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==Above the Clouds: Finding Your Purpose==

What characteristics can you develop that will support your determination? After all, you can be determined to run a four-minute mile, but without certain attributes, it simply is not possible. You can be determined to rise from the mailroom to the CEO’s corner office, but if you don’t nurture certain attributes, it will not be possible.

As I’ve climbed from the plateau to run the high ridges, I realize I was developing three particular attributes that proved key for me: They are physical strength, emotional resilience, and spiritual depth.

At age 74, I may be stronger than I’ve ever been. I’m not a body builder, and don’t expect me to lift a car you’re pinned under. But I don’t dread stairs, I easily carry my own bags, and if my lawn needs a bag of lime, I can haul it out of the store myself.

As I outline in the chapter on health, I pursue a specific cardio and weightlifting routine that keeps me fit.

Emotional resilience emanates from your core. How do you respond to the slights, disappointments, or tragic events in your life? Unfortunately, these are the kinds of things that test, prove, and strengthen this trait.

The very notion of “resilience” implies that you are bouncing back from something, and if you need to “bounce back,” that something was a negative. You can gain emotional resilience by realizing that it’s not all about you. The Universe hasn’t conspired to do you dirt; God doesn’t hate your football team; there is life after your divorce, and your teenager is not the only one who hates her parents.

No one event “ruins your life.” Your plans may be altered, your destination may suddenly require more time or money to achieve, you may be temporarily embarrassed, but cultivating emotional resilience will help you weather storms.

For me, spiritual depth is paramount. I’m not talking about giving thanks at mealtime. Spiritual depth comes from a conscious commitment to seek the heart and mind of God. “Depth” is what it implies – it’s found in the deep places of the soul, not in the shallows of performance and platitudes.

Jesus spoke to it constantly, denigrating the self-righteous pseudo-piety of the Pharisees in favor of the man who knew his sins made him unworthy of grace, but who recognized and was grateful for that very grace granted.

Seek God, and seek God in the deep places. Don't be satisfied to check off worship attendance or toss $20 in the offering plate and call that spiritual depth. Go to the scary places where revelation may sear your soul. Strip it bare until you crawl like a sun-bleached skeleton before God, ultimately to rise with a greater, fuller knowledge of who you are in relation to the Creator.

Any investigation of discovering purpose must answer the question, "Am I making a contribution?" and its corollary, "Does my contribution matter?"

From my youngest years, I’ve wanted to lessen the suffering of children. I find myself now in a position to do just that. I’m fulfilled in that. Does my contribution matter? I’m absolutely convinced it does, and I spend much of every week working to convince others that their support of this work matters – not just to me, but to the children and families we serve.

In this arena – and this has been a long time coming – I’ve finally come to embrace the reality that I matter. I, Michael Clitus Blackwell, matter. This is not to say I’m an egomaniac, or that the Baptist Children’s Homes could not be led effectively by another.

I’m saying that nothing I’ve done would have been done in precisely the same way if another person was doing it. I’m saying that I’ve found my Purpose – helping hurting children … healing broken families.

It is also to say that for the first time, I have a sense that who I am matters to others. Through staff members and friends, word gets back to me that those little things I've done mean a great deal more to the people who receive them than I ever would have expected.

It's humbling to know that it means a lot to people to get a call or a visit from me. Although I'll always (proudly) be the boy from the mill village, I've recently begun to embrace the realization of who I am to others because of the children we serve.

They know I'm busy, and that because of my work, I have some influence among those whom others feel are important. I'm usually the one on the stage or the pulpit. In our culture, these things work to establish a distance between the stage personality and the audience.

I bridge that gap at every opportunity as a natural consequence of my personality. People want to be heard, and too few of us take the time to listen.

If someone feels that I lend them my ears and stop my forward motion to listen, to really understand, and to hear what they're saying, that elevates their self-perception. To care is part of my purpose.

They will stand straighter with head high and shoulders back.

When they ask a follow-up question and I let them talk, they perceive I can be trusted, and that's part of my purpose.

I am present when I talk with anyone. I am an eye-contact person now, way more than I used to be. I used to look at someone's mouth when I talked to them. Now, I look them in the eyes. I connect and I listen.

This trait might seem so natural that you wonder why I'm mentioning it. But, I'm telling you, I'm in a small minority. People don’t tend to listen to others – they just perch in the conversion, waiting to leap in to make their own statement. People will beat a path to the door of someone who listens.

One day I reached for the phone and called Mr. R. K. Hancock, the influential school principal of my youth. I simply told him how much he meant to me, how his confidence in me boosted and nurtured my confidence in myself.

We spent an hour on the phone, sobbing much of the time. Our tears washed away the years. I wished I hadn't gone so long without telling him what he meant to me. That experience prompted me to make many other calls.

On the most recent Mother's Day, I called seven mothers (all widows), including a woman whose son is on my board of trustees. At the next board meeting, he came in extolling how his mother couldn't get over the fact that I'd called her to wish her well on Mother's Day.

My call simply affirmed each of them. I'm not saying that a call on their special Hallmark Card Day doesn't mean anything to fathers, but it simply means more to a woman. Call your mother regularly and never forget her on Mother's Day.

A big part of why I felt good after making those calls is because I did not anticipate how good it would make them feel. But, that's a part of finding and living my purpose: discovering how I feel about who I am.

Today, I'm newly-confident, sure-footed, and grazing the high ground. That doesn't mean I've escaped every moment of self-doubt and insecurity. One of my generation's finest actresses, Meryl Streep, says self-doubt has sometimes crippled her to the point of being unable to get out of bed. I've sometimes not wanted to get out of bed, but it's never been because of self-doubt.

'''Affirmation'''

Affirmation is a great way to ease the self-doubt in others. It's easy to do. Learn a little something about a person. Call them by their name as you converse. There's nothing sweeter to a person than the sound of that person's name.

Don't be phony. Find something specific and mean it. Compliment a smile that "lights up the room." Appreciate a “nice voice.” Comment positively – like my daughter once did on the glorious head of white hair on an elderly gentleman in a restaurant.

We need affirmation. The human spirit needs it.
==Education==
==Education==
* [[The Strong]], an educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States
* [[The Strong]], an educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States

Revision as of 02:17, 5 March 2024

Look up strong in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Strong may refer to:

Above the Clouds: Finding Your Purpose

What characteristics can you develop that will support your determination? After all, you can be determined to run a four-minute mile, but without certain attributes, it simply is not possible. You can be determined to rise from the mailroom to the CEO’s corner office, but if you don’t nurture certain attributes, it will not be possible.

As I’ve climbed from the plateau to run the high ridges, I realize I was developing three particular attributes that proved key for me: They are physical strength, emotional resilience, and spiritual depth.

At age 74, I may be stronger than I’ve ever been. I’m not a body builder, and don’t expect me to lift a car you’re pinned under. But I don’t dread stairs, I easily carry my own bags, and if my lawn needs a bag of lime, I can haul it out of the store myself.

As I outline in the chapter on health, I pursue a specific cardio and weightlifting routine that keeps me fit.

Emotional resilience emanates from your core. How do you respond to the slights, disappointments, or tragic events in your life? Unfortunately, these are the kinds of things that test, prove, and strengthen this trait.

The very notion of “resilience” implies that you are bouncing back from something, and if you need to “bounce back,” that something was a negative. You can gain emotional resilience by realizing that it’s not all about you. The Universe hasn’t conspired to do you dirt; God doesn’t hate your football team; there is life after your divorce, and your teenager is not the only one who hates her parents.

No one event “ruins your life.” Your plans may be altered, your destination may suddenly require more time or money to achieve, you may be temporarily embarrassed, but cultivating emotional resilience will help you weather storms.

For me, spiritual depth is paramount. I’m not talking about giving thanks at mealtime. Spiritual depth comes from a conscious commitment to seek the heart and mind of God. “Depth” is what it implies – it’s found in the deep places of the soul, not in the shallows of performance and platitudes.

Jesus spoke to it constantly, denigrating the self-righteous pseudo-piety of the Pharisees in favor of the man who knew his sins made him unworthy of grace, but who recognized and was grateful for that very grace granted.

Seek God, and seek God in the deep places. Don't be satisfied to check off worship attendance or toss $20 in the offering plate and call that spiritual depth. Go to the scary places where revelation may sear your soul. Strip it bare until you crawl like a sun-bleached skeleton before God, ultimately to rise with a greater, fuller knowledge of who you are in relation to the Creator.

Any investigation of discovering purpose must answer the question, "Am I making a contribution?" and its corollary, "Does my contribution matter?"

From my youngest years, I’ve wanted to lessen the suffering of children. I find myself now in a position to do just that. I’m fulfilled in that. Does my contribution matter? I’m absolutely convinced it does, and I spend much of every week working to convince others that their support of this work matters – not just to me, but to the children and families we serve.

In this arena – and this has been a long time coming – I’ve finally come to embrace the reality that I matter. I, Michael Clitus Blackwell, matter. This is not to say I’m an egomaniac, or that the Baptist Children’s Homes could not be led effectively by another.

I’m saying that nothing I’ve done would have been done in precisely the same way if another person was doing it. I’m saying that I’ve found my Purpose – helping hurting children … healing broken families.

It is also to say that for the first time, I have a sense that who I am matters to others. Through staff members and friends, word gets back to me that those little things I've done mean a great deal more to the people who receive them than I ever would have expected.

It's humbling to know that it means a lot to people to get a call or a visit from me. Although I'll always (proudly) be the boy from the mill village, I've recently begun to embrace the realization of who I am to others because of the children we serve.

They know I'm busy, and that because of my work, I have some influence among those whom others feel are important. I'm usually the one on the stage or the pulpit. In our culture, these things work to establish a distance between the stage personality and the audience.

I bridge that gap at every opportunity as a natural consequence of my personality. People want to be heard, and too few of us take the time to listen.

If someone feels that I lend them my ears and stop my forward motion to listen, to really understand, and to hear what they're saying, that elevates their self-perception. To care is part of my purpose.

They will stand straighter with head high and shoulders back.

When they ask a follow-up question and I let them talk, they perceive I can be trusted, and that's part of my purpose.

I am present when I talk with anyone. I am an eye-contact person now, way more than I used to be. I used to look at someone's mouth when I talked to them. Now, I look them in the eyes. I connect and I listen.

This trait might seem so natural that you wonder why I'm mentioning it. But, I'm telling you, I'm in a small minority. People don’t tend to listen to others – they just perch in the conversion, waiting to leap in to make their own statement. People will beat a path to the door of someone who listens.

One day I reached for the phone and called Mr. R. K. Hancock, the influential school principal of my youth. I simply told him how much he meant to me, how his confidence in me boosted and nurtured my confidence in myself.

We spent an hour on the phone, sobbing much of the time. Our tears washed away the years. I wished I hadn't gone so long without telling him what he meant to me. That experience prompted me to make many other calls.

On the most recent Mother's Day, I called seven mothers (all widows), including a woman whose son is on my board of trustees. At the next board meeting, he came in extolling how his mother couldn't get over the fact that I'd called her to wish her well on Mother's Day.

My call simply affirmed each of them. I'm not saying that a call on their special Hallmark Card Day doesn't mean anything to fathers, but it simply means more to a woman. Call your mother regularly and never forget her on Mother's Day.

A big part of why I felt good after making those calls is because I did not anticipate how good it would make them feel. But, that's a part of finding and living my purpose: discovering how I feel about who I am.

Today, I'm newly-confident, sure-footed, and grazing the high ground. That doesn't mean I've escaped every moment of self-doubt and insecurity. One of my generation's finest actresses, Meryl Streep, says self-doubt has sometimes crippled her to the point of being unable to get out of bed. I've sometimes not wanted to get out of bed, but it's never been because of self-doubt.

Affirmation

Affirmation is a great way to ease the self-doubt in others. It's easy to do. Learn a little something about a person. Call them by their name as you converse. There's nothing sweeter to a person than the sound of that person's name.

Don't be phony. Find something specific and mean it. Compliment a smile that "lights up the room." Appreciate a “nice voice.” Comment positively – like my daughter once did on the glorious head of white hair on an elderly gentleman in a restaurant.

We need affirmation. The human spirit needs it.

Education

  • The Strong, an educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States
  • Strong Hall (Lawrence, Kansas), an administrative hall of the University of Kansas
  • Strong School, New Haven, Connecticut, United States, an overflow school for district kindergartners and first graders

Music

Albums

Songs

People and fictional characters

  • Strong (surname), including lists of people and fictional characters
  • Strong Vincent (1837–1863), American Civil War Union Army brigadier general and lawyer

Places

United States

Elsewhere

Other uses

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Strong.
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