Blue Sky Living

Hopeful Expectation

Some things I'm meditating on as I start my week...

Shake off expectations that things will get worse! Whatever we dwell on will eventually manifest. That which we resist, persists. The things we fear most often come upon us. So dwell on positive, hopeful things.

Between Now and Not Yet

Life is what happens between now and not yet.  At least that's what my Irish friend says.  And God knows if the Irish say it's true, then it's got to be true.  After all, they gave the Western World a Judeo-Christian God and Guinness.  They must know something about life.

Said Irish friend contends that that is where all of humanity is living right now.  Between now and not  yet.  We're in some hinge time in the history of the human race, and we've not crossed over the threshold quite yet.  But we're there now.  But not yet.

Laughing With

While only mildly familiar with Regina Spektor, a friend shared this song with me. Laughing with or at, it speaks. Enjoy. (As for me, I'm off to download more of her music.)

Inside Voices Please

I've gotten interesting feedback on yesterday's post Playing Nicely.

It seems many are encountering the same vitriol when they engage in conversation on issues of importance to our lives today.  Lots of screaming, heightened emotion, rising temperatures, little talking, less progress.

Some are even calling this The Summer of Hate.

I am afraid if we were back in grammar school we'd be getting really low marks.  You know, "N" for needs improvement or "U" for unsatisfactory. 

I can hear the teacher, "Use your inside voice! You weren't raised in barns!"

Funny how screaming doesn't strengthen one's point.  It only weakens it and makes one look a little more ignorant. Seth Godin has some helpful things to say about that on his blog today:

"If you want to change what your boss believes, or the strategy your company is following, the first step is to figure out how to be the best informed person in the room."

I think he's right.  It's easier to convince people of your position when you are rationale and well-informed.  Leave the yelling for the barn.

Playing Nicely

Social networking sites are fantastic tools to connect, relate, learn, investigate and challenge.  I'm enjoying Facebook, Twitter, and now FriendFeed.  However recently I've witnessed a lot of online comments that lacked, well, common courtesy.

You know the type.  Someone shares something they are passionate about and a reader disagrees.  Instead of offering a different perspective in a thoughtful way, he or she dives in and makes it a personal vendetta against the writer--not to mention the ideas being expressed.  Enter the Spanish Inquisition.

D Train: Dear My American Friends,

D Train: Dear My American Friends,

Shared via AddThis

Interviewing Tips in the New Economy

Continuing my research on companies' procedural changes on hiring in the new economy, here are some useful tips I've discovered on the interviewing process:

Experts concede less than half of interviewers are prepared for the interview.  Many are rushing in from a phone call or another meeting.  That means you may have the upper hand and can control the direction of the interview.  A good tactic is to give the interviewer three core competencies demonstrated in your work history and ask which one he/she would like to focus on.