Thank who?

So today is Thanksgiving. A good opportunity to think about the people who have contributed to who you are at this moment in your life and let them know you are grateful.

Here´s me:

I thank God for giving me life.
I thank my parents for showing me how to live it. My sister for being such a caring individual and a fighter.
My family and friends for the lessons I´ve learned from them and the good moments.
And the special people who, at this time in my life, are making it the best ever.
You for reading. Who would you thank?

P.S. Just a few thoughts while we consider this....
- Do THINGS rather than PEOPLE come to our mind while thinking about who we are and how do we understand happiness? (i.e. is it based on our possessions rather than our relationships?)
- How long have those people been around us? (i.e. do we build long-term relationships? What are they based on? Trust or submission? Respect or Non-aggression?)
- Do we give back what is given to us? How?

Happy Thanksgiving.

Keep going

Somebody told me this the other day and I think it´s great:

Winston Churchill once said ¨If you´re going through hell, keep going¨.
BRILLIANT.

So much for making a big deal out of bad moments. Keep going!
(I guess I could use this today, when hangover has taken control...)

:p

God´s copyright

Ok, so I came across this thought and I like it.
IT´S ALL GOD´S COPYRIGHT.

Please stop worrying about copyright ownership, patents, lawsuits, etc. It´s not important. Knowledge IS for sharing. It´s all about giving, not taking anymore. I love the way Hugh MacLeod puts it (another Hughnality. By the way, don´t forget to check out the apocalyptic views of the conspiracy theorists that commented on that post...sad). Thanks Hugh. That is one of the reasons why I am optimistic about the future. Technology, web 2.0, etc. are making it easier to give the best of ourselves to others. Copyright ownership? Making money in the process? It´s not important.

PS. I googled this ¨God´s copyright¨ point of view and didn´t find any entry. There must be something out there, right? Can you help me find it?

Oh, and yes...I see another t-shirt coming out of this. :-)


UPDATE: Another great way to say this loud and clear, by Doc Searls (via Matt Mullenweg).

Lessons learned

A co-worker and friend of mine once taught me, and often reminds me about, the importance of the ¨lessons learned meeting¨. She is a very disciplined and competent project manager (PMP certified) and always performs a lessons learned meeting when concluding a project.

Our team has adopted the strategy and, not only after completing a project but weekly, especially when something doesn´t turn out as expected, you can hear somebody in the team say ¨Ok, so what´s the lesson learned?¨.

I believe this is a powerful tool for everyday life. There is a lesson to be learned in EVERYTHING that happens. The most important lessons are the non-obvious ones. Allow yourself to take the time to ask the question and think about it. When you answer it, immediately ask the next one: ¨Does this bring me closer to where I want to be?
Again, it´s all about ALIGNMENT.

I see another t-shirt coming out of this one.