The Weird and Wonderful.........

One of the synonyms for strange is weird and wonderful. My yesterday post left me feeling pretty let down; I guess that is what estranged will do to you. But today out of estranged I found strange. Strange is much more uplifting……..because it is weird and wonderful! Today these three articles floated across my desk and have helped me move away from estranged and on to strange, the weird and wonderful.

The first one from a John G. Miller "Quick Note" (QBQ!) talking about Personal Accountability. John says, "Life teaches us all—whether we’re a child, a teen, or an adult—that we cannot control what other people say and do, or most events occurring around us. The only thing we really have control over is ourselves. And this is exactly why personal accountability is so critical, and why people and organizations who demonstrate accountability stand out. In truth, there actually are reasons things go awry: people make mistakes, the ball gets dropped, stuff happens. Life can be complicated, confusing, and complex. Because of this, any one of us on any given day could go on and on with “reasons.” But when we attempt to exonerate ourselves with explanations, all they sound like are excuses—and, of course, that’s all they really are. What we need to do, instead, is look to ourselves and ask, “What can I do?” and get to work solving the problem. In other words, practice personal accountability."  I believe Personal Accountability is huge!

The second one was from a blog I follow.  Sherrie's blog today compared quilts and people.  She said, "One of the first things I was taught is that when picking out the materials to be used in a patchwork quilt the most important thing is contrast. You need dark materials and light materials. You need various patterns. If every square were exactly the same, the quilt wouldn’t be very interesting. It is the contrast between the patterns and colors and intensity that make a patchwork quilt beautiful. The same is true of people. The strength that comes as we gather in congregations or families is brought about by contrast not sameness. If we all had the same opinions or experiences or thought processes there would be no synergy. But because we are all different, when we come together we each add something to the whole—we make it better and more interesting."  I believe that being different doesn't make you right or wrong, it just makes you different and differences are what makes the world go round!

Lastly an article from the New York Times came to me via email.  The article was entitled "The Secret to Having Happy Employees."  The statement in the article that caught my eye was, "I have learned the long, hard and frustrating way that as a manager you cannot make everyone happy. You can try, you can listen, you can solve some problems, you can try some more. Good management requires training, counseling and patience, but there comes a point when you are robbing the business of precious time and energy."  This is a great article and so true, you simply cannot make everyone happy.

Isn't it strange that these three articles surfaced today........it is a weird and wonderful thing!