Columns – Page 57 – FindYourBuriedTreasure

Still going strong – and seeing great results

The stacks of books are gone from the end table next to the sofa. So are the magazines, mail, and other papers that used to live and grow on my kitchen counter. The desk in the kitchen is so empty and inviting that I actually sit down and work there. And several shelves, drawers, and cabinets in my home and office look like the “after” photo in a before-and-after makeover. Which, of course, is exactly what they are. My New Year’s Resolution this year was [...]

By bettyliedtke|March 1st, 2013|Accountability, Columns, Holidays|Comments Off

A doctor’s question is something to cheer about

“Were you ever a dancer?” my doctor asked during my annual physical a few weeks ago. I was surprised – and flattered – by the question. “No,” I said. “But thanks for asking.” “A cheerleader?” he continued. That one made me laugh. I’ve never been particularly athletic or coordinated, and the closest I ever came to being a cheerleader was when I was in the marching band in high school. I wondered what made him ask about dancing and cheerleading, and he explained that as [...]

By bettyliedtke|February 22nd, 2013|Columns, Health and Well-being|Comments Off

To Get the Best Start, Start Writing the End

“Write the ending.” That was the point I took away from a blog post I read recently, by a writer whose work I greatly admire. And it’s the type of advice I especially love – simple to understand, easy to do, and it helps me not only in my writing but in other work I’m doing, and in my life in general. In this particular post, the writer said she had just written the ending of the novel she’s been working on. She pointed out [...]

By bettyliedtke|February 15th, 2013|Columns, Family, Writing|Comments Off

Seeing a sign is not the same as understanding it

Have you ever felt confused or ambivalent about something you were working on, and asked God for a sign? Something that would show you what you were supposed to do, or at least let you know that you were on the right track. I know several people who are very prayerful and who occasionally – or regularly – ask God for such a sign. And they usually get one. I’m not in the habit of asking God for signs. It’s not because I don’t think [...]

By bettyliedtke|February 8th, 2013|Columns, Faith|2 Comments

Warm thoughts come from a cold encounter

“I can see I’m at the right house,” the man said when I answered the doorbell wearing a winter jacket and scarf. Our furnace went out last week, on the day the temperature was expected to get down to fifteen below zero. The good news is that a repairman was able to come over fairly quickly, and he spotted the problem immediately. The bad news is that fixing it required a part he didn’t have, and couldn’t locate anywhere in the area. It had to [...]

By bettyliedtke|January 31st, 2013|Columns, Family|Comments Off

Gifts are everywhere when we take time to notice them

It’s a gift. I think I’m going to adopt that saying as my mantra from now on. Sometimes it will be in a joking way, as when I’m talking about being directionally impaired and getting lost or turned around very easily. But mostly I will be serious, and it will be a reminder – to myself as well as to others – that we do indeed have many gifts in our lives. And when we take the time to realize and acknowledge this, our lives [...]

By bettyliedtke|January 25th, 2013|Columns, Faith, Professional Speaking|Comments Off

Putting an End to Disasters and Diseases

It’s kind of ironic. We’re finally past all the end-of-the-world predictions and fears that had to do with the Mayan calendar, and now we’re hit with this flu epidemic. I haven’t heard any predictions that the flu is going to wipe out civilization as we know it, but I’ve read enough novels and watched enough disaster movies – where a medical research project goes awry, or a virulent strain of something-or-other gets out into the general public – that I’ve at least considered a “What [...]

By bettyliedtke|January 18th, 2013|Accountability, Columns, Health and Well-being, Respect|Comments Off

Love and loss were intertwined this Christmas

My brother-in-law passed away on December 23. He had been very sick for quite a while, and as Christmas approached, we learned that he wasn’t expected to live much longer. That doesn’t make it any easier to accept or to live with when it happens, especially when it’s around the holidays. “I was hoping so much that he’d be able to hang on till Christmas,” my sister sobbed when she called us from the hospital. We were prepared to drop or significantly alter our holiday [...]

By bettyliedtke|January 11th, 2013|Columns, Family, Health and Well-being, Holidays, Professional Speaking|Comments Off

Igniting a dream through Fire of Hope

Although I often write about what’s going on in my life and the various activities in which I’m involved, I try not to do too much self-promotion in my column. Today I’m doing a little of both, however. I hope you won’t mind. I’m going to be speaking at an event at the State Theatre in Minneapolis on January 18 and 19, called Fire of Hope. It’s being promoted as a “Girlfriends’ Getaway for God,” although men are welcome to attend, too. The program I’ll [...]

By bettyliedtke|January 4th, 2013|Coaching, Columns, Professional Speaking, Travel, Uganda|2 Comments

Success in the New Year will come 15 minutes at a time

My New Year’s Resolution is going to take exactly 15 minutes to complete. The catch is that it’s going to take 15 minutes on each and every day in 2013. I’m taking the 15-minute number from an organizing and decluttering expert who calls herself FlyLady, and who insists that you can do anything for 15 minutes. And she’s right. No matter how busy you are, how many projects or activities you’re juggling, or how exhausted you may be by the end of the day, you [...]

By bettyliedtke|December 28th, 2012|Columns, Holidays|Comments Off

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