Paying Attention

Have you ever paid a compliment to someone? I have many times. It's very common to do verbally. But have you ever stopped to think what a compliment is or what’s offensive? I'm willing to bet we don't think much about it. Most people don't associate compliments with knowing who a person is because it viewed as something external for the most part. From that perspective compliments would seem superficial right? My immediate thoughts were yes. But after careful thinking I realize that for deeper more meaningful compliment if you will, we use the term honor and several other adjectives. Well if you honor someone you have to know something about them; you move past the superficial and get to the substance. Hmmm

We honor people all year long. But I want to challenge you and the next time you do stop and have a conversation to go a bit deeper and truly seek to find out about the person behind the name. Why would one do that? I often make a point to build relationships or explore meaningful conversations with others. It occurred to me that sometimes we honor or better yet have relationships with people that we don't know anything about. The problem on a personal scale is that we never really took the time to do so.

We talk about love all the time but it’s so important that it's not a superficial vehicle used to wander away from the matters of the heart. I think it's important because if nothing more you can say I went the extra mile or miles to understand someone. Some don't value this extra step but it's says a lot about the manner in which you honor others.

Just thinking...

And while I’m thinking this early morn, I wanted to encourage you reaffirm your purpose over the next couple days. Go into the New Year with open arms to embrace new opportunities and experiences that will improve your life. Don’t relinquish this year to empty nothings but go forth ready to take the next step. If you’ve laid a foundation, developed ideas and concepts expect those things to bloom. It may start small but eventually it will bloom to something wonderful. Getting to know you is just as important as it is in getting to know others. In fact it’s helpful. Marvel at the idea of having purpose and a vision. Hey, just so you know, I’ll be putting this in practice as well and building on vision and the quality of my life.

Just sharing…