Columns – Page 48 – FindYourBuriedTreasure

Personal stories have a powerful impact

The first words I heard when I woke up Sunday morning were these: “When we share our personal stories, we’re able to keep kids off drugs and alcohol.” That caught my attention immediately – not the drugs and alcohol part, but the “personal stories” part. The alarm on my clock-radio had gone off in the middle of what was obviously an interview with someone from a mentoring or support program. I would have liked to listen to more of it, but I needed to get [...]

By bettyliedtke|November 14th, 2014|Columns, Writing|Comments Off

Great experiences made for a winning weekend

I didn’t win. But I sure had fun. The Toastmasters District 6 Fall Conference was held last weekend in Rochester. The Fall Conference is also where the finals of Toastmasters’ annual Humorous Speech Contest take place, and this year, I made it to the final round of competition. I had fun giving my speech, and I think I did a good job delivering it. It got a lot of laughs and applause, and people were nodding and smiling as I sat back down afterwards. But [...]

By bettyliedtke|November 7th, 2014|Columns, Toastmasters|Comments Off

Learning and enjoying the language of dance

Her name is Deb Lysholm, and dance has always been an important part of her life. She learned – and loved – to tap dance as a child. Later, teaching dance classes brought her joy as well as income. Dance became her refuge and her escape during 23 years in a violently abusive marriage. And when she was working to rebuild her shattered life, she started to dream of building and running her own dance studio. Virtually everyone told her she was crazy, and that [...]

By bettyliedtke|October 31st, 2014|Columns, Travel|Comments Off

Cameras and courtesy provide common language

“Un…deux…trois.” English translation: “Say cheese.” That was the context, anyway, one afternoon last week as I stood near the waterfront, smiling and waiting for the woman with the camera to snap the shutter. I was in Barcelona, Spain, at the Mediterranean port where Christopher Columbus launched his journey to the new world. The location was both scenic and historic, and many of the people in the area were tourists taking pictures. I saw a young couple who were taking turns taking photos of each other, [...]

By bettyliedtke|October 24th, 2014|Columns, Respect, Travel|Comments Off

Enjoying a new view, both night and day

I set my alarm extra early one morning last week, so I could see the stellar event I’d been reading about: the “blood moon” and eclipse that had been scheduled for the wee hours of the morning. The eclipse was interesting to watch, but the deep red color the moon was supposed to be didn’t live up to its hype. That’s okay, though. Just the act of getting up to see it made me think – as these events always do – about the days [...]

By bettyliedtke|October 17th, 2014|Columns, Family|Comments Off

Learn to help, heal, comfort and inspire with the power of your story

Whenever I meet someone new, I enjoy chatting with them as we share basic information about ourselves and learn a little more about each other. Depending on where we are, and the circumstances of our meeting, this might consist of where we’re from, what kind of work we do, our family background or demographics, and what brought us to the place or event where we met each other. More often than not, there will come a point – either at that first meeting or at [...]

By bettyliedtke|October 10th, 2014|Columns|Comments Off

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

That’s not a pick-up line. Well, actually, it can be, but that’s not what was on my mind when I was introduced last week to someone who looked very familiar, though I couldn’t quite place where I knew her from. She had the same reaction I did. “We’ve met before,” she said, “but I’m not sure where.” For the rest of the evening, we tried – unsuccessfully – to determine where it was that we knew each other from. The event we were attending was [...]

By bettyliedtke|October 3rd, 2014|Columns|Comments Off

It was time for a shake-up at the top

I just fired myself. And it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not long ago, I was on the phone with the business coach I’d been working with for several months. At one point during our coaching call, she asked me a few questions about my work in Uganda. After I answered them, she said, “You know, when you’re talking about Uganda, you sound like a completely different person than when you’re talking about your business. You sound more confident, more focused, [...]

By bettyliedtke|September 26th, 2014|Columns, Success, Uganda, Values|Comments Off

A difficult question, a simple answer

I still have difficulty answering a question that many people have asked me about my trip to Uganda last month: What did I do while I was there? I can list many of my actions and activities. Spending time with the young women in Ki-Mombasa that we are helping to break free from a life of poverty and prostitution. Distributing books, handmade dresses and teddy bears to the children. Speaking to several classes at a Catholic Girls School about discovering and developing their gifts from [...]

By bettyliedtke|September 19th, 2014|Columns, Making a Difference, Travel, Uganda|10 Comments

Pencil this in: small donations can have a big impact

“Compliments of George L. Barry.” That’s what was stamped in red on a handful of new, unsharpened pencils that made their way recently to an eight-year-old boy in Uganda. “You have to use these pencils all the way through university,” he was told, and he nodded seriously. I’m pretty sure that’s what he intends to do. The scene made me think of a story I heard a few years ago about the actress Linda Gray. She was in Malawi, Africa, and was approached by a [...]

By bettyliedtke|September 12th, 2014|Columns, Family, Making a Difference, Uganda|4 Comments

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