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Selfless Leadership.
Leadership is hard, you guys. š I canāt attribute all of my life changes to leadership specifically, but it has played a very large role in shaping my perspective and how I interact/think of others. Not only have I become a more assertive communicator, but I have heightened self-awareness, higher emotional intelligence, and a much bigger ābig pictureā approach when analyzing most situations. It feels like I am constantly making (big and small) sacrifices for the benefit of others, often with little to no reward. But then, I got to thinking about Jesus. And living impeccably. My assumption was that living impeccably makes life easier; that there would be more happiness. But thatās not really the case. Life has definitely…
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Strength.
I was recently asked, āWhat makes you feel strong?ā The question caught me off-guard, and I did a quick analysis of my life. I thought about my job, being a volunteer, public speaking, relationships, travel, the programs Iāve been part of, the opportunities Iāve had, and being a leader. Without much conscious thought, I replied, āI feel strongest in my weakest moments.ā Then I got caught off-guard by my own response, and Iāve been thinking about it since. Iām realizing how true the statement is. There have been times where I am curled up in a ball, crying, feeling every piece of my heart break š, experiencing extremely deep hurts that translate into actual…
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Worth.
Normally, when I want something, I go after it to make it happen.Ā Ā The problem is that sometimes you can only go so far until other people play a part in whether or not you can achieve your desired outcome.Ā Ā I can work my ass off to get into a program, but I cannot force the board to choose me.Ā Ā I can put forth the effort in a relationship, but I cannot force the other person to reciprocate.Ā Ā At some point, you have to analyze whether or not the things you want are actually worthy of your desire. Sometimes this means walking away from something that you really want. I recently made the decision…
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Loneliness.
Why is it that loneliness seems to be an unacceptable sentiment in our society? Is it because we are social animals, and so long as we are around people we shouldn’t be lonely? What I think is ironic about this is that I’m willing to bet WAY more people feel lonely than are willing to admit. (And I’m not a gambler, I am that confident with my odds here.) People tend to generalize emotions. I am victim of this too. I recently talked to a mentor/friend, and she said to me, “Lacy, you keep coming back to the injustices.” Internally, I was like, “Cool”, š (in one ear and out…
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Melancholy.
Melancholy is defined as a ādepression of spiritsā or a āpensive mood.ā I want to focus on the former definition, because I feel like thatās exactly what weāre experiencing as humans right now. At least, I am. In BrenĆ© Brownās new podcast, she talks with David Kessler on grief and finding meaning. Kessler says that grief comes after loss. That loss can be anything of significance to the individual. He points out that during this pandemic, we could list a 100 different things that we have lost: our social lives, our ability to converge in public, physical touch (as simple as a handshake), and the big one: the world as…
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Emotional.
Remember when I wrote about listening to the wrong podcast episode of The Happiness Lab that prompted the post Sharing is Caring? Well, I finally listened to the episode that was originally recommended for me to listen to. It was called āDonāt Think of the White Bear.ā I donāt even remember why this specific episode was recommended to me by a colleague. I think we were talking about how emotions are contagious. But what I took away from the episode was actually justification to my feelings in the post Let Me Be. Turns out, the best way to get over our emotions is to fully embrace them, while weāre feeling…