Two women were born in 1933. One in France. One in America.

The woman born in France was Jewish. Her name was Francine.

The American girl was born in a small town in West Virginia. She was a second-generation Cherokee. Her name was Peggy.

They came from different parts of the world and would face very different challenges. What they shared was coming into the world in the year Hitler came into power. That became part of both of their stories.

By the time Francine was eight years old, her father had been taken into custody as a prisoner of war. She had to wear the yellow star on her chest, marking her as Jewish. She and her mother were eventually taken to the Bergen-Belsen camp in Germany. Francine’s mother took two small pieces of chocolate with her, knowing there would be hard days ahead. She told her daughter she would save them for when they grew weak and needed strength. The chocolate would help get them through.

When another woman gave birth in the camp, Francine’s mother asked her if she thought they should give their chocolate to the struggling woman to help her have the strength to survive the birth. Francine didn’t hesitate and readily agreed. Despite dire conditions, both mother and child survived.

Six months later, British troops rescued them, and the camp was liberated. Francine and her mother were able to return to France, as did the other mother and child.

Life moved on from those dark days for all of them. Francine went on to write books and poetry and give lectures about her time in the camps. And give birth to her own daughter.

Many years later, when she was in her 80s, her daughter asked if she thought it would have helped her and the others freed from the camps if they had been given access to psychiatrists. She said she couldn’t say, mental health wasn’t something they even spoke of then. It was about survival. But that question inspired her to put together a symposium on the subject.

When one of the psychiatrists who had come to speak took her place at the podium, she began by saying she had a special gift for Francine and took out a piece of chocolate. She smiled warmly at Francine and said, “I’m the baby.”

Can you imagine the depth of feeling as the two women meet again after all those years? 

We don’t often get to see what comes from those moments of sacrifice. I found it very moving that they had a second divine appointment to meet. Somehow, you begin to understand from that moment that Francine and her mother gave so much more than a piece of chocolate.

The power of story always remains.

Listen to her tell her story in her own voice and words

Going back to our young girl growing up in West Virginia, her life took on a very different shape because of the war as well. Her mother worked as a tailor, making uniforms for soldiers fighting in Europe, to save those like Francine and her mother. Other friends and family lost loved ones who wore those uniforms. Their sacrifices were different. None compared to what Francine and her family experienced. But that time shaped everyone who lived through it.

That girl grew up, married a Marine, and moved to Ohio, where, in 1955, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter. Me.

I knew that my grandmother’s life had been changed by that war, but I hadn’t thought about the fact that my mother’s life began during that time. When I first heard Francine speak, I realized that they were contemporaries. The children also have their own stories to tell.

Listening to Francine talk about her conversation with her daughter, I thought of my own conversations with my mother.

I remember a telephone conversation with my Mom one summer, when I lived with my great-aunt and uncle in downtown Cleveland. My great aunt was recovering from heart surgery, and they needed help. On our call, I lamented missing home and my freedom. My mother reminded me that I wasn’t there for me.

She said I was born to fulfill a purpose, and that opportunities to make a difference would come throughout my life. They would never be a burden in the end, but a gift. It was the genesis of my understanding of having a purpose in the world and in my life. And the joy that would bring. She prophesied that into and over my life many times. She also modeled that in her own life. I have never forgotten it.

I find myself yearning again for conversations about her life with questions I never thought to ask. But still, I am comforted by the conversations we did have and my memories of her.

Thinking about both of these women, born in 1933, I’m reminded that no matter what our circumstances may be at any given time in our lives, we all have something to give. We are all called to give of ourselves, even to sacrifice at times. And, it is always a gift for us to have that opportunity.

It’s an important reminder and question to ask of ourselves with every encounter. How can I best serve in this moment?

The post The stories of two women born in 1933 appeared first on Kathi Laughman.

We make assumptions about how and to whom we matter in the world. Those will stem from our own beliefs and perspectives about the contributions we make.

And yet, sometimes what is most impactful about our lives isn’t readily visible to us. We will not always know where we are making the most profound difference.

You see, each of us is a miracle. Each of us comes into this life with our own soul print, and we make a difference every day. Even when we aren’t really conscious of it.

Let me tell you a story that brings this vividly to life. In the 1950’s, two men worked in a factory in northern Ohio. One of them worked the afternoon shift and the other the night shift. They did not know each other. Yet their lives would intersect and create profound change.

The young man working second shift had just finished his tour of duty as a Marine during the Korean War. He and his bride had moved from West Virginia to Ohio in search of better opportunities. He often worked the night shift in addition to his regular hours for extra income. One night, he was doing just that when he was assigned to a machine next to the other man in our story. Bear in mind that this was not mentally taxing work. In fact, boredom was something they continuously contended with, each in their own way.

That night, over the humming of the machines, our young Marine heard a very distinctive voice talking about all of his possibilities and how to reach all of those goals he had set for himself simply by changing his thoughts. It was as if this man were speaking directly to him. And so he went in search of the source and found the other man listening to a portable radio. The man speaking on the radio was Earl Nightingale. It was a life-changing moment.

Immediately, our young Marine was determined! He decided to take on an extra job rather than just extra shifts to earn enough money to buy his own portable radio. He had discovered his mentor even before he knew what a mentor was, and did not want to miss a single opportunity to hear more! That encounter changed his life. That extra job? It was working as an attendant and mechanic at a local gas station. What happened? Ultimately, he didn’t just show up because he worked there as a mechanic. In time, he showed up because he owned the business.

I doubt that the other man in the story, if asked, would tell us that the most important thing he did that day was take his radio to work. He wouldn’t say that he changed lives just by listening to his radio. But for that young Marine, undoubtedly that was the case. It set his life on a different course. And as a result, it did the same for mine. That young Marine was my Dad.

Throughout my life, what I learned most from him, beyond the values of faith and family, was the miracle of personal leadership and development. He defied all of the odds. He surpassed every expectation. A deeply spiritual man, he did it all with quiet grace and humility, a legacy that endures.

There was never a time that he was not reading or later listening to recordings and tapes. In fact, I still have his books and some of those early recordings! From that late-night shift in the factory until his last breath on earth, my Dad lived a life that celebrated learning and growth every day.

My Dad. He never lost sight of who he was. He never lost his vision of who he could become. And he never stopped growing into that man. He lived that legacy every day of his life. As a result, other lives were changed. And his legacy lives on in those lives. Including mine.

Thank you, Dad, for always showing us not only who you were but who we could be. Thank you for being a living example of how to become that person more every day. And thank you to the gentleman who was part of God’s plan for our lives and brought his radio to work so all of this would begin!

We recently crossed off the day on the calendar that was the 46th anniversary of my Dad’s death. In the earlier years, that day always brought some sadness, but over the course of my life, that has changed because I have recognized how everything about him has shaped me, even his death.

And so I share this story with you in memory and honor of him, and as a reminder to us all that while our time here may be brief, it is never without value.

I strive to always remember, as Earl Nightingale taught my Dad and he ultimately taught me:

“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.”

Live today like you want tomorrow to be.

Live well.

The post Take your radio to work day! appeared first on Kathi Laughman.

Welcome to the fifth and final installment of our Personal FAQs series, where we explore questions that can guide us as we continuously recenter, realign, and move forward with clarity throughout our lives.

To make it easier to ask questions that are relevant to where we are and what we need at any juncture, we have been reviewing five FAQs domains.

We move now to our final domain, Growth & Legacy.

The Five Personal FAQ Domains:

1. Identity & Purpose
2. Work & Contribution
3. Decision-Making & Direction
4. Integration & Rhythm
5. Growth & Legacy

Growth & Legacy

Some time ago, I wrote an article that has stayed with me. In fact, it’s one of my favorite pieces of my own writing if I’m allowed to admit that! The title of that message was this: Do Recipes Make You a Better Cook? 
 
As I was thinking about writing this final chapter of our FAQ series, I realized that while we’re discussing a specific domain, we’re also covering everything we’ve been reviewing together, because these FAQs culminate in two very specific outcomes. Growth and Legacy. They are stretching us, and in doing that, they are helping us leave our mark.
 
In that article, I shared the story of Chef Daniel Patterson. But the first question wasn’t about recipes. It was about GPS guidance systems. You see, Chef Patterson had gotten a new car, and it came with the then-default feature of GPS and navigation assistance. Initially, he resisted using it.
 
Then the day came when he decided to go ahead and take advantage of the technology. Before long, he recognized, like many of us, he had become dependent on it. Even when he went to places he frequented, he found himself relying on it. He was blindly following directions with no notice of his surroundings or where he was going.
 
When he realized what was happening, it startled him, and he began asking himself where else in life he (we) might be doing the same thing. Since he’s a chef, he naturally looked first at his world. Hence, the next question is whether recipes make us better cooks.
 
In fact, he himself wrote an entire article about it. It’s an excellent piece, and I encourage you to read it.

These words from that article were what inspired my own and brought it back to mind for this week’s message and wrapping up our series:
 
“Part of the problem with recipes today is that they seem to be predicated on the idea that a good recipe should eliminate the possibility of mistakes. But here’s a secret: Good cooks make mistakes all the time. They take wrong turns and end up in strange places. Their attention sharpens as they try to figure out where they are and how they got there. Eventually, they either reach their original destination or discover that wherever they stumbled into is really the best place to be. Sometimes it’s important to get lost.” 

Here’s what I wrote in my essay:
 
We are faced every day with “recipes.” Use these methods, these tools. Take each step in this order. Make sure you don’t substitute anything. In other words, if you want it to work, don’t change anything. In life and our work, I’m sure you recognize and hear the message as much as I do.

But what if that’s not right? What if the best result comes from using the recipe as a starting point rather than a rulebook? What if we start experimenting and venturing forward as creators and find our own results? That has far more appeal for me.
 
I want to encourage you to see the concept of FAQs or any guidance questions in this way. They are not meant to be prescriptive. They are meant, in fact, to help you get a little lost so that you can, in turn, find your way. They are simply a starting point. Experiment with them and venture out as the creator of your own, over and over again.
 
Remember that growth and legacy are the culmination of everything we’ve been exploring together. Identity, work, decisions, and rhythm set the stage, but growth is what keeps it alive, and legacy is what ensures it outlives us.

Why It Matters

Without growth and legacy, our questions risk being self-contained. Useful perhaps, but limited. When we add this domain, we stretch our perspective forward and outward. We begin to see that what we learn, contribute, and embody is not only for ourselves, but also for those who come after us.
 
This domain asks us to think about continuity.
 
What carries forward because we were here?

What are we making possible?

What to Look For

You’ll know it’s time to pay attention to this domain when: 

• Old answers start to feel too small for who you’re becoming.
• Others have started asking you for guidance, wisdom, or stories from your own journey.
• You’re unsure whether you are investing your time and energy in things that will last beyond your life or even this season.
• You begin to see traces of your influence showing up in the work, words, or choices of others.
• You want to shift your focus from what you’re achieving to the idea of impact.

Growth and Legacy FAQs

Remember that these FAQs aren’t about grand revelations. They are about grounding. They are prompts designed to invite honesty and curiosity about our current and future state. Only choose those that resonate with you for the season you are in.

Here are a few starting points for the domain of Growth & Legacy: 

• What can I be learning now that future-me will thank me for?
• How can I grow in ways that expand what’s possible for others?
• What do I want to grow with me, and what do I want to grow beyond me?
• How can I be intentional about the influence my choices create?
• How can I define and live my legacy right now through achievement, relationships, values, or something else?
• What stories can I be shaping today that reflect the life I want to live?

How do you know you’re asking the right questions? 

• When your questions stir both hope and responsibility.
• When they anchor you in today while opening a window to tomorrow.
• When they shift your thinking from “what’s in it for me?” to “what’s possible because of me?”

Which brings us back to where we started. Do recipes make you a better cook? Not on their own. But they give you a starting point, a structure, a spark. The same is true here.

And that’s the point. It was never just about the questions. It’s about what they guide you to see, to choose, and to create.
 
Here’s one final thought from Chef Patterson to help:
 
“Cookbooks should teach us how to cook, not just follow instructions. By paying attention, a cook should be able to internalize the process, rendering the written recipes obsolete. The point of a recipe should be to help us find our own way.” 

Read the recipe (FAQ). Learn from it. Then close the book. Create your masterpiece in cooking and in life.
 
Why? Because your FAQs are not meant to stay on the page. They’re meant to guide your next steps.

This Week’s Additional Resources:

• The Second Mountain by David Brooks
• David Whyte’s poem “What to Remember When Waking”
• Holy Moments by Matthew Kelly
• The Rhythm of Life by Matthew Kelly
• Adjusted Sails: What Does This Make Possible by Kathi Laughman (Included with Kindle Unlimited)

The post FAQ Series: Growth & Legacy – What will you make possible? appeared first on Kathi Laughman.

This past week, I took the time to go through my refrigerator and check the dates on everything.  It’s something I do periodically, but I had been putting it off this time. Mainly because I already knew this was going to be one of those times where I would be facing something that I despise: Waste. 

There is nothing that will spark negative thoughts for me faster than seeing waste. Especially when the waste could have easily been avoided. Like with those groceries. It reminded me of how we all have such good intentions that, somehow, don’t come to fruition. Especially at this time of year. And right now is usually when we first start feeling those pangs of remorse.

I had great plans to eat salads every day. But then I didn’t. Now I have wasted food.

I had great plans to accelerate my weight loss. But since I chose other foods, now I have wasted time.

I had great plans to boost my energy by eating foods that would help. Since I didn’t, I have wasted time and potential.

Waste.

It’s why resolve became so important to me for this year. When we practice true resolve and do what we say we will do, we reduce our waste. We regain essentials like time and energy. And yes, even money.

But to have resolve, we must first make choices we can and will honor.

Which is another place that I am keenly aware of when it comes to waste.

Wasted belief and opportunity.

There is a phrase sometimes used in business negotiations that, when you stop and think about it, has a broader application. It speaks to the difference between what someone actually pays and how much they were willing to pay. It’s referred to as the seller perhaps leaving “money on the table” by underpricing or giving in to negotiation pressure. It comes down to how much was possible from the transaction vs. how much was realized.

Let’s think about this beyond just financial negotiations and look at how we negotiate with ourselves about our lives and work. Over the past few months, I have found myself asking: How much life am I leaving on the table? Is there a difference between how much life is possible vs. how much I am settling for?

In a word – Yes.

This is where we wander into the wasteland of lost opportunities.

As I thought about this, the first thing that came to mind was learning how to recognize when it is happening.  After all, how would we ever know?

Wisdom from Thomas Edison prompted this personal inquiry for me with this statement: “When you think you have exhausted all of the possibilities, remember this: You haven’t!”

I thought about all the factors that might create a limited perspective of what was possible.

There were five that kept coming up. Here they are:

• Limiting Beliefs
• Limiting Choices
• Limiting Circle
• Limiting Practices
• Limiting Purpose

There is no question that when we limit what we believe about ourselves and our possibilities, we are leaving life on the table. After all, if we don’t think it’s possible, we won’t even try.

And the idea of only an either/or limitation in choice has always befuddled me. I lean toward both, or more, rather than just allowing for one or the other. Since when did choices become mutually exclusive? One way of thinking about this is:  Why settle for A or H – why not choose both and create AHA! True creativity rejects choices that are limited. Just imagine if we had settled for red and blue and never discovered purple!

There is a belief often taught in personal development circles that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.  While there are nuances to that, there is a kernel of truth here. Our sphere of influence is so important. How can you expect to stay inspired and encouraged if no one you are in the trenches with shares your vision or ideals?

The idea of limiting practices is typically my nemesis. Wanting to attain something is good, and it’s a start, but wanting something isn’t what gets it done. Our daily practices make that happen. We think of this for our health without question. But it’s true in our work as well. What must happen every day or every week to move the needle forward?

When we limit what we are willing to do daily, we leave life on the table. As I heard recently, when we aren’t achieving what we want, it’s rarely a lack of knowledge or know-how. We know what to do. We just don’t seem to know how to get ourselves to do it consistently! Sound familiar?

Candidly, the last one on the list came first or second when I first started thinking about this, but as new ones came up, it kept getting pushed down. I’m giving that some thought, but for now, consider that if you don’t have an unfettered purpose, you are leaving so much on the table.

It speaks to belief but goes beyond it. This is where we think about 10X, 100X, or possibly 1000X factors for what we believe we can accomplish. Not for ourselves, but as an agent of change in the world. I may have to rethink where this one ranks on the list.

What do you want to be true 90 days from now in your life or work? At the end of 2026? By the end of this decade?

Consider these factors for yourself. Make sure you aren’t leaving any life on the table.

Don’t waste a single moment more. Claim it all for yourself, for those you love, and for all the generations to follow.

If you’re not certain which area is the best place for you to begin and want a fresh perspective on how to interrogate what has value and reimagine what’s possible, I can help. Let’s explore what’s possible together.
 
Because everything we choose to fully invest in now becomes part of the foundation for what’s possible next.

The post How much life are you leaving on the table? appeared first on Kathi Laughman.

Work-life balance is something we hear about, even talk about, but it would seem we rarely achieve it.  A popular belief used to be that we can proportion ourselves out in some measured way across all the demands of our life and work. That hasn’t been successful in my experience. It just doesn’t match reality for most of us.

The more we attempt to create silos or compartmentalize our various roles, the more we face conflicting priorities and ultimately feel like we are failing somewhere or to someone. Quite frankly, it’s not a recipe for success on any level.

We are multi-dimensional beings, and that means that instead of creating unsustainable boundaries, we will be better served by creating an integrated view of who we are and the value we bring to our world.

Victor Hugo expressed it well when he said, “To put everything in balance is good, to put everything in harmony is better.”

Our lives are very much like an aircraft, balancing and leveling itself during flight, continually adjusting its position to stay on course.

When we went through the significant lifestyle and workstyle changes brought on by COVID, all the gaps we had been living with were fully exposed. Every boundary we may have put in place to segregate anything in our lives disappeared overnight, it seemed.

But what initially felt like an earthquake beneath our lives ended up being the way we found ourselves back to better lives. But as time has passed, it’s quite possible that we’ve begun drifting back to old practices that need to be addressed.

When we look at it from that perspective, certain clues will tell us if we need to make adjustments to remain on course.

Here are five checkpoints I invite you to consider:

1. The first one is the most important, and if this isn’t in check, there’s no reason to go further until it’s addressed. I learned this lesson from life and success mentor Jim Rohn, and it is simply this: Wherever you are, be there.
   • That’s your first check. If you are working and thinking about something else, you won’t be effective. If you are with friends and family but thinking about work, you won’t be fully engaged. We need to focus on the moment in order to course-correct.
2. The second one is what I call the calendar check. When I review my plan for the week each Sunday, I check ALL of my current targets against my calendar. Where are my health practices showing up? My learning practice? My relationship practices? If all the parts of my life aren’t there, it’s time for tuning.
   • This also applies to our money. That’s another check that helps here. We need to know we’ve got everything working as required for a successful journey.
3. A third check-in is less obvious but still important. It is a focus on your core values. For example, growth is a core value for me. I want to ensure that I am growing across multiple disciplines. My growth needs to align with all of my life, not just my profession. Whatever it is we seek, we also need to study.
   • The key is to know which of your core values you want to focus on and how you practice them in your life.
4. The fourth checkpoint is related to the first one, but its importance merits further reflection: relationships. There are different circles we live within, and each one requires nurturing, growth, and even some pruning. Begin with your inner circle of family and close friends, then move outward until you’ve touched all the circles that hold some degree of influence.
   • Are they thriving? Are they draining? Or even just waning. This is more of a check-up than a checkpoint, but it’s a key part of maintaining harmony in our lives.
5. The last point is the least specific but matters a great deal: Am I happy? Do I feel satisfied with how I am showing up in the world and the contribution I am making?
   • We can get so busy with the demands of life that we forget to enjoy life. This isn’t as easily measured because a certain amount of emotion is involved, but emotion and energy drive and fuel us.

Five checkpoints that can each contain clues for adjusting and calibrating how we live our lives to ensure we make our highest possible contribution in each moment.

These are disciplines of legacy and deserving of our attention. Balance? Perhaps not. Harmonized? Guarding that every day.

An Invitation

As always, if you are navigating your own moment of needing more harmony in your life as you explore who you are becoming next and want support, clarity, or partnership in that process, I can help.

This is the work I help founders, solopreneurs, and possibility-seekers do every day.

We can explore together what matters now and what will take you into your next season of life, work, or both.

The post 5 Clues You May Need A Balance Check appeared first on Kathi Laughman.

Over the course of my life, one thing I have learned is that the doorway to what is next doesn’t always, or even very often, swing open on its own. Those automatic doors we’ve become accustomed to in everyday life simply don’t exist when it comes to navigating a life built with intention.
 
Most doors stay closed until we find the courage to turn the key that will open them.
 
We’ve looked at this before, but it remains one of the most essential parts of possibility and what it means to be a possibilitarian. Before possibility becomes a choice, it begins as an opening. A door. A direction we are willing to explore, even before we know where it leads. But how do you do that?
 
Emily Dickinson wrote, “I dwell in Possibility—” and each time I return to those words, I’m reminded that dwelling is not passive. You do not wander into possibility by accident. You choose it. You inhabit it. You arrange your inner life in a way that reflects what you want to be true.
 
Dwelling in possibility is an embodied act, and embodiment is how resolve becomes lived. It is not simply gathering inspiration or imagining what could be; it is learning to live from what you know (and have resolved) matters.
 
Embodiment is the moment possibility stops being an idea we admire and becomes a place we live.
 
When we dwell there, the doors are always available to us.
 
And this is really where resolve takes center stage. Resolve is the framework that enables embodiment. Resolve sustains the dwelling. Resolve keeps the door within reach, even when fear or doubt tells us to turn back.

EMBODIMENT — The Final Piece of the Resolve Puzzle

This last part of our RESOLVE series is all about embodiment: the lived experience of aligning who you are, what you believe, and how you move through the world.

While we often think of resolve as grit or determination, the kind of resolve that helps us embody and dwell in possibility is steadier and more internal.
 
Embodiment is what happens when what we say we value is continuously reflected in what we do.
 
It asks questions like: 

• What do I want to be true in my life?
• Where am I willing to hold myself accountable?
• How will I show up when circumstances shift or stretch me?

This is not the resolve of pushing through. It’s the resolve of showing up as your chosen and truest self.

To embody possibility means: 

• You stop waiting for clarity and start creating it.

Embodiment reminds you that clarity comes from movement.
From trying. From taking the next step, even if it’s small.

• You move values from the page into your practice.

It’s one thing to write down your values.
It’s another thing entirely to live them consistently and visibly.
Where values become behavior is where embodiment begins. 

• You choose who you want to be before the moment demands it.

Resolve means you make this decision now—
not when stress hits,
not when fear arises,
not when uncertainty shows up.

When the moment arrives, you’re not scrambling to respond.
You’re simply living out what you’ve already chosen. 

• You live as if the possibility you want already assumes you’re coming.

Not faking it.
Not forcing it.

Just stepping into your life with the quiet confidence that says: I belong in the places I’m moving toward.
 
This is the heart-shaped key that unlocks everything else.

I dwell in Possibility — A House Built of Choice

Embodiment is not only the last piece of the resolve puzzle, but also the heart of it. It is, in many ways, the truest expression of what resolve really means.

Without resolve, possibility remains conceptual—beautiful and inspiring, yes, but ultimately unreachable.

With resolve, possibility becomes a place to live from… not just dream about.

Resolve is also where we find grace within possibility. We won’t always stay aligned. We drift. We forget. Life gets loud.

But with embodied resolve, we can always find our way back to our center.

That return and our recommitment are where growth happens.

Reflections

• Where am I standing at a threshold but not yet turning the key?
• What would it look like to embody the possibility I say I want?
• What choice have I postponed that my future self is already asking for?
• What does embodying possibility look like in my next choices?

As we wrap up the RESOLVE series, I want to leave you with this reminder:

Possibility never arrives fully formed.
Your next chapter is not something you have to earn. 
You just need to enter it.

The key is already in your hand.
And you are ready.

• Reality — Where am I now? Where do I dwell by default?
• Expectation — Do I expect possibility or prepare for limitation?
• Structure — What supports help me stay in a possibilitarian posture?
• Ownership — Do I claim my agency in shaping the future?
• Learning — Possibility expands as we grow.
• Values — Possibility expresses what matters most.
• Embodiment — The culmination: living as someone who dwells in possibility.

An Invitation

If you are navigating your own moment of recalibration as you explore who you are becoming next and want support, clarity, or partnership in that process, I can help.

This is the work I help founders, solopreneurs, and possibility-seekers do every day.

We can explore together what matters now and what will take you into your next season of life, work, or both.

The post The Key to Dwelling in Possibility appeared first on Kathi Laughman.

Change comes for all of us, often quietly, sometimes abruptly, but always with the undeniable power to reshape our lives. Transitions, whether chosen or unexpected, have a way of nudging us forward, forcing us to reflect on what we leave behind and what we choose to carry with us.

It’s in those moments—when life shifts beneath our feet—that we are given the chance to evaluate, to let go, and to step into something new. And if there’s one constant in all of this, it’s that moving forward always demands a delicate balance of holding on and letting go. Those changes can be bittersweet, especially when they involve that place we call home.

My first home on my own was a small frame house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which I shared with a friend. It was in the early 1970s, and we were college students, heady with that first taste of independence. The house was on Walnut Street. I still remember how “grown-up” we felt having our own place to live.

But all these years later, other than a few books and photographs, only memories remain of that time and place.

Over the years, there would be other homes in other cities. I would share those places and spaces with other people or live alone. Books and photographs continued to travel with me. At some point in my life, other things began to also make the sojourn to the next address.  Artwork, collectibles, and even a few furniture pieces have been with me now for many decades. They stay with me because they have come to represent a part of my life that holds meaning.

Recently, for a special writing project, I chronicled all of the places I have called home. While I have clear memories of some of them, it’s a bit sketchy for others. I was somewhat surprised to realize how many addresses there have been over the nearly 70 years now that, at some point, had my name attached to them. Each of them is part of the imprint of my life. When thinking about this, here is what I know to be true: every time I have moved, I have, in reality, beyond anything packed in boxes, left parts of my life behind and carried parts with me.

If you have ever gone through a move, you will understand this. There is no better time to streamline than when you move.  We toss things, give them away, perhaps even have a garage sale or two, and recycle! Some things we carry with us out of need but will later replace with something more suited to our new home. The rest continues on and is put in a new place where we can see it in a new light even as we remember its former glow.

This is how I now understand life overall. With each time and season of my life, I have felt the call to let parts of the old season remain where they are. There is no need to carry them forward. Even who I serve and how I serve them. Going into my new (next) means leaving some of my past (now) behind.

Some of what I take with me will remain only for a while. I find that very comforting and hopeful all at once. Every time and season has its purpose, and another season always follows. What genius God displays in giving us this gift of life to experience as we grow and change.

If you are approaching one of those time junctures in your life, even if the biggest change is for someone else, it is a perfect opportunity to think about this for yourself.

What will stay behind? What will you take with you?

These are good questions for all of us, always, even day by day.

Choose today what you want tomorrow to be.

Keep that. Live that. Live well.

The post What do you take with you? appeared first on Kathi Laughman.

Cavafy’s “Ithaca” remains one of my most beloved poems.

So, of course it came to mind last week while on a writer’s retreat when the discussion turned to poetry.

One of my favorite ways to experience the poem is by watching a stunning video that has a beautiful score by Vangelis. The poem is read by Sean Connery.

I invite you to experience it as well.

While there are many interpretations of this work, its essence is that the journey and the destination both matter.  The beliefs we take with us on the journey about our destination will determine much about the experience.  And the depth to which we experience the journey will only serve to help us better understand the real value of our destination once we arrive.

I have found success works like this.  We each define what success means to us and set out on our journey to reach it.  By the time we arrive, it will have changed because we will have changed from the journey and gained new understandings.

As Jim Rohn taught, more important than the goal itself is the person we must become to attain it. That is the essence and story of Ithaca for me. It’s a reminder to choose our destinations carefully and then travel well.

ITHACA [1910, 1911]

As you set out for Ithaca, hope that your journey is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laestrygonians and Cyclops, angry Poseidon-don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare sensation touches your spirit and your body. Laestrygonians and Cyclops, wild Poseidon-you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul; unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope that your journey is a long one. May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you come into harbors you’re seeing for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind- as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to learn and learn again from those who know.

Keep Ithaca always in your mind. Arriving there is what you’re destined for. But don’t hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so that you’re old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way, not expecting Ithaca to make you rich. Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you would have not set out. She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you’ll have understood by then what these Ithacas mean.

The post The Ever-Changing Journey to Success appeared first on Kathi Laughman.