Have you ever taken the time to reflect on the influence you have on those around you? To genuinely ask yourself if you are a Filler or a Dipper? When I was introduced to Don Clifton’s theory of the Dipper and the Bucket, what you might recognize as a strengths-based approach to life, it provided …
Category: Flourishing
Mentoring Communities
When my friend and colleague, Laci reached out on that cold January day a few years ago, she had no understanding at that time what her call was unleashing. Perhaps she regrets that call now, but since we are still chatting regularly, my hope is that she still finds our conversations as beneficial as I …
Wrinkle Free
Once upon a time I teased my mother when we would be out clothes shopping and one of the determining factors guiding her choice was whether or not it would require ironing after being laundered. Now, I am in danger of becoming the ideal candidate for those Progressive commercials about not becoming your parents. Admittedly, …
Fragile Faith
A week into the break between the spring and summer semesters and I’m confident that no one will ever employ me to be a domestic engineer. An exasperated, “You’re fired, Julie!” would have escaped my lips today if I’d had an alternative, because not only did a glass storage dish escape my grasp while dividing …
Follow and Fish
Do you remember ever playing the game Follow the Leader when you were a child? According to one site I viewed, game play is described as, “One player, the Leader, begins moving around with actions that the rest of the players must mimic. Anything — including wildly flailing his hands or furiously scratching his head …
Unhurried Life
“Hurry rushes toward the destination and fails to enjoy the journey."Alan Fadling, An Unhurried Life If you happen to know my dad very well, then perhaps we can agree on the fact that you likely have rarely, if ever, witnessed the man being in a hurry. The only circumstance where I recall my dad ever …
Strange Gifts
Do you possess a God-given talent that is so unique that some might call it a Strange Gift? There’s just this skill that comes so naturally to you that it is like breathing, but others are baffled, because for them, this quality proves so challenging. One Strange Gift bestowed upon me relates to organization, and …
Burn the Ships
As mentioned previously in the post entitled Teach Me, I am struggling to learn the lesson that when God repeatedly places a concept in front of me, I am to respond with, “Lord, what do you want me to learn from this _____?” Rarely is the blank filled with the noun “song,” but I’m accepting …
Digital Philosophy
Within me exists a tension between what I am discovering on this pilgrimage to determine the characteristics of a flourishing life, and the realities that our current culture (along with a very real enemy) is doing everything it can to stack the odds against us flourishing in any area, whether it be personal, professional, or …
Tough Seasons
Life is hard; as anyone with the ability to read this blog can attest to, and most things worth achieving usually demand a great deal of sacrifice in order to develop fruitful rewards. On this journey to attempt to identify the behaviors and characteristics that lead to the Habits of a Flourishing Life, I cannot …
Flourishing @ Life 