Make it Click for Someone - episode 229
They say if you want to learn something, teach it. I think there is truth in that. And of course if you have the desire to pour into kids great experiences so that they not only learn skills but also have their character shaped, well that is extra sweet indeed. Amanda Pontsler has the superpower of teaching. I know that first-hand as I’ve seen her in action many times. Anyone who has had the good fortune to be on the receiving end of her gifts will be more confident in all the ways that matter. Amanda is our Superpower Series guest today.
Amanda has been a guest before in these episodes: Shall We Be British Today?, The Celebration Continues with Amanda and Priscilla and Takeaways and Looks Ahead.
I love Wolverine! I’m a huge Hugh Jackman fan. There is so much goodness in the new movie.
Amanda Pontsler on the new Wolverine and Deadpool movie
Do Something
Thoughts from Make it Click for Someone
Making it click for someone. There is a profound high when you realize someone has that aha moment, the look in their eyes of Oh, I get it now. Maybe something you said, the way you framed it, the way you showed them how, let them make the connection, made all the difference. That is why Amanda loves teaching and I know I do too. I really miss it sometimes which is one of the reasons I wanted to get into coaching. Specifically I wanted to help women have that aha moment and expand fully into who they are. To reduce fear, to increase self-belief, and to go do the thing that only they can do.
That venture never got much traction and that’s ok. I have to (or get to) trust the plans God has for me. So I will bloom where I’m planted and see what comes. I will say yes to opportunities and create some for myself by putting things out there and seeing what sticks. I’m not afraid to take risks but I found I was not enjoying the hustle and grind of trying to convert social media scrollers into clients. The joy got zapped.
But speaking of joy, and this is one big leap of a transition, I intended to write about the Democratic National Convention in this blog. You can see it has taken me a couple of paragraphs to get there. As I’ve mentioned before, I think with my fingers. What comes out typically pours out and I go with it. I was deeply moved by the energy, the hope and the joy that kept leaping off the screen and into my home as we had it on in the background while we played Five Crown with our grandson. (We would mute the commercials because I disdain those and cut the cable years ago.)
I want to be clear and transparent with you. I am a registered democrat. Have always been one, and likely always will be one. I voted Republican once, for Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor. (You can see how movies influence me.) I think he did an exemplary job as a non-politician and that is what we were craving here in California at that time. I don’t know a lot about current Republicans but I will go on record and say I have deep respect for Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney (integrity full-tilt).
The current guy running for president? Not so much. Yes, he is made in the image of God. Yes, he says he is a Christian. Yes, he says he is pro-life. But a few points about that. He is a fellow image-bearer and is due a certain amount of acceptance as one. I even try to pray for him periodically. It’s hard to do but that’s why I find it necessary. The Christian thing has me puzzled because there is a lot of behavior and conduct that is cruel and bullying. Does he make Jesus beautiful? Well, not to me. And the pro-life aspect? I know a lot of Christians who hang their hats on this point alone and will vote for him accordingly. It is my contention that if you are pro-life you can’t be pro-life just at conception. You must be pro-life throughout the life of each person so that would preclude the death penalty, it would aim for sensible gun control, it would not include sexual harassment of any kind including physical assaults or vulgar demeaning of another person. None of these things are pro-life. And the list goes on.
In these four plus years of the blog I have made a point to stay out of politics. Yet in my private life I have always found it fascinating. I follow it lightly in news feeds and have thoroughly been fascinated by the inner workings of our government through projects like The West Wing which I’ve seen in its entirety three times, and teaching the fifth grade in which we studied history and government. I subscribed to our local newspaper and followed it voraciously, especially the ed and op-ed pieces. In the mid 90’s I even had a subscription to George magazine (founded by JFK Jr).
Let’s bring the point home. I’m in my third act and I would like to see our country right itself with some fair, stable, positive policies that will help the middle class not just benefit the wealthy, and yes a tighter border, peace in Ukraine and Israel, all the things on the wish list. Tonight I heard a lot of possibilities, saw a lot of excitement, felt a lot of hope as we were all encouraged to DO SOMETHING. It felt good. It felt right. I have joy.
Do something. It feels good and will make a difference.
Let’s all do our part for the future.
