A Rhetorical Question

I don't remember most of the day, but I remember the moments leading up to the impact like it was yesterday. 

It had been a particularly rough morning. 
I had screwed up a major detail of an event, only to learn about it during the final run through. 
I left my cell phone at said final run through, across the county from my office. 
I had forgotten, again, to pick up new eye glasses in another small town 15 miles away and my head was feeling it. 
That afternoon I decided to pick up my eyeglasses and go back to the event site and find my phone....in an Answer Plot field. Feeling immense stress and frustration, I called out to God while driving down a state highway:

"God! What else could possibly go wrong today?"

It was a rhetorical question, but I guess maybe God felt obligated to answer to prove a point.

It was only seconds later that I saw the black Jeep come up over the perpendicular hill - quickly. 
The driver never hit the brakes, only me. 
Fannie the Focus, rest her soul, did two full spins, went over on two wheels, nearly flipping, and landed in a ditch within someone's yard. 
I was taken to the hospital because I didn't feel so hot after the ordeal, but walked away completely fine. Not a scratch. 
But with a lesson wrapped around my wrist:
Full name
Age
Date in which I arrived in the ER: 08/08/2012
A reminder I've never forgotten:

When you ask God a question, be prepared for an answer.  

I swore I'd never ask him that question again. 
Sometimes my memory slips.

I have a friend from college that I've kept in touch with since our Purdue days. 
One of those people that deserves the very best and is living boldly in order to find it. 
Every time I meet someone eligible, I size them up by his standards, wondering if I could introduce the two. I have yet succeed. 

Anyhow, he sent me an email a while back saying he'd finally met someone (I heard angels sing at my desk) worth talking about. His words were brief and only somewhat descriptive, using far fewer adjectives than I prefer. I mean....he didn't even mention her color hair. But I do know a bigger detail about her: she is ill. Weekly-treatments, ill. This detail doesn't change his feelings towards her or the anticipation of their future together. This relationship, as it turns out, is an affair of the heart, not the worrying mind. 

Over dinner one night I told Cody about my friend's exciting news and now difficult situation. "Can you believe it? He finally finds someone to capture his attention and now this? Why him? Why her illness, now? How much can one guy take?" 

Cody didn't really answer the question, he only agreed. 

It was a rhetorical question, but I guess maybe God felt obligated to answer to prove a point.

That same friend texted me last week to let me know he was heading west - homebound - last minute. His dad found a lump and they learned that it might not be the "no big deal" as previously thought. I got the text while outside with Cody and read the text aloud. I knew better than to ask God any questions. I didn't care to learn anymore punch-in-the-gut answers.

This friend, however, is handling it all with grace and patience; both things he doesn't seem to have when McDonald's gets his drive-thru order wrong. He has never asked what more God could throw his way, not because he doesn't want to know, but rather because he already knows things could be worse and today he's climbing life's mountains one at a time. 

God sure as an interesting way of answering questions. Sometimes with Yes, sometimes with No, often Not yet or maybe even I have something different in mind. I think He continues to answer this friend with: You're not going to believe this...

This story is not told to discourage you from asking God questions in fear of what He will reveal. I think God loves it when we have those conversations with Him. My thought is that part of living an enriched life is accepting those answers - no matter how pleasant or tough - as part of the journey. Part of your life's story. 

Personally, I wish I was better at this. Sometimes when I ask God if He can show me where I need to be in my life, I have a real concern that He is going to physically move me to where I'm going to do my best work for Him. Without a chance to pack. Or do the dishes in the sink I've put off for two days. So I never ask the question out loud; I whisper it in my head. As I type this, I realize: I'm a real mess. 

Of course, asking, "What more can God possibly throw my way?" may just sound like a challenge and expedite the process...

Have faith in this. 

I'll close with a few words from my strong, optimistic friend, hoping that his experience will encourage you today, no matter how your life's story is unfolding minute by minute, day by day, year by year:

Life is full of uncertainties 

but what we can do is 

focus on living the best life 

that we can today.

Inspiring more than he knows, that friend. 

You Are Enough

Earlier this week I was asked to attend a career fair at my alma mater and recruit the best and brightest from Purdue's College of Agriculture. 
No pressure. 
Nearly 1/3 of our awesome employees will retire in the next 10 years. 
No pressure. 
At all. 

The long day spent standing on the wood floors of the Union took me back to place in my life - not too terribly long ago (like yesterday and 100 years ago all at the same time) when internships were something only upperclassmen were charged with and I only attended a career fair because I thought it included ferris wheels and carmel apples. 
I hate it when you show up to an event looking for cotton candy and walk away with 17 pencils, 4 business cards and a mouse pad. 
Darn. 
It. 
Reality. 
And growing up. 
That was my freshman year. 
I had so much to learn. 
And I did. 
And I want to share that with ag kids trying to find a professional place in the industry - after their 5:00 mornings on the family farm have passed. 

Be Confident

You have done so much up to this moment - the vulnerable moment when it seems you're throwing yourself out to the entire, mature world. 

Only you know what it's like to make the dreaded walk up to the barn to tell your Dad that you've mown the rock that has stood in the same field for 1,000 years. 

Only you have called your Momma to tell her that everyone is OK, but your truck isn't. 

Only you have cared for animals you've lost, rode in the buddy seat and seen your Dad's heart break and watched your Grandma's arthritic hands pray for rain that never came. 

Only you have juggled FFA, 4-H, BPA, Student Government, cheerleading and studies. 

You've survived. 

Beautifully. 

You've done so much up to this moment. 

Be confident in all that you are and all that you are yet to be. Stand up straight. Look them in the eye. Be proud that - during this 3-minute flash interview - you're representing your Dad's farm and your Momma's dream. 

That's you. 

Firm Handshakes Are Still Better Than Fist Bumps

I don't know or care what's in style (I still love 80's hair and wear high-wasited jeans to the office every Friday), but I do know with certainty that a weak handshake is the first point of differentiation in agriculture. 

It wasn't long ago that handshakes were as telling as the wax seal on the exterior of a formal proposal letter. 

It wasn't long ago that we didn't need legal counsel; a man's word and handshake was enough. 

It wasn't long ago that prenuptial agreements didn't exist. 

And though we're far past those days, a firm handshake still outweighs a dead fish. 

I don't care if you're asking to mow the neighbor's yard or looking for corporate experience - may your handshake be firm. Let the recipient know your intentions are sincere. 

Get your hair out of your face and tuck in your shirt.

This is just really fundamental guidance that your mother probably wore out during your formative  years, but darn it - it still matters today. 

I can't count on my hands the number of young men who needed their hair cut, the young ladies who wore ill-fitting clothes or the number of square toe boots that needed polish. 

Any other day you may wear your hair so the professor doesn't know when you fall asleep.
Any other day you may wear whatever you'd like (don't be an idiot) to the social event on Saturday night. 

Any other day you may wear your favorite boots to 27 farms/ranches to look at stock. 

But when it comes to the career fair - pull that deal together. 

You have one chance! 

Get the hair cut; show us those pretty, honest eyes. 

Wear the flattering suit; we need not know what color underwear you wear, but we'd like to know your gender. 

Polish your boots. A boot cleaning kit is an awesome gift. It will last years! 

Consider this: You can't get into Canada with boots in that condition - what makes you think you'll get the job?

You Are Not Here to Land Your Dream Job

Understand this: Your first job won't be your dream job. 

The toughest job you'll have to land is your first job. You can always use connections to look for a second opportunity. 

The career fair - the networking in college - is about exploration and learning corporate culture and people and positions. It's not about landing a job in your home county or making more money than your roommate right out of the gate. 

Your dream job comes after a few years - maybe even decades? - of experience. 

Your dream job comes after years of dangerous learning curves and fear that you're fixin' to derail. 

Your dream job comes after you've skipped nights on the town with friends to go back to your empty apartment and eat generic Cheerios, topped with honey from home.

It gets better!

I promise you that. No toes crossed. 

You Are Enough

You have carried a load, at only 18, 21, 23 years old.
Life has been good in agriculture, but things are changing. 
You have a family at home as passionate as you - with expectations ever greater. 
You have a Dad that made it through the 1980's in agriculture and absolutely expects you to do the same, when someday asked. 
You have a mother that set the bar extremely high. A college degree. An admirable job. She still packed your lunch everyday before school. She still looks 10 years younger than her classmates, despite years in the sun. 
You have been able to watch your Granddad and Dad work side-by-side and make the family farm what it is today. And after schooling, you're silently expected to take it to the next level.

But you. 
Yes, you, with - what seems like - the weight of the world and the future on your shoulders:
You are enough. 
Did you hear me?
Yes, I'm talking to you. 
Take out your ear buds and read that line again:
You. Are. Enough. 
You have so much work to do. You have so very much to learn. And that is OK.
You are smart and loved and make folks proud. 
Sure, you have pressure on your shoulders - it is good for you. 
That pressure on your shoulders is sure to keep you grounded. 
So when you interview for the internship off the farm or the first job, remember that years of day-to-day experience have landed you here. 
Don't be consumed with the idea that you're inadequate in front of 35-year-old professionals who seems to have it together. 
Because those professionals - in their pressed slacks and perfectly starched oxford - wish that someone would have stood in front of them at 21, shook their nervous, clammy hands and simply said: This is just the beginning. You are enough. 

My day at Purdue was a good one; it was a mini reunion, seeing so many folks I went to school with, working to recruit the same kids. 
We're on the other side of the fence now, as 35-year-old professionals - in pressed slacks and perfectly starched oxfords - who seem to have it together. 

We were staring right into the bright and shining faces of the next generation of ag kids. 
Granted, the shining may have been beads of sweat.
But Dan Seals said it best: Not all that glitters is gold. 
Sometimes, it's just nerves. 

You are enough. 
Young or old. 
In agriculture or not. 
Now go change the world. 

Clear The Air

I'm not mad, I just need to know when I can open the windows again. 

I learned to fall asleep with the crickets' music and rain falling on the roof of our front porch. Fresh air would move across our shared room and carry out anything that didn't belong there. Like too much of this stuff:

When I moved to Purdue I slept in the cold air room of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. Wind, leaves and snow would each blow in August through May, but the fresh air cleaned out the room that held 80 sleeping gals and kept us healthy. Mostly. 

I pulled this from the AXO Alpha Beta Facebook page 

After going to college I had actually forgotten what it was like to have a super angry Mom. It had, after all, been years (weeks) since Luke left the hydrant running and she'd lost her head. But then I came home on Christmas break - and before bed - opened all four large windows of my bedroom to recreate the fresh air paradise of my youth. And college. 

Boy was Momma mad to learn turning up the thermostat throughout the night did nothing to alleviate the draft that was traveling under my bedroom door.

Now as a wife, I'm a huge promoter of wool socks and electric blankets if that means we can open the windows to air out the house while there is still frost on the ground. Dead flies, damp basement, Muck Boots, wet gloves, dirty dishrags, all things man...each proponents of cooped-up-house-smell, and in turn creating cramped-up-Lindsay-paranoia. 

I'm not concerned with the fact that fully opening the windows in this old house may cause reason for alarm once we return home after being gone. Cody got home on day earlier this month and initially thought our house had been broken into. The flowers once on the kitchen counter were scattered across the linoleum. The screen of the window over the kitchen sink was thrown across the floor. Our mail pile stretched from the kitchen to the dining area. Did someone enter through the window? No. I had opened the window too far, didn't secure the screen and left the house open to a storm. Floor was wet, bills were wet, but the house smelled great. You just can't buy that thunderstorm in my kitchen smell!

We've had three birds in our house because of my need to clear the air. I get so excited about a fresh breeze that I fail to remember that some windows simply don't have screens. I've had to run through the house under an umbrella, resuscitate an old fern and leave the house for hours at a time hoping the problem would just take care of itself, i.e. avian heart attack. 

So you can imagine my distress when temperatures dropped over the last week and I'm left with nothing to do but close the windows. 

False. Nobody puts baby in the corner. And shuts the windows. 

I opened the windows before bed Monday night hoping that if we just fell asleep, the house could breathe a bit and we'd not notice that temperatures were dipping into the 40s. Wrong. I woke to Cody stammering around trying to find the windows without his glasses and saying something about frostbite on his arm. I fell back asleep to a dream that I was an eskimo. Weird. 

The thermostat read 53º went I got in the shower the next morning. But that didn't bother me nearly as much as learning that it was so chilly in the house that I'd bottomed out on the recommended temperature at which you're supposed to keep aerosol hairspray. The liquid gold was stagnant. I can work around frostbite, but no Frizz Ease? Count me out. 

I've used the oven for the first time in weeks just to have the ability to leave the oven door open (once shut off) to heat the kitchen while I do the dishes. Extra warmth. I've also inconveniently forgot to shut it off (twice) to warm the kitchen a little bit longer. It's much easier than turning on the furnace. Yes, Cody pays the electric bill and I buy the fuel oil. Why do you ask? 

We've been living in operation Clear The Air for two months now and I can finally walk into the mudroom and not smell iodine from February. It just lingered. 

My goal is to walk into our house with my eyes shut and not know if I'm home or in a rainforest. I think that if a few more thunderstorms roll through the kitchen and Cody tracks in another 10 pounds of grass clippings from mowing pastures we'll be well on our way. 

Toucans aren't native of Indiana, right?

Is There Life Out There

It seems like five years ago, and yesterday at the same time, that I traveled back to Purdue University to navigate my late-twenties-something self through the Executive Agribusiness Program with Land O'Lakes. Tomorrow morning at 8:30 I'll present my thesis in front of my classmates, Purdue faculty, CEOs from across the United States and the Land O'Lakes senior leadership team. And then I'll graduate. 

Me? 
Nervous?
...I'm as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof. 

But my boss left me with words of encouragement Monday: No matter how bad you screw this up, you probably won't lose your job. 

Thanks, Boss. 

Until this course work, I hadn't thought much about a certain song. Not since my confident, third grade self stood in front of the entire elementary school and sang it in the variety show. I was young and I didn't fully understand the message. But twenty years later, this entire process of going back to school and learning to study and apply concepts again has taken me back to Reba's Is There Life Out There. 

By marking things off my life's to-do list prior to getting married just days before age 29, I've avoided the is there life out there? question. But I can still soundly relate to the idea of stress and work/life balance that comes along with curriculum and home. 

Granted, we have no children to read bedtime stories, as seen in the music video. We do, however, have quite a few cows that get cranky when you postpone feeding due to an online homework submission deadline looming ahead. 

And, if Cody would have spilled something on my thesis (as seen in the music video), I (probably) would not have lost my head and made him use a hair dryer to salvage the report. I would have simply printed another copy. Times have changed. 

But the idea of surrendering some things to achieve others has not.I've stretched myself, my resources and my time to get to where I'll be Thursday morning. All for accomplishing a goal of greater education. I've also become a shareholder in post it notes and highlighters. 

How about you?

What sacrifices - small or large - are you making right now to put yourself, your future or your family, in the right direction? 

Or perhaps you're on the other end of the song? The beginning of it. Maybe you're the one who yearns for something greater than what you have now. Maybe you're wondering: Is there life out there? So much you haven't done?

Where ever you stand, remember these three things:

1. If it's still in your mind, it's worth taking the risk. 
2. If I can learn to study again, you can pretty much do anything in the entire world. Ever. 
3. Your hair will never look as cray cray as Reba's did in this video. Bless her heart. 

I'm going to get back to rehearsing my thesis presentation in my hotel room while you will hopefully watch the music video to Is There Life Out There, below. I still cry like a baby when I see her in that cap and gown. 

But if you don't watch the video, can you do one thing? 
Wish me luck! 

YouTube

She married when she was twenty

She thought she was ready

Now she's not so sure

She thought she'd done some living

But now she's just wonderin'

What she's living for

Now she's feeling that there's something more

Is there life out there

So much she hasn't done

Is there life beyond

Her family and her home

She's done what she should

Should she do what she dares

She doesn't want to leave

She's just wonderin

Is there life out there

She's always lived for tomorrow

She's never learned how

To live for today

She's dyin' to try something foolish

Do something crazy

Or just get away

Something for herself for a change

Is there life out there

So much she hasn't done

Is there life beyond

Her family and her home

She's done what she should

Should she do what she dares

She doesn't want to leave

She's just wonderin

Is there life out there

There's a place in the sun that she's never been

Where life is fair and time is a friend

Would she do it the same as she did back then

She looks out the window and wonders again

Is there life out there

So much she hasn't done

Is there life beyond

Her family and her home

She's done what she should

Should she do what she dares

She doesn't want to leave

She's just wonderin

Is there life out there

Is there life out there

So much she hasn't done

Is there life beyond

Her family and her home

She's done what she should

Should she do what she dares

She doesn't want to leave

She's just wonderin

Is there life out there

Strengthening Your Core

This will be brief....

You're welcome. 

I'm in class this week, so my mind is focused on blurry numbers, rather than words I appreciate. 

We're studying the Core of a business. 

Things that serve as the foundation, strength and root of something sound. 

When I visualize (because that's how I operate) Core, I think of the strongest part of the of subject. 

Which is fair. 

Core of a pineapple. 

Trunk of a tree. 

My core, below:

#1 way to recognize that this isn't me: 

No chipped nail polish. The rest is identical. 

If you believe that, you don't read this blog regularly. 

Shame on ya. 

Consider this:

Every business has a Core: The thing that builds their success and their story. 

Preferred. 

Remarkable.

Unique.  

Strong. 

But what happens when the business strays from what they're best at and tries to be all things to too many?

What happens to the Core when other demands saturate it's purpose?

What happens to the things that matter?

Gen. von Clausewitz once said, "There is no higher or simpler law for strategy then keeping one's forces concentrated."

You must first be great at the small things that matter

before you can be good at anything big.  

Just as every company has core objectives, individuals should, too. 

What do you stand for?

What will you stand up to?

What do you believe in?

What matters?

What Is Your Core? 

The 2 - 3 things that comprise who you are.

Once you can determine your Core, the rest falls into place. 

Faith. Family. Farm?

Career. Pleasure. Friends?

Philanthropy. Career. Passion?

Fitness. Career. Family?

Pleasure. Career. Passion?

Career. Fitness. Friends?

Remember that the strongest businesses are the ones which recognize their Core, and build every venture off of that. 

Once individuals figure out what their core is, the direction of other things in life may much much easier to navigate. 

Strengthen your core. 

Build from it. 

And trust me, this blog has nothing to do with planks, jackknife sit-ups or barbell squats. 

(Fact: I just had to google 

"Core workouts" to even list the 

three exercise moves listed above.)

Back To School

Monday I started a new adventure which included...travel. 

You may think I tend to use the word "adventure" frequently. The Post office, Alaska, dressing room - all adventures in their own right. 

I traveled back to the place where I 
founded my professional passion, 
discovered my need to sleep in cold rooms and
met two of my four bridesmaids. 
And a sister-in-law, actually. 

All Hail, Our Old Purdue. 

It's been several years since I've been back. 
The parking lots that we'd cut through, late to class, are now giant brick buildings with Last Names plastered on the side. 
Construction cones were everywhere. 
There was a bistro, deli, kitchen or smoothie shop on every corner. 
And there were just a lot of yoga pants. 

But as I drove down State Street through the pouring rain on Monday afternoon, two Asians darted in front of my car like little clueless cats, causing me to say words that I'd rather not type. 
Suddenly it hit me: the place really hasn't changed at all. 

I've enrolled in an Executive AgriBusiness Program through Purdue so I gain the ability to see numbers on a sheet of paper and actually understand just what all of those digits mean. 
You betcha:
Back to School, Back to School, Back...to...School...

A strange feeling came over me as I climbed Chauncy Hill  (in my car) and entered campus.
So many strangers. 
Different languages. States. Countries. GPAs. Backgrounds. Experiences. 
I remembered just how little confidence I had when I went to school here. It was a quiet, small lack of confidence that usually spoke to me the morning of exams which were held in lecture halls the size of my hometown. 
At that point in my life, Purdue was the biggest, greatest place I had ever seen. 
Familiar intimidation set in for a gal who works and lives in the very state in which she was raised. 
Doing what she loves. 
Why was I so intimidated by my Alma Mater? The place I called home for four years? 
Going to my first class at 29 felt much like it did at 19. 
Only I had a few more hours of sleep in me this time around and I knew how to dress. 

Lecture began Tuesday at 8:00 AM sharp. 
I had highlighters ready, my phone on silent and the perfect seat. 
I loved it. 
Even being completely intimidated by those around me. 
How much did they already know that I didn't?
But then...
It was like Devine intervention. Or just too much coffee and a nervous stomach.
I began challenging the Doctor presenting the course. 
His idea was that history has a minimal influence on strategic planning of a business. 
I disagreed, and somehow found the guts to tell him.

And that is when this blog entry came to fruition.
I challenged (what I thought was) the Doctor's lack of appreciation for lessons learned in our history. 
His rebuttal: 

You should always care about your history.
It built who you are today.
But remember, the rear view mirror of your car is much smaller than the windshield, and for good reason.
If you spend all of your time looking back, you're liable to get into a real mess as you try to move forward. 

Instantly, a post I had read on Facebook Tuesday morning made sense. 

Why was I - again - intimidated by the brilliant people on this large campus?

I have done some exciting things since graduation, even if my name isn't on the side of a billion dollar building...

Who am I to compare myself to others who have completely different experiences, backgrounds, ideals, histories and values?

Or maybe a better question - 

Who are you to compare yourself to those around you?

As I write this, I'm trying to close with some witty saying about looking in the windshield to move forward, paying no attention to the insecurities that may be found in your rear view mirror.
But all I can think about is that Harvard Business Review article that I have yet to read to and the discussion questions I have to be prepared for in just a few hours. 
Darting Asians and my innate ability to procrastinate until the last possible minute: some things really never do change.