MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

WHAT HAPPENED TO CHRISTMAS CHEER?!?

I have been holding a burning desire within myself for the past 24 hours. It has been smoldering within me as I travel through the business of my life, just waiting for an opportunity to stop and process what is on my mind. Of course the extremely dreary, gray day with the torrential down-pour adds nothing to lift the state of being that I currently reside in. In fact, as I write this, the sky is growing ever more blacker, and the rain is literally pounding on the skylights in my office loft.

I shall forge on regardless.............Yesterday, I followed my morning routine of breakfast, coffee and the Cincinnati Enquirer prior to jumping into my work day and noted the very depressing headlines that were screaming out in large black type just one week before Christmas. Given the already worrying conditions in this country, having all four lead articles spew out doom was very distressing. Here they are:

• CHRYSLER, FORD IDLING US PLANTS
• NEARLY HALF OF HOMES IN COUNTY FALL IN VALUE
• LAGGING SALES CANCEL 1 'NUTCRACKER' PERFORMANCE
• OHIO OKs ELECTRIC RATE CUT- FOR NOW

Then the news about Keri Shryock's death during the first Christmas performance of "Awakening" at the Crossroads Community Church was just too much. This young woman, a graduate student at my alma mater, Xavier University, had found community within this mega non-denominational church that does so much good for the local community and abroad. She was a performer in the show and fell 30 feet to her death (see earlier post). Reports from her friends show that she was a wonderful, caring, young woman who was truly making a difference in this world. A difference that is sorely needed given the above headlines that are morphing in various forms on every front page of every major city in this country. My prayers are with her family and friends as they go through this difficult period of loss. My hope is that her spirit of giving will live on in the many lives that she has touched and that these people will go on to pay it forward and touch other lives.

The message of Christmas is all about love: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Let's remember why we are celebrating December 25th and focus on the good that is going on in our lives.

• BANISH THE DARKNESS FROM YOUR LIFE
• DO SOMETHING TO IMPACT ANOTHER PERSON IN A POSITIVE WAY
  
• BE THANKFUL FOR ALL THE BLESSINGS THAT YOU DO HAVE
  

Despite the picture of bleakness that the media never ceases to remind us of, there are many rays of sunshine: just look for them closely, or go create some like Kerry did in her short life-time. And please add Keri's family to your prayers.

God Bless!

SANTA INFLUENCES MY LIFE-LONG DREAM

SANTA INFLUENCES MY LIFE-LONG DREAM

“Making a difference” has always been my mantra, yet age, wisdom and stage in life have united to bring me to the point where I can now take greater action. It is time for me to move beyond my family and community; beyond the individual lives that I have impacted. I have felt a calling, actually a very large magnetic pull towards some type of greater difference for a while now, but had felt limited due to lack of surplus funds. Sure it would be great to have a fully funded foundation to make donations to worthy causes that I believe in, but I think that a lofty plan like that has to have a simple start. The simple start is the major “ah ha” or awakening that I have just experienced. If I silence the call due to thinking that I am limited in doing my heart’s work, then I will live a life unfulfilled, not being able to use the strengths and talents that I have been given to exact change in the world around me.

Two recent events have come together in my life to put me back on the path to realizing the whisper of my dreams. The first occurred Monday night when I participated in the CEO-ACT seminar. After listening to veteran financier Steve Klumb, SVP of National Bank, I realized that there are funds out there for all kinds of endeavors. I look at my friend and fellow XU MBA alum, Brian Siegel, who also is quite passionate about making a difference and I see that beyond his volunteer roles, and positions on foundation boards, he has stepped up to the plate to create his own foundation and to gather a team of people who can help him reach his goals.

The turning point for me was the front page article in today’s 11/19/08 Enquirer with the headline: “This year, Santa needs some Christmas cheer”. The picture of Bill Zapf, Sr. as Santa is the absolutely most realistic picture of Santa I have ever seen in my life and the look on his face of such concern amidst the wonder and magic of Christmas is so clearly evident. Enquirer writer, Cliff Radel, reports that Bill has been “playing” Santa for 37 years, decorating his North College Hill home with a bazillion lights and holiday decorations and donning his “uniform” to stand outside, no matter the weather, to wave at passing cars and hand out candy canes. He said it all began when he was young, and his large family of 8 could not afford to put up lots of decorations and light displays. His father would pile the whole family into their station wagon and drive through the Cincinnati neighborhoods looking at the Christmas magic displayed in other people’s yards. Bill wanted to create that same magic for the families of his neighborhood and thus his display and nearly four decade run as Santa was born.

The Enquirer photo shows Bill with that look of concern because he won’t be out in front of his brightly lit house this Christmas season spreading the cheer that will most certainly be needed more than in any other year. Bill won’t be there, because he has pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly forms of cancer there is. Bill isn’t concerned about himself or the pain he is going through; he is concerned that he won’t be able to personally make a difference in the lives of the people who will be passing by his house this holiday season. He won’t have the strength to stand outside; to lift his arm in a huge wave; to voice a boisterous “ho, ho, ho”; to hand out small canes of red, and white striped candy. In this time of personal challenge, he cares more about others than himself. The Enquirer quoted Bill as saying, “Tell everybody, my prayers go out to them…and if they can say a prayer, say one for me.”

My prayers are with Bill as he takes this final journey and with his family as they help him through it and work to keep his dream of making a difference alive in North College Hill.

His story has had such a profound effect on me and is the last tiny key that unlocks the restrictions on my ability to give of myself in a greater way. Now I take this knowledge with the solid idea that nothing can stop me from achieving my heart’s work. Nothing. Because in the end, doing what you are called to do is what life is really all about.