Bump, Set, Spike

Momentum should be used in motivating someone to simply take the next step in a process. You will not benefit from momentum if you try taking someone from the first step to the last step in one move. It doesn't usually work.

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Volleyball is a good example. With three touches to work with, each touch is used to build momentum in returning the ball. The first player bumps the ball to the net to allow the second player to set the ball in the air for the last hit; a hard-to-return spike.

Players who return the ball with a bump, makes creating momentum for the opposition easier while putting themselves on the defensive.

Creating momentum is a process.

Communication Observation

People who initially complain about their communication with others are often the ones who are causing the communication breakdown in the first place. The more I read and study communication the more I observe this action taking place.

Perhaps it's our knee jerk reaction to blame others. If so, I imagine this observation is seen in more areas than just communication. Don't be afraid to take the time to over communicate in any situation. Clarity is key.

Idea Feedback

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No idea is proven to be a good or bad idea until it proves itself.

It takes discipline to hear ideas from others. First, you have to listen when you may not want to. Second, you have to respond in a way that doesn't tear down their momentum or desire to work with you again in the future. That person may be a door you don't want to close. It's easier to dismiss an idea and move on, but don't fall in to that trap.

Let your initial response be sincere and positive. If there are holes in the idea, it's likely they will be discovered on their own pretty quickly. There's no need for you to point them out and walk away from pooping on the dream.

The key is to take the ideas presented to you and develop them together. Make it better. Put your fingerprint on it. Improve it so that everyone can take ownership. If your first response is, "I don't like it," and that's all you say, you miss out on opportunity. You may lose respect too.

If you want people to listen to your ideas, then prove that you can contribute to theirs.

Selling your hope

Hope is powerful and a lot of people attempt to sell it.

As long as people have hope, people will continue to look for more. You will wet appetites if you can provide a product that yields hope. But for the person who is completely hopeless, you may not be able to convince them to buy your product, because hopelessness keeps them chained down.

As long as there is a glimpse of hope, people will find a way to move past their fears and shame. If this is true, then we have two demographics we must target differently when it comes to selling products that result in discovering hope. Those with any hope at all and those with none.

To those with none, they must first learn how to hope for hope.

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Shame and Guilt

Sunday, Lee Camp delivered a message on the subject of shame and guilt. Camp always challenges my thinking. He has the ability to make me think beyond the "hour of worship" by consuming my thoughts for days. Sunday was no exception.

Upside Down: Shame and Guilt - Lee Camp

Otter Creek Church

This was the third time in a week where the story of the Garden of Eden was brought to my attention. Rather than go in depth on everything I've read and heard, let me share the most disturbing yet freeing thoughts that have come to mind.

1. God never accused Adam and Eve of sinning because they were naked. After eating from the tree, God wanted to know who told them they were naked. Did God give them coverings because they were sinning in nakedness or was it out of love in order to help them deal with their shame?
   
   
2. "The curse of knowledge" can indeed be a curse. Our own experiences, both positive and negative, give us knowledge. That knowledge can cause us to take our own negative experiences and cast shame on the innocent (those who do not yet have knowledge of the evil). If there were no shame, would we find fewer things sinful?
   

There is much more to think about, but this is where I am at the moment.