Tag: Joy

5 Ways to Change Your Mindset

by Angela Noel

July 7th, 2016

“Our love of being right is best understood as our fear of being wrong”― Kathryn Schulz

My seventh grade home economics class taught me an important lesson, but it wasn’t how to sew.

Assigned the task of creating a garment, I picked a pattern for what I thought would be a cute pair of shorts. I bought the fabric, pinned on the tissue paper shapes, and cut. Using a sewing machine, I punched a line of thread through the hem. The line, supposed to be neat and straight, looked as if I had traced rolling hills instead. Fearing a bad grade, I told the teacher I intended the design. I even wore the terrible, turquoise, wavy-hemmed shorts the next day to class. My teacher, Mrs Hart, gave me an “A”. I gained no skill in sewing. But I learned how to sell and reap the benefits of a convincing lie. Continue reading “5 Ways to Change Your Mindset”

Leadership Should Feel Like This

By Angela Noel

June 30th, 2016

A little more than four years ago, a leader of his church pulled Doug Timothy aside for a pleasant but purposeful conversation. Doug wondered if he would be asked to serve the church community in some way, perhaps as a teacher or a youth advisor. But the leader had a different, far scarier, role for young Doug in mind: leadership. Continue reading “Leadership Should Feel Like This”

Beauty is Everywhere: Be the One to See it

By Angela Noel

June 23rd, 2016

Confucius said, “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” This sign, posted in an alley in my neighborhood, made my day. The sign maker took the time to not only witness the turtles experiencing the first journey of their lives, but commemorated it for others, like me, to see. Confucius would be proud.

Simple things, like seeing beauty in baby snapping turtles and telling others about it, can change the world, one story at a time.

I don’t know who made and posted this sign. But he or she gave me, and any others who saw it, a whimsical and poignant memory. Below is a tiny tale about the turtles and their human, my  way of paying that gift forward. Continue reading “Beauty is Everywhere: Be the One to See it”

Change is Hard: a “Say Yes” Mentor Can Help

by Angela Noel

June 16th, 2016

Julia Zhang. She's on a boat.
Julia Zhang. She’s on a boat.

Julia Zhang sparkles. Not because she has an addiction to the Bedazzler, but because, in her words, “I think everything is kind of awesome.”

Dragon Boat racing? Yes, she’d like to do that. Hot Chocolate 5K? Yes. Deliver Meals on Wheels? Yes, but she might be late for happy hour/book club at Sushi Tango. Julia lights the spark, inviting others, like me, to follow.

In 2012, when a new job, divorce, putting my dog to sleep, and selling my house had turned my life upside down, I had a choice: become an ostrich, head in the sand, or embrace the disruption as opportunity.

Forrest Gump-ish

Fear of stagnation and regret overcame fear of newness and change; my “Say Yes” phase had begun. But I needed help. A near lifelong practitioner of saying yes, Julia wordlessly offered me mentorship in the art of openness.

Later, I would learn that this occasional Forest Gump impersonator had powerful “Say Yes” mentors of her own. Continue reading “Change is Hard: a “Say Yes” Mentor Can Help”