The Leading Edge: Leading Through a Lens of Gratitude While Wearing My Fancy Glasses.
By Sue Gibbs, a certified John Maxwell Team coach, speaker, and trainer.
I frequently joke with my husband that I promise to use my super powers only for good and never for evil. The same should hold true for social media, but sadly that is seldom the case. That is why I get so excited when the little gremlins who decide what shows on my Facebook feed drop me a truly tasty nugget of happiness. I was recently graced with just such a video, and it rocked my world!
Instead of the typical braincell reducing meme or cute animal time suck that seems to be the entertainment of the day, this video was different. It was truly something special.
This particular video caught my attention and then it mesmerized me. I had to watch it multiple times to let it really sink in. Why was it getting to me? Why was it messing with my head?
It wasn’t complicated. It was just a simple home video of a family at a birthday party of what appeared to be a middle aged fella. His family handed him his gift, and once it was partially open, he immediately sat down as the realization of what was inside began to sweep over him. It was apparent that he knew what the package contained and he was overwhelmed by the reality that was unfolding. He started instantly wiping away his tears, first from one eye, then the other.
It is about this time that the viewer can make out what the object is inside the box. It is a pair of glasses. These are not just any ordinary glasses. Instead, they are glasses that make adjustments for color blind people to see the full spectrum of color.
The gentleman placed them on his face, then quickly got up and started looking all around him with wonder and amazement. I can’t speak to what he was feeling exactly, but I can make a pretty fair guess. I believe he was astonished, captivated, mesmerized, and perhaps even a little shocked. He spoke very few words but his body language was that of amazement and gratitude. The video clip ended with him gazing up at the sky with his hands clasped, obviously overwhelmed with what had just taken place and trying to take in a moment that had profoundly changed the course of his life.
Then something hit me and hit me hard. You see, I’ve recently been on a new journey of transformation myself. We all view life through lenses that are different from everyone else. Our lens may be clouded by negative past experiences, which for me are from multiple losses and traumas. Life can beat us up, can’t it? Our perception is impacted by every person that we have interacted with on our journey, and by how we have been treated through those interactions.
What if we are overcomplicating things? What if by self-correcting everything would change, literally, in the blink of an eye?
The problem is that we don’t know that we aren’t seeing the whole beautiful, vividly colored picture, so we don’t know what we are even missing out on. Worse, we sometimes do know that things can be different but we just don’t know how to make it happen.
Once we know there is so much more out there waiting, how can we be satisfied to continue to live in our previously muted existence? We can’t go back once we know that there is something clear, colorful, and exciting out there. Once that gift is handed to us, all that is left is to RUN with every bit of our strength toward it.
I have recently experienced this when I joined the John Maxwell Team. As I continue to unwrap the gift I have received in being a part of this organization, I can only look around in awe and childlike wonder at the new things that I discover about myself daily. The eyes of my heart have seen beautiful new things – things that bring me a renewed hope, a newfound purpose, and a belief in myself that had been buried under the rubble of years of disappointment and shattered dreams.
Change Seekers, we don’t have to stay stuck! Isn’t that fantastic? Sometimes it seems like things will never be different, never be better, that you will never get there. But that just isn’t true! When we are ready to see the truth, change becomes possible. When we least expect it, something comes along and gives us a new perspective and ROCKS our paradigm. My dearest loves, please don’t give up. Your fancy new glasses are waiting for you too!
Bio:
A self proclaimed “serial entrepreneur,” Sue grew up (as a proudly adopted child) in a self-employed household and found herself thrown into the deep end of running a business at an early age. After managing several aspects of various family businesses, she soon needed something to call her own.
Sue has started several ventures and has found tremendous success in the direct sales world, growing and developing a team of productive multi-million dollar rockstars. Her focus has now become helping others to tap into their power to create positive change through understanding their inherent value and potential and by bringing their purpose to life through both their personal and professional endeavors.
Always a “learn it all,” Sue obtained her undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice, her Masters in Kinesiology, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Performance Psychology. Her passions include coaching, teaching, speaking, health/wellness, photography, animal rescue, and shining light and happiness into the world.