Ray Calabrese’s Buckeye Blog

Difference Makers are Grounded

A difference maker is grounded in a set of trusted beliefs, uplifting values, and a firm hope that the future will burst forth like a glorious spring after a long, hard winter. By being grounded, a difference maker expresses a consistent message that echoes his/her beliefs, values, and hope in the future. The message is not influenced by popularity — but comes from the heart. 

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, shares ways that difference makers can use twitter to be a force for good.

JD: It’s really about focusing on the content, making sure the message you want to put out there is simple, direct and genuine. It should express passion and love for whatever you are talking about, because when people see that, it is very engaging and inspiring. It sounds silly, but it’s really that simple. Just focus on the message and keep at it: it will be discovered at some point. We see many examples of that today, and over the past year. I think it’s really difficult to overcome the notion that you need to have 20,000 followers to say anything meaningful, and you’re not going to say anything meaningful until I have 20,000 followers. Because what’s the point of that? The way you gain people and lead is to express yourself right now. No matter who is listening right now, if you start talking, people will eventually listen if it’s something that resonates with them.

Read more at:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/03/twitter-cofounder-jack-do_n_344663.html&cp

Filed under: Appreciative Inquiry tagged beliefs, difference makers, force for good, future, Hope, message, Twitter, values

 Are You in Charge of Your Stress? Or, Is Your Stress in Charge of You?

To be alive is to experience stress. Stress comes at us in a myriad of ways. Some of us become paralyzed by stress, unable to move, and we watch our lives spin out of control. Others, see stress for what it is, a challenge to become more authentically human. It is this way with difference makers. Difference makers enter stress-filled situations, and in their mind’s eye slow it down, discover the challenge, mobilize others to meet it, and press forward. Today, see the stress in your life as a challenge, an opportunity to help others transcend the challenges they face.

Here is a brief excerpt from an online article about transcending stress {you can read the rest here:

Overcoming Stress 

“An important step in learning how to adapt to stress is to recognize the situations that create it: poor communication, unfulfilled expectations, retirement, loss of a loved one, job pressures, bad relationships, and dwelling upon past events or imagined future ones. Healthy reactions to stress, then, involve generating positive attitudes and beliefs about your abilities to respond to stressful situations in a positive manner. 

 Since stress is truly a mind/body phenomenon, part of healthy stress management also involves physiological manipulation through mind/body techniques . . .  Regularly practicing any of these methods helps together train the body and mind to adapt healthfully to stress through relaxation and breathing. Grounding, an alternative healing mode, will also shift ANS in a balanced direction.

 You have the power, in each given moment, to choose to adapt to stressors in a healthy way. Recognizing that it’s not all in your mind, you can start to minimize stress by refusing to “sweat the small stuff.” Breathing through emotionally stressful situations can also facilitate adaptation, rather than mal-adaption. Attempting to manipulate your nervous system activity through mind/body medicine can also help keep SNS activity at bay. Be sure also to maintain a strong immune system through a Heart Healthy Lifestyle.”  

Filed under: Appreciative Inquiry tagged challenge, challenges, difference makers, healing, heart, mobilize, nervous system, stress

Real Difference Makers Push the Edge of the Envelop

Scott Mendelssohn and James Corral created a fitness lab in their middle school that pushes the edge of the envelop for the way physical education is taught in schools. These two men recognized the importance of creating a mental attitude of lifetime fitness for young people. School districts throughout the U.S. should consider modeling this program. 

Here’s part of the story reported by Amy Moellering:

[You can read the whole story here: http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_13645244]

“CHARLOTTE WOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL in Danville has taken physical education to a whole new level.

Their Fitness Lab, which opened this school year, is a far cry from the dodgeball and calisthenics many of us remember from our PE days. Instead, there are five bikes, seven rowers, eight Nautilus machines, 36 stability balls and free weights.

It resembles a workout room at a fitness club more than a middle school gym class. PE classes at Charlotte Wood explore different sports such as Frisbee football and basketball, but they supplement those units with days in the Fitness Lab. There, kids learn why it’s important to raise their heart rates and develop muscle strength. Students move through stations, keeping their heart rates up for 30 minutes as they circulate through aerobic and strength building exercises. They track their progress from week to week, helping them make the connection between exercise and health.”

“My main concern is not that kids learn to play a certain sport, but that they learn the connection of sports to fitness,” said Scott Mendelssohn, head of the school’s physical education department.

“If you don’t explain the relevance of running and how it improves heart health, they won’t understand why running is important.”

Mendelssohn, along with Athletic Director James Corral, worked on making the lab a reality for nine years. Corral had established a similar fitness center when he was a junior high PE teacher in Washington State in the late 1990s. At the time, it was one of only two junior high fitness centers in the nation.

Filed under: Appreciative Inquiry tagged difference makers, fitness, mental attitude, Oakland, physical education, school districts

Each Day We Have a New Opportunity to Flourish And Help Others to Flourish

Researchers tell us that flourishers are people with a positive life outlook, their glass isn’t half-full, its running over, spilling down the street bringing joy to anyone on the path. Flourishers live meaning-driven life and understand the importance of connection. Are you a flourisher? If you read this blog regularly you must be a flourisher. So today, head out to your workplace, home, place of worship and spread the good news that together we can create a love-filled, hope-driven society for ALL members.

“You’re a Flourisher About 17 percent of Americans are flourishers, says a study in American Psychologist. They have a positive outlook on life, a sense of purpose and community, and are healthier than “languishers”–about 10 percent of adults who don’t feel good about them selves. Most of us fall somewhere in between.   “We should strive to flourish, to find meaning in our lives,” says Corey Keyes, PhD, a professor of sociology at Emory University. “In Sardinia and Okinawa, where people live the longest, hard work is important, but not more so than spending time with family, nurturing spirituality, and doing for others.” [from Prevention Magazine]

Filed under: Appreciative Inquiry tagged connection, flourisher, healing, health, Hope, joy, meaning, positive outlook, purpose