mckinleysthoughts: Lessons Learned in Life

As you start the week off, what lesson have you learned that continues to resonate with you?

One thing that I have learned is that no man is an island.

Today, I witnessed people who are stand-alone type individuals.

They are stand-alone because they believe the world revolves around them.

Sometimes, it takes a significant emotional event to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

As I reflect on the background to John Donne’s ‘No Man is an Island’ sermon, we must understand its context.

https://nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/famous/no-man-is-an-island/

I’ve learned as a soldier, civilian, husband, father, and friend to know those five words: “No Man is an island” when I become challenged.

Many of us have learned the lessons of these five words in our lives.

There are times when we can’t do something or some things alone.

We need help.

The times when we tell ourselves that failure is not an option and realize we must call in for reinforcements to help pull us out of the proverbial mud or the quagmire that is holding us back.

Sometimes, we get stuck in our thinking, needing the assistance of a mentor, friend, colleague, or even a protégé to see the bigger picture.

Ironically, during the COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many experienced the need to see or be around people.

Lesson 7, particularly in the article from Yale Medicine, says, “Community is essential—and technology is too.”

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/8-lessons-covid-19-pandemic

Yet sometimes, we are not willing to fully understand the situations we are placed in until it’s a significant emotional event for us.

If you have not witnessed a significant emotional event (SEE), keep living, and you will.

Significant Emotional Event & The Impact on Your Employees | VanHooser.com

As I write today, I’m also thinking of the five letters VABES that I learned during one of my courses at Darden Business School taught by James G. Clawson on Level 3 Leadership.

It stands for Values, Assumptions, Beliefs and Expectations.

80157 03 033-042 r0 rz (virginia.edu)

Although ten years have passed, the lessons I learned at Darden Business School are potent reminders that no man is an island.

They are my powerful reminders because I see the VABES of others around me each day, not to mention reflection on my own VABES.

I realize sometimes we all, me included, need help pulling off our “rose-colored glasses” to understand that no man is an island.

Rose Colored Glasses – An Idiom Of Optimism Or Ignorance (grammarist.com)

As we prepare to enter the month of May, many High Schools and Colleges are also preparing for graduation.

I’m sure each graduating student has learned and incorporated various VABES, which they will soon understand or make a reality.

Some will enter the workforce as a culture shock, while others will still try to figure it out, thinking they can do it independently.

I pray that the significant emotional events (SEE) we’ve learned in our lives have taught us various lessons on being resilient that we can pass on to others.

Therefore, as you start your week, think about the lessons you have learned and those you continue to understand that you want to pass on to others.

“Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.” ~ Plato

Blog source: https://mckinleysthoughts.com/lessons-learned-in-life/