To Go Deeper or Retreat?

Had lunch with my support team today.  What a great and interesting group these three men are.  I'm really lucky to have them willing to give their time to this project.  The conversation at lunch was very interesting today.  I've now been at this say nothing negative about anyone business long enough to learn a few things.

1.  Like most resolutions, no matter how well intentioned the zeal for keeping them can fade over time.
2.  To keep up the progress will require a rededication to the project.
3.  I have reached a point that may require some deeper examination of myself than simply trying to say nothing negative.

OK, so the first and second points are easy to take, but the third one is a little more tricky.  This attempt to say nothing negative has been very informative to me about how I operate.  I am now at a point where to make progress will require a little self examination as to the root causes of my negative comments.  This was my thought going into the lunch discussion today, and unfortunately the team was quick to agree.  As we began this experiment 3 months ago I purposely did not try to plan out where this process would lead me, but rather wanted to simply attempt to say nothing negative and see how it developed naturaly.  Now I find myself at a point where I can either let it slip away, quit outright, or go in deeper and make a recommitment to do whatever it takes to continue.  I hope this doesn't sound too deep or philosophical.  It is really quite simple.  It seems to make real change in my life I must be willing to examine my motives, that is to say the driving forces that make me want to say something negative in the first place.  I believe now that it is only at that level that progress can continue.  I'll write more about this later as the direction becomes more clear to me.  For now I can only say I'm thankful for what has been revealed to me so far andI'm thankful for the help I am being freely given.

Positive Comedy

I haven't written in a while.  We have gone through a whole realignment at the office with my assistant of 5 years leaving for a new job and hiring of two new employees.  It was of course an emotional time of change, but it all worked out, and for the most part I remained positive!  I cannot say I was perfect, but I can tell you that this pledge really helped me.  It wasn't that anyone was being negative or that I wanted to say anything negative ABOUT anyone, but any time of change brings with it uncertainty and fear.  At least for me it is tempting to become negative in response to situations that are beyond my control.  I instead chose a path of reaching out for help.  Help from other people and help from God to give me calm times of faith and peace instead of worry.  OK, so anyway as I said everything has worked out very well and tonight was a LOT of fun.  I was a speaker at a celebrity roast of our local Chamber of Commerce Director, Rich Cantillon.  Of course having taken a pledge to say nothing negative about anyone does offer it's challenges when you are supposed to be doing comedy at a roast.  Thankfully Rich is well known for being a very positive person, so I was able to talk about that.  I think my comedy was enjoyed AND I didn't say anything negative.  I hope to get back to writing more often now and I'm looking forward to seeing my support group again tomorrow for our weekly meeting.  I'll report on that soon.