What’s Gone Well Today? ®
Here’s an easy way to recognize others… and in turn change how we look at our day, and our life.
When has someone made your day with the service they’ve given, or something they’ve said or done for you? Sharing these moments may inspire others. They lift the spirit!
On another note asking someone What’s Gone Well Today? ®, becomes life-changing. Conversations have a fresh, inspiring perspective.
In the larger picture our tools help individuals and organizations become more empathetic. We would love to hear from you! Please share an experience that’s gone well in your day.
So much puppy love
Dog sitting, Jean Luc for my daughter. He was a lovely addition/ focus. He encouraged me to explore new areas of town, and be more curious.. texted a friend with a young child asking if he’d like some puppy love. It worked out really well.
Then I went for a walk in their neighbourhood and saw three people with their two dogs in a lacrosse box. Great, contained place for dog socialization. JL loved it. Some of his best dog time yet!
Taking opportunities to spend moments with folks who folks who value harmony in their lives…
There’s a very quiet fellow at church.. who sings beautifully. During a hymn I moved over and sang beside him, Loni sang on the other side of him.. This fellow likes singing the tenor parts.. For the next hymn someone else moved over as well.. It felt like we were in a wonderful bubble, rewarded for moving out of the ‘rows’… This singer moved out as well .. and joined this rough semi circle.
Later when I wrote him to thank him for this shift, he wrote, ‘ Harmony can’t be achieved with only one person.’
Walked through Oak Bay with my daughter and her puppy. Ended up along the southern waterfront. So gorgeous. Interesting to hear that a quality dog to dog interaction is 11 minutes. Few other owners are willing to stand still for this. It was interesting to witness a few canine social moments though. Dogs only have so much patience with an upstart. I love that these walks can be daily if I want. Amazingly insightful and beautiful.
When solving a problem, or trying to understand a situation, finding a key word , a core concept makes all the difference. I was trying to scan a document and was getting no where. Screen hang up. Soon I realized that I had recently updated my operating system. I did some google searches but found no answers. Several day later I fine-tuned my search and found a video that elegantly and simply answered my problem.
I love the ideas and conversations I have at Our Place Society as a lay minister. They often leave me inspired
Being a “free spirit”
Recently, while speaking to a man who frequents Our Place Society, and who has overcome depression and addiction, I learned a wonderful new way to think about what it means to be a “free spirit.” My friend at Our Place says, ‘A free spirited person is very humble. He is in constant conversation with God and always knows what he is going to do next. He doesn’t need anyone to advise him. He takes his orders from above. He is FREE because he doesn’t have to figure next steps out for himself.’
To put it another way, a free spirit is one who lives the 1st Beatitude – “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” J.B. Phillips translates this beatitude in The New Testament in Modern English as, “How happy are those who know their need for God, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs!”
My friend said that Jesus of Nazareth was truly a free spirit. Knowing that God was directing his days and hours, he had confidence in his ability to say and do the right thing at the right time. He also knew that God would supply his every need, whether it was to feed the 5000 people, give taxes to the government, heal the sick, or comfort the sorrowing. His attitude towards others was always unconditional love.
Moses was another free spirit. After meeting God face-to-face at the burning bush, his life-purpose became to have one God and to work only for Him. In this way, he could only be a blessing to his neighbours. Moses was very humble. He listened to God; he trusted God to keep him safe. The result? He freed a whole nation from slavery in Egypt; his prayers brought manna and quail for his people to eat for forty years; he healed the sick; and he gave us the Ten Commandments.
We may not feel we are up to this much freedom. But if we practise living the way Jesus and Moses lived – little by little putting God first in our affairs –we will discover times when we, too, feel divinely guided, and are, by the above definition, “free spirits.”
Wonderful walk and chat through the university on a very brisk winter’s night. The breeze was so refreshing and constant. It was very inspiring. We touched on what I’ve been learning from my latest thinking and prayer.