LIGHT LIVING LIFE IN THE FRONT VIEW
Why look in the rearview mirror to see what’s behind you when you can look straight ahead? Look up, look out, look around...simply look out front. Back in 2013, I wrote a poem titled, “Living Life in the Rearview,” as I wrote I reflected on the past and tried my hardest to focus on the present day and look towards the future. Some days I was spending too much time thinking about the past with all the should haves, could haves, and would haves. LIVING LIFE IN THE REARVIEW Drifting through the day squinting to see ahead The view is blurry, I can't see, I try Slowly I turn around to look behind me and focus on where I have tread Living life in the rearview, why? Days continue to pass and weeks drift by Sitting by myself, longing to be a part of something Outsiders see me not knowing my heart and passions Living life in the rearview, why? Questioning if I should open the doors to new On one side, I feel sorrow and on the other side, I yearn to know about tomorrow A quick look back one more time at yesterday No longer living life in the rearview…making the decision today to live life in the front. How do we embrace the past, stay engaged in the present and look forward to tomorrow? How do we use lessons learned to make better decisions, build strong communities, and create a vision for tomorrow? There will be times when leaders find themselves wondering about their purpose. True leaders learn from their past and set their eyes on the future. When we take lessons from the past, we are able to gain insight about the future while we learn more about who we are becoming. We are able to be a light that sharpens our purpose. We then have the capacity to pursue our purpose passionately to positively contribute in our families, friend groups, organizations and world. There is always time that is meant to be, we embrace the past and spend time today being responsible for tomorrow. If we respond appropriately to the seasons of our life, we will receive enjoyment by living out our purpose. Look ahead.
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“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” “You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” “the true price of leadership is the willingness to place the needs of others above your own. - Simon Sinek (Author of Leaders Eat Last) This quote really resonated with me this week. We are unable to accomplish goals and purpose without the help of others. I have learned so much this week from people in my personal and professional life. From working with colleagues to review risk management plans for a campus recreation facility; to sharing the important work we do to create healthy communities; to connecting with church family to help with an upcoming community wide event in our city; to meeting with a group of higher education professionals to develop a workshop to enhance unity within a division; to meeting with the son of a colleague and friend about pursuing a doctoral degree. Pulling together and inspiring each other should be our goal. Yes, this is idealistic, However, what would the world look like if we had more people igniting someone’s light versus dimming it. Perhaps the solution is pulling people up, pulling people in, and pulling people together no matter your position or their position to make change happen. We can have our own personal agenda but imagine if we collectively came together to shine even brighter to make the world we live in a better place. To do this we have to take a leap of faith and be vulnerable believing we can trust those around us. What responsibilities do each of us have at the table to accomplish the goal at hand. People want to be trusted, they want responsibility and to simply be valued. Simon Sinek’s book titled Leaders Eat Last dives into this romanticized idea being of vulnerable and trusting. Here is a quick video of him breaking this down. When we inspire others by empowering and trusting we have the capacity to do so much more than our own agenda. With this in mind, I thank all those who I have had the opportunity to shine light alongside of. And to say thank you for shining your light with me on the days that my light is dim.
The ability to share our light with others gives us power beyond measure to pull together to shine light together. Unlock Your Best Light & Shine Brighter Why is it that we are encouraged to do more to shine brighter, we must do, do, do...accomplish, accomplish, accomplish...influence, influence, influence. All these things have us swirling leading us to be overwhelmed and anxious. I’ve always struggled with anxiety from a young age trying to perform with a goal of perfection only to make the moment more stressful. People can see you on the outside and think she’s got it all together but on the inside your bubbling over. Over time I have developed tactics for personal wellbeing to assist in overcoming feelings of anxiety. I still have days when my feelings of anxiousness take over. Once I was able to find strategies for mindfulness I found I was more productive with centering myself each day. When my day provides more time I typically will write in my journal, listen to worship music or a message from a favorite pastor, or I’ll engage in physical activity. However, some days there are fewer minutes in the day and I needed to find other methods for times off feeling overwhelmed. In the blog titled 22 Mindfulness Exercises, Techniques and Activities for Adults there are a variety of strategies shared for mindfulness. One that I use quite often is called the 3-minute Breathing Space (excerpt from Positive Psychology Blog):
The activity helps me to reduce feelings of anxiousness and refocus on the task at hand. But let’s be honest, some days are better than others. I believe now my ability to catch myself in moments of anxiousness is more prominent and I can acknowledge when I need to make a choice that will benefit my health. Here is a quick video blog I posted earlier that shines some light on my initial thoughts regarding the potential to unlock our best light. It is important to acknowledge that there can be times when it is hard to be mindful on our own and we need to seek help. When we are in a depressed state or suffer from extreme anxiety it can be hard but important to acknowledge outside help as a priority.
How does all this doing create more anxiety and unhealthy behaviors? “For leaders who are working in stressful situations (Andrea et al., 2009), this greater mindfulness enables them to view situ- ations “for what they really are” without rumination or worry of past or future negative events. Rather than being mindless and frantic, present moment awareness and attention allows the leader to focus on the issue at hand, not on the problems that may arise, or have previously arisen. This allows leaders to fa- cilitate reflective choices to situations that in total benefit their mental health outcomes and well-being” (Roche, Haar, & Luthans, 2014, p. 477). My hope for all of us is to find mindful strategies that work best for us. To be mindful versus anxious is a lifelong project. There will be good days and days we fail miserably. However, if we have a personal wellbeing toolbox that meets our individual needs we will be more likely to unlock our light and shine brighter. Wave Your Light Like You Do Care “A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” - James Keller I care I don’t care I care I don’t care Sometimes we care and sometimes we really don’t care. What does the message of saying “I don’t care” send? Positive or negative? I believe as leaders it is vital to care. Caring is a significant part of exhibiting leadership. I started thinking early this week about how important it is as a leader to express care for others. Here is a quick video blog that I shared to get us all thinking about...CARE! Before I ask you how you care for others, I want you to think of a time that you were cared for. Take a few minutes to search your memory bank.
Got one? In that moment of someone caring for you what did you feel? How did you respond? (Willing to share, drop me a comment). In some instances we may first jump to the intent of why a person is caring for us. What is their motive? What are they wanting from me? They don’t really care about me. Are you trying to be brave and telling the person you do not need their care? Is your inner voice saying I got this, I can do it all on my own. Are you trying to control everything and not let someone in to help? Would if we let someone care about us? Even the most unlikely person. I’ve thrown more questions out about caring this week because I think all of us need to reflect on the idea of care a bit more. Yes, I believe in being strong, brave and resilient but would if we let our guard down a little. If we are more attentive to others we give each other space to be vulnerable which then leads others to have the capacity to grow. . . Truly caring for those we lead we will: Encourage them Build confidence in them Support them Empower them I leave you with the following questions: How will you create space to care for others? How will you pay attention to those who are creating space to show you kindness and concern without thinking there is a hidden agenda? Please share, I would love for you to share your ideas and strategies. We will come back to the concept of CARE in a future post. But for now go out there into the world and wave your light like you do care! FREEDOM TO SHINE YOUR LIGHT BY LOVING PEOPLE
“Friends can help each other. A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself – and especially to feel. Or, not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them. That’s what real love amounts to – letting a person be what he really is” - Jim Morrison Do I have freedom from friends to be my true self? Freedom to:
Freedom can be easy and difficult to define. Today’s Cara Lucia, Friendly Light post I dedicate to friends who give me total freedom to be my true self. Above The above list short and it initially started with more than 10. I had a list of 20 and started talking to myself…Cara, Cara, Cara let’s stop at 10, geez. Number 10 was actually number 20 initially on my list. As I came upon “Simply Love People,” I came to the realization that my freedom to love people is the most important, my number 1. Freedom to:
Recently in a message at church, my pastor shared with us that if you want to make a difference you must have LOVE (1 Corinthians 13). Many times, we strictly confine LOVE to relationships with partners (for example, 1 Corinthians 13 is shared during many wedding ceremonies, I think at the time I truly didn’t understand the meaning of LOVE, yes, LOVE is kind, LOVE is patient….but at 22 years old I don’t think I truly understood that LOVE should be shared with everyone). How amazing would our world be if we chose to simply LOVE people (I think about times I may have not chosen to act from a place of LOVE and I lost an opportunity to give someone LOVE – how might a situation turned out differently?). If someone gives you the freedom to be your true self, that’s LOVE right? 1 Corinthians 13 tells us: The Way of Love 13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. During the 4th of July celebrations of our freedom I ask you to ponder the following questions:
I am thankful this 4th of July for all we receive from our friends: the freedom to be our true selves. I thank you all for LOVING me so that I have the ability to share LOVE with others. I choose to simply LOVE people. Light Patiently Living without the Pressure to Perform Cara Lucia, Cara Lucia, Cara Lucia…I remember as a child hearing people close to me call for me using my first and middle name. As I reflect over the past year of writing my blog, I continue to remind myself to patiently live without the pressure to perform. Born Cara Lucia Wise, my parents Elizabeth Wayland and James Wise gave me the name "Cara Lucia" standing for "Friendly Light", my name is the inspiration for my work to share with others the importance of sharing the light we are given. To share the idea of imperfection, failure and resiliency. As an educator and a mother, I believe we have a responsibility to teach our children, students, peers, colleagues, friends, and family members to have difficult conversations. We must engage in community and know that change does not come to fruition without making mistakes and learning from those mistakes to create positive change in our personal and professional life. It is not about perfection; it is about taking risks, being resilient and contributing to what truly matters. I believe in using personal and professional life experiences as a tool to help guide others through personal and professional development opportunities. Sharing stories creates connection and gives us the opportunity to embrace continuous learning and development of ourselves. Throughout my life, I have had opportunities to meet many individuals that influenced my own growth and development such as teachers, friends, mentors, employers, colleagues, and students. Through my engagement in higher education and community service endeavors, I have learned the importance of teamwork and sharing knowledge. I want to give back in a way that will benefit others in their own personal growth and development as so many have done for me. Friendly Light, Cara Lucia is as much of a personal journey as it is a professional one. In the past year, I have had to be extremely patient with the process and myself. There were days I didn’t have the time to write, I questioned what I was writing about, I debated with myself if I should continue due to the lack of resources I have and on and on. I decided that I owe myself the right to be patient and instead of worrying about what doesn’t go right it is better to step right into the risk to be imperfect, to fail and to illuminate resilience. Taking on something new as well as putting yourself out into the world by being vulnerable can bring on self-induced pressure. Not only your internal dialogue but also the voices of others who share with you what you should or should not be doing. Your internal voice and the voice of others pressure you to respond in a certain way. The choice to select patience over pressure will undoubtedly determine how you will perform. If I choose patience, I will be more likely to fulfill a goal. If I listen to the pressure I will more likely worry, be anxious and intimidated by the task I am trying to accomplish. If we… 1. Select Patience: we have an ability to tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious during the process for achieving our purpose. 2. Feel Pressure from ourself and others: we listen to persuasion, influence, or intimidation that makes us feel we have to respond or act in a certain way. The pressure may hinder us from accomplishing our goal because we are not patient with the process or the timing for what we hope to accomplish. 3. Perform for Our Purpose: we will carry out, accomplish, or fulfill our purpose. When we do fulfill a goal, we are able to reflect back about the process of how we got where we are. The way we accomplish this is by living patiently without the pressure to perform. In all honesty, I daily have to check my patience meter. Let’s be real this is true for all of us. If we catch ourselves in the moment when we become impatient we will be more likely to acknowledge that what is really happening is the self-induced pressure to perform or the perceived pressure we feel from others to perform. As I step back into video blogging and writing my blog, I wanted to share an example of how my patience meter continues to fluctuate with changing my name from Cara Wise McFadden to Cara Lucia. Yes, it sounds simple, but isn’t it sometimes the simplest of things that can get us wrapped up in the impatient game. Here is a video blog from Wednesday highlighting the name change and kicking off this year of my work. As I finalize the steps to change my name officially to Cara Lucia, I know I will continue to hit delays. I believe by the end of July my name will change through all of the processes of the federal and state government. Once that is complete there will be more hurdles to jump and setbacks as I change my name for bills, passport, driver’s license, emails…okay I am starting to feel anxious writing it all out.
Gradually, I’ll embrace that all things take time and I will catch myself in the moment of impatience to refocus on the task and know eventually it will come to fruition. I am excited to begin the second year of my Friendly Light Friday blog. The purpose of the blog is to share concepts to develop professional learning environments with intentional design founded in relationship building, strategic thinking, realistic goal development and human connection. My hope is to share concepts that anyone can use for their daily personal and professional lives. My hope is for readers to learn to embrace self-awareness through reflection, create methods for understanding the lens of others, and develop community through collaborative partnerships in the various environments we find ourselves in daily. Friendly Light, Cara Lucia continues to teach me patience on the daily, I have to remind myself to continue the work without the pressure to perform and embrace “Why” Friendly Light, Cara Lucia is important to me. The importance is simple…I want to inspire you to be your unique self because you already are. I want you to understand you have nothing to prove. Your only responsibility is to step into your purpose and use your purpose to build stronger communities that contribute to positive change. I look forward to sharing stories with you and intentional strategies to teach, explain, demonstrate and inspire. This makes learning both fun and memorable. I hope you share a story and you find yourself using it in your personal or professional life. "Be your unique self, embrace those who challenge and support your personal growth. Never compromise your passion for what others believe you should be. Always listen with an open heart and create space for intentional understanding." – Cara Lucia “Why” of My Light Why? “Why” is important to understand before getting into the “What” and “How” of what we choose to do. I am about to start the seventh week of my spring semester sabbatical at Elon University. It is a different feeling having time away from campus for creating, researching and travel. So far, during my sabbatical I have thought quite a bit about my “Why.” I shared with a close friend and colleague my upcoming thoughts about Friendly Light, Cara Lucia and plans for the next upcoming year. She shared with me a video titled “Know Your Why” by Michael Jr. When you know your why, your what has more impact, because you are walking in your purpose. – Michael Jr. “Why” do I study leadership, campus recreation, or higher education practice. “Why” do I find myself serving at my university, at my church, in my local community. “Why” is quality time with family and friends a must? “Why” do I do the things that I do? My “Why” is to inspire others to be their unique self, to embrace those who challenge and support their personal growth and to choose not to compromise passion for what others believe we should be. To always listen with an open heart and create a space for intentional understanding. I advocate for self-awareness and encourage others to create environments that use critical dialogue techniques to enhance team development and build strong communities. My “Why” flows through both my personal and professional life. When asked about how I do something or what I do, I consciously think about…do the things I do align with my “Why.” Life takes place each waking day, we achieve or we make it through the next challenge. With two and a half months left of my sabbatical I believe this is the first time in a long time that I have intentionally reflected on my “Why” and considered the past and present of my “How” and “What”. As I look to the future I will take this time to reflect on my “Why”, to determine “What” I will do next and “How” I will contribute. My “Why” is the foundation in all I do. In Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk titled, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” he demonstrates how others have known their “Why” and use their “Why” to inspire action. Once the “Why” is known by you and others, the “What” and “How” will begin to fall into place. Identifying your “Why” is important as a leader. You need to know your “Why” to inspire others. Don’t feel guilty taking time to reflect about your “Why.” Allow yourself time to reflect on your “Why” to make decisions about “What” you will choose to do and “How” you will choose to contribute. If you find yourself one day asking yourself…”Why,” perhaps it is time to stop, reflect, and repurpose the “What” and the “How.” Get to knowing your “Why” and get to work. With this in mind, I am taking time to think about my “Why” for the next three months, I will be sharing past blog posts and I will continue to work on writing projects primarily focused on research efforts. In June, be on the lookout for a few changes regarding “What I choose to do and “How” I choose to contribute to the world of authentic leadership by using Friendly Light, Cara Lucia as a catalyst. I want to thank so many of you for challenging me and supporting me throughout this first year of Friendly Light, Cara Lucia. I am excited to see where the light shines next. What good is it having a belly if there is no fire in it? Wake up, drink your passion, light a match and get to work. – Simon Sinek Shine Your Crazy Light For the past year and a half, I have worked closely with a dear friend and a woman who inspires me to do better and be better, her name is Mila Padgett. She also cuts through any bull**** and tells me what I need to hear as well as supports and challenges me. About five years ago, we started presenting at conferences regarding the concept of superwoman syndrome and that lead us to develop a research study to interview women in our field – campus recreation. By the end of this week, we will have interviewed close to 40 women ranging from the ages of 20 to 70. I am excited as we begin to wrap up our interviews. We are conducting a few this Friday, March 8, International Women’s Day. We will begin analyzing our data in April and throughout the summer. With any qualitative research, one must acknowledge their own bias as the person interviewing participants in a study. The term for this is reflexivity. Reflexivity is being aware of your own assumptions as the researcher who is responsible for constructing the study and asking the questions. My colleague and I selected the Leadership Labyrinth as the framework to use to assist us in interpreting the data. It is important to have a framework to provide a clear orientation and approach for the study. This will assist us in any bias or perception that we may bring to the study as we analyze the data by reflecting on our own experiences as women in our personal and professional life and how our experiences may lead to certain assumptions we make about a woman’s experience in the work place. We must take into consideration the intersections of identities that we bring into the study as well as giving voice to various identities held by the women we interview. As we finish up with our interviews this week I would like to share, a couple of concepts to have us think a bit deeper about a woman’s experience. One piece I continuously reflect on personally as I listen to women we interview is learning more about the seesaw effect of women balancing (however they select to do this) being agentic versus communal and the double bind (the double standard). Here is a brief summary for each concept. Agentic versus Communal Around the globe, there is an expectation for men to be agentic (assertive, dominant, competent, and authoritative) and women to be communal (warm, supportive, kind, and helpful) (Carli & Eagly, 2018). We expect men to be more agentic then communal, and because of this, many people believe that those who lead must be agentic and cannot be communal, wait what? Think about that for a few minutes. I mean if I think about people I work with, men and women I see many of them being both agentic and communal. However, if we know that most people will not perceive us a certain way, how does this influence how we might select to not be our authentic self in certain situations. Let’s be real it’s determining if I should be perceived as a b**** or as the person who brings the cupcakes. Why not have the opportunity to be both? Can women be both agentic and communal? And how does the narrative of leader and leadership need to evolve that it is not one or the other? And is there a specific leadership type based on gender? Hmmmmmm… Double Bind Because of facing the double bind, women experience a double standard. A woman is confronted with two choices of action creating a seesaw effect for how to respond. Research suggests that in many circumstances women must display more skill than men to be considered competent. This is only the surface; the double standard is compounded by cultural stereotypes regarding race and ethnicity (Carli & Eagly, 2018). In addition, the intersectionality of a woman’s identity needs additional research. There are many studies; one of the chapters below is a good starting point. However, even if we think of the various organizational structures, there is much for us to do to better understand implications for how women select certain jobs and potential leadership roles. Imagine that you had to make the case for a woman in your life (personal or professional connection) who holds a position of authority to male counterparts or is getting ready to take on a new leadership position. What would you say to the woman about her new role? What dialogue would you have with your male counterparts about the woman who daily faces challenges see sawing back and forth with the double bind? Some days as a woman you might feel crazy trying to figure out the best position to place yourself on the seesaw (which can make us feel crazy, right?). Have you ever had someone call you a crazy woman? I think many of us would say yes, I know I have. Meriam-Webster dictionary defines crazy as not mentally sound; marked by thought or action that lacks reason. Perhaps it is not that the woman is lacking reason, she is not meeting our expectation for how we believe she should behave as a woman. Many times growing up women are called crazy and it is typically a negative response. After seeing the Nike commercial with Serena Williams narrating last week I realized we (men and women) need to be intentional about changing the narrative of what it means to be a crazy woman. In honor of International Women’s Day today, March 8, 2019, I hope to inspire more and more women to be crazy, you know your crazy better than anyone else does: Be your authentically crazy self. A crazy light can shine by:
“It’s okay to be crazy and scared and brave at the same time” - Kelly Epperson References Carli, L.L. & Eagly, A.H. (2018). Leadership and gender. In the nature of leadership. Eds. J. Antonakis and D. Day. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Eagly, A.H. & Carli, L.L. (2007). Women and the labyrinth of leadership. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2007/09/women-and-the-labyrinth-of-leadership Cutting Strands from a Light
Hold on… Let go… Move forward… Do I need these long strands for my light to shine as intended? Inspired one day after getting off the phone with my mom I wrote a poem titled Lost Hair Tie. As I was talking with her on the phone, I was freaking out over finding my hair tie to go workout. As I felt my blood pressure build I rummaged through the car (under the front sent, the back seat, the console, the glove compartment), my mom tried to get my attention. Finally, I got quiet and listened to her trying to calm me down. I noticed, I took a deep breath and there the hair tie magically appeared on the gearshift. Sometimes we can feel the weight of our hair, wrapping itself around us taking our breath away – we gasp for air…and realize we need a hair tie. I wrote this poem that day after my mom and I started to laugh about my reaction to finding a hair tie. Lost Hair Tie In the midst of the chaos, little things are lost I pull out the comb that runs through my strands Slowly working my way through the entanglement Ouch, sometimes it hurts and other times it is smooth Days when I want to throw it all up and not worry Not having anything weighing down on my shoulders Because the time it takes to swoop the weight away It only returns to feel extremely heavy And when I need relief from the strands Wouldn't it figure, I lose my hair tie I thought this week about how I can sometimes hold onto things and struggle with letting things go. I have to decide when I need the hair tie to pull up the weight and when I need to take a bigger step and cut the strands off completely to start a new. Last fall I decided to cut eight inches of my hair off. I had been growing my hair out for over seven years. I really had an attachment to the long locks. One day in late September, I walked in to see my hair stylist and said I think it is time…to let it go…cut these strands from my light. During the first snip, I am sure I gasped. I had some moments of sadness, I missed my long ponytail and how my hair looked when I threw it up in a baseball cap. People close to me told me they liked the new look and many shared their love for long hair and couldn’t believe I chose to cut it off. First, we need to be bold, we have to decide when to hold on and when to let go. Being self-aware, we have the strength to make this decision on our own, to hold on or let go. Reflecting on our needs and determining if what’s been hanging around for years needs to stay around. Well, that day in September I chose to let go and work toward building something new. Sometimes it is just time to cut the strands of our light to move forward. Cutting strands from a light: 1. Builds capacity for trying something new. 2. Releases the weight of the past. 3. Brings a new perspective. 4. Focuses on here and now. 5. Embraces the future. Yes, I used a simplistic metaphor to describe the struggle with deciding to hold on or let go. Take some time this upcoming week to consider what strands need cutting from your light to enhance your shine. What is worth holding on to and what is worth letting go of to move forward? “Holding on is believing that there’s only a past; letting go is knowing there’s a future.” – Daphne R. Kingma A Light’s Flame Elevates Others
How do we encourage others to run toward our light versus making them run in the opposite direction? Why do we walk away instead of run towards their light? If we shared our light with one another, we might get the warmth we truly need. Instead we choose to hesitate. Maybe it’s because we don’t feel worthy to receive the warmth from others because we believe they will not share it with us. Instead of stepping in closer we select to walk by and not even engage. We might choose to not engage with someone because we feel that we do not have the same status. Or because we believe there is nothing we can gain from engaging with certain individuals. Would if...we stepped into another’s flame and embraced their warmth no matter the size of their flame (or status). The status of our flame does not determine how much we gain from someone with a flame that has recently started to burn to a flame that is striking high and hot. Maybe we are guarding our own flame and holding onto our flame so tightly that we choose not to share even a view of it with others. Would if...we gave others the space to get close to our flame, the door then opens giving an opportunity to breathe life into us and make our flame stronger. The breath someone shares into our flame gives us the capacity to reciprocate the breath they shared with us by giving the right amount of oxygen to ignite their flame. Daily we are given the opportunity to elevate others. If this is true, how might we use our flame to elevate someone else? “Leadership is not always about your power, it's all about your ability to empower, encourage, and elevate others.” - Farshad Asl |
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