Dollars and sense: Simple success strategies to use daily
Published 12:00 am Monday, April 14, 2008
By BETSY LOWERY / Guest Columnist
In the first installment of this series, I listed the Top 10 business leadership principles that make a positive impact not only in the workplace but also in family life and everyday encounters.
To follow that up, consider another list: simple, practical strategies for overall better living. I started this list while reviewing books in a favorite fiction series that had a huge impact on my childhood-the Trixie Belden mystery/detective series.
Remember that line of Meg Ryan’s in “You’ve Got Mail”?
“When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.”
And evidently I’m not the only retro-reader still interested in these particular books, because Random House began issuing an updated set in 2003.
I noticed certain coping methods Trixie employed during her moments of high peril. I also noticed other admirable behaviors such as number 15 on the list; in book nine, floodwaters claim a borrowed car and boat. Compared to the lives that might have been lost, the vehicles-though treasured by their owner-were acknowledged as replaceable.
From this and other reading, and from observation and personal experience, I offer the following list of wise habits that will help ward off crisis and encourage success in everyday situations and relationships:
-Pray.
-Ask for help and advice.
-Take time to think and reflect.
-Scrutinize your surroundings for all available resources.
-Stay educated and informed.
-Give your very best effort, all the time.
-Have courage in new and difficult situations.
-Leave past regrets in the past.
-Recognize another’s call for help.
-Believe the best of others.
-Find comfort in the nearness of a friend.
-Keep others informed of your whereabouts.
-Stick together.
-Avoid unnecessary risks.
-Keep your perspective when things are broken, lost, stolen or destroyed.
-Return found items to their rightful owners if you possibly can.
Betsy Lowery works as a ministry assistant at First Baptist Church of Pelham and is the author of “Pause: Everyday Prayers for Everyday Women.