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Like Him

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Like Him –

I spent most of last week helping a friend clean up and prepare her yard for winter. There were other friends helping. On Friday, there were several trailer and truck full of limbs, trees, and yard debris. Almost everyone had a truck so we teamed up and began taking loads to the local Refuse and Recycle Center. There was a dump designated for yard trash and my partner and I pulled up and began unloading. There was a lot to put in the dumpster and towards the bottom of the pile I bent down to pick up a dropped limb and when I stood back up my partner was gone! I looked to see if he was in the truck ready to leave, if he’d fallen, or what happened. Then I spotted him. He was at another dumpster over helping an elderly couple with their trash. I hadn’t even seen them but he did and left to offer aid. I was impressed by his sight and his willingness to serve even as he was serving someone else. Even now my heart is warmed by his empathy.

I’ve decided, even though I’m almost 50 as I grow up I want to be like him.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
For more posts, reflections and other writings please visit: http://www.thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #belikehim, #blessings, #elderly, #empathy, #friend, #growup, #heart, #helping, #impressed, #LikeHim, #offeraid, #partner, #posts, #reflections, #serve, #serving, #sight, #spotted, #teamedup, #unloading, #warmed, #willingness, #www.thewannabesaint.com, @BrianLoging, Writings

Black and White

Jun 27

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Black and White –

Last night I had the privilege to be the representative of our company as a partner with our local Housing Authority at their annual Family Night. It was fun, festive and hot! There was a balloon obstacle course, face painting, lots to eat, door prizes and giveaways. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

My booth was to inform families, moms, caregivers and especially dads how important it is for children to develop a love of reading. We had free books, zip line book bags, and special gifts for a lucky few. As I met countless people and watched the afternoon turn into evening it was nice to see people of all shades and colors coming together. It was also great to see community organizations, churches, other agencies give of themselves to a common cause.

There is much division in our families, neighborhoods, communities, nation, and world. Everyone sees things as black and white, one side or the other, friend or enemy and it seems there is no common cause to gather around. I wish I knew what that cause could be or how to make people drop their raised fists and shake one another’s hand. The world isn’t black and white. It never has been but this doesn’t mean we can’t come together if we have the eyes to see.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #agencies, #black, #blackandwhite, #blessings, #children, #childrens, #churches, #cometogether, #commoncause, #communities, #communityorganizations, #countlesspeople, #develop, #division, #droptheirraisedfists, #enemy, #enjoythemselves, #eyestosee, #families, #friend, #gatheraround, #give, #greattosee, #important, #inform, #makepeople, #nation, #needs, #neighborhoods, #oneside, #partner, #peoples, #privilege, #representative, #shakehands, #thewannabesaint.com, #white, @BrianLoging, Family, World

Investing

Feb 28

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Investing –

This morning I had a meeting with another community organization. I was presenting a new opportunity to work with fathers in our area and hoped they would help us. I have presented ideas, data, skills and a host of other information, to more organizations and ministries than I can count. I’ve never been asked to leave or had a bad experience but have had the occasional person I was talking to be looking at their phone, out the window or at their watch. Those presentations and discussion following seem to drag on forever. I’ve also had the organization be excited about the opportunity to partner with us. Most, however, are somewhere in the middle.

Today’s meeting was the exception because the woman whom I was meeting with was excited and had some great ideas as to how we could make part of our plan work at her location. She paid attention, listened intently, took notes, asked questions and made me feel welcomed and not rushed to finish so she could start doing something else. In other words, she was fully present in our time together. It was awesome.

It was a great reminder the difference we can make in other people’s lives if we invest our time, our kindness, our respect, and our lives in theirs.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #another, #area, #asked, #askedquestions, #attention, #awesome, #bad, #blessings, #data, #difference, #discussion, #drag, #exception, #excited, #experience, #fathers, #finish, #following, #forever, #fully, #great, #greatideas, #help, #hoped, #host, #ideas, #information, #intently, #invest, #investing, #kindness, #leave, #listened, #lives, #location, #looking, #meeting, #ministries, #occasional, #opportunity, #organization, #organizations, #paidattention, #part, #partner, #person, #plan, #present, #presenting, #reminder, #respect, #rushed, #skills, #thewannabesaint.com, #together, #welcomed, #work, @BrianLoging, Community

Often Wrong, Never in Doubt

Jan 27

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

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Often Wrong, Never in Doubt –

This afternoon I watched an episode of a Netflix six-part series on greed called; “Dirty Money” (http://collider.com/dirty-money-trailer-netflix-alex-gibney-martin-shkreli/). The series exposes a few of the most corrupt people and companies in the world.

The episode I saw today was; “DRUG SHORT.” It’s an exposé on Wall Street short-sellers and how they exposed a scam that regulators often overlook, mainly how Big Pharma gouges patients in need of life-saving drugs. It was heartbreaking and infuriating as it made the case that when Wall Street and pharmaceutical companies partner together corruption is sure to result. Greed, profits are why drugs can jump up in price from $15.00 a pill to thousands of dollars. Bottom line it’s about how much money is made for the companies and investors.

During the documentary, someone described another person as; “often wrong but never in doubt.” I’d never heard that phrase before but it’s stuck with me. I’ve wondered how often it pertains to me and to others. In the documentary is referred to investors and the difficulty of playing hunches in the stock market. It also included the companies and their desire to grow bigger by taking risky partnerships with unscrupulous people.

I reflected on our world and how many of us are so sure of our opinions and we never consider another’s point of view. We provide litmus tests for others’ beliefs and if they fail we shake our heads and move on to someone else who’s more like us. I heard another phrase this week that I’d heard before but it was no less potent and true; “If you’re the smartest person in the room. If everyone in the room agrees with you, you’re in the wrong room.”

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: ##DRUGSHORT, #agrees, #beliefs, #bigger, #BigPharma, #blessings, #Bottomline, #case, #companies, #consider, #corrupt, #Corruption, #described, #desire, #difficulty, #DirtyMoney, #documentary, #dollars, #doubt, #drugs, #episode, #exposé, #exposed, #exposes, #fail, #gouges, #greed, #grow, #heads, #heartbreaking, #hunches, #included, #infuriating, #investors, #jump, #life-saving, #litmus, #money, #move, #Netflix, #never, #often, #OftenWrongNeverinDoubt, #opinions, #overlook, #partner, #partnerships, #patients, #pertains, #pharmaceutical, #phrase, #pill, #playing, #pointofview, #potent, #price, #profits, #provide, #referred, #reflected, #regulators, #result, #risky, #room, #scam, #series, #shake, #short-sellers, #six-part, #smartest, #stockmarket, #stuck, #tests, #thousands, #true, #unscrupulous, #WallStreet, #wondered, #wrong, World

Stripped

Jul 18

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Stripped –

Death is the great equalizer. As the old proverb states; “King or pauper, rich or poor, famous and infamous, all end up in a box in the ground.”

Many faiths and wisdom teachers make a bold declaration that; “death is not the end of the journey but the start of a new one.” Yet, many are scared of this final destination all must face, accept and experience.

Death does indeed strip away all of the illusions and lies we tell ourselves. If allowed, it can bring us a sense of thankfulness and peace instead of dread and anxiety. Death comes for all. Some go kicking and screaming others with an embrace of that which we cannot outrun.

Death can also strip away our excuses, narrow our focus, help us find our purpose. When death is our company on the way it is either a reminder of compromise and wastefulness or determination and simplicity.

We should not fear death but welcome it daily as a silent partner who helps us truly live.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #accept, #anxiety, #compromise, #death, #determination, #embrace, #experience, #illusions, #journey, #kickingandscreaming, #lies, #life, #partner, #stripped, #thankfulness, #theway, #wastefulness, #welcome, purpose, simplicity

Essentialist and Wannabesaint

Essentialist, contemplative, author, advocate, old soul

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Like Him

Black and White

Investing

Often Wrong, Never in Doubt

Stripped

Essentialist and Wannabesaint

Essentialist, contemplative, author, advocate, old soul

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