You Have More In Common With The World Than You Think

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200 words, common ground, community, connecting, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, differences, DNA, doing the right thing, family, Fear, in common, justice, life, love, Relationships, talents, vulnerability

We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.

William James (1842-1910)

The things that make people interesting are their unique talents. Like someone whose guitar playing moves us, or someone whose storytelling captivates us, whose art transports us, whose passion inspires us to change the course we’re on.

Sadly some things that make us different also divide us, like the colour of our skin, our level of education, our societal status, our culture, our belief system. Different takes us out of our comfort zone, makes us feel vulnerable. The unknown is frightening.

So we vilify those who aren’t like us. ‘They’ are less civilized, less intelligent than us. We create rules and laws that hurt them. We find ways to protect ourselves from them while overlooking the injustices we impose upon them.

The above quote is a good metaphor to clearly illustrate how we are all connected. What will it take for us to remember that although we are separate on the surface, we are very connected in the deep?

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES

I am so moved when the woman in the video learns she has a cousin in the room…

 

Doing Things Together Is Like Magic To Me

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building community, common ground, community, compassion, connecting, heart-to-heart, Hump Day Chronicles, laughter, life, living in the moment, love, mission, passion, Purpose, Relationships, stories, vision, working together, world issues

We can do more together than can be accomplished alone

This last week has served to remind me how much I value, and how important community is. Community, or a sense of belonging if you will, drives us to discover the things we have in common and start from there to create something beautiful together.

On Thursday night from 6:30PM to 3:30AM on Friday, I volunteered with a group of people, some of whom I’d never met, at a local casino to raise funds for Oxford House Foundation of Canada. It was only the second time I’d ever worked a volunteer shift at a casino. And oh man, staying up all night is not as easy to bounce back from as it was in my twenties! A month or two ago I worked a day shift for another wonderful organization called Fresh Start.

I gotta tell ya, both volunteer shifts were incredibly fun in that I always like learning new things and I always love meeting new people. The outstanding part of this experience for me, has got to be the fact that over the two days that a non-profit organization hosts a casino, up to 40 volunteers are needed to make it work. And they all work together, very hard I might add, to benefit a specific charity.

It really is something of great value when opportunities like this arise and one is able to take part in them!

On the following Saturday, I was invited to speak to a group of about hundred people on fundraising. Fundraising is both a science and an art, and I focused my talk on the art.

The art is all about relationships. And relationships are all about two-way communication, learning from each other and adding and gaining value from working together. In essence, it’s about building community which just happens to be my core passion!

My talk was divided into parts including: Know yourself and know others. One of the best ways to build solid relationships is to connect through stories: telling your story, learning their story and building a story together.

In other words, my story with the challenges I’ve faced and the resolutions I’ve come to have shaped who I am, what I value, what I am passionate about and why. The same is true of your story. When I know myself and I know you and what your values and passions are, we can find ways to be together for the greater good to create a better world for all of us. We are committed through our common values, passion and goals.

Now that’s like magic to me! What could possibly be more meaningful than that?

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

What is one of your favourite stories about working with a group toward a common goal? What was one of the challenges you have faced in your life that has made you who you are today? Which values did you adopt because of it? What are you passionate about?

 

We’re Not So Different, You And I

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200 words, belong, caring, common ground, community, compassion, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, dreams, family, friends, growing up, happy, health, integrity, joy, living in the moment, love, meaning, passion, Purpose, Relationships, safe, working together, world issues

“We are all alike, on the inside.” – Mark Twain

I used to want to STAND OUT. To be UNIQUE. To be ONE OF A KIND. To find ways that DIFFERENTIATED ME from others, regardless of whether or not I was being true to myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I love and admire many qualities and attributes in others that I do not have. And I try to emulate the ones that resonate with me.

Yet the older I get, the more I realize that we have more in common than not.

We all need nourishment.

We all need to feel safe.

We all need to belong somewhere.

We all need to love and be loved.

We all need to care for others and be cared for by others.

We all need to have purpose; something that gives meaning to our lives.

And beyond the basics, there are many who share our values and passions and dreams for the future.

So the older I get, the more I realize the truth of the quote above and the more I want to connect with others on common ground; regardless of whether that makes me different or not.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

How To Destroy Your Enemies

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200 words, building community, collaboration, common ground, common sense, compassion, courage, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, enemy, Fear, friend, health, integrity, love, peace, war, working together

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? – Abe Lincoln

How To Destroy Your Enemies

1. You could dig up dirt on them and leak it to the public
2. You could study them to determine their weaknesses and chip away at them until they break under the pressure
3. You could study them to determine what/who they love and cut them off from it/them
4. You could gather data to prove that they are wrong about something and discredit them
5. You could bear false witness against them, thereby inviting the unjustified wrath of others
6. You could harm them in some way and render them useless
7. Or you could enter into a conversation with them to find out what you have in common and take it from there…

Often when disagreements surface, we feel we must clobber down those who work against us and their ideas.

We’re afraid if we don’t, we won’t get our way.

We want to win.

If we really want to win, we should start where we agree and work forward from there. And if we’re really lucky, the end result will be better than either side could have imagined alone.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

How To Gather Honey

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200 words, common ground, Community engagement, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, gifts, integrity, kindness, life, love, Purpose, Rules of engagement, teamwork

If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive. -Dale Carnegie

Himalayan Honey Hunter

I’ve heard it said that you can catch more flies with honey than you can with sh*t.

Yet for some reason we often choose the latter approach.

We come into a situation with our own agendas, asserting our views, demanding honey – in affect kicking the hive to make our point.

And we are surprised, or sometimes even hurt, when others fight against us.

It stings!

I mean can’t they see how brilliant our honey hunting idea is?

It’s all in the approach, don’t you think?

I’ve seen it many times in work situations; where it seems impossible to unite a group of people toward a common goal.

The simple truth is that when you show you’ve got someone’s back and you value the gifts that they bring to the table, people begin to have your back and value the gifts you bring to the table.

You can create a safe environment that fosters empowered teams who achieve beautiful things.

It’s the difference between drop-everything-you’re-doing-right-now-and-do-this-thing-for-me-and-make-it-snappy

and

Here’s-the-situation-and-I-immediately-thought-of-you-because-you’re-so-good-at-this-will-you-help-me-carry-out-this-project?

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

Wouldn’t you rather collaborate with willing team members than struggle with resentful ones?

If we both always agree, is one of us not really necessary?

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200 words, common ground, courage, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, differences, integrity, life, listen, love, open-minded, peace, perspective, point of view, respect, tolerance, understanding

Meet regularly with someone who holds vastly different views from you ~ unattributed

OK.

SO THIS ISN’T THE NORM for me, because let’s face it – life is much easier when people agree with me.

And depending on whom I’m speaking with and what the topic is, often I will keep my mouth shut, for fear of hurting the other person’s feelings.

But even I have to admit that there’s value in varying views.

So it’s something that I engage in when the opportunity presents itself.

It’s also something I seek, when I’m stuck in a rut.

And I always learn something from it!

I try to keep the following principles in mind when talking with others who have varying views:

1. Listen to the other person
2. Try to see their point of view
3. Give thoughtful answers to their questions
4. Respectfully share my perspective
5. Avoid personal attacks
6. Discuss new possibilities with an open mind
7. If we can’t achieve #6, agree to disagree

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

Reaching common ground takes longer, but often it’s worth it. Can you think of a time when doing so produced better results?

And I’ll try to see them from yours