Point of Contact

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Point of Contact

I subscribe to a belief that nothing is in isolation. Everything and everybody are connected somehow and that every, or even any, action causes a ripple in events and circumstances that generates the potential for lasting change. Sometimes even the most casual gesture like a smile can transform a person’s entire day. A frown works the same way. There have been many books on this concept.

Armed with this simple truth of being able to make an impact on literally everyone we meet, it seems that more people would be reacting more often to whatever signal we’re sending, and they would consequently be sending us a return signal. After all, we all share the same software, but for some reason, not all that many “connections” really take hold. Is it that we’re happy with the connections we already have, or are we trying to avoid the burden of letting someone new into our space? I don’t know.

Sometimes we choose to have our antenna down and imagine that we are neither sending nor receiving. But in reality, being in the off mode is sending a signal. And it’s just as true that when we’re in the “on” mode ourselves, we recognize the “off” mode in others and back off, (unless we’re in sales).

The point is that the opportunities to make contact, to have impact, to change dispositions and to make real and meaningful connections are available to all of us, all the time. All we need is the smile on our face to start and we can join in any time we choose, like now. : )

Final Thought: No touch goes unfelt.

For more stories like this and information about my books, please visit www.szenzone.com

Szenzone – Stories of life and the power to change yours – is sent via email by request and is published weekly or thereabouts. For back issues or to receive this publication directly please email [email protected]  © Gary Szenderski 2025 All Rights Reserved. Gary is an author, branding specialist and teaches at the University of California in Irvine. He specializes in helping people and organizations navigate change – if you or your company needs assistance contact Gary directly.  Gary resides in Southern California and welcomes your comments.

 

 

Creating Wisdom

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 Creating Wisdom

A Sixty-Word Short Story: *

No one could tell Jonathan anything. He knew it all, and let you know it when he was in your presence. He was always the smartest person in the room; even if we knew he wasn’t, he acted like he was. He was the boss, and he had all of the answers, except when it came to his own feelings.

And more…

Knowledge has quite a bandwidth. There is so much that we can know and categorize and memorize and build upon because, as we learn, we add to our perspective. We merge the new facts with the old and we temper the process with experience, context and intuition. The net result is intellectual growth, and it’s often translated into success based on the formula of the more we know, the more we can achieve.

Emotional growth however is not so simple. Emotions are not easily separated and distinct. Anger, fear, love, greed etc.- all of the primary emotional possibilities exist in partnership with and are intermingled with other emotions as well as facts.  Anger has a reason it appears and so does love, fear and the rest. And unlike intellectual growth, which allows us to build on what we learn, emotional growth can be elusive, and hence there are folks like Jonathan that know it all but somehow don’t “get it.” They seem to lack the emotional empathy needed to grow.

We’re all on a learning curve to somehow create balance between the what’s that we learn and the how it makes us feel when we do. A combination of both helps us translate life’s many challenges so we can understand “why.” Knowing why we are who we are, and do what we do, gives us the emotional leverage we need to truly succeed. Where the smarts meets the heart. That’s where true wisdom forms. And from there the possibilities are endless.

Final Thought: When we meld the facts of our lives with our feelings about those facts we can emerge into a new realm, where perspective, context and insight collectively yield power. It’s called wisdom.

* The Premise (Opening short story): Always 60 words. No more. No Less. For more stories like this and information about my books, please visit www.szenzone.com

Szenzone – Stories of life and the power to change yours – is sent via email by request and is published weekly or thereabouts. For back issues or to receive this publication directly please email [email protected]  © Gary Szenderski 2025 All Rights Reserved. Gary is an author, branding specialist and teaches at the University of California in Irvine. He specializes in helping people and organizations navigate change – if you or your company needs assistance contact Gary directly.  Gary resides in Southern California and welcomes your comments.

 

 

 

Welcome to Summer

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Welcome to Summer

This week on Friday we celebrate the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. I hope whatever you choose to do with the extra daylight is fun. If you’re a sun worshiper this is definitely the glass half full version of the year. I hate to be a spoiler but from here on out, the days will get shorter and shrink until the Winter Solstice arrives and we start back the other way.

The thing is,…the hours don’t change at all although I understand there will be a small recalibration of the official atomic clock very soon to make up for the extra slowing of the earth. Still though, it will pretty much be 24 hours per day as always. The environment may cause us to see and appreciate the day tomorrow differently than a winter’s day or even yesterday because as we all know, time is relative. The way the day unfolds and refolds can change our perception on how long it took. The things we do and the people we encounter can also change our point of view on time. As a rule, it seems good times travel fast, and bad times tend to drag.

So, it seems appropriate to wish all of you the best, longest day ever. Enjoy.
What Would Dad Do?

It’s also Father’s Day here in the United States and I’m betting many dads and kids are exploiting the sunshine with games and cookouts and such. Here’s a short piece on Dads, I wrote several years ago.

What would Dad do if he were I?
Would he pick the gift card or the tie?

Would he want the poignant Hallmark card?
Or just hang out with us kids in the yard.

Would some peace and quiet be on his mind?
Or some new cologne, I don’t know which kind.

I happen to think that most dads really don’t care.
They just want some time that they can share.

They’re happy to be with their children this day.
And they really do need it, no matter what they say.

Final Thought: A Dad’s joy on celebrating Father’s Day is directly proportional to the joy his children bring to the celebration.

For more stories like this and information about my books, please visit www.szenzone.com

Szenzone – Stories of life and the power to change yours – is sent via email by request and is published weekly or thereabouts. For back issues or to receive this publication directly please email [email protected] © Gary Szenderski 2025 All Rights Reserved. Gary is an author, branding specialist and teaches at the University of California in Irvine. He specializes in helping people and organizations navigate change – if you or your company needs assistance contact Gary directly. Gary resides in Southern California and welcomes your comments.

Press Pause

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Press Pause

A Sixty-Word Short Story*:

Arthur, please don’t call me Art, typically saw the world through a half-empty glass. He had trained himself to believe that most people do not keep their promises and based on the many times he had felt misled, he was angrily responding to a date-cancelling text. Another let down he thought, but intuitively he paused. Then he changed his mind.

And more…

A strategically placed pause in our thinking is like taking a time out in sports during a close game. Sometimes we need to take a deep breath and let some fresh oxygen seep into our brain. For Arthur, in our story, he was able to hit “pause” before he texted something he might regret. Of course we don’t know for sure what happened next for Arthur, but the extra moment and time taken to consider his options gave him a chance to rethink his reaction. And like letting a steak sit after cooking for a few minutes to allow the juices to circulate, I like to believe that he got it right.

In today’s fast moving digital communications world we live in, reaction time has become shortened and squeezed out of the conversation. There is a tendency to respond and clear the inbox immediately and sometimes without a real thought about the repercussions. We communicate in a terse, emoji-based language that masquerades as thoughtful dialogue. Yes, it’s easy and fast to connect with folks but often it can be shallow, misunderstood, or simply wrong, especially if we’re just reacting and not thinking about whether we got it right.

“The Pause that Refreshes” was a theme for a Coca Cola campaign (circa 1929) which ran for 30 years. It was a universal reminder over three decades that we all might find clarity and perspective with a brief break, even if it’s in just a nick of time. By inserting a pause in the communications process before we react, whether we sip a coke or some water or we set aside a decision for a sec, we give ourselves a chance to reboot and refresh our thinking; a chance to get it right.

Final Thought: There is always time to redo something if we get it wrong, but with a simple pause we may just get it right the first time.

* The Premise: Always 60 words. No more. No Less. For more stories like this and information about my books, please visit www.szenzone.com

Szenzone – Stories of life and the power to change yours – is sent via email by request and is published weekly or thereabouts. For back issues or to receive this publication directly please email [email protected]  © Gary Szenderski 2025 All Rights Reserved. Gary is an author, branding specialist and teaches at the University of California in Irvine. He specializes in helping people and organizations navigate change – if you or your company needs assistance contact Gary directly.  Gary resides in Southern California and welcomes your comments.

Enthusiasm Counts

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 Enthusiasm Counts

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm.” I remember reading that in High School and thinking that’s a pretty good mantra, and I like to believe that I’ve been able to see enthusiasm in action both as an observer and as the source. It’s been the greatest asset in my toolbox for just about everything I’ve tried. For sure as a teacher it helps cross the chasm of knowledge and when it works, it’s magic. It has the power to make doubters into believers and slow movers into action heroes.

I used to think that I needed a cause to be enthusiastic about, but over time I came to believe that I could make any cause move faster and attain more by injecting the positive energy myself. I learned early that it’s contagious and becomes the source for great things or anything to come to be. We don’t have wait for it to happen. We can make it happen. In the words of best-selling author Jack Canfield who wrote Chicken Soup for the Soul: “ It’s the difference between ‘yes’ and ‘hell yes.’

I know I have a few “hell yes” moments to live and wake up every day wondering what will be the catalyst, and today the trigger was my reflection that, for many reasons, I’ve been becoming a better version of myself. However, I may be the only one that seems to notice. But that’s okay. Generating an enthusiastic mindset is healthy. I do it for me and you could do it for you. It makes a difference. Hell yes it does.

Final Thought: Without enthusiasm there can’t be love and without love there can’t be enthusiasm.

For more stories like this and information about my books, please visit www.szenzone.com

 

Szenzone – Stories of life and the power to change yours – is sent via email by request and is published weekly or thereabouts. For back issues or to receive this publication directly please email [email protected]  © Gary Szenderski 2025 All Rights Reserved. Gary is an author, branding specialist and teaches at the University of California in Irvine. He specializes in helping people and organizations navigate change – if you or your company needs assistance contact Gary directly.  Gary resides in Southern California and welcomes your comments.