After engaging in a conversation with my neighbor, Mike, the other day about his upcoming high school reunion, I was reminded of how fascinating group dynamics can be, especially considering that at the same time, I was reading Joan Ryan’s book Intangibles about team chemistry in sports. Whether discussing groups of school alumni, high-performing athletic …
Category: Relational Equity
Come Clean
Does your body have a visceral response such as a gigantic lump in your throat when someone hesitantly utters the words, “I need to Come Clean with you!” Personally, my preference would be that those words were intended as an act of service which might result in removing dust from my furniture or soap scum …
Borrow a Map
On this pilgrimage to discover what it means to Truly Flourish and live a life of meaning, the traveling imagery has arisen often, and there are notes all over my reading any time a reference like Blindspots, Detours, and Dirty Windshields appear. However, this week may have been a Defining Moment when I began my …
Truly Flourish
Attempting to settle on one definition for what it means to Truly Flourish at life is a bit of a challenge for a multitude of reasons. Research will have me travel down paths related to happiness one day and then life satisfaction and positive psychology on another, all with their own unique perspectives of what …
Life Lessons from Benji
by Dr. Kelvin Moore, Union University, from 2021 Fall Faculty Workshop My wife and I live on a road. We don't live on a street or in a subdivision. Five additional houses, four of whom were family, exist on this approximately mile and one-half road. The road is country and county, we don't live inside …
Keeping Score
Life is not a game, so why are we continually Keeping Score? Pondering this weighty issue reminded me of a time many years ago when I was teaching an adaptive physical education course, and while we were playing a game in the gym, one of the student athletes, by the name of Mary Kosco Greer …
Refinement and Revision
“End of Construction – Thank you for your patience.” These words were chosen by Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, for her gravestone, and they have arisen in my reading several times over the years. I’m not sure I can accurately articulate why the expression resonates so deeply within me. Perhaps the reason …
You Too?
Has there been an occurrence when you are actively listening to another person in a conversation, and your intent is not to interrupt, but truly Listen With Your Eyes; however, your mouth just blurts out, “You, too?” Often, this simple expression opens the door to a new Friendship Conversation that validates your experiences or feelings …
Flourishing Organizations
Today, I was deeply saddened to read a comment from a student in a graduate-level course who offered that my request for a book review was the first time they had been asked to complete one since seventh grade. My sincere hope is that this statement did not mean that during their educational formation they …
Friendship Conversations
In researching the characteristics typical of people who are considered to be flourishing at life, it should be no surprise how often someone’s ability to thrive is connected to the individuals with whom they have created Relational Equity, or as Shawn Anchor terms it in his book, The Happiness Advantage, social capital. As I continue …