The Children's TherAplay Foundation, Inc.’s Post

What's the best advice you have ever received? 🤔 #anuragsays #thursdayvibes #motivation #lifelesson #lifeadvice

Here's the latest post from my blog, Barney's Bullet #joy #joyinthejourney #fairness

𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 Lon L. Swartzentruber, 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 Design Group International, 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺? 𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯. _________________ "Lorie and I wore out the figure-eight road of our Elkhart, Indiana, subdivision in 1999 and 2000. We walked it morning and night, talking the whole while. Those of you who knew us can picture our animation and abundance of words.   There were two reasons for the energy behind our fast pace and speech. Lorie had been diagnosed with cancer, and it was pretty clear that my continued working for church-related institutions, or as pastor of a congregation, would put us into medical bankruptcy, even if we did not pursue any radical course of treatment. To change jobs, though, would take our less-than-stellar medical insurance benefits away. The work I was doing for a number of denominations across North America had shifted from being an ecumenical project to being housed in an educational division of an Anabaptist-related financial services company. Now that I had the educational division set up and running smoothly, there was no more challenge in front of me; I was restless. We were faced with a choice between freedom and security. It proved to be a choice as well between life and death.   𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦: having capacity to choose one’s own learning and one’s manner of working, and to have freedom over all of one’s personal economy — both income and expense. Having a sense of an open horizon. Having opportunity to figure it out. 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲: being provided for through one’s work, without having to take full responsibility for all of one’s personal economy. Having a sense of stability. Not having to figure it out.   We ultimately decided to establish what we now know as Design Group International, frequently breathing a prayer as we proceeded. Our conviction that freedom to let God’s Spirit blow into our vocational sails mattered more than choosing security. For us, it became a matter of faithfulness to foster our talents and opportunities as stewards, rather than to let them be stifled through institutional malaise. Perhaps we could have impact with leaders and organizations who were organized and aligned to make a tangible difference." ___________________ https://lnkd.in/gKwuGjfm #processconsulting

I’d been training to run a 10km race last weekend. It was a way to celebrate moving to Melbourne, and my first race since recovering from some injuries and a health issue. Last week I got the flu, and due to still recovering I decided not to race. I’ve been really disappointed - with myself and the situation, and that I didn’t get to my goal. I’ve recently been talking to a coach about letting go of perceived expectations, what purposeful work means to me, and how to find joy in accomplishment over achievements at work. I love a goal, but more than that I love creating and following a plan in order to get there. It’s recently dawned on me that this is the perfect example to practice what we’ve discussed… Although I couldn’t race, I have run 10km in training and I did that from a starting point of a thyroid problem and fluid in my lungs. I’ve been consistently building up for ten weeks, seen some beautiful scenery in the new city, and even found community in our apartment run club. So maybe the goal was to run the race, but the reward was actually everything I picked up along the way. It’s goal setting time in corporate world, and I’m challenging myself to think of goals that are steps toward an outcome, rather than just win or lose scenarios. What does accomplishment look like if not a tick box? And how do I capture ‘the journey’ as a goal? In the case of my run, reframing my thinking helped me focus on the real prize, and I didn’t even need to rewrite the goal - perhaps this a message that is helpful for you too 💭

Thought for the Day: Encourage the Try "When you encourage others, you in the process are encouraged because you're making a commitment and difference in that person's life." - Zig Ziglar Twice a year a kids running series is hosted at our local high school track. The races range from three year olds all the way up through high school. The youngest kids run a 50 yard race and the races get longer by age group. From fourth grade on, the kids are running a mile. The types of kids that run vary as much as their ages. There are kids who I’m not sure they know or care that it’s a race and other kids whose parents have probably been talking about winning their race the entire week. As a side note, some parents take a fun running series way too serious. By the time the 400m race wraps up, both of my girls are finished, but we stay and watch the rest of the races to cheer on our friends and the rest of the runners. This past week my oldest daughter and I were sitting on the far side of the track by ourselves cheering on the runners running the mile. Towards the end of the race when there were just a few stragglers left on the track my daughter made a comment. It wasn’t malicious or mean, but it wasn’t encouraging either. As I cheered on the last few runners I saw an opportunity to share a life principle with her. Never make fun of someone who’s willing to try. It took a lot of courage for those kids to line up and run that race. It took even more to keep going when everyone else was finished. Those are the people we should celebrate and encourage. Trying something new or hard is challenging enough, we don’t also need to deal with people making fun of us. There’s a level of respect that should be earned simply by being willing to show up and start something. Very few people are great at something and even fewer are great when they start. Most of us will struggle through things before it becomes easy, wouldn’t we want someone encouraging us along the way rather than tearing us down? Whether it’s kids running a race, someone taking the stage, or volunteering for a stretch assignment recognize the risk they’re taking. Encourage and support them along the way.

As a lifelong rider, I have seen and experienced what a powerful influence this sport can have on people, instilling empathy, patience, responsibility, self-confidence, and perseverance, among other characteristics. I have also seen and experienced just how exclusive it is - and becoming more so, as the ticket price for entry goes up and up. I love stories about how horses can be a pathway IN and UP for people, and this one is incredible. While the sport on a formal level is know for separating the proverbial haves and have-nots, riding and horses are terrific equalizers. Horses are fully agnostic to a person's socioeconomic background. They don't know or care if a person has a disability. They remember how a person treats them, and respond in kind. I just love this story, and think the parallels to the working world are undeniable. There's no question that riding since early childhood has made me a stronger, more diligent, and more mindful person, all traits that translate in the workplace. Also, I'm a big believer in giving people chances to show what they're capable of and to thrive relative to their passions, and riding is an amazing foundation for that.

We were at one of Sydney’s most elite and prestigious all-boys schools. . The best rugby players in the year level were fully into our workshop, he traditional male stereotype was their way of life. They knew all the “right” things to say, and claimed that their mates meant everything to them. I got the feeling that they probably spent a lot of time taking the piss out of one another and not talking about the real shit. . Halfway into the workshop, one of the boys stood up and was clearly emotional and confused: “I just wanted to say that last year was pretty tough for me. 2 of my closest family members passed away and I felt like I couldn’t talk to you boys about it or that I didn’t need to. Now that I’m talking about it, I realise that I’ve probably been holding onto a lot and didn’t need to do it alone.” . His mates made it really clear to him that they wish he told them. . Straight after, another one from their group jumped up and was also really emotional: “Boys, I’ve had a health scare recently and it’s really affecting me. I can’t play footy and I feel so scared and alone. I haven’t been able to talk to you about it because it’s just not what we do”. . These two fellas initially thought that by opening up to their mates that it would ruin the friendship, but they learned by taking this “risk” that it makes the friendship so much stronger. . As a result, this friendship group will have changed forever and they now know that it isn’t just about banter, but really being there for one another when it matters most. - Ryder . . #TomorrowMan #TomorrowManAustralia #ChallengeTheStereotype #EmotionalLiteracy #LiveBeyondTheStereotype #MensMentalHealth #MenInSport #Sport #Teammates #SupportingTeammates #Community #SportingClubWorkshops #ClubCulture #SportsCulture #MoreThanTheGame

Different Perspective  Did the ball get into or over the bunker? If you have played golf in Scotland, you will hear people say to survive on any course is to avoid the wicked bunkers! I am a high Handicap golfer, and I have struggled with golf physically and mentally ever since I started playing it. There were many moments of ups and downs (and still have). When playing with seasoned golfers, I always felt that I was holding them back. Hence, I rushed over my game and the bunkers always intimidated me. Learning to "self-talk" Since embarking on the Coaching for Behavioural Change (CBC) course at Henley Business School, I am learning more about myself and continuing on a self-discovery journey. While freelancing as a professional executive coach and pursuing my PG Diploma in CBC, I also practise coaching on myself. One of the things that I have learnt is to self-regulate, making sense of the feeling and emotions which I am experiencing - what’s helpful and what’s not.   I want to get better at golf and be able to enjoy the game. Taking on board my husband’s suggestion, I went back for some golf lessons with a professional golfing coach. I would practise what I have learnt at the range and play regularly. Practice builds consistency, and consistency can result in a positive outcome. This behavioural change in me is built upon my motivation to improve my game and the support of my husband. While practising technical skills is one way to improve, there is the anxiety to perform, which puts much pressure on me.  It reminded me of those nervous feelings which I experienced every time before every business presentation. So, there is still the mental hurdle that needs to be worked on to improve my game.   I practise "self-talk" to regulate my fear of bunkers, telling myself it’s just the same practise shot at the driving range. If it gets into the bunker, it’s not the end of the world. It gives me the chance to practise getting out of the bunker.  And if I don’t manage after 2 shots, I will pick it up and continue to play on. I have kept going through this "self-talk" drill repeatedly with every tricky shot. I tell myself that whatever I am doing, it is of service to my goal. My handicap is 31.3 (a slight improvement), and I am still not perfect at playing out of the bunkers. However, one thing is different. That is - I am not intimidated by bunkers. I am beginning to enjoy golf and what golf is teaching me. In this photo, I chipped over the bunker and par the hole! I celebrated getting over the bunker and the par. However, the biggest celebration is the feeling that I am not afraid of the bunkers and the ability to self-regulate myself and stay on positive thoughts. I am sharing this experience because I believe that coaching can help to unleash one’s unknown strength, de-cluster the unhelpful thoughts, make space for positive thoughts that can contribute to one’s goal.    I hope you find this helpful. Please share your thoughts.

🇺🇸HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND! As we warm up for Summer, I remember a couple lessons from my first (barely) successful surf experience earlier this year: - Persistency and Joy: Beginners struggle 99% of the time and have 1% of result, which is one of the reasons why we procrastinate any attempt. 😅 The paddling wears you out, 5 good waves (if many) for 258 falls, insane bruising, and an unpleasant amount of salty water in your digestive system. Lol. 100% was fun, though! Focus on the joy of the process. - Mentorship: I have tried to surf before but this time, the first I was able to stand up, I realized that the right teacher for me made the entire difference. Cudos to Mike Richard, who is 4 times world champion but had a very relatable, patient and confident approach when coaching me. Hope you all enjoy your holiday in the spirit of celebrating life, service, and new challenges ahead. #challenge #service #teambuilding #coaching #partnership #confidence #overcomingobstacles #valuecreation