JB King's Thoughts

New year, new assessment

2012-01-03T17:32:00.000-08:00

This past Christmas I took Marcus Buckingham's "Standout" assessment which out of 9 roles:

Advisor - You are a practical, concrete thinker who is at your most powerful when reacting to and solving other people's problems.
Connector - You are a catalyst. Your power lies in your craving to put two things together to make something bigger than it is now.
Creator - You make sense of the world, pulling it apart, seeing a better configuration, and creating it.
Equalizer - You are a level-headed person whose power comes from keeping the world in balance, ethically and practically.
Influencer - You engage people directly and convince them to act. Your power is your persuasion.
Pioneer - You see the world as a friendly place where, around every corner, good things will happen. Your distinctive power starts with your optimism in the face of uncertainty.
Provider - You sense other people's feelings and you feel compelled to recognize these feelings, give them a voice and act on them.
Stimulator - You are the host of other people's emotions. You feel responsible for them, for turning them around, for elevating them.
Teacher - You are thrilled by the potential you see in each person. Your
power comes from learning how to unleash it.

My order of results:

PIONEER
TEACHER
CREATOR
ADVISOR
PROVIDER
INFLUENCER
EQUALIZER
CONNECTOR
STIMULATOR

In the results there was this bit about my ideal career:

You bet on talent. You are adventurous with people. "Throw them in the deep end," you think to yourself. Not that you are callous. It's more that you believe in action-learning. "Try it and see what you figure out." And if people fail, you give them another chance. You're the kind of person whose faith in others does not erode if they struggle. Rather, your faith in them persists, even grows, in the face of failure--the more they've failed, you think to yourself, the more experience they have, and so, since experience is the best teacher, the more valuable they are. Therefore, you will excel in any sort of training role, so long as you are out of the classroom--on-the-job training is what you will specialize in. If you are actually in the classroom teaching children, make sure you are in a school system that allows you to challenge your students with concepts, subjects and projects that are, technically, above their grade level; and one that allows you to tailor your style to the unique needs of each student. In medicine, you will be the specialist who teaches other specialists about new techniques. In research, you are the scientist who will want to share the import of new discoveries with your peers. Wherever you are, you will excel in a role where sharing knowledge is power.

I'm still digesting some of the other notes in my results but it is its own interesting lens to view myself. At the same time, I would like to be more precise about my genius.

The saga continues...

2011-10-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

I was recently challenged to write for 7 minutes every day and this is that exercise. I could wind up writing about almost anything really. I nearly cried at saying good-bye to a co-worker that is leaving to go work somewhere else. I cried at watching "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" on Cosmopolitan TV. I'm starting to recognize that at times being honest about where I am can make me really vulnerable though at the same time provide a great deal of strength. Just showing up can do so much. I prayed for some people and blessed some other people. Who knows where this will all lead or what will come of doing this little exercise each day and seeing what kind of brain dump I can have.

Twists and turns in my life...

2011-10-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had a few odd episodes that I feel worth jotting down somewhere out here:

First, there was the disc I was to pick up from the wellness center where I'm having an assessment done. As I'm about to get in the elevator to go up to their floor, out comes someone I know and tells me that the disc is being mailed to me. I had called last week to have them hold onto it but somehow I just managed to miss that. On the bright side, I did get to know when the next one would be which is of course a scheduling conflict with my Remarkable Man group but ah well laugh has these moments. I just roll with the punches and try to see humor where I can.

Second, there was an orientation tonight for the Calgary Homeless Foundation I thought according to my church at the McDougall Center but apparently that wasn't so. I talked to the security guard for a good 10 minutes before figuring, "Ok, maybe God has something better for me planned tonight."

Third would be the mastery about writing a book and getting it published. Very worthwhile exercises and suggestions found. At the end though I noticed a habit of mine. I helped clean up the room, stacking chairs and putting away tables. This just sort of reinforced for me how I like to be helpful and get things done. In the process of the exercises I now have 32 topics to write posts about which I plan to do over the next 32 days and see what happens. I also want to connect this blog with my Facebook, Twitter, all that good stuff.

Synchronization part I

2011-07-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

Iamsynchronized.com has a motivational profile tool that has been quite useful to me. Granted I have been using it in various forms for at least the past year, possibly a little more than that. For those familiar with the profiles my primary is Knowledgeable Wisdom Responsibility and my secondary is Merciful Compassionate & Fulfillment. This can make for an interesting combination as in a way I am like this giant sponge that just soaks up everything around me on an intellectual and emotional level. I also tend to know a lot on a lot of things which can range from having hundreds of thoughts that I could share on something to having just the right line that seems to be almost magical in terms of what happens after I say it just the way it came to me.

Where this gets interesting in my life now is to try to see how leadership can blend with this in my life. Possessing tons of knowledge isn't worthwhile if it isn't articulated accurately so someone else can see the wisdom of the picture being painted for them to see things from another angle. Similarly, having lots of compassion for others can lead one into some traps that aren't always the easiest to see. While I do lead my life, I'm not sure how well leading others fits well with these profiles but I suppose that could be a question for the group that showed me these profiles in the first place.

Time for some new stuff...

2011-05-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday night I attended a seminar about social styles that was rather interesting. The idea was to have these 4 general classifications of social styles:

Promoting - These are the people that have a tendency to direct and show a range of emotions. These are the people after fun in the world, save effort in doing things, enjoy being the center of attention and can be easily distracted.
Controlling - These are the people that have a tendency to direct but have a narrow emotional range that they show. These are the people where respect and results are highly praised and considered important. While they may not be as animated as the promoter, if there is something wrong there may still be that confrontation along with a parental tone in contrast to a temper tantrum. If you want to discuss something with someone of this style, book an appointment and you'll be fine.
Analyzing - These would be the ones that rarely direct and rarely show an emotional range. These are the thinkers and observers of the world. Security and facts are the big motivators here. Workaholics can fall here as they just have their work that is what they do all the time. These people are great listeners but not the best using body language to communicate.
Supporting - These would be those who rarely direct and do show an emotional range. This style is motivated by acceptance and intimacy within relationships. These are likely great listeners as long as you are ok in seeing how whatever is said impacts the other person.

My primary style is Supporting. My emotions tend to be shown in a variety of forms so I see myself scoring high on that line while I don't really have a tendency to direct though that may change if I get more confidence in myself. I see myself now as someone I don't trust and thus I hold back that way. My secondary style is Analyzing which is where I used to be back when my heart was more closed.

My big idea...

2011-05-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

Finding a think-tank where I can spend all day getting paid to answer questions. That is my current dream. In some ways this fits well with a KWR motivational profile yet at the same time this is my take on how to apply all the information I know and can process. Strategic thinking could play a big role in this but so could networking. While at first I thought I had to build the tank, the reality is that I could possibly just find a collective to join. While not easy to find, it could be really worthwhile.

There is still some work to do to figure out how would such a group work and exist in the modern world. This is the next few steps for me I suspect as I do need to flesh out a few more details in this story that will continue to unfold.

Time for a new start

2011-05-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

Over the past 2 days, I went through the I am Synchronized process, at least the start of it anyway. In terms of motivational profiles, I'm a KWR/MCF. KWR is that studious side of me, that smart and bright side that people notice quickly. Being a master of processing information can be a very useful skill especially in a technical field. The MCF puts its own spin on this as I do have a big heart that shines through at times.

The workshop was a lot of fun, though I did notice how I can lose myself in a group. That I don't think so much about what I want or how to get to my dreams. While it may be rather sad, it is the truth that I have to work on finding my dreams and seeing what is it that I really want. I know I want to shine my light upon the world though I don't know how that will look exactly.

Maybe this time the blog will stick or so I hope.

Strengths thoughts

2011-04-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

Now for a few words on a couple of things from yesterday:

First there was this conversation that went for nearly 2 hours with someone where the time just flew. It was quite cool to have those moments where I'm relating well to this person in many ways. I share some of my problems, she shares some of hers, and there is this awesome dance I witness and play a role in making become real. There never seemed to be a lull or awkward pause over the time and I really am looking forward to the next one. An observation was made about how I light up when I said someone's name. That name is the person that is like my guardian angel for all the great things she brought into my life. I'm just noticing now how there was such rhythm there. Ah, what a sight.

Second, was some card playing I did. I brought my father out to this as I know he loves playing cards and figured this would be a cool thing to do. What happened was rather awesome though as my dad had a great time, I had a great time and there are a few stories to share from that night. Again, time flew, I was in my element and life rocked! It was epic and legendary all at once.

Navigating the world

2011-04-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend's Personal Best Seminar was quite the experience. There were a few big things I learned during it and the first week afterward:

1. What I've buried and didn't recognize when I first took it out were my dreams. When I was younger I put away what I wanted to ensure I got the basics of my life resolved. This meant that things like school and paying bills were done so that the grand joys of life would have to come later. Well it is now later and I want to find those joys.

2. Being hyper-emotional is my new normal. This means that little things can send me into a tear-y episode like discussing how to take a compliment. At the same time, I don't seem to be able to force myself into that state. If I try to force myself there is an odd resistance that I wish I understood. There is likely some great lesson to come from riding the highs and lows of emotions yet I don't know it at the moment.

3. The knowledge of my strengths is getting yet another revision. I do understand how I like absorbing knowledge, processing it, analyzing it and transforming it for various purposes. This can be quite the ability at times. At the same time, my tendency to throw myself heavily into things is another interesting note as my dancing adventure last night reminded me of how I may take some time to get comfortable but then I stay in for the long haul.

4. Some of my limitations have been cut down rather substantially though that emotional stuff throws me for a loop at times. Growth is a wonderful thing. What kinds of other changes await me further in the year? I wish I knew.

Now to look forward to a night of cards after I check out some places.

Let's try this again....

2011-03-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

Yet again, I'll try to see if I can get something up and running where I spew forth various musings and thoughts on stuff. Earlier tonight I started on an exercise that I believe is meant to open some new doors for me. Part of it is about finding pleasure and another part is growth and maturity.

Part of this exercise involved my imagining of a place of power. I envisioned a grand throne that faced to the South which oversaw this lush forest below of a valley while to the West was a big rock wall that stood strong and tough. To the East was open space in contrast to the wall the other way. The North was a big airy arid land of almost nothing. Each direction seemed to have aspects to it that were rather interesting to me. To the South I felt a calling of maturity, to the North, a calling of knowledge, to the West a calling of strength and to the East a calling of fulfillment. In the center was joy which could well be the most interesting to see how that develops.

Over the next couple of weeks my other big challenge will be finding a heart gift to give. My current train of thought is to write out a series of blessings like I did last May that was a rather cool thing to pour my heart out onto some pieces of paper that I think I'll do again. Maybe something else will come to me.

The power of Dominion in my life...

2010-10-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

I've had a recent shift in my life. Granted that it could be the meds that I've been on for a couple of months now, but I'd like to think there could be another reason behind this. In my church group, there has been this teaching about walking with God in dominion over the world. This idea has taken a little while for me to finally get but now I do. This afternoon, I had an appointment where I've been going for the past few years to see someone about my foot. Just before this appointment I checked my blood sugars and they were rather low, a 4.1 mmol/L which is almost hypoglycemic, so I grabbed a snack at the Good Earth where my appointment was. At my appointment, there was a comment that I was "vibrating" which I'm sure was meant as a major compliment. Another way to say this is that I seem to be beaming now, shining my light onto the world. There is a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling to this that is very nice. Another adjective to describe me now is fantastic which is quite true, at least to my mind. This was the kind of appointment one dreams of having and I did have it! An awesome appointment, oh yeah.

Praying to God for guidance and then following through in partnering with God is a great gift I seem to be using these days. Stepping up and taking responsibility for what I can do to make and things better. Some may find this surprising or shocking, but somehow I think God sees this as normal. After all, why shouldn't I tap the great resources that have been given to me in this life? Yes there is some personal responsibility in doing some work on my end, but I'd like to think it is more than just luck that I hav ethe opportunities that I do. Getting a call from a friend I haven't had a conversation in years would be another one of those gifts that can just come when you least expect them.

While I would never force my views onto another person, I would offer the suggestion to anyone to give this a try and see what happens. I don't know if it'll work every time, but it may just do some surprising things if one asks for something good. I believe God has some great plans for the world that I am to play a part in changing the world. I don't know where I'll go with this blog, but for now I'm bringing this back as a place where I'll spout what I think is worth sharing with the world as I never know who will read this or when.

So much to do, so little time...

2010-07-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

Now, I am starting to go through the book, "Mind Over Mood," which I'm hoping will help me work through some of my issues regarding relationships, depression, anxiety and stuff. My emotional compass as I call it, is likely near one of my top priorities in a sense but I'm starting to see how this may go a different way. By emotional compass, I mean that automatic reaction in certain situations such as being told to "Take it easy," "Relax," or "Calm down," where I tend to have this disappointment and anger reaction generally. The disappointment is sadness over messing up and feeling bad and unworthy, while the anger is a self-loathing and critical. Now, initially I had the thought that this is something to correct and fix, but now I'm starting to think there is a way to let those initial reactions wash over me and see if that helps get me back on track which I'm starting to hope would be a better course of action to try.

I also recently finished reading "The Introvert's Advantage" which showed me how in some ways I really am quite introverted yet at the same time not quite the uber introvert I thought I was. I go to various social events where the key is that the focus of that event is something that interests me, whether this be a few games of Euchre or discussions on various philosophical ideas that intrigue me. The structure of these meetings are part of what I rely on to get out of my shell and participate within a certain structure, part of which stems from my Judging preference in MBTI. In its own way, I find it quite interesting to investigate the various parts of myself and knowing what I have and am in various ways.

Decisions, decisions....

2010-06-26T20:43:00.001-07:00

I've been contemplating about getting a new phone since my current phone is a little old and possibly getting one of those smartphones rather than just a mobile phone. The idea of having my e-mail, Facebook and Twitter all infront of me is kind of exciting in some ways and I'd be curious to see how some of my forum sites would appear on a phone's screen instead of my 24" home screen or 19" work monitors. This is still at the contemplation point because of a few things:

When would that new "Droid X" come to Canada? I know it comes out in the States in mid-July so I wonder if a Canadian launch would be far away from that.
Even without that new phone in the mix, do I know which model I want? Do I want a Blackberry or one of those newer Motorola phones? I know I'll probably not get a HTC phone but that still leaves me with plenty of choices.
How much more would the cheapest data plan be compared to what I pay now? This is likely one of the stickier pointst. Also, do I change carriers or stay where I am?
When will the Android update come for some of the newer models in Canada like the Backflip that looks kind of cool?

As I said before, this is still something I'm mulling over and trying to sift through to find what phone will work for me. No, I will not go for an iPhone unless someone is paying me a million bucks to get one. My current phone is a LG chocolate slider but like I said it is kind of old and I could go for an upgrade soon.

My quest to be a man....

2010-06-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Today I was told a few things about what men want and what women want that I'm going to post here and see where my trains of thought take me, possibly into nonsense or insanity. In a sense, I understand that I'm still trying to become a man and resolve in the 21st century what is the role of an adult male in society which I may never fully resolve. Anyway, onto these few points of what it means to be a man:

Live an adventure - Men are supposed to take risks and have a life where exciting things happen. This prevents a guy from having a dull boring life, like I ever had a shot at that even.
Fight epic battles - Men are supposed to fight for justice and honor, all that jazz. I can relate to this more than the previous point as I do see the various battles in my life.
Find a beauty - Men aren't supposed to be alone. The theory here being that God made Eve for Adam and thus men even now are supposed to follow in that model.

For women, here were the points given:

Irreplaceable object - Women are supposed to feel like they are special to a man.
Lean into strength - Women are supposed to rely on men.
Be a beauty - Women are to be valued highly as the wonderful people they are.

What I notice in this is how the women's side tend to be more intangible than the other side. While I can get they are supposed to complement each other, it strikes me as odd that one side seems to be a bit more real and physical than the other. If anyone else reads this and has thoughts feel free to post them as I'm curious as to how others see this.

My adventures last night....

2010-06-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

Last night, there was a "Chill-out and Geek-out" party that I attended an Irish pub in town. This was my first time going to a Meetup of this group and I was curious as to what would happen. Would there be various discussions on technology? Would there be some "Star Trek" vs "Star Wars" fanboy debates to be navigated? Someone mentioned possibly bringing an xBox or Playstation which I found kind of odd. I managed to be the second one there as the first one just entered ahead of me and thus I wasn't alone. Woo-hoo! At the same time, neither of us was an organizer but we did chat a bit and I got settled down in this room in the basement of the pub. There was a silent auction outside raising money for cancer so that did play a little role in how loud other things were. I now appreciate much more how I just have a hard time sitting in a bar with loud music and wonder, "Ok, now what do I do?"

Thankfully I wasn't alone so there are others to converse and try to have some kind of adventure for the night. Time seemed to fly by as while I was there just before 7, I didn't leave until 11:40 and even then it was because my friend who borrows my car was wanting to go to bed. Alternative strategy for future meetings would be to see if someone could give me a ride home but I'll save that for later. There were a couple games of "Zombie Fluxx" and a few rounds of "A-hole" along with someone bringing an iPad and various discussions on things like the idea of a "Geeks with Guns" club which was kind of funny.

On my way out, there were a couple of women who stopped me as I had my lunchbox with me. The lunchbox has my glucometer, journal, and a few snacks in it just in case my sugars go low which can happen quite a bit of the time. Anyway, they wanted to know what I was carrying. I was polite and civil, but afterward I thought, "Why didn't you exchange some contact information?" Ugh, I so suck at continuing relationships which I get but there are those opportunities in life and who knows what my next one will look like. Anyway, I said that I had a glucometer and the other one knew what that meant and did tell the other one that I was diabetic. It also dawned on me that I have never gone to a bar on my own without there being either friends at the bar or an event that I'm attending. I always have something else that connects me there.

Another week in my life has passed

2010-05-22T11:28:00.001-07:00

Maybe I'll just settle into doing weekly posts for a while and see how that goes. This week had its moments that are quite something. At one end, there is someone over in Africa that I've exchanged a few e-mails with and will see what develops there. She claims that her late father set up a bank account in the U.K. and needs a foreign representative to help access the money. Do I totally believe this story? No, but I am trying to help and have sent a couple of e-mails to see what comes next. A little while back I'd get these e-mails from women in Russia and while it would sound like a soap opera to disclose all that was shared, it was funny how those e-mails have just dried up. Maybe they realized I wasn't going to send them any money or something else happened. I don't know, but I do know that I would pour a part of my heart into each e-mail and sometimes be rather shocked by just how deeply some got into what I'd send. It was almost like how I would have imagined a mail-order bride situation where there are the basic messages of "Hi, are you going to hurt me?" and then various messages that involve things I've seen in dozens of chick flicks over the years.

Near the end of my week was a rather interesting dinner with a friend. We reviewed some of what is going on in my life and in some ways a gauntlet was thrown down. I could have a meal a week with this person to help me get my life in order but the price for this is that I be committed to falling through on what is asked and this not be a waste of time where I rationalize my life choices.

At the other end of my week was a meeting with a recruiter that went quite well. We talked for an hour and a half about where I work, me, what I'm wanting in a new position and a few opportunities he had for me to consider. This could be where I go onward and upward in terms of my career. In a way, I feel like I'm at a odd crossroads in my life. I know part of what I want, and now have to figure out how to bring that into my life. What will happen from this is anyone's guess, but I do find it funny how some in the office know something is going on and some are just turning a blind eye.

Where am I going....

2010-05-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

This seems to be my big question now. This past week, I did 50 minutes of cardio a couple of times and was amazed that I did it. I survived it and discovered that maybe I do have more stamina and endurance than I thought I did. For my next big goal of the week, I think I want to try to do 60 minutes twice a week at an above moderate intensity. Part of this is trying to stick to the plan and part of it is setting new goals once old ones are achieved.

Finding connections in the world is something else I've been pondering as I know relationships are part of life where I struggle. Living so much of my life alone, it is hard to get to know how well do I know people. At what point is someone a friend versus an acquaintence? At what point do you know who to ask the big questions? These are other thoughts percolating on my mind lately.

Thoughts on love...

2010-05-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

While I'll admit to not understanding it well, love as a concept is something I find very fascinating. Whenever someone says, "I love you," I'll almost always ponder for a moment, what is meant by the L-word. My sister for example, will tell relatives that she loves them, but will she call them? No. Will she visit them? No. Yet, she would say that she loves them and for me this frustrates me greatly. While one could argue that my parents would be better role models here, the age factor and other differences make it harder to relate in many ways. My mother was great at compartmentalizing everything so she could appear however she wanted to appear, kind of like a chameleon to my mind. My father on the other hand, was a hard working guy that just seemed to put too much work into everything for me to want to follow in that tradition. Thus, I grew up a little isolated and kind of left on my own. This makes me have all kinds of thoughts and ideas about love, some of which comes from literary sources as this is a rather common human experience to share and endure.

Being loved for who someone is, rather than what they think or do is an interesting challenge to my mind. Do you have someone that loves you no matter what you do? That will be there, through thick and thin, that wants to hear the adventures that are your life? At times I think I do, though at others I know of others that want to learn this too. For all the talk of God and his being everywhere, I see the flip side being something that all too often gets overlooked. Satan has his power too and one shouldn't forget about this in terms of what can influence one's life. I do know of some communities where I am loved and it feels fabulous, this I know. What I don't know is how well do I show love unto others or ask for this feedback as it would seem like I could be opening a Pandora's box in asking, not that that should stop me.

There are times where I ponder if I'll ever really date. To my mind, dating doesn't suit me in the traditional model of how I see it. If I rarely go out for dinner or see movies, how is going on a date with someone else to do this going to help me determine what kind of relationship I want? It would seem to make more sense to go where I'd usually go and have this person also be there though I'm not sure how easily doable that is.

Time to get real with my fears

2010-04-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I was asked to write out a few gaps I have in my life and I'm thinking I should post them here as well, just so I can remember them as it may be worthwhile to come back and see if I still have the same view or not in the future. Here are the three gaps I wrote:

My heart sucks and is full of crap. While I can acknowledge this is totally based on fear, it is still something that resonates within me. In my past, I have had rejections that likely make this feel deeper than it really is, but this is definitely something for me to work through as my life continues to have its story written.
I don't take proper care of myself and don't understand why this is so important to other people. This is kind of like a demon from my past, where it wasn't that long ago that I really showered quite infrequently and rarely got comments on it so I figured, "Hey, if it was really so bad, someone would say something right?" Well eventually someone did, but by this point I was in my early 30s, so there is something to be said for this being a combination of education and encouragement to overcome this and most criticisms will have my fear winning in no time.
I should know how to be a man and be doing it already. This is kind of like the first point in that it is all false expectations and uncertain stuff. Now that we are a few decades after women's liberation where women got to be anything a man can be, what is the role of the modern man? I do mean this as a sincere honest question for anyone out there that wants to answer. Is it merely that a male has existed for so man years on the planet that makes a guy a man? That doesn't quite seem proper to my mind and so I have the question but not really a great resource for the answer.

Some of these are easy for me to write and express, but moving past the identifying of the problem, there is the rub to my mind. I'm also reminded of the idea that I have to figure out how to work exercise into my daily routine. I imagine this could be true for a lot of people and depending on how one was raised, this could still be a great challenge. Is it so horrible that my parents didn't teach me about some of these finer points of life? That's a really good question to my mind but for the moment I think I'll put it off to the side as I'm not sure any answer will bring me peace which is really one of a few things I desire these days.

I still have my moments where I get nervous or anxious, but my toolbox for dealing with this is getting much better. In yesterday's exercise class, I had my mouth full when I was supposed answer something and so I just chewed properly and swallowed rather than try to do something fancy to get past the problem as quickly as possible. I do realize that I need to "let go" and this will be the theme of my next week or two of life that I need to get some stuff straightened out and then I can get back on figuring out where I want my life to go. In a way, it is an amazing thing that someone in the modern world can have this question and be given the freedom to answer it that I have if one really looks at it. Yes I have bills and other basic things to handle, but I don't have so much working against me that I'm forced into anything.

Changes and would you believe...

2010-04-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine made a remark yesterday that I feel is worth sharing and analyzing to some degree. I told her about how I now have changed my Sunday habit that I used to have. Over on a site called PlentyofFish.com, there is a thread about a Calgary Sunday Breakfast group that for a little over a year I had gone to quite faithfully and enjoyed attending. Now, I wouldn't say that I was very close with the other attendees, but my friend seemed to think that I was "dumping my friends," by my change of plans. My new Sunday group, "Tree of Life" is one I find a little better in terms of being a bit better suited to me. The ultimate irony in this is that the founder of "Tree of Life" had another group that I learned about through someone from that PoF breakfast group. Is that destiny or something else? If I the "Tree of Life" group doesn't meet, then I'll probably go attend the old breakfast I had before, but it isn't like there is attendance at either group to see that I'm coming regularly or anything quite that formal.

I do wonder about how does one see a relationship transition from acquaintance to friendship. Can it be as simple as sharing a meal a week with someone? Or is there more to it that drives that closeness? This is what I'm wondering as while I do know some people from various PoF events, I'm not sure I'd say they were friends for the most part. I never went to their home or did a lot with them, aside from the Euchre thread as I do enjoy some good Euchre.

Today's "Tree of Life" get together involved us cooking 32 lasagnas for some youth in transition in Calgary. Hopefully the meals will be welcomed and be enjoyed by some people that could use a good home-cooked meal. The group of us that were cooking the meal gave me an opportunity to examine when I'm using my strengths without it being something that I suspect a lot of others would notice. Like wondering, "Is this a good time to be strategic?" or "Time to be a responsible achiever with this, right?" just as my role shifted throughout as I started cooking the meat but ended up being the spreader of the sauce near the end. It was a fun adventure that was my second Impact Kitchen project. As an opportunity to give back, I am thankful for it. I do have some selfish reasons to be thankful for it, as it gives me an opportunity to see my strengths in action and notice, "Oh yeah, that is where I rock!" in the overall scheme of all the cooking to be done.

Those most awesome of moments

2010-04-21T19:18:00.000-07:00

Since last September I have had more than a few times where I had what I'll call an awesome moment, where there is that sense of things just feel almost surreal and you could swear someone slipped you something somewhere as there is no way one should feel this good at any point in life. Last September was once such experience where over the span of 6 hours I went through a rather wild ride all told, as in the beginning was going to a new place, not sure what I was going to do, or who would even show up. I had my dinner and tried to relax but I'm guessing something or someone suspected something was up and I was asked to dance, which for me is quite challenging. Now, I took this in stride but oh boy was I ever nervous, sweaty, jittery and thinking I was barely keeping it together. Thankfully my dance partner understood my nerves enough to give me some pointers and try to get to me relax, though I could say with almost total certainty at that point that that wasn't going to happen any time soon. However, this did get me into a different place at the bar so I was now near the pool tables and got pulled into a game. I accept that I suck at pool but I played anyway and even got someone to tell me, "She beats everyone," which I found funny as I know how bad I am. It was still fun to play and enjoy some laughs and learn a few more names. Then came the flash and my time to launch into action mode. This would be the first of when things were just quite nice to my mind. I was a man on a mission at that point and I did eventually land over at a table and settle in enough that the following day I had some comments about how I looked so comfortable up there. There were some cool people there and some good discussion that night. Eventually we ended up going to a Denny's for some early morning food and on my way out I received quite the compliment that I must be quite a lucky guy. Ah, that was just so hilarious as the woman I sat beside I had just met and while I did have a crush on her, it wasn't recipricated, but oh well life moves on.

My other time this has popped up has been in group settings where I seem to just be on this massive roll spewing out either an experience I had or something I read or heard somewhere. In this case, it is almost like I have this surge of energy to do whatever I need but I somehow almost reject it to keep my tempo but become almost hyper-aware of what is going on around me. Like my Spidey-sense was triggered or something, but I just remember some of these moments with amazing clarity and hope to have many more of them. Sometimes there are laughs and other times there is that, "Uh-uh," from someone that I have given them a thought or two that sticks with them. It is a rather incredible feeling to have all this ample energy, know that you aren't threatened or scared just excited to get this out and off your chest as you believe someone there was meant to hear that truth that night or something. Maybe it is a form of divine luck or God wanting to show me, "Look, here is your gift in action, dude!" I just know I relish such moments and hope to have a few more soon.

My mother....

2010-04-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

Now for a completely different type of post, I thought I'd post about the person that has had the greatest influence in my life, my mother. My mother ran the household and I was the poster child for a "Mama's Boy" complete with often favoring my mother over my father in most situations. I often would volunteer my mom to drive on school trips and she usually worked midnights so she would get home at 8 in the morning, just the right time to see me watching TV and get me to school for 9. My mom worked as a nurse, so she was a rather knowledgeable person and often I'd hear about someone asking for help with this problem or that. My mom was also an intensely private person, who could compartimentalize like nobody's business. It was rather remarkable to notice this about my mom along with how she could be pleasant to almost everyone.

My mom's health took a turn for the worse in the Fall of 2002, which just happened to coincide with my father's quadruple bypass so they were both in the hospital together. My father for heart surgery while my mother had cancer. She lost a dramatic amount of weight and her voice really changed a great deal when I last saw her alive in November 2001 which was only a couple months after 9/11 so flying wasn't an easy thing to do this time. However, back I went to say good-bye to my mama and sure enough just before the end of January the next year she passed away. I scramble to fly back for the funeral and oy was this ever a hard time in my life. Her funeral was on the exact anniversary of my first working day in Seattle 4 years earlier, which struck me as ironic that day that I even remember telling the pastor that ran the service about that. This weekend is a ceremony for my aunt that just passed away that somehow I don't quite have the same reaction. Not even close, though I'm not sure if my faith is mostly responsible or if the relationship distance is the reason. By relationship distance I mean that I wasn't that close with this aunt, even though she did call me, "Boogus" a lot! I'm not sure I was ever really comfortable with that name, but that is what she'd normally want to call me.

Leadership ideas within my Strengths

2010-04-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

"Strengths-Based Leadership" by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie is a book I read last night that was quite interesting to help me develop my strengths as they apply to leadership. The book documents 4 domains that leadership falls under Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building and Strategic Thinking. For better or worse, my strengths fall into the first and last category as Achiever and Responsibility are part of Executing while the Learner, Intellection and Strategic are all part of Strategic Thinking. This makes me wonder, "How well could I lead if I'm missing in the relationship areas?" as I see the influencing as still being part where I'm not alone. It may be part of the challenge in my life to figure out how to take my strengths and go beyond myself to include others in using these strengths that I have. Thankfully for me, there were a couple examples of leaders in the book where leaders executed more in one domain than the others and so I got to see how one can take some of these and use them in a different dimension in a sense. In a way this re-affirms my career goals of wanting to be in strategic planning. I enjoy analysing things and running various "What if..." scenarios all the time, so I think it may be one of those, "I like this but a lot of other people probably don't," areas.

A few months ago now, a friend showed me a few others that had taken the Strengths Finder exercise and I found it really interesting to apply what domains each covered. It was strangely relieving to see others with similar holes to mine but also odd to see how someone actually did manage to have a strength in each of the 4 leadership domains that I found kind of surprising. Such a well-rounded individual I'm thinking now.

Another part of the book mentions 4 themes when it comes to people following leaders, Trust, Compassion, Stability and Hope. I can see how these do influence me in various ways though I suppose my challenge in the coming years is to see how each of these can be met through my strengths. That I can learn to communicate with compassion about stability and hope, identify various relationship objectives and meet them through my Achiever and Responsbility strengths, etc. It could be some exciting stuff and part of the book does come with a code to get on-line guides to help with each of these and a strength so I just have to find where there is good overlap and see if I can shift my role in work and in social groups to have those kinds of positions to see how this could come to fruition. In an odd way, I'm reminded of how 6 months ago I remember saying that getting in on the ground floor of a movement would be really cool and now I think I'm starting to see some fruit from that.

I'm that person that may be a bit of a loner at times, which may not make a lot of sense to some people. I'm introverted and like seeing things through my mind's eye which makes sense to some people and very little to others but I'm not sure how else to describe what I can do. I remember yesterday just playing around on a pool table by myself as I recognize that I struggle to some extent with the physical aspects of playing billards as some would call it. Learning muscle control, thinking through the scenario of, "If I do this, that'll happen..." is kind of interesting to me and so I just enjoyed some of that. There are times where I can recognize that I'm really blessed have people in my life that have such resources for me to use and enjoy.

Redemptive gift thoughts

2010-04-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine came up with his own interpretation of the seven redemptive gifts as well as a questionaire so we could each see which gift we have. The order of my gifts seemed to be Teacher, Mercy, Prophet, Ruler, Exhorter, Servant and Giver. I'll admit that I love knowledge and helping people so in some ways this seems like a natural fit. At the same time, the Mercy gift scored almost as high and thus I think I may also have this gift but it has been buried in me. When I was bullied when I was younger this seemed to be a way to encourage me to shut down what I was feeling and so now that I'm starting to awaken that part of me, I feel this seems like an interesting shift to me.

Another side to this is how the Teacher and Mercy seem to complement each other in some ways as the Mercy seems to suggest that my heart is with God while the Teacher suggests that my mind is with God in a sense as I absorb knowledge here and there. Thus, I see this as a rather powerful combination for me to see if this is really what I have. At the same time, there is some responsibility that comes with these gifts and that is where part of my current challenges are. I have to be responsible enough that if I know how to live better that I do live better. I may screw up trying to do it, but I will put forth the effort and see what happens.

The Prophet and Ruler seemed to be where I scored high enough that I may have a little bit of each of these gifts. Strangely enough these gifts are adjacent to the Mercy gift if one studies the order that the gifts are listed in the book of Romans. Thus, these seem to complement the Mercy in some regard that makes this seem more likely to possibly be where I am in some way. Perhaps there is a part of me blinded by logic and thus I'm not easily capable of shifting over to the Mercy so much but we'll see how this evolves over time.

The evolution of understanding my strengths...

2010-04-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago now, a friend told me to try "Strengths Finder 2.0" to see what my strengths really are. Now, prior to this I had done some pondering about what I thought were my strengths and these were the two themes that kept repeating:

Solving puzzles. Whether this be a brain teaser, Math problem, mystery or something else to figure out, I really do like the process of starting with a question and then having an answer in the end. There is a sense of achievement here of course as well as that of learning something, either something matching what I already knew or something new to add to my arsenal.
Helping people. This can be sharing knowledge that I have about something that I overhear someone ask, giving support to others that may need some in a moment of need, or just generally feeling useful and getting a thank you in one form or another. Even if the person doesn't thank me, I may internally thank myself so it still works out well.

Now, after taking the questionaire from the book, I got quite the different themes to explore and I really didn't think these fit me well at the time. My strengths were so different than others I had seen and thus I felt some shame over it, kind of like "I don't want to be different" to put it in simplest terms. Those 5 themese are:

Learner - This has 2 parts to it for me. The first is that I like to know stuff and so acquiring knowledge on a subject is something right up my alley. The second part to this is that I like to find new ways of doing things, continually improving what I do. Is there a better way to do this? How could I make this better? Those are questions I routinely ask myself at times.
Achiever - This is shown in how I keep busy and always seem to be doing something. I want to get things done, has something I can reflect upon as "I did that" where the that can be almost anything in a sense.
Responsbility - This has been a part of me since my grade 2 teacher wrote as a comment in my report card that I was dependable and responsible. Thus, this has been something I've done for years though in some parts of my life I am surprisingly irresponsible like with my health.
Intellection - This shows up most frequently in various brain-y compliments I get. I really do like to think a lot and this is what this strength is. One could argue that back in my early school days, I knew I wasn't athletic or artistic, so I found academics to be where I'd carve out my niche in a way.
Strategic - This is how I tend to see the periphery more than what is right in front of me. I can see consequences before they happen and try to prevent bad outcomes in a way. This can be a problem in some cases if I try to stay too far ahead as trying to stay 10 steps ahead is amazingly hard to do well. At the same time, staying only one or two steps is much easier to do.

Given that I've had a couple of months to reflect on these strengths, I can know see more of how I do really have each of these within me and where I can use these. Learner, Intellection and Strategic are all part of "Strategic Thinking" in various ways so that may be where I try to take my career in the next few years. At the same time, I feel like I've repressed my emotions for so long that I'm tempted to try to get more mature in that dimension of myself. This will be hard, but I believe I am in enough good communities where this is accepted that the next stage of my life is about to unfold. I will try to get this blog to be a bit more up to date as my journey continues so for anyone reading this, thank you for sharing in my journey.

What do I really want

2010-04-16T13:36:00.001-07:00

This question has plagued me for a long time. There are tons of different answers I've wanted to give over the years though right now I like the idea of sharing my heart with the world. There are other things I want too like being healthy, having a successful life, being a man, etc. I believe that in sharing my heart, various doors will be opened so that new goals will become apparent or possibly a path to achieving them will become an option. Thus, I'm trying to concentrate my focus for now to one thing rather than trying to do too much at once.

Of course having spent so much of my life confronted with this question and feeling like there had to be a right answer, when in reality there are numerous good answers if I'll just listen to my heart instead of my head, and I sought it repeatedly. I dabbled into various psychology and behavior ideas that may help explain what am I here to do, what is the purpose of my life, what am I supposed to achieve in my life.

Moderation has struck me as a rather useful point for so many things in life. Kind of like that pendulum that is trying to stop in the middle, it is a constant struggle to hit that spot exactly and not be too far on either side of any topic. Not too liberal, not too conservative. Not too interesting, not too boring. The list can go on and on really.

I doubt I've admitted that for most of the past 25 years, I've been the one driving my life. I got to decide what I wanted to do and did whatever I felt like in many ways. Yes, I did my schooling as far as I could and then went on to find a job like most other people I'd imagine. However, in pursuing my schooling, I'm not sure I ever got the feeling of someone really being there with me. Someone that understood where I was, what I was doing and most importantly, would listen to me in such a way that I knew this person got me. It can be so easy to just nod and say, "Uh uh" and fake showing interest which irks me and may be why I'm careful about what I share and where I share it. At times, I think I have a turtle mentality. If threatened or disrespected, into my shell I'll go and hide. Meanwhile, if encouraged and welcomed, out I'll come and share what I have. Do I have a lot to give? Probably, I have numerous stories of what I've done in my life and various thoughts and feelings that I'd like to share but how do I find those that want to hear those stories?

My final thought is around my thought that I may be shifting where my personality would be categorized by Myers-Briggs and Keirsey to give a couple of examples of personality sorting methodologies. I suspect that as I listen more to my heart and use it, that I'll become more of a feeler than a thinker. While this is scary in a way, as I am changing a part of myself, this could also be quite cool to picture where this will take me. Thus, instead of being that INTJ, I may become an INFJ which seems to be a fairly rare type from what I could find out about it. Parts of each type resonate well with me. I like keeping things hidden, looking at the big picture, and having structure so the INxJ is 75% of where I am. That last one though is what may be changing.

New year, new thoughts...

2010-01-17T15:31:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I took some time to look at what do I have in my life. What groups do I have? What shows do I like on TV or songs from various musical sources? It was interesting to rattle off this and that and have a picture of where do I stand. I noticed that while I seem to be socializing more, there also seems to be the challenge of how to connect with others and feel that connection. Perhaps I just didn't get the exposure when I was little to work out my senses for it, but it is a major struggle for me now.

Hopefully this will be a good year in figuring out what I want and seeing some of it,up close and experience the awesome that is life.

The challenge that is shopping...

2009-12-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

How hard should it be to go to a store and find what you want? Well, yesterday was the kind of day I dread. A friend and I were shopping at Leon's and it was just sad that we couldn't get someone to help us. We waited and I contemplated passing out and see if that would help. I do wonder about what is the policy at stores if someone were to just collapse. Does the person just stay on the ground for almost an hour before being found or does something else happen? It could well be beyond sad that I have such thoughts, but I do...

In a similar vein, I wonder what will my date tomorrow bring. Could it be a new friendship? Could it be something more? There are times where I feel I just want to be loved. Is that so much to ask? Maybe it is. I do know that I don't mind having a "human crying machine" title, which is a bit of a mixed thing, really. On the one hand, this does mean that I'm more open about being sensitive and tearing up. At the same time, I'm not sure if I should be doing something to handle this differently. It is kind of like that, "Just be who you are," line that drives me nuts at times.

Personal Development time....

2009-07-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

"You 2.0" is a simple read though doing what is asked is where I'm having problems. Figuring out my purpose in life seems like a massive question. Of all the possible uses of my life, which do I want to achieve? My mission for now is to figure out how to take what I like to do and wrap it into why I live the way that I do.

The frustrations of life...

2009-07-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

Ever have those moments where you are doing what was asked but the other person simply isn't living up to their end of the bargain? What do you do to pass the time while you wait for that person? This is what I've been pondering today as sometimes while all one can do is pass the time, there should be other ways to make use of that waiting time. Sometimes I do puzzles or ponder various philosophical points like questioning the purpose of our existence for example.

Stampede and Vacation....

2009-07-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

Stampede is on in the city, with it coming the craziness that this town turns into a big party for 10 days. The party can be a nice distraction from the other news in the world that may not be so nice or positive.

As I sit and ponder what to do this week, something will happen but I'm not sure what yet. I know I need to clean up where I live and work on getting a roommate, but there is some reflection going on. I've been where I am now for a year and a lot has changed in a year that I find it surprising that I'm still here in a sense.