointment to talk individually with me or one of the team if that’s helpful to you as well!

Everytime I feel at a lose for something to converse about, I find myself writing, writing, writing - with little impetious to stop.  It’s time to STOP for now!

I’ll continue later in the day with more anti-aging tips from “Women’s World” so that we can keep our bodies as youthful as our minds want us to be!

Have an AWESOME day with much love and rich blessings!

 Linda

As we grow more ‘chronologically mature’, we become more health conscious.  At least most of the women with whom I speak who are traveling through the 2nd half of the journey want to find safe, beneficial ways to prolong the journey.

As women, we may focus initially on outer appearances.   We become conscious of crow’s feet about our eyes, developing ‘crepiness’ of the eyelids, etc.  And then there’s the thickening of the waistline and for some of us, we’re shocked to learn that we are not quite as tall as we were.

Sometime ago, while journeying through a few years with an excellent direct sales company that has some of the finest anti-aging skin care and nutriceuticals in the market, I learned that much of aging is outside our bodies (about 80-90%).  I also learned that avoiding skin care products with mineral oil or any petroleum-based ingredients not only was beneficial for my skin, but especially important internally as I transitioned through menopause.  Science now realizes that most cancers in women are estrogen-based tumors and that our problem during and following menopause is less a function of decreasing estrogen than a dramatic imbalance between body estrogen and progesterone.  For that reason, I use a natural herbal progesterone cream 25 - 28 days a week.  I even run some of the excess from my hands onto my facial skin as it’s deadly to skin eruptions!

Over the past decade or so, scientific research has shown us that the aging process of our cells can be slowed down and in some cases - reversed.  Scientists also learned that one of the greatest contributors to aging, as well as growths that are or can become cancerous, is the by-product of the bodily oxidation process.  Unhealthy cells, lacking in some essential element of cellular life, wander through the body looking to find a healthy ‘host’ from which to leach.  These scavengers are the fallout from natural bodily processes.

That’s layman language explaining why we hear so much about the value of adding anti-oxidant foods or nutritional supplements to our daily diet.  Anti-oxidant rich foods and nutriceuticals help destroy the scavenger cells and rid our body of their effects.

While sitting with my friend in his doctor’s office last week, I read an entire magazine devoted to informing us how to slow down the aging process and remain healthier and more vibrant in the process.  Over this week, I’ll share some of what I learned.

Here’s something I didn’t know:  antioxidants (either in raw foods we eat that are rich in anti-oxidants or nutriceuticals rich in same, are only active in our bodies for about three hours.  So it’s best to snack during the day on foods such as blackberries, walnuts, brewed coffee (The Fine Grind anyone). 

I happen to take what I believe to be the finest nutriceutical (natural dietary supplement) on the market.  It’s rich in anti-oxidants and includes an essential free-radical fighting antioxidant, Co-Q-10.  Normally I take 2 oz. in the a.m. when I take an added supplement with DHEA and blood pressure med.  NOW, I’m going to take my high-fruit content supplement in smaller doses throughout the day to make certain I keep the scavenger cells at bay.

Tomorrow I’ll say more about the foods that are great to include in our diet in order to get a good daily dose of anti-oxidant protection.  And speaking of CoQ10, if you are taking ‘the pill’, you are most likely to have 37% lower blood levels of this powerful antioxidant in your blood.  Talk with your personal physician and have your blood tested if necessary.  Then switch to an estrogen-free form of birth control or HRT or supplement your diet with 100 mg. of CoQ10 daily.

The above information came from “Woman’s World” magazine - a wealth of tiny vignettes of great info for those of us manuevering through the 2nd half of the journey.

And speaking of the 2nd half, it can and will be the best season of life once we take the necessary steps to keep our bodies - inside and out - as fit and healthy as possible.

In closing, let me recommend a great movie!  Friend Harold and I saw “BELLA“ today.  A rather low-budget, but well done independent film that has won major film festival awards, including the coveted Toronto festival as best picture.  It stars an absolutely gorgeous young man well-known in Mexico (Eduardo ?) and is not your typical love story.  I don’t want to spoil it by revealing the plot for those who have not seen it.  Interestingly enough, the film had a very difficult time finding a Hollywood distribution company who would distribute the film worldwide because of its theme.  Finally a company called “Metanoia Films” took it on.  I can’t recommend it highly enough.  You may have to search for a theater where it is playing and travel a bit (we went to Cincinnati, Ohio) - but it’s well worth it!

It was a great day, a warm November day with beautiful autumn colors in the Midwest.  So enjoy your evening and experience many blessings.

Have an AWESOME evening with much love!

  Linda

Have a great deal to talk about today, but first must make a trip to the city, so today’s Monday Moments will be a little late today.

 I found some great stuff about anti-aging I want to share with you plus begin a series on “inside stuff” that helps us overcome obstacles, challenges and other obstructions that prevent us from moving forward with what we want to do.  Whether it’s business, professional and career life or building strong personal and social relationships - with each other and with our greater community at large.

 So come back later today for some great conversation!

In the meantime, have an AWESOME day with much love and considerable blessings!

  Linda

Thank you to our members who’ve responded to the survey.  If you haven’t done so yet, please locate the Buzz in your inbox and take a few minutes to complete and send back to us.

One of the major tensions for me has been staying true to the vision and mission of AWP while leaving the door open for ALL women, regardless of their faith perspective.  It’s been a real ‘tight-rope’ I’ve walked the past several months.  Walked it because we want to be a resource for all women without giving up our identity as committed Christian women - all of us in the marketplace in some fashion.

But one can’t be all things to all people!  That’s one of the first lessons I learned in the Certified Networker Professional training I took several years ago.  Yes, I’d like to do business with the whole world!  I’d like to mentor and coach the entire female population age 40 and over - pre-boom, mid-boom,  or post-boom. 

Not possible!  Not and do it well.  Not and stay true to the vision and mission!

What I learned as I read through the returned surveys is that many of you came here and registered because it is a community for Christian business women.  As many said the ’spiritual aspect’ of AWP is important.  And almost all responses asked for mentoring, more information and networking - in all three spheres (personal, business/professional and spiritual).

The truth is, we are Christian business women who take our faith commitment seriously.  Most of us know that Christian women have not been well-prepared for the marketplace by our various faith communities.  And to equal degree, for being a faith-filled woman in the marketplace - period!

When the vision for AWP became clear to me after six-plus years, I listened to the counsel of the CEO and understood that there is a real need for a place such as A Women’s Place.  Especially a ‘hunger and thirst’ to share with other women of like-mind and heart in order to remain encouraged.  To learn how to be a woman of faith in the world of business and commerce - a place we may have been taught was not interested in what we have to offer.  In fact, depending on what tradition we grew up in, we may have been taught that the world of commerce is ‘evil’.  

Now tell me, if it’s ‘evil’ - where do we make our living?  Do you think anyone told Paul that making tents to pay his way was engaging in the ‘evil’ of commerce?  I don’t think so.

Sorry for the digression, but I get riled by some of the stuff I was taught as a young Christian woman that makes absolutely no sense now that I’m journeying in the 2nd half of life!

Back to the subject at hand.  I’ve been talking to myself about trying to balance a desire to be all-inclusive with the mandate to be a resource for Christian women in the marketplace.  Christian women who’ve reached 40 or so and recognized that they’ve entered the 2nd half of the journey.  Christian women preparing to retire and asking the question, “now what”!

Are we really so different?  Those of us who have a level of faith somewhere between the size of a grain of mustard seed and huge whopping faith that leaps mountains and tall buildings in a single bound (I don’t know anyone with that much faith - do you)!

I don’t think we are.  I rarely beat anyone over the head with the Book or even my words, for that matter.  I do listen and watch for opportunities to plant seeds here and there.  But I’ve learned over the years that ‘head-whoppin’” only turns others off and makes the CEO look bad.

The point I’m trying to make is that AWP rests on the vision that women of faith - like all others - come to a point in life where they wake up to the fact that the ground beneath our feet is moving and time is fleeting.  We recognize that life is changing and we’re changing.  We don’t see things the same way we did when we were younger.  Our focus is different and our life circumstances may be different as well. 

We look out at a world that still worships youth and beauty - without age spots or wrinkles or slightly more around the middle than we’d like.  Oh it’s helped that the huge population boom between 1946 and 1964 is ‘coming of age’, but the women on the ads are still pencil-thin, with flawless skin and no cellulite to be found.  It doesn’t seem to matter that we bring wisdom and maturity - experience and seasoning - skills tempered by experience and experience sharpened by skill.

Our faith doesn’t change the fact that we move through the 2nd half of the journey with the same strivings to remain as youthful, energetic and productive as those much younger or those without faith or one different from ours.

Let me say it plainly and proudly, without hubris - A Women’s Place IS  for ‘chronologically maturing’ women over 40 traveling through the 2nd half of the journey and our mission is to be here for women who feel they belong here, because they are Christian women - in the marketplace, in the home, in the neighborhood and in the community.  In good business language, they are our “target market”.  We can’t get much more specific than that.

Does that exclude other women?  NO!  Do we have to change our vision or mission or stance in cyberspace just because some women might feel excluded?  NO!  Exclusion will come by another’s choice - not ours.

There, I’ve said it!  What I’ve been struggling with, skirting around, calling by any other name, but the Name for months!  There is a market for us in the wide world of the web.  There are hundreds, thousands and multi-thousands of Christian women looking for a place to land safely that will mentor them, encourage and enrich them, empower them at times when it seems they have none of their own. It is our target market (spoken like a true certified network marketer) - our ‘niche’! 

It is where most of us have some level of expertise, if only because we’ve grown up and discovered that when there is nothing else - there is faith in someone bigger than we are whose Love for us is incomprehensible.  Someone who wants to see us succeed because when His ‘kids’ do well - He looks good (reminds me of my mom who always wanted us to do well so she looked good)!  He wants us to be out there - in the marketplace - doing, producing, touching others’ lives in positive ways.

He want us growing and maturing.  And He wants us sharing what we’ve learned and what we know with others in a way that causes them to marvel at who we are and wonder how we got there.

I close with a reflection on an electronic conversation I had with a woman the first week we launched.  She wrote asking for clarification on a couple of matters about AWP.  One of her comments was that it appeared we were for “Christian women” and since she was not one, she felt “excluded”.  I wish I could find my response, because it must have been ‘right on the money’!   I say that, because she wrote back to me saying she would take “another look at us” - this time with an “open-mind”.  I recall smiling because her response was a dead giveaway as to which of us had come to AWP with an exclusive viewpoint and a closed-mind!

We’re here primarily for women of the Christian faith tradition, without denomination, doctrine or dogma, who are maturing in years, wisdom and experience who have much to offer us and each other, and to whom we hope to offer equal value.

If any woman who comes to our place decides it’s a place for her regardless. . . she’s more than welcome to reside in our space for as long as she desires.

Have an AWESOME Sunday with much love and rich blessings!

  Linda
 

“TGIF” is commonly known to stand for “Thank God It’s Friday!  I get a daily in my inbox using the same acronym but standing for “Think God Is First”!

 I like both of them!  Both acknowledge that we are not alone on the journey!  Both say something about who we are and what we are made for.  When I understand that thinking God is first - then it makes all the sense in the world to say “Thank God It’s Friday!”

Coming to the end of the work week instills in me a sense of accomplishment and relief.  Somewhat like coming to the end of a another year - sense of accomplishment and sense of relief.

But for those of us who are women in the marketplace as small business owners, Friday may not be the end of a work week as we know it Monday through Friday!  For us, work may continue through the weekend, with short stints of time focused on other things.  In fact, if you’re like me, you may even work on Sunday!

What does the above have to do with our conversations for this week?  After all, we’ve been talking about ‘taking stock’ as we approach the end of another year - assessment and goal-setting for the next 365 days-12 months!

Two things come to mind:  1) perhaps it is wisest to turn the processes of managing, marketing and otherwise growing our small businesses off for at least one day a week, and 2) when we take time to slow down and down-load, we can stay abreast of the analyze - assess - reassess - stategize & plan process that is so important to accomplishing what we want to accomplish.

That makes “TGIF” a ’snippet’ of the greater process that comes with winding up another year and preparing for the next! 

When we “down-load” (stop what we are doing and reflect on the what, why, where, when and how) on a consistent, regular basis - then the year-end process is not so cumbersome or (in my case) terrifying!

A thought just crossed my mind relative to this post and the survey I sent as the weekly Buzz!  Surveys are great for those of us who need the feedback in order to adjust, improve or otherwise meet the needs of our customers, etc.

But they are just as important for us as we assess, reassess and otherwise engage in the end-of-week or end-of-year process. 

What about surveying ourselves?  Isn’t what I’ve encouraged us to do much like the survey process?

Yes, I think it is!  But when it’s me, surveying me and the business I operate - it’s subjective.  That’s okay - we need our own observations as an important ingredient.  But we also need the objective piece as well.  What others observe, think, feel, experience and/or otherwise understand.

And for those of us who are Christian women in the marketplace - whether via cyberspace because our business operates on www or in other more traditional venues; the most important ‘input’ is from the CEO of what we’re doing.  Don’t think I need to explain “CEO”!

I’ve been doing that all this week and I’ve gotten some great feedback from the “Boss”.  Some of it ‘pinched’ a little.  Much of it came from those around me who have the same CEO (objective assessment) and an equal part from internal downloads!

TGIF!  Yea, I’m glad it’s Friday and I’m grateful and thankful.  I know now that I’ve gotta’ “Think Him First” in my plans and processes or I’ll ride the wrong rail!

But it won’t stop at the stroke of midnight!  The activities may change, but the process will continue and by the time the hands of the clock strike midnight on 12/31/2007 - I hope to be ready!

Will you be ready?

Have an AWESOME Friday with much love and such rich blessings!

  Linda

P.S.  Just checked. . . actually the TGIF that I get to my inbox stands for “Today God Is First”.  Yep, still fits the conversation!

Is it Thursday already?  Yes indeed, I just checked the calendar near my desk and it is Thursday, November 8, 2007!

If you read yesterday’s AWP Buzz,  you know that I digressed considerably and reissued the SURVEY questions from a few months ago - asking everyone to respond!  This is just a brief reminder and actually a “plea” to have you do so!

But I also talked about what it is about the 2nd half of the journey that makes us think (or act as if) we are ’superwoman’!

You know that routine - too many balls in the air that need our constant or at least consistent, continual attention and monitoring. 

For some of us, it’s just part of who we are.  I think it’s just built into our destiny DNA to get involved in many things (projects, activites, etc.) that ‘hook’ one of the many things we like to do; are good at and have a passion for!  May not be directly related to one of our passions, but the underlying purpose is the ‘hook’!

That’s where I am these days!  Started something months ago and now its coming to fruition.  That’s GREAT!  But it’s taking my focus away from what I’m supposed to be doing - away from the primary focus that relates directly to what I am destined to do.  His purpose for me and my life!

One of our members forwarded me a great interview with Rick Warren (”The Purpose Driven Life”) which I’m posting on the FORUM under “Perspectives”.  It’s worth reading and contemplating his perspective on life, sudden recognition, wealth and the challenges that come our way - regardless of how committed we are as Christian believers and how faithful we are in any season of our life.

I encourage you to read it later tonight on the FORUM!

But back to the conversation at hand.  There are so many great things we can do in life - with our lives.  Its been my experience that as we mature - either chronologically or emotionally or both (hopefully both), our life perspective changes from a sense of ‘me’ consciousness to an ‘other’ consciousness. 

We are seeing that now with the aging of the boomers (well most of them).  

What about all the opportunities that come our way to ‘do’?  Is ‘doing’ what we’re all about?  Or is it that, with each season of life, we are to ‘be’ - be more than we were in the previous season and journey?

And are the two mutually exclusive?  I don’t think so, but I do think we have to choose wisely what we commit our time, talent, energy and personhood to at any given period of life!

If we’re a woman who has difficulty saying ‘no’ - then we’ll run from project to project to project thinking that each is another opportunity to get where we want to go (or grow).  Others will catch on quickly that we can be managed, manipulated and robotized and we end up being used and abused.  Tired, angry and discouraged.

I remember in fundraising development, clamouring for the same $$$$ that 100 other charities were vying for.  One gentleman of considerable means said, with justifiable frustration, “I just have to say “no” once in a while or I won’t have anything to live on in my old age!”  (Fortunately, he didn’t say no to the charity I worked for).

The tendency to get multiple balls in the air at one time is even more tempting when we have the skills, talents and abilities it takes to do so!  When multiple opportunities present themselves and all need what we have to give, our ‘ego’ often says, “Yea, it needs me!”

And that is particularly true once we’ve reached a level of ’seasoning’ that is commensurate with entering the 2nd half of the journey.  As we move further on the path of wisdom and maturity - the more likely we are to be called on to get involved in too much ’stuff’ - albeit positive ’stuff’.

And then there are those of us who thrive on juggling. Who when the going gets tough and we want to moan “oh woe is me”; have to remind ourselves that it was our choice!

So, since we’ve been talking about doing our end-of-year assessments and planning for a new year; perhaps one of the things we might want to consider is what motivates us to get involved in too many positive things.  Once we’ve got a ‘handle’ on the why; then we probably can successfully avoid repeat performances of same in the coming year!

Well, it all sounds good, doesn’t it!

Until tomorrow, have an AWESOME evening with much love and rich blessings!

  Linda