How to View Changing Friendships

Oct 22, 2014 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

 

I was reading an article online about keeping your friends through change – particularly when moving from your 20s to your 30s. So many major life changes can happen during those years – college, new jobs, marriage, children, your brain becomes fully developed. (As the mother of 20-year-olds, I couldn’t resist adding that last one.)

But with those changes – at whatever age – our friendships continue in a new way or they don’t. Sometimes, distance, life-experience, careers…various life-changing events, can pull us a different direction from our friends. That is when we have to view those friendships with new eyes.

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The Value of a Mentor

Oct 9, 2014 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

 

How do you make a difference? How intentional are you at mentoring someone? How often does it happen by the life we choose to live and how we choose to live it?

One of my spiritual mentors never set out to be one. He was a mentor to many, but it was because he chose to live his life with character – with integrity, devotion, and compassion. He never wrote a leadership lesson or had 7 steps to train a person seminar. These are so needed and valuable for us. They allow others to mentor us from a distance, often in writings or teachings. We know and are privileged to be some of those who are mentoring, coaching, and developing people in relationships from our communication opportunities. But for those who simply open up their lives and share who they are and how to live life, they too are mentors and developers of character in people.

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Choosing To Live a Life of Significance

Sep 30, 2014 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

 

In the March edition of Spirit magazine from Southwest Airlines, there was an article about how people were going back to the old ways in firing up the American Dream spirit. The article opened with, “The changing economy is spurring a radical new approach to living, and earning a living. And for a growing number of creative entrepreneurs, that approach seems to be working.”

They were giving up corporate, chasing after the power and prestige, and opening up their own little “mom and pop” kind of shops once again. Most are growing or making their own products. They are loving it and having a fulfilling life. This was a very good article but this opening sentence, along with the title, “The New American Dream,” got me to thinking again about some of those age-old questions for all of us….

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Learning With Addi

Sep 22, 2014 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

 

With a business trip to San Diego, I was able to sneak in a few hours of G-Pops and Addi time. Addi is our only grandchild, and she is 8 months old. I was able to “rescue” her from daycare for a few hours, while her mom and dad worked.

While I was holding her at her house and warming a bottle by running warm water over the bottle to take the cold chill off, something she did surprised and reminded me.

As we were waiting for the tap water to warm, she leaned out from my arms a bit and looked intently at the water running down the drain. You, like I, would say, “That’s it, nothing profound there, but thanks for sharing a grandpa moment.”

But I ask, is it that simple and non-profound?

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A Fire in the Belly

Sep 1, 2014 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

 

For the last few months I have been wrestling with a question. You see, I have 2 friends who have faced adversity in opposite ways.

One came out of a difficult childhood living in a poor country. She got herself and her daughter to the US. She has got a wonderful job with a lot of responsibility, bought a home and this fall is starting to work on her college degree. She made a life for herself.

My other friend, however, who also came from a difficult upbringing made very different choices. He is currently in jail facing a possible second prison sentence.

My question is, “Why do some people have a fire in their belly that pulls them up out of difficult circumstances and some people don’t?”

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