…On my homepage… Thought it helpful.

Increase Your Likeability Factor

By: w2wlink (View Profile)

To be heard you have to make people like you. You need to create chemistry with your staff as a manager, with your team as a project leader, with your boss, with your customer, with your strategic partners. People believe people they like. That’s not a news bulletin. Great communicators develop the “likeability factor”—your personality and the “chemistry” you create between yourself and others.

Just as many roads lead to success in the workplace, many different personalities attract followers. But the following traits seem universally to attract people and open their minds and hearts.

Be Vulnerable, Show Your Humanity
In speaker training 101, people learn to tell failure stories before success stories. Generally, audiences have more in common with those who struggle than those who succeed in life. If you worry about whether your teen will graduate from high school without getting involved with the wrong group, say so. If your father-in-law drove you nuts during the holiday weekend, it’s okay to mention to your colleagues on Monday morning that you might not have been the storybook spouse. If you lose a customer, regret it rather than excuse it. If you miss a deadline, repair the damage and catch up.

People respond to humans much more favorably than machines. When you communicate with colleagues, never fear to let them see your humanity.

Be Courteous—Remember to Kick the Copier
Day in and day out, it’s the small things that kill our spirit: The sales rep who empties his cold coffee and leaves the splatters all over the sink. The manager who uses the last drop of lotion and doesn’t refill the container. The analyst who walks away from the printer, leaving the red light flashing “paper jam.” The boss who walks into the reserved conference room in the middle of a meeting and bumps everybody out for an “urgent” strategic planning meeting. The person who cuts in line at the cafeteria cash register. The guy who answers his cell phone and tries to carry on a conversation out loud in the middle of a meeting.

As a result, even the smallest courtesies kindle a fire that ignites chemistry and builds kinship. The courtesy of saying “hello” when you come into the office after being away. The courtesy of letting people know when you’re going to be away for an extended period. The courtesy of honoring policies about reserving rooms, spaces, and equipment for activities. The courtesy of a simple “please”, “thank you”, and “you’re welcome” for small favors.

Share a Sense of Humor
No matter whether people agree or disagree with George W. Bush’s political positions they typically admire his self-deprecating humor. At one of the Washington correspondent’s dinners, that ability to poke fun at himself seemed to be the primary thing the media responded to favorably. Bush said at the lectern, “I always enjoy these events. But why couldn’t I have dinner with the 36 percent of the people who like me?” At one such event, Bush even brought along his “double” comedian Steve Bridges, to make fun of his frequent mispronunciations. The double modeled for him one of his most difficult words to pronounce correctly, “Nu—cle—ar proliferation … nu—cle—ar proliferation. Nu—cle—ar proliferation.” Then Bush tried it, “Nu-cle—ar pro-boblieration.” The crowd went wild.

Self-deprecating humor can open hearts and minds to make people receptive to ideas in ways words alone cannot.

Show Humility
Power can be seductive. Praise pushes people’s buttons, elevating peer pressure to feel important. And just as suddenly as lightning strikes, an act of arrogance can destroy an otherwise credible communicator. For example: Refusing to acknowledge people when they speak to you. Failure to respond to people’s suggestions. Haughty body language. Time spent only with those of your “rank and ilk” at a social gathering. An amused smirk in response to an idea expressed in a meeting. An upward roll of the eyes meant to discredit someone’s comment in the hallway. A talk jam-packed with jargon meant to confuse rather than clarify. Insistence that things must be said one way and one way only.

Credible communicators show humility in innumerable ways:

• They let others “showcase” by delivering key messages instead of always having to be “on stage” themselves
• They let others feel important by “interpreting,” “passing on,” and “applying” their goals and initiatives.
• They get input from others—and consider that input worthy of a response. (They don’t ask for input “just for drill” if they don’t plan to consider it.)
• They excite others by asking for their help, cooperation and buy-in
• They share the limelight by telling stories about star performers
• They share leadership roles by telling success stories of other leaders
• They communicate awareness and appreciation of the efforts and results of other people

Certainly, credibility involves a balancing act between establishing a noteworthy track record and fading away into the furniture. People do want to know that you know what you’re talking about. But arrogance antagonizes them. Expertise tinged with a touch of humility goes down far better.

Your look, language, and likeable personality will have a huge impact on whether people accept what you say. If your message isn’t sinking in … if you’re not getting the action you want … maybe you should take it, well … personally.

Written originally for w2wlink by Dianna Booher

First published December 2008

Stole this from another blogger’s post

His name is Ralphie, and he is a “business artivist.” Here are his philosophies:

 

formerly known as “The Evolving Principles of Boojummy”

Create win-win scenarios where everyone gets what they need and feels good and no one feels taken advantage of.

Recognize that we can’t just sit on our a$$es and do nothing if we want to have any right to complain about the respective states of our existence

Embrace the ego because if you’re not getting what you need, you’re not going to be able to give others what they need. Accept that altruism and egotism are not incompatible concepts.

It’s OKAY to make money doing something you love. And it sure as hell ought to be okay making money making the world a better place. And it’s okay for those who work harder and contribute more to society to make more, not less, money than others.

Change happens ONE PERSON AT A TIME. It starts with the self and spreads outwards like rippling water. But as the one becomes the few and the few become the many, the waves increasingly intersect and create “nodes” of connection and understanding.

No one person is the be all and end all within the interdependent business artivist system. Some people, however, akin to Malcolm Gladwell’s conception of the connector and the maven, have a greater grasp on big picture issues and that grasp should be respected, but never go unchallenged. The goal of the teacher is to have the student surpass him or her.

Power abhors a vacuum. If humanistically oriented “spirit first” leaders (aka “poets of the possible”) don’t aspire to wield influence, then materially-oriented “money first” leaders will because their rules-based institutional structures are based upon a well-considered rational understanding of human nature that has proven itself successful time and again through recorded history. As such, the “rules of the game” are stacked in their favor because they have past precedent to argue their case. Many people with spiritually-inclined constitutions are co-opted into the “system” simply because there are no other viable alternatives.

We can do just fine by ourselves, but we can do better together than apart. In the increasingly networked world of Intrenet 2.0, collaboration and sharing are to be considered a competitive advantage.

Flexibility and adaptibility are key. Changing opinions and approaches resulting from growth, learning and changing circumstances “on the ground” are never to be considered evidence of a disingenuous initial position. Precisely because of this amorphous nature of the artivist network, the cultivation of permission-based networks centered upon trust, transparency, honesty and openness are key ingredients to business, as well as personal, success.

Business is personal. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. The idea that it is not is just a “believeable fiction” we tell ourselves to ease those nagging guilts we feel when we screw others over. As social entrepreneurial and good corporate citizen models suggest, psychic benefit in lieu of monetary gain can provide for increased efficiency and yield superior profits, both psychic and monetary, going forward.

Receive an ounce of kindness? Try to pass on two and it will even out in the end. If you don’t know what I mean, try being the guy who collects the money at the end of a group dinner…

It’s okay to press the back button. Mistakes get made. We only ask good faith and for network participants and/or allies to take immediate ownership and accountability for past error. Mistakes made in good faith are not “evil.” Failure to re-assess past positions upon presentation of new information, or failure to allow for the presentation of new evidence (aka “communication shutdown”), however, will not be passively accepted, but persistently challenged, until a better story that better fits facts can be presented.

Let’s be human beings… There is no room in business artivism for either petty jealousy or preening egoism. Those who succeed are to be considered guides and facilitators for those who helped promote them to success. Gifts of knowledge and/or venture risk capital are to be considered a duty. In return, the giver may reasonably expect a return on investment in the form of monetary or social equity. Returns on investment in the form of physical or emotional equity, however, are to be assiduously avoided whereever possible (you can’t shut off feeling after all…) lest they exploit well known inequalities embedded within the the very structure of unequal power distributions.

Those who create work should benefit from the widespread dissemination of that work. We consider intellectual and creative copyright, especially in the digital age, a moral mandate.

Business artivism is OPT-OUT at any time. If you’re not getting what you need, go someplace where you have a better chance to get it. But you can’t just take it all with you and neglect those who helped you along the way. Well… you can, but don’t expect us to sit still for it. We’ll fight for our own not to get the short end of the stick and even keep the door open for you to come back if and when the time is right.

Bruce Mau’s Incomplete Manifesto for Growth

I think I have seen a sliver of light with this one. I actually posted this to another blog to share with peers, but I see no harm in posting it here too…

AN INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR GROWTH

Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements exemplifying Bruce Mau’s beliefs, strategies and motivations. Collectively, they are how we approach every project.

1. Allow events to change you.You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.
2. Forget about good.Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you’ll never have real growth.
3. Process is more important than outcome.When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.
4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
5. Go deep.The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
6. Capture accidents.The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.
7. Study.A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.
8. Drift.Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.
9. Begin anywhere.John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.
10. Everyone is a leader.Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.
11. Harvest ideas.Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.
12. Keep moving.The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.
13. Slow down.Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.
14. Don’t be cool.Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.
15. Ask stupid questions.Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.
16. Collaborate.The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.
17. ____________________.Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas of others.
18. Stay up late.Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you’re separated from the rest of the world.
19. Work the metaphor.Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.
20. Be careful to take risks.Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.
21. Repeat yourself.If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.
22. Make your own tools.Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.
23. Stand on someone’s shoulders.You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.
24. Avoid software.The problem with software is that everyone has it.
25. Don’t clean your desk.You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.
26. Don’t enter awards competitions.Just don’t. It’s not good for you.
27. Read only left-hand pages.Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our “noodle.”
28. Make new words.Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.
29. Think with your mind.Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.
30. Organization = Liberty.Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between “creatives” and “suits” is what Leonard Cohen calls a ‘charming artifact of the past.’
31. Don’t borrow money.Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.
32. Listen carefully.Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.
33. Take field trips.The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.
34. Make mistakes faster.This isn’t my idea — I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.
35. Imitate.Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You’ll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.
36. Scat.When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else … but not words.
37. Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.
38. Explore the other edge.Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.
39. Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms.Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces — what Dr. Seuss calls “the waiting place.” Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference — the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.
40. Avoid fields.Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.
41. Laugh.People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I’ve become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.
42. Remember.Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.
43. Power to the people.Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can’t be free agents if we’re not free.

What Usually Happens

Sometimes the power of God within us can get kind of scary. Many times when I have needed spiritual upliftment and enhancement, God has placed me in the situations when I need it most, which is something to be appreciated because it reminds me that He is with me and there for me.  However, sometimes when I RANDOMLY open my Bible, the same thing happens, which is sooo beyond my control that it startles me. 

For instance, I was recently re-reading my favorite book, Doing What’s Right by Tavis Smiley, and although I was learning a lot from it and getting a lot of mental preparation for the school year (I desire to delve deeper into art and social advocacy this year), I was still empty. During one of the days that I was reading, a lot of my friends moved back on campus, and almost immediately, the spiritual growth that I made throughout the summer begin to deplete. I begin to get frustrated with my competence to undertake the goals for the year, questioning “How can I be a source of social change, growth, and progress when I get so deterred and influenced by the people around me? How can God use me if I allow myself to lose sight of His will for me? Why am I chosen to do good things when I still struggle to focus on God’s great purposes?”

These and other questions ran rampantly through my head, and when I hit the point of mental exhaustion, I did what I always do- I opened my Bible for guidance.

Not searching for any specific verse or scripture, I opened it randomly to the middle, and before I could even flip through the pages, my eyes landed on the bottom left corner of this first page that I’d opened to.  And as blatant as the title of Tavis Smiley’s book, the third verse in this chapter of Psalms 106 read, “Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.” 

Initially, I wanted to freak out! This had happened before when I was down and needed a scripture about perseverance (read Hebrews 10) and other times when I just needed spiritual help with the things that I was going through. So the question of this being “luck” was totally out the door. God had truly heard my innermost cries and pleas, and once again He showed me that He was there. Now, that I have finished reading Doing What’s Right for the second time, I know that I am equipped and blessed to be a blessing to many of my peers at WashU, and with the will and support of God on my side, I have no fear that I will accomplish what he has in store for me.

Minutes, Hours, Days…but not yet weeks

I’ve realized that I haven’t blogged in such a long time…. It could possibly be because I have been away or even because I haven’t been “thinking” lately… or it could just be that I have not used my energy to generate and mentally articulate the thoughts that have occurred. Despite the reasons, it is about time that I get back on it and start back writing.

I have been re-reading a favorite book of mine lately. It is Tavis Smiley’s Doing What’s Right, and on this second-go-around, I have been picking up on inspiration that I missed the first time that I read it. (Note: I first read- nearly skimmed- the book in one day during a busy semester.) There is an underlying tone of “using one’s talents”- well, gifts- fully and efficiently for the good of society, and it really hit me that although I have many aspirations to “change the world,” I haven’t been FULLY using the gifts that God has bestowed upon me.

I always get really frustrated when I think about this contradiction, but as I have been reading Smiley’s book, I’ve moreso been confused. I constantly get led to think “What are all of my gifts? Which ones should I be using? Am I really expected to use them ALL? In what quantity should I use them? What if I am not strong in one?, etc.” It gets crazy in my head, and instead of working out the issue, I get exhausted and do nothing (outside of sleeping).

This is my roadblock….but I have a solution that might work.

So plain and simple, here’s the issue: I can’t impact change until I pick my battles. I can’t pick my battles until I fully understand my passions. I can’t fulfill my passions until I know my gifts. I can’t explore my gifts until I iron and test them out. I can’t test them out until I….STOP “thinking” and START doing.

But what do I “do?” ANY and EVERYthing until I weed out my gifts and battles.

I will see if this works.

What Bit My Fruit

So I previously had a post titled “What’s Biting Your Fruit?” whereby I took a scripture, Galations 5 (I think) and attempted to reflect upon certain direct and vicarious issues that I have faced in order to encourage those who may encounter the same issues. When I first thought of this essay/journal entry/ treaty/ whatever it may be called, I created an extended outline to help guide my thoughts. However, once I began to translate my outline into a parenthetical format, I found myself struggling to fully articulate my feelings and thoughts.

For weeks, I pondered why I’d reached such an unfortunate and untimely writing block, and I could not conjur a concrete answer. But today, it hit me. I had been “bitten by Adam” as I tried to plant my seeds, and therefore, God sent a haze in my mind so that I would not bestow unfruitful seeds to whoever may actually read what I wrote. He blocked my thoughts so that I would not deliver a vain, self-glorifying, hypocritical, misguided message. He let me know that although I am equipped to write of His glory, I still am not ready.

I appreciate this epiphany greatly, for it allows me to understand how things sometimes work in my life. The “Adams” (or “Eve”) that bit my fruit were my pride, my arrogance, my lack of sincere focus upon God, my vanity, and my dependence upon others for my joy. All summer, I have been struggling with these things as I have fought with myself and cried about how broken my closest friendship have become. I wallowed in pain and misery when my best friend died, and dwelled in depression when my friends pulled away from me in my brokenness. But yesterday, after I had a long talk with my closest college friend, we broke the emotional ties that we had upon each other and became just “buddies.” And although such a demotion in our friendship sucks, I already feel relieved and free. My headaches are gone; my eyes are no longer most with tears; my head hangs high as I look towards He who really supplies my joy.

As I realize the error in my ways, I still have faith that God will soon use me to do His will and aid a lot of broken hearts. And although I still am not totally ready to finish what my mom has deemed my “first sermon,” I recognize that I should not and cannot rush what God has for me. Therefore, I will keep my “What’s Biting Your Fruit?” post as it is, but whenever I feel that God is ready for me to do it, I will definitely pick up the pen and begin again.

Fellowship Song

As I was sitting on my couch today, I was sooo disturbed, frustrated, and upset about how things were going with my friends. I have been feeling miserable all summer for soo many reasons, but something hit me today and told me that such worries are meaningless, for I have God, and He will supply all of my needs, wants, and desires. Then, I just had to thank Him, and instead of writing a poem about my miseries, I decided to write a song to my friends and to God, exclaiming how great He is.  I call it The Fellowship Song.

Verse 1.

Join me in fellowship.

Let us lift our hands to Him.

He who is great. He who is awesome.

Let us praise His name.

(repeat 1x)

Chorus:

Lord we love you. We adore you.

You are good to us.

Not for what you’ve done, but for who you are.

We exalt your name.

Lord we love you. We adore you.

You are good to us.

Not for what you’ve done, but for who you are.

We will praise your name.

Verse 2:

Lord, we lift our hands to you.

For all the things you brought us through.

We have been called. We have been chosen.

To exhalt your name.

(repeat 1x)

Chorus.

 

Let us praise Him. He is good to us.

Let us glorify, glorify His name.

(repeat 8x)

We love you! (We love you!)

We adore you! (Adore you)

We praise you! (We Praise you)

Hallelujah! (Hallelujah)

 

(repeat 12x)

Quick thoughts about Joy vs. Happiness

Sometimes I get down. With the loss of my closest, most beloved best friend and the instability of my college friendships, I feel that I have no one (beyond my mother) in whom I can confide, no one whom I can totally be myself around, and no one whom I can faithfully and fully give my love. And when I realize this void, I recognize that I am not happy. I am not happy in my friendships. I am not happy in my associations. I am not happy depending on people for happiness.

But whenever I find myself dwindling into this mode of- well- depression, I recall the many sermons that I have heard about joy.  Unlike happiness, joy does not come from the external relationships and codependence upon people. Instead, joy is internal, and it is one of those precious gifts that God has shared with his beloved. When I think about the goodness of Jesus and the grace and mercy of God, my stomach gets knots and butterflies, and my heart settles into my bosom like a leaf upon a pond, and I then recognize the joy within me. I remember that all that I need in this life is God’s love, and I should be content with that.

Plans for the Passionate Thinker

As am ambitious, passionate, and visionary individual, I often conjur wild ideas about things that I desire to pursue, experience, and create. I ponder such extraordinary ideas constantly- only to soon get frustrated and overwhelmed by not transforming my thoughts into action. This is a problem that I share with many others, and it is an issue that has become crucial to fix.

Whenever, I need guidance and direction about such issues, I turn to the Word of God- yes, the Bible, and like every other occasion in my life, it provides much assistance in the current matter. In Habakkuk 2, God informs the author Habbakkuk of solutions to help the weary. However, before he instructs Habakkuk, God reminds him to ”write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets,” (Habakkuk 2:2) and by taking this first and crucial step He assures him- as well as us- that his thoughts and ideas will thus become more fruitful. With this snippet of insight, we, as followers and doers of the Word, can transform our plethora of thoughts and ideas from mere floating vestibules that they initially are into active ”change agents” grounded and stabilized by a spiritual plan.

As the verse continues, God inform Habukkuk and us that our revelation “awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false.” (Habakkuk 2:3) Here, he assures us of many various important points about planning and writing out our dreams. One is that with our intangible thoughts transformed into concrete recollections, we are sure not to lose them as quickly. WIth a written plan to guide our lives, we can better RETAIN our floating thoughts. Then as we grow more in the spirit and develop our gifts and power, we can RESTORE these ideas when we are ready for them and then APPLY them to our lives with action.

(to be extended and elaborated)

To God, my Best Friend

Dear God,

   I am learning more and more each day that you truly are the keeper of my joy. Lord, I love you sooo much- more than I can actually articulate. I love you because you are amazing, so amazing, and your presence in my life totally astounds me. I can’t get enough of you. I yearn to always grow in you and have you with me as I grow. I never want to lose you in my life, and I never want to stop loving you as I do. I get speechless when I think of your glory and your many wonders and your everlasting love and presence in my life. I need you. I need only you as I strive earnestly to live out the life you have planned for me, and I pray that you can instill in me perseverance, faith, and love, for I know that in you, these things will take me to your promise. I would like thank you in advance for EVERYTHING- good and bad- that may come my way as I follow you. I have signed up for your annointing in my heart, and Lord, I pray that if it is your will that nothing will cross me off your list.

Lord, I can’t imagine my life without you. From birth, you have been there for me, and I will die with you in my heart. I love you that much, and I pray that you can just keep me with you. As a child, you were my father when I was fatherless, so Father, I aim to make you proud.

Lord I love you for today, I love you for the yesterdays that have passed, and I love you for the tomorrows that shall come. I pray that you can know my heart and keep it gentle with your love.

Let your will be done in my life.

Your daughter and best friend,

djn