Notes from the expert(s husband) - Part 1
I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling like the rug at my feet was pulled away to reveal a deep and growing hole in the ground. Last month I busily worked on important projects that today have lost meaning. And now I feel challenged to figure out how to continue making progress in a world I feel I barely understand.
Being Lucky
And I feel lucky to be married to one of the most amazing human beings on the planet, because she is helping me stay optimistic and focused on the things that matter most. Before you accuse me of being biased, let me just say, “yup.”
But while I will admit to being biased, the fact remains that staying focused is her primary area of expertise. Maura promotes attention management as the best path to achieving meaningful results. For her, attention management is matter of choice. It’s about being in control. She asks, ‘are you always able to give the necessary amount of attention to what you are working on, or do you allow your attention to be controlled by something, or someone, else?’ This includes fears about the future and ruminating on past mistakes.
Benefitting from her insights has inspired me to share some of the things that I have learned from her, especially over the last several weeks as this coronavirus has taken hold all over the world and come closer and closer to home.
Three Things to Remember
First, she frequently reminds me to focus primarily on opportunities rather than problems. Certainly we don’t want to ignore, or fail to address, the problems at hand, but we also need to see that there are always opportunities in every situation as well as problems. She also points out that, too often, we fall into the trap of ruminating about potential problems that likely will not occur. Guilty.
Second, she tells me all the time that in any situation, action is the antidote. She says we’ve got to put our heads down and focus on the work. Even when the next steps are not completely clear and we don’t have all of the information we feel we need to make the best decisions. In her trainings, she incorporates a quote from Teddy Roosevelt, who said "In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." There is always something we can do to change our situation.
Third, she reminds me that all we can do is our best. We may not always be able to gather the best and most detailed information. We may not always be able to clearly see the best next steps. And, we may not always be able to give the needed amount of attention to what we are working on. Any parent who is suddenly working from a home full of kid energy clearly understands this reality. She says we have to remember that we are human beings living in an imperfect world and that we have to give ourselves a break every once in awhile. We might have to slow down just a bit and shift some priorities, but that doesn’t mean we will stop making progress and that we won’t get where we need to go. We just do our best. Every moment, every day. Always.
Focus on the opportunities, take action, and remember that all we can do is our best given the current situation. As the coronavirus comes closer and closer to home and we are required more and more to change our way of working and living, I try to remember these things I’m learning from her. I hope that they can be beneficial to you as well.
Photos
Also, because this is a fine art photograph website after all, here are a few photos that I took several years ago at about this time of year. At that time Maura and I were staying in an amazing Marriott hotel in Sonoma California. This particular Marriott was more a set of cottages than a typical high rise hotel, and all around the cottages were an incredible set of rose gardens. Though I do like these photos, I’ve not previously made them a part of my portfolio or available for sale.
But now I've decided to print and sell 12 copies of each photo, printed on 1/4" thick Acrylic with a DiBond backing, in two sizes (16x24" and 24x36"). The price of the prints is $495 for the 16x24" version and $890 for the 24x36" version. If you would like to purchase a print, please click here to send me a note telling me which photo and what size you would like, and I will get back to you quickly with the purchase and delivery details.
Title: Holding Beauty
Title: Light in the Dark
Title: Pink Rose
Thank you for reading! Please consider sharing if you think anyone you know can benefit.
