Suggestion #11 from Twelve Suggestions for the New Year

Sign up for my monthly newsletter to read the other eleven suggestions – click HERE to sign up.  If you’ve missed the delivery date (Dec 26, 5:30 AM, EST), then check out my NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE to read December’s newsletter (you may need to wait a couple of days after Dec 26 for it to appear).

Eleven is the most difficult number on the list because there aren’t a lot of naturally occurring sets of eleven.  Eleven Warriors is a blog dedicated to The Ohio State University football – something of interest to me, but perhaps not to you.

Eleven Madison Park is a restaurant in NYC.  Eleven Mile State Park has a reservoir that is a favorite among Colorado fisherman.  The Eleventh Circuit Court in CA is a US appeals court – not nearly as famous (or infamous, depending upon your politics) as the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco.

From Wikipedia: “Eleven is the first number which cannot be counted with a human's eight fingers and two thumbs additively. In English, it is the smallest positive integer requiring three syllables and the largest prime number with a single-morpheme name.”  See what I mean – it is an oddity.

So, drumroll. . . here it is, Suggestion #11.

#11: Since eleven is the number of participants on a side in both versions of football, I encourage you to join a team this year – to be part of something larger than yourself, something (outside of work) where you share in the outcome with others.

May you have a blessed 2012!  I’d love to hear your responses to my Twelve Suggestions.

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“I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous”

I saw this on a T-shirt worn by a restaurant server years ago and have never forgotten it (which given my memory is saying something).

As Christmas approaches and we head into the final day of desperation gift-buying, I thought I would remind us of three “sayings” that bear repeating.

1. “Be careful what you wish for” – this lesson has been learned by many characters of fables and fairy tales, but here in the real world we still seem to struggle with its application.  This is the reminder that the power granted may not be worth the cost, or in the case of “I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous,” may be self-defeating.  Not everything we want would make life better and, in some cases, would make it appreciably worse.
2. “You can’t make some people happy” – some gifts really are about the thought because there’s just no way to make some people happy.  That’s why gift receipts were invented and why gift exchanges allow for guilt-free regifting.  When you really can’t decide what to give, just give to let the person know you love them and are thinking of them.
3. In the words of Jesus, “It [really] is more blessed to give than to receive.”  I always want to give something of value that will be meaningful and appreciated, but in the end I’ll settle for the joy of giving.

May you have a blessed celebration with those you love!

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“Doctor, everywhere I touches hurts!”

“Your finger is broken.”

I actually chuckled at that joke from Lou Holtz last evening while being one of five people watching the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl (I kid you not, that was the name).

It’s a good reminder that sometimes we misdiagnose our problems and need someone with a different perspective to set us straight.

Just saying, during this holiday season things will get said.  Some of them will hurt.  Some of them will be true.  Some will be observations from others that are different from our observations.  Pain can be an opportunity to learn.

Easier said than done, but still true.  Just don’t inflict the pain intentionally.

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A commitment that will lessen your holiday season stress!

For many, the holidays are stressful.

• Gift-giving brings joy along with concerns that our giving will be appropriate and appreciated.  Worse, is it perfectly balanced among all recipients?
• Gatherings bring family members together along with all of their unresolved issues.
• Holiday greetings (cards, e-mails, letters) encourage us to share the positive while ignoring the more complex realities of our lives.
• Significant unhappy events that have occurred around the holidays tinge the season with a reminder of loss.
• Unrealistic optimism suggests that this may be the year when everything comes together perfectly and we experience what until now has only been imagined.

There’s a wonderful phrase from Scripture that comes to mind often, but is certainly applicable during this season – “speaking the truth in love.”

This goes beyond the ubiquitous advice of our mothers – “If you don’t have something nice to say, then don’t say anything at all” – and encourages us to combine truth-speaking with a genuine commitment to the welfare of others.

Don’t hint.  Don’t lie.  Don’t avoid.  Speak the truth.  But speak it in such a way that you demonstrate your love and concern for the other.

If you don’t want the sweet potatoes with marshmallows, say so, but do it in a way that takes the cook’s feelings into account.  If you’d prefer to not go all out with the lights this year, say so, but remember how important they may be to your spouse or children (this explains my presence on the ladder one evening earlier this week, but also accounts for the absence of our humongous outdoor wreath this year – Judy and I spoke truth and compromised on our preferences.).

May your holidays be blessed with all the joy you can imagine and then a bit more.  Start with a commitment to speaking the truth in love, then hide the scales, and enjoy the company of those you love!

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