When life gives you lemons…

 

Twenty years ago, this week I finished my last chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The notes in my diary from that day simply state, “This is my final treatment and I thought it would never be finished. I kept watching for the last drop.”

That was a long time ago. Even though my diagnosis is considered treatable but not curable, the longer I remain in remission the lower the odds are of recurrence. That was true at ten and fifteen years. It is especially true, this week at twenty! I am blessed to have had a tolerable treatment regimen and a favorable outcome.

Many of you know that our family took my diagnosis combined with the loss of my father to leukemia and turned it into a passion of raising money for blood cancer research. Over the past nineteen years our family (The Blanton Bunch) has raised and donated over $565,000 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Lemons to Lemonade, my friends!  The only answer for blood cancers is funding research for a cure.

I can’t believe it has been twenty years…

Communicating

 

If you follow the MMM you know I have written a lot on listening. Focused and intentional listening is powerful. But let’s look at the other aspect of communication. That is the role of the communicator. Communication is a two-way street between the communicator and the listener. The real burden is on the communicator. They are the ones delivering a message. They are the ones trying to make a point. It is their job to successfully convey their intended message. All the great listening in the world cannot overcome a poorly delivered concept or idea.

The next time you feel the urge to say, “Would you just listen to what I am saying?”, consider pausing and reviewing your delivery as the communicator. The burden is on the sender of the message. 

Have a blessed week.

Love & Forgiveness

 

As we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day today, you will see many of his profound quotes. He is one of the most widely quoted historical figures. Here is one that strikes me as especially poignant.

 

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

 

Consider the relationship between love and forgiveness.

One Thing

  

Let's make this easy. Make it your goal to do “one thing” different in 2024. Pick one thing that is important for you to change, or improve. Then develop a “one thing” plan to make that change not only happen but stick.

We all know the annual resolutions regarding health and fitness, work goals or personal habit improvements. If we try to fix all of these at one time, we can be overwhelmed. I don’t know about you, but I have a long list of challenges in those areas. I don’t need 15 goals. I need one goal to focus on. One that I can work on in 45-60 days and then I can pick another one.

Pick one thing…

·        Do less of something (Quantify it)

·        Do more of something (Quantify it)

·        Stop something (Specifically how)

·        Create something (Specifically how)

·        Accomplish something (Specifically how)

What is your one thing?