“Working in Concert”
Orchestrating a life and career of alignment, harmony, purpose and inner peace.
Renee Collins Cobb, M.Ed.
OPPORTUNITY IS NOWHERE
Be honest - did you just read "opportunity is NOWHERE" or "opportunity is NOW HERE?
If the automatic brain read the latter, then you are not alone.
We have used this one many times in our presentations and it is always a crowd pleaser- but it does bring to mind…my mind anyway..about how important it is to spend not one minute of focus on things you cannot control.
We spend so much time telling people not to "LOOK BACK", but we do not place equal focus on resisting the urge to look to the LEFT or the RIGHT either. We feel the only true directions to look in are WITHIN, FORWARD and ABOVE.
1) DO LOOK WITHIN - Write your mission statement and use it as your compass for all decisions and actions to be made and done.
2) DON'T LOOK BEHIND- Shut the door behind you (and nail it shut if necessary) that no longer serves you or your mission.
3) DON'T LOOK TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT- Put on those blinders for distractions on your periphery, look not to the left or right.
4) DO LOOK FORWARD- Zero in on- with laser like focus- on what is in front of you.
5) DO LOOK ABOVE - Tap into your “Someday, when I have time” CLOUD.
I always ask people to name the one thing they are not doing that they want to do but time is a prohibitor. If you dont write those things down- they stay up in the clouds and the problem is as each day passes- the time to achieve that goal gets shorter and shorter.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. - Emerson
So what is "working in concert?" To me, it the combination of mindset and skillset to follow your inner compass in effort to align your daily actions totally and completely around your values, your beliefs, and your mission statement. Let's try an exercise.
If you place your right fist placed on your heart - this represents your unmovable and stable purpose statement and ...
If you leave your left open hand with arm extended. This represents your daily actions.
"Working in Concert" is all about your ability to align your daily actions with your values, your beliefs and your mission statement.
This visually can be accomplished by bringing your left open hand to join your closed fist in placing your hands together.
"When our daily actions are properly aligned with our purpose, then and only then do we have a credible claim to inner peace."
This is a map of your journey as we help you "E's (Ease) on Down the Road". As the words to this song from the Broadway Musical "The Wiz" suggest, we hope this process will lift a huge mental burden on your efforts to "Work In Concert" and seek alignment, harmony, purpose and meaning in your life and your career. So "Dont You Carry Nothing That Might Be A Load" is an underlying theme as we help YOU make the load you are carrying a little more enjoyable, fun, meaningful and powerful. The tools you will need to take on this journey are a compass, a magnifying class, an open mind and open heart, a rubber band, a telescope and a spinner.
The first tool we use on this journey is a COMPASS.
EXPLORE: “Play it” With Meaning
Write your own music mission statement with a #2 Pencil
"Begin with the End in Mind" - Dr. Stephen Covey
Why a #2 Pencil? Did you know your brain cannot multitask when you are writing on a piece of paper? It may be the only thing that we cannot do while multitasking. Therefore, I feel the piece of paper and a #2 pencil are the most powerful concentration tools available to us even in modern times.
What Does The Creation of a Music Mission Statement Do For You As An Artist?
Authoring a personal mission statement allows you the opportunity to identify what is valuable to you and how to bring your daily actions into alignment with what is valuable to you.
“A Mission Statement is a means of connecting your own unique purpose and the profound satisfaction that comes from fulfilling it." - Dr. Stephen R Covey
Before your mission statement is written, there are some steps you should take that all require writing with that #2 pencil and that piece of paper thing...
How do I write a mission statement for my music career?
A personal mission statement helps anyone focus and concentrate on their core values and beliefs.
Michael Goodman (in The Potato Chip Difference: How to Apply Leading Edge Marketing Strategies to Landing THE Job You Want) describes a mission statement as “an articulation of what you are all about and what success looks like to you.”
A personal mission statement also allows you as a musician or artist to identify any jobs, gigs, venues or opportunities that may utilize or employ similar values and beliefs as your own. This process might ideally help you better assess the pros and cons of any new opportunity.
Here are the steps I recommend to write your music mission statement.
STEP 1: Identify your past successes
On your first page of blank paper, think about FOUR examples where you were “in the zone” or times in your life where you had a great deal of personal and/or professional success. These successes could have been from any source like work, community, home, debate team, academic teams, sports teams … anything! Just reflect on your success. After you identify those FOUR SUCCESSES- challenge yourself to search for and identify any common themes and write those down next.
STEP 2: Identify your core values
Get your stop watch out for this exercise. In just two minutes, brainstorm in the cloud a list of attributes or qualities about yourself that you believe identify who you are and what your priorities are. Once your list is complete, see if you can narrow your values to six important ones. Write down those SIX ATTRIBUTES and then circle the ONE ATTRIBUTE that is MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU.
STEP 3: Identify contributions
Again, with pencil and paper make a list of the ways you feel you could make a difference in FIVE AREAS OF LIFE- 1)The World, 2) Your Family, 3) Your Community, 4)Your Friends and 5) Your Employer
STEP 4: Identify short term and long term goals
Spend some time thinking about your values in life and THREE GOALS (short and long term goals) you have for yourself.
First make a list of your short term goals (up to three years)
Second, make a list of your long-term goals (beyond three years)
STEP 4:
Write your mission statement
Taking all of the first four steps to clarify a better understanding of yourself into account, you are now ready to begin writing your personal mission statement.
1. Using a scrap sheet of paper, do a continuous writing exercise.
Give yourself only 5 minutes to continuously write everything that comes into mind.
2. Refine this statement into the final version.
3. Test drive your statement against the question - "Does this statement inspire me?"
Your mission statement is not intended to be written once and blasted into stone. It is important that you do not let your personal mission statement become outdated. Periodic review and evaluation, as well as feedback from others - can help you keep in touch with your own development and keep your statement in harmony with your deepest self. Continually ask yourself these questions:
Is my mission based on timeless values and principles? Which ones?
Do I feel this mission statement represents the best of who I am and what is within me?
Do I feel good about what this mission statement represents and how it captures who I really am as a person?
Do I feel direction, challenge and motivation when I read this statement?
Do I know of the goals and strategies that will help me accomplish what I have written?
What can I do now to start to be who I will be in the future?
The next tool you will need on your journey is a MAGNIFYING GLASS.
EXAMINE: “Play It By Ear”
Conduct a Music Career SWOT Analysis.
"The Greatest Danger is NOT That That Our AIM is Too High and We Miss It, BUT that It is too Low and We Reach It" ---Michelangelo.
IT is HERE where true growth happens and where short and long term goals are discovered and actualized.
In my keynote speeches on comfort zones- I open by asking these two questions.
“What is the ONE thing you are not doing now- that if you did incredibly well- would make a significant difference in your personal life and your professional life?”
Most of us know the answer to that question- so the next question is - "Why aren’t you doing that one thing now?
Much of the answer to this question has to do with an unwillingness to get out of our comfort zones. If we want to live without regret, it means we don't settle for false peace and instead do the really hard work of reaching for the real thing.
Is it easy? NO
Does it take less time? NO
Is it worth it? YES
But consider the alternative to staying within the boundaries of your own comfort zone which, in the words of author and speaker Christine Caine, is described as the choice to become ACTORS in a DRAMA instead of PILGRIMS on a JOURNEY.
Let’s not settle for that. Instead let's live a life that was created for us to live and embrace the messy, the wonderful, the conflict, the beautiful and the imperfect- yet the exciting and authentic one we were meant to live.
I seriously and thankfully travel with a suitcase filled with outrageous blessings...Ten years ago- I made some hard decisions that forever changed the trajectory of my journey and as I reflect on the courage it took to make those hard decisions without a safety blanket- I celebrate who I am, I celebrate my marriage and I celebrate a partnership, friendship and life with anyone and everyone who has made this journey possible and have shared a ribbon of your own life with this pilgrim.
For any of you that are desirous to make changes in your life- I encourage all of you ask the two questions above and to explore those hard decisions that make you a PILGRIM instead of an ACTOR- it involves what I call "packing your bags and taking a trip back to what is truly important". If you do this- the future will open new doors that represent the culmination of a lot of your hard work, stepping WAY outside of your comfort zone, your dedication, desire, passion and introspect be the key ingredients in helping you get there.
I recommend a really cool tool to help you generate ideas in regards to explore what it will take to "Play it By Ear" and it is called a SWOT ANALYSIS - Analyzing your STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS.
In a SWOT ANALYSIS - you will want again employ that #2 pencil and paper and draw out four square quadrants to facilitate your brainstorming efforts around this exercise.
In the upper left hand quadrant - identify and write your STRENGTHS that are internal positive aspects that are under control and upon which you can capitalize.
In the upper right hand quadrant - identify and write write your WEAKNESSES that are internal negative aspects that are under your control and that you can improve.
In the bottom left hand quadrant - write out your OPPORTUNITIES that are positive external conditions that you don’t control but which you can plan to take advantage.
In the bottom right hand quadrant - write out your THREATS that are negative external conditions that you don’t control but the effect of which you may be able to minimize.
From this data, you have now have a great notebook of ideas utilizing your mission statement and your SWOT analysis.
The next tool you will need for your journey is a OPEN MIND AND HEART.
ENGAGE: “Play It” with Feeling
Conduct Interviews with others who are different than you.
"Be Curious - Not Judgmental" - Walt Whitman
At the core of who I am and who I strive to be- I am a storyteller with a hungry curiosity which has yielded some fascinating stories to share with other story collectors from generations to come.
James Matthew Barrie said it best- “The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.”
Out of all of the qualities I possess in both skillset and mindset, the most valued one and most important one to me is CURIOSITY. We must be curious to grow to come to understand how our backgrounds, our experiences and our lens through which we see the world all come into alignment when setting out on a journey of self-discovery, awareness and enlightenment.
One thing I always recommend for anyone who is performing a variety of career disciplines is to seek out about three people who are in a different phase of their career than you are. Ask questions centered around 1) Education, 2) First Jobs, 3) Goals, 4) First and Most Recent Major Job Change, 5) Transition Points 6) Enjoyment and Passion 7) Fears, 8) Inconsistencies 9) Goals and Looking Ahead.
The next tool you will need is a RUBBER BAND.
EMBRACE:“Play Along”
– Get out of your comfort zone to ENJOY new technology, AI, social media
and develop a high tolerance for change.
"We just never cease from exploration and at the end of all of our exploring, we will arrive at the place where we began...and we will KNOW IT FOR THE FIRST TIME." - T.S. Eliot
Social media, emerging technology, AI and change are all constants and have the ability to be game changers or career destroyers. This one is pretty simple - it doesn't really matter how you feel about social media, emerging technology and constant change - what does matter is your mindset and skillset in your ability to flex, pivot and adapt to all of that social media, emerging technology, AI and constant change.
Consider this story from 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky on the TV Show "Hey Kentucky"
“ROOM to ZOOM to BOOM” 2018- 2023
There are times you have to tackle your fears, throw caution to the wind and just do it- and eight years ago- to get over a residual amount of camera and stage fright I had at the time- I plunged right into doing a spot on “Hey Kentucky” that aired on TV later that evening. With no advance script- I had to read a teleprompter once the recording started with no time to practice and I did GREAT!
My family who was so proud of me told me “maybe they will invite you back” to which I responded- “let me make it clear- I was not invited in the first place - I wrote them and asked them if I could be on the show and they said yes.
Now fast forward- the pandemic would place conditions on change agents and facilitators like me that we had never had to face before with pivoting from a stage to the studio- from a room to a zoom- and for people like me who identify as deaf and have relied on the eyes to read lips and to “read the room” - the only thing now I can read is a row of little boxes I have to scroll through while navigating a Powerpoint presentation, monitoring chat and admitting people into the session ….and almost four years into this now…I have done quite OK!
Fast forward again and I have now, with the help of my support team and mentors- my third trip out of the comfort zone produced the overcoming of a fear of LIVE Radio. Im a scripted kind of gal ya know- so this year has been a HUGE heavy lift out of "The Comfort Zone".
If I didn't have the foresight to plunge into things like TV, conducting oral history interviews, producing a tv show, being on stage, speaking in front of groups of 100+ and producing three radio shows and video production - I do not know if I would have been as well equipped as I am right now to continue to do the things I “get” to do. These days I have found doing live interviews and doing radio voiceovers I have completed yet another big goal and jumping over another hurdle in keeping myself relevant and useful in times of change.
The next tool you will need on your journey is a TELESCOPE
EXECUTE: “Play It” Like You Mean It
Identify your SMART GOALS – Go into Action.
“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” ― Henry David Thoreau
For this one, you can tap into your mission statement process and take your short and long term goals and put them into SMART goal format. SMART means SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC and TIME-ORIENTED. Here are just a couple of examples.
“To continue my career with a progressive employer that allows me to use my skills, talent and values to achieve success for the company.”
“To develop other outlets for my talents and develop of longer-term plan for balancing my life to achieve both personal and professional success.”
One more note about this stop on your journey - ALWAYS WRITE YOUR SMART GOALS IN PRESENT TENSE. Use the words I AM (healthy, financially secure, good parent, rock star)
When Muhammad Ali was first getting his start, he would walk around saying FOUR SIMPLE WORDS, in his interviews, on TV, in a boxing match, and in virtually everything he did and those four words were:
I AM THE GREATEST - Muhammad Ali
And look at what he became....
The final tool for your journey is a SPINNER
EXCEL-A-RATE “Play It Again and Again"
Spin that record around and around and faster and faster
"We are what we repeatedly do, therefore EXCELLENCE is a HABIT" - Aristotle
Actions always follow beliefs so connect your goals and actions to your purpose statement to ensure alignment. Put that action on repeat or shuffle mode – but never ever quit and always keep going! Continue to look at your mission statement, your SWOT Analysis, the Career Interviews you have conducted, your SMART Goals and manifest all that you have written down on your paper with your #2 pencil and put your mission into action.
"Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world." - Futurist Joel Barker
While your personal mission statement, SWOT Analysis and SMART Goals are “personal” in nature…you may want to test drive what you believe your music mission statement to be against what those two or three key people in your life believe it to be.
Share your results with those key people in your life and ask for the valuable feedback you now need to validate your understanding of how you have defined your mission.
Remember the story about Muhammad Ali?
When I think of this process, I always remember the writing of Benjamin Franklin who described his way of "Working In Concert"- Orchestrating a Life and Career of Alignment, Purpose, Harmony and Inner Peace in his autobiography written when he was 57 and in his book "The Art of Virtue". In his autobiography, he described a realization he had come to at only age 20. That realization revealed himself to be not not quite as focused as he wanted to be. Thus, he sat down in a period of reflection, brainstormed and identified 12 VALUES that he was desirous or aligning his daily behaviors around in achieving a credible claim to inner peace.
These values were TEMPERANCE, SILENCE, ORDER, RESOLUTION, FRUGALITY, INDUSTRY, SINCERITY, JUSTICE, MODERATION, CLEANLINESS, TRANQUILITY, and CHASTITY.
He became very excited about this process and was feeling really good about himself. So he decided to share those values with one of his best friends whom he trusted a great deal. His Quaker friend, whom he admired and respected, said:
"Man, these are great, but you seem to have left out a very important one---- ONE THAT YOU REALLY NEED.
You left out HUMILITY.
After all, you do have a reputation for being kind of overbearing and proud."
Ben then set about organizing his life around his values, attempting to bring his daily behavior into alignment with each value. He placed each one of the 13 virtues on an individual page in a pocket-sized book which he carried with him for more than 50 years. He assessed his performance each and every day and every week he concentrated his attention on ONE VIRTUE to work on for an entire week, then moved on to the next value until he cycled through all 13 of his VIRTUES and then started the process all over again.
The next tool you will need to pack on your journey is an EXTINGUISHER.
EXTINGUISH: "Play With Fire"
Dealing with Negative Thoughts and Negative People
"You are the author of your own story, so while you are writing it, do not let anyone else hold the pen."
As someone who has faced self doubt, negative self- talk, external criticism and unkind words from a variety of sources, most whom are in the entertainment industry just like me, I have to at the same time that I offer all of the ways to "Play It" in life, one tool you may need to pack on your journey for psychological safety in exercising the daily alignment of your daily behaviors with values...is an EXTINGUISHER.
The EXTINGUISHER is a metaphor for any way you that you choose to combat the negativity in thoughts, actions, and in others that inconsequentially place you in the role of target. When you are doing great things and when your life and career started to "orchestrate in a way that brings you alignment, harmony, purpose and inner peace - you will become a target.
In my attempts to balance my EXTREME inclination towards identifying as an "optimist" while at the same time rejecting any tenets related to identifying as a "pessimist" or even aligning around anyone that identified in that way - I have finally come to a peace that has me somewhere on the scale between "realist" and "optimist".
In a moment of self-awareness, I publicly shared a need for someone who specialized in the "development of broad shoulders". My "shoulders" were not only weak but also very "narrow" making them the prime target of people who were making a choice to harm me and breech my own borders for psychological safety. I shared this in a moment of vulnerability and authenticity.
"One of the things I have yet to develop are broad shoulders. And you would think I would have had plenty of opportunities as of late to exercise them to perfection and be ready to use them when hard times call upon me to use them. The fact is- I like not having them because it makes me at least, feel more approachable, genuine and authentic, but I am slowly finding that the more I delay the development of them, I am subjecting myself to hurt, disappointment and mistrust of people who I originally thought were well intended.
While I am grateful for a God who loves me and the wonderful husband that God has sent me in this life who stays by my side and protects me at all costs and without fail or conditions- It is a sad day when you find out someone is not well intended and their intentions are also aligned with others who are purposefully trying to hurt you. This information comes in many forms and in many platforms such as direct conversation, comments on other’s posts, etc. but usually via courageous people who forward me information they feel I need to know to protect me from ultimate and most predictive harm.
For someone who values the art of inclusivity, open arms and an open heart at all times- providing and creating opportunities for people to find out who they are, how they can best serve others in this life and how they can fully become who they are intended to become, the hard realization is that not all are as purposeful as I am and through the MANY other alliances I have in accomplishing the same things for others.
The consequence of developing broad shoulders for me is that I become someone I am not intended to be....So I continue to push through the challenges and forge ahead, and with the absence of broad shoulders....and to learn to live and be fine with that strategy - The purposeful hits and jabs will hurt a little bit more without the refinement and definition of those shoulders but will at least happen without the sacrifice of my values and principles which represent the core of who I am- and I am fine with that also."
Let's say for practice, one of your SMART goals is to perform on a big stage in a big arena but what you are currently doing is performing at home and on the front porch.
How do you move from rocking on the front porch to rocking on the stage? It's all about picking up the bricks people have thrown at you along your journey and doing something special with them.
You have a job to do along with the job you do. And that job is for you to start spending MORE of your time around nutritious people that “nourish the soul” and start spending LESS time around negative people who are “toxic to the goal.”
There are people who publicly espouse "love" in public, but in private they can be the most hateful people on earth. They may suggest that YOU, as an artist, musician or a contributor to your organization will never experience success - you will never have a hit record, you will never have a VP title, you will never be more than what you are right now, and you should just accept your fate as what it is…when in fact- I believe the opposite.
Although their words may or may not be well intended and well respected by many in their own circle, the words remind me there are and will always be people who WANT you to remain on your front porch, in your room or home office, in the sharing of your music or other business rather than “SETTING THE STAGE” with your personal and professional goals leading you “TAKE THE STAGE” in a larger arena in life, business, love and legacy.
The reason they preach these words is that they feel their own self-designed and confining space to be a place of comfort and that they are very happy to DESTINE and ASSIGN you to a proper place on that front porch that has you ROCKING that chair on the front porch in a back and forth motion and wishing your career and life away when you could be moving forward in creating your own DESTINY and ASSIGNMENT to ROCK the STAGE in forward motion instead of ROCKING the CHAIR back and forth.
There are some ways I feel you can move from rocking back and forth on a front porch to rocking forward right onto the stage that you are destined and designed to be on and doing what you are here on this earth to do...IF that is what you feel you are here on this earth to do."
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. —Theodore Roosevelt
Why Your Final Destination > Current Situation
Being treated unkindly and unfairly is not fun or desirable, but I am here today to inspire you into action yourself to turn off the noise and the distraction of what other's think of you as you are navigating through this journey yourself. This journey is not an easy one for anyone. But I feel the decision to not travel on this journey that you need you most in you life and career at the time of life and career that you need it, is not only unfulfilling but is much more difficult.
Remember what I have said before…bricks build empires. Pick those bricks up as they are thrown. Do not throw them back who threw them. Collect them like the badges of courage they are and build something better than ever before. Your current situation is NOT your final destination.
With all kinds of ways to "play it" in life, I encourage all of you to pack your bags with and take a trip back to what is truly important and that means different things to different people. Actions always follow beliefs so when you are looking at "orchestrating a life and career of alignment, purpose, harmony and inner peace, it requires both a mindset and a skillset. When we align our daily actions around our mission statement, values and purposes, then and only then...can we have a credible claim to inner peace.
FINAL THOUGHTS - WHY SUSAN LUCCI IS OUR INSPIRATION
The Chinese Bamboo Tree
Like any plant, growth of the Chinese Bamboo Tree requires nurturing – water, fertile soil, sunshine. In its first year, there are no visible signs of activity. In the second year, again, no growth above the soil. The third, the fourth, still nothing. Our patience is tested and we begin to wonder if our efforts (caring, water, etc.) will ever be rewarded.
And finally in the fifth year – behold, a miracle! We experience growth.
And what growth it is! The Chinese Bamboo Tree grows 60 feet in just six weeks!
I couldn't help but think of this fable when I reflected on what the last couple of years of our lives together have been like.
In 2023, I graduated from my 60th year of life and it by far has been my favorite of all of my years- made even more special to share the life stage with the love of my life! The carpets we have walked together have been red, purple and even ocean blue. In year 60 alone- we had now been on the Grand Ole Opry House stage in 2022 and 2023 to receive The Josie Music Awards for Media Company of the Year, on the big screen at Hollywood’s Chinese Theater to receive the Remarkable Women of Central Kentucky award, on Hollywood's Avalon Theater Stage to receive Hollywood Independent Music Awards for Best LIVE Video Production in a Music Video, on the New York stage to receive Stevie Women in Business Awards and for The Gracie Awards for Women in Media, on the Lyric Theater stage for the Lexington Music Awards Music Company of the Year, on You Tube as an Unapologetically Woman in Central Kentucky, on a Freeport stage to introduce my musical friends to the Bahamian people, and on the Mountain Arts Center stage to receive the Best Documentary Award. We had also successfully nominated Jessie Laine Powell and Ron Browning for Lifetime Achievement Honors at the Lexi Awards. This brought the total of honorees we had nominated to 10 over the past seven years.
We were also interviewed by Bold Journey Magazine, Nashville Voyager Magazine, Canvas Rebel Magazine, Lazy Indie Music Magazine, and on the podcast "Women of the Bluegrass", "Scrilltown", "Chillin with Kenny Cummins" and "Good Afternoon Kentucky'
In this monumental 60th year of my life, my husband and I have also became first time Executive Producers of an album “Overtones LIVE Presents The Goodwin Brothers” which yielded a CD, Vinyl and DVD project that is the best work we have done to date. We have such a shared mission and sense of purpose that even when we are apart, we are together. Most of all, we are unapologetically ferociously protective of each other. It is important for all of you to know how much we love and appreciate all who have supported us the past eight years - through a lot of thick and a little thin.
Back to The Chinese Bamboo Tree Story- we have joked and laughed about being “The Susan Lucci’s” (a soap actress who was nominated for 19 Emmy's before she won the only one she won) of the music awards - being nominated more times than we can count in the past five years - but never on stage. This came to the delight of some who attempted to impede our path, throw bricks and break our spirit - but our spirits were never weakened nor was our resolve.
I literally cannot think of the past two years precipitated by the five years before the two years as a radio show and podcast without thinking of the story of The Chinese Bamboo Tree. T he “fruits of our labor -i.e. “success” takes years of nurturing, watering, and tending to the soil- but it also takes a long time to emerge from the roots and requires a high tolerance for the word “NO” an appreciation for ambiguity and the discipline of practicing and exercising patience.
Since we can’t have the “fruits” without the “roots, this makes years 1-4 much more important, meaningful and valuable than the 5th year.
We have to trust and honor the process more than the result. It truly is a marathon and not a sprint.
Finally, knowing that “we are God’s workmanship- created in Christ Jesus- to do good works-
THAT GOD PREPARED IN ADVANCE FOR US To DO!”
None of this happens- including this gift of marriage I share with Warren and our commitment to honoring each other in our daily actions - without the blessing of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
To God Be the Glory…for the things He has done.
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