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Have you ever had the experience where something that wasn’t ‘part of the plan’ (my plan, at least) happens and ends up being exactly what was supposed to happen? Here’s cool story about what just happened this morning. I was speaking to a wonderful group of banking supervisors, and we were nearing the end of our 90 minutes together. Unexpectedly, a little reminder popped up (and “dinged” quite loudly) on the screen. The pop-up said…

Gratitude

That was unexpected — my outlook calendar was shut down; I wasn’t anticipating this distraction during my presentation and still am not sure how/why it managed to pop up on the screen! “Rolling with it” I apologized for the distraction, but shared why the pop-up reminder appears. I made a commitment several months ago to take intentional time out to pause and be grateful each day. This reminder pops up on my phone and on my laptop (apparently even when outlook is off!)! But it does remind me, during the full schedule of each day, to slow down and be grateful. Now … here’s the really cool part … check out the e-mail I received shortly after the presentation:

“Thanks for the great meeting today – I left feeling very upbeat! I think my biggest thing that I took away was “scheduling” time to be grateful every single day!

I was at a leadership training last year and one of the things the consultant said was “why is it that we hold others accountable for their actions, but only hold ourselves accountable for our intentions?” It’s what I think of when I think of personal accountability.

Again – thanks for being a positive start to my day!”

How cool. The ‘unexpected’ detour we took ended up being a gift for someone.

Pause and be grateful.