Archive - February, 2012

Stop Blaming The Holy Spirit For Your Conviction

February 28, 2012 in Identity 28

My first job was in a grocery store. I was a bagger for a couple of years before I was promoted to the meat department. This is where I encountered my first jerk of a boss.

He was a perfectionist in every sense of the word. Every shelf had to be stocked fully and perfectly. He was quick to point out the smallest flaws and he regularly did so in front of others. I’m pretty good at not making mistakes once I learn something, but there were more than a few times that he berated me in front of employees and even customers.

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Getting To Know Uncle H

February 27, 2012 in Identity 24

I’ve never been to a family reunion but I’ve talked to others who have. Some families are loud and crazy while others are conservative and formal. However, the one common thread in all the stories has to do with the weird uncle. The one everyone either ignores or avoids.

In some stories the uncle is crazy and obnoxious. Other stories paint the picture of the drunk uncle that sits by the bar, mumbling unintelligibly to anyone in earshot.

In all cases, the uncle is reluctantly invited while hoping he won’t come to the event. Sometimes he shows up and makes a scene that everyone tries to handle quickly and efficiently. Other times he sits quietly in the corner. But like it or not, he’s family so he’s invited.

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Our Story Is Not Our Identity

February 24, 2012 in Identity 5

This is a guest post by Chris Lautsbaugh. If you are interested in guest posting, you can find out more about it here.

Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/

Our family has recently completed a journey to adopt and immigrate our son from South Africa. This process took over four years and included custody, name changes, countless documents, and finally culminated in him receiving his US citizenship and passport.

I’ve been reflecting on this journey recently. My son’s identity has changed. He has a new name, a new country, and a new family heritage.

This does not change his story. Where he came from will always be a part of his life, but how he is known is completely different.

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How My Heritage Helped Me Understand My Righteousness

February 21, 2012 in Identity 36

I am a third-generation Puerto Rican, born in New York. I would consider myself a New Yorican if it weren’t for the fact that I moved away when I was 3 years old. Most days I feel proud of my heritage. Other days I feel like an all-American gringo.

My parents divorced when I was very young and a few years later, my mom was remarried to a military man. Next thing you know, we were flying half way across the world to Okinawa, Japan. Uprooted from the prevalent Hispanic culture in Spanish Harlem, New York, I started to lose sight of where I came from.

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How The Break Room Is Like The Blog World

February 14, 2012 in Exceptional Living 44

When I worked in corporate America, I learned that there was one key element to fitting in. You had to develop your ability to complain in the break room.

Blog World/Break Room

Commiseration was a key point of solidarity. Over warmed up Hot Pockets, I discovered that the degree to which you hated your job was equivalent to the number of years in the same department.

In my 5 years on the job, I did find some solace in commiseration. At first it was a way to realize that I wasn’t alone. I needed to know that I wasn’t the only one frustrated with how the company did business in certain areas. But then it just became a way to blow off steam.

After an especially heated conversation with a customer or employee in another department, complaining was a cathartic exercise. It was a temporary release of frustration to completely berate the object of my vexation without actually having to confront the issue.

Five years later when I had another job opportunity, I handed in my letter of resignation faster than the drip coffee could percolate.

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Why You Don’t Need More Self-Esteem

February 7, 2012 in Identity 53

The I love me some me.topic of self-esteem has gone through many changes in the world of psychology. Traditionally it was thought that you must increase low self-esteem. This was done in a variety of ways including positive thinking and self-motivation methods. In recent years though, even that seems to be changing as people realize that trying to like yourself is hard. But not only is having high self-esteem hard, I believe that it’s the problem.

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How Belief Shapes Our Lives

February 2, 2012 in Identity 10

Much is made of what we believe or do not believe. And rightly so. What we believe has the power to change the course of our entire lives. Unfortunately many of us confuse knowledge for conviction, preventing our lives from matching what we know to be true.

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