Heaven Here On Earth.

Heaven Here on Earth.

From the time I was a little kid I can remember my Papa (he's in the middle, I'm on the right and my sister on the left) talking about heaven.?He seemed to speak about it so vividly you would have sworn that he’d been there.?My Papa’s blue eyes would light up when he would get to see his “Mama” again.?Boy the love he had for her was something special.?He was 100% convinced if he could get into heaven, she would be there waiting for him.

As a kid you are so much more open to ideas and dreaming in general.?Something happens when you get older and take on more responsibilities that you lose this.?My childhood dream was that everyone I ever loved lived on the same street as us.?It meant no one moved away, and we saw each other daily.?Looking back there was something magical about that innocent child’s wish (even if there was one Aunt I kind of hoped wouldn’t be quite that close!).

The older I’m getting I do begin to wonder if I was on to something there.?What if our role here on this earth is to find people we really love and get as close to them as possible? I wasn't going to share this though my amazing daughter Meredith reminded me (again!) how God wants all of us to have the hearts and minds of children: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven", so I decided to put it out there.

I’ve been thinking more about this “all in” idea.?If our hearts aren’t separated from work and home then maybe, we can try to build this type of kingdom here on earth.?Here’s what I’m learning:

Face to face is better.?As much as I love teams and zoom (especially for out of town clients and connecting with family)- I still prefer face to face especially if we’re talking about something important.?My teams just completely died the other day; I was thinking it was telling me it’s done.?I get it thousands of those calls later; it’s quiet quitting!?I’ve been scheduling lunch meetings even more frequently now and make a conscious effort to really get to know everyone. I think this was always part of my DNA though trying harder.

My random act of kindness thing.?My dear friend Rich Wartel had this brilliant idea a few years ago.?We need to get more people just being kind to each other.?He created an entire company that rewarded people with gift cards who did good deeds for others.?Well then Covid hit and the idea lost steam (I do think we should resurrect it though!).?I decided shortly after that that what if I could surprise complete strangers with kindness- running to open doors, slowing down to let them in traffic, buying their breakfast at the McDonald’s drive through, cooking meals for a friend in need- you get the idea.?Sure people are grateful (like the huge trucker who walked out of his car at the McDonald’s drive through to thank me and say that no one had ever done anything like that for him, thank God as I was a bit scared).?The best part is the little lift you get just shining your light and who knows the ripple effect you can have!

Saying “I love you more often.”?I’ve been really practicing this one- just not at home though at work.?At first it felt like I might be crossing a line though the more times I did it the easier it got.?What was so incredible is when teammates and clients said “I love you too.”?I think they needed it as much as me.

Devices aren’t great for us or my kids.?I think I always knew this though geesh it’s so hard to get sucked in.?I often feel chained to my email.?My kids laugh when I don’t even want to take my phone with me on the weekend.?Though there is so much out there to research, read, play and just get lost in.?It does take me away from being present.?I started the year playing Monopoly (yes the game I played as a kid!) with our 15 year old.?It’s been an interesting study for me personally.?I haven’t done it every night though try at least a few times a week.?When I look back since the beginning of the year I can remember so many funny moments (like when I owned both Park Place and Boardwalk with 3 houses and Daniel landed on it- not good) though I can’t honestly remember so much about those nights then when I worked or watched TV.?

Lastly, I was reading a WSJ article a few weeks ago about a happiness study that has been going on for more than 80 years.?They’ve followed people (all types by the way) for decades to see if they could determine what makes people happy.?Some people became very successful, others not so much though the single unifying theme for happiness was meaningful connections with others.??Here’s to more face to face, being kind to strangers, telling others how we feel and unplugging- we don’t have to wait for heaven to make it happen.