Columns – Page 62 – FindYourBuriedTreasure

Dance of Life? It’s the Hokey-Pokey!

The Hokey-Pokey. That’s what I’ve decided is the dance of my life. I’ve never thought about my life as a dance before, and probably never would have if I hadn’t been asked that question during the Table Topics Speech Contest at the Toastmasters District Convention last weekend. The exact question was this: “Life is a dance that you learn as you go along. What dance represents your life?” When you’re asked a Table Topics question, especially in a contest, you don’t have time to think [...]

By bettyliedtke|April 27th, 2012|Columns, Toastmasters|Comments Off

Insights come from tea and cookies and favorite people

I got some great advice and ideas last week, which I plan to incorporate into my business as well as my personal life. These insights came during conversations with two different friends. I was meeting one of them for coffee. The other I spoke to on the phone as we were rescheduling a planned get-together. We had to reschedule it because my friend, who is almost 80, is moving into a new townhouse. She calls it her “penthouse” and is excited about its big window [...]

By bettyliedtke|April 20th, 2012|Columns|Comments Off

A Table Topics question revisits resolutions

“What New Year’s Resolution did you make this year, and how long did you keep it?” I was asked that question last week during Table Topics at a Toastmasters meeting I attended. Table Topics is the time, during every Toastmasters meeting, when we practice thinking on our feet and organizing our thoughts on the fly. The Table Topics Master asks a question, and then calls on someone to answer it. That person then has to spend one to two minutes responding to the question. Note [...]

By bettyliedtke|April 13th, 2012|Accountability, Columns, Toastmasters|Comments Off

Washing of feet much more than a symbol

Wash your feet. That’s probably not something you hear or say very often. We wear shoes and socks much of the time, and most of the walking we do is indoors or on paved roads and parking lots. You probably wash your feet when you take your shower every day, but most likely you don’t think about it even then. You just do it. “Washing of the feet,” however, is something many of us think about during the Easter season – especially on Holy Thursday, [...]

By bettyliedtke|April 6th, 2012|Columns, Holidays, Uganda|Comments Off

Morning sun brings an enlightening experience

I didn’t ask for a message or a miracle, but that’s what I got. I was sitting on the sofa in my family room, doing my prayer exercise. This is a ritual – part prayer, part journal, part asking God for advice – that grew out of a class I once took. Now it’s something I do every morning. The past few weeks had been extremely busy, with the kind of work that made me feel like I was taking one step forward and two [...]

By bettyliedtke|March 30th, 2012|Columns, Family, Writing|1 Comment

A surprise discovery comes on someone else’s birthday

I attended a friend’s surprise 50th birthday party on Sunday. On the birthday card I got for her I added the note, “Welcome to the 50’s!” And as I sealed the envelope it occurred to me that it won’t be too long before I’ll be waving goodbye to the 50’s from the other direction. A similar realization struck me not long ago, as Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season approached. I follow my faith’s Lenten rules of fast and abstinence, which include abstaining from meat [...]

By bettyliedtke|March 23rd, 2012|Columns|Comments Off

A morning meeting generates dynamic dialogue

I’m generally not fond of meetings that start at 6:30 or 7:30 in the morning, but lately it seems I’ve been going to more and more of them. When my alarm goes off, I often ask myself, “Why am I doing this again?” But then I get there and remember, “Oh yes, this is why.” That was certainly my reaction one day last week when I attended a meeting whose purpose was to talk. Just – talk. Actually, there was a bit more of an [...]

By bettyliedtke|March 16th, 2012|Columns|Comments Off

Motivation and momentum from an unexpected source

Sometimes, things that we think are minor or relatively unimportant turn out not to be so minor after all. They end up taking on a life of their own. Their significance is more widespread than we realized at first, and the changes and results that come about because of them are more profound and impactful than we ever imagined they could be. It seems that that’s going to be the case with a new project I’ve just taken on, and it’s the one I wrote [...]

By bettyliedtke|March 9th, 2012|Accountability, Columns|Comments Off

Loaded with email – and ready to change

A newspaper article I read last week talked about people using their email inboxes to stash hundreds – or even thousands – of emails in much the same way that people who are packrats stash their physical “stuff” into the attic or garage. A few days later, I received a newsletter – by email, of course – that had an article on the same subject. But this was more business-related, talking about how an inbox full of email dilutes our focus and concentration, and breeds [...]

By bettyliedtke|March 2nd, 2012|Accountability, Columns|Comments Off

Working and playing can lead to success

Not long ago, I had a day when it felt like I was playing all day instead of working. The morning started off with a breakfast meeting at a Rotary Club. On my way home from that, I dropped off an item I was donating for an educational foundation’s Silent Auction Fundraiser. Later, I had lunch with someone who’s a former coaching client and now a wonderful friend. By mid-afternoon, I felt as though I hadn’t really done any work or accomplished anything, and I [...]

By bettyliedtke|February 24th, 2012|Coaching, Columns, Professional Speaking, Uganda|Comments Off

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