Can You See Me?

"Can you hear me now? Is that better? Hello? Sorry if you can't hear me very well. I'm on my watch."

I heard those words yesterday at the Apple store. I was at the "timeout table" waiting for a cell phone repair appointment. The lady next to me was talking into her watch like Dick Tracy--shouting into the face and then holding it up to her ear. I wasn't quite sure if she was trying to hear or be heard. Probably both. Either way, it didn't appear to be going well. I chuckled when she said the words "I'm on my watch." Made me feel like I was propelled two hundred years into the future and had arrived here in my hover craft. OK, so maybe this is just the way things are in 2015 and I am behind the times--still blasting 80's music on SiriusXM, pretty proud of my iPhone 6+ but not really aware of all its space age features. Oh well. I am not sure I want to talk into my phone anyway. But that just probably sounds like "Sour grapes." Or should I say, "Bitter apples"? I wonder how long it will be before a watch comes out where we will be able to see the face of the person on the other end?
Bottom line this woman was trying to communicate. She was trying to be heard. Connect. Whether on a watch or an iPhone or in a face to face meeting, we are all trying to do the same thing.

I run with a team and at practice this morning one of my teammates made a comment about how troubled youth just want someone to "see them." I thought it was a beautiful way to express what I have learned over many years of working with high risk kids. I couldn't agree more. "They want you to see them" is a beautiful way of saying they want you to acknowledge them, talk to them like they matter and make them feel like they do
Isn't that true for all of us?
We all want to be seen. And when we're not, we want to be missed. It is why we get up in the morning--to see the people who see us. And by 'see', I mean much more than vision. I mean connection. We want someone to notice us in a way that matters--in a way that makes us feel like we belong, we are loved and this meeting, program, office, club, team, family or world wouldn't be the same without us.
If we have people who make us feel this way, or even one person who makes us feel this way--we are blessed. I try to be someone who 'sees' people - sees their value and points it out. It's easy to get busy, to get distracted, to take people for granted and not really see them. I pray that my vision sharpens so I can truly 'see' the people around me. Maybe I can't see them on a fancy watch yet, but I can see them.
Who will you see today?

-Hope A. Horner
Follow on Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/hopenote
#seeme

Every Day in Every Way, I Get it Done!

Every day in every way

I get it done! I get it done!

I see a lot of people when I jog at 4:30 in the morning, more than you'd think would be up at that hour. We never stop and introduce ourselves--that would break our rhythm and be a bit scary, but I do name the ones who are up with me at that pre-dawn hour.

Hide in a Hood Man
Walk in Woman's Wig 
Overly Polite Girl
Old Man Jogger
No Smile Steve

There are a few more, but these are the ones I see regularly, so they have names--not their real names of course--I name them according to how they act or look in the morning. They probably have names for me too:
Girl with Pooping Dog (My Whippet, Cali, runs alongside me. That is when she's not pooping.)
Blink, Shine and Shuffle (I run in a reflective vest with a blinking light.)
Or maybe they just call me Slow Poke. That works.

The other morning, I ran past someone I hadn't seen before. It was dark and he was across the street so I couldn't get a good look at him, but I could definitely HEAR him. He was chanting as he ran:
Every day in every way, I get it done! I get it done!
He said this over and over and sounded like he meant it. He wasn't yelling like a drill Sargent, but he was loud enough to be heard across the street.
Every day in every way, I get it done! I get it done!

He emphasized the last I get it done by swinging his arms in front of him like a boxer. He was wearing a hooded gray sweatshirt with black sweatpants and sprung off his toes with each short stride as he ran downhill. He was definitely wide awake, on a mission, and didn't care who heard him. I smiled as he went by.

Every day in every way, I get it done! I get it done!

Yeah! Good for you, man! I thought. I wondered if he was trying to lose weight or kick an addiction. Maybe he had just found out he was pre-diabetic or had high blood pressure? Maybe he had just beat cancer? Or maybe his wife had simply said, "If you don't get up off your lazy..." No matter what his motivation, he was up and moving at what some would call an "ungodly hour" and he was reminding himself that he was getting it done.
I was running uphill, chest heaving and thighs burning and his words put a spring in my step. My dog strained at the leash behind me to follow after him, but I pulled her back on to the sidewalk and dragged her up the hill. At the top, we stopped and looked back. I could see his gray sweatshirt bobbing along, but I no longer hear him. I was pretty sure he was still chanting. I watched him disappear around a corner as I caught my breath and thought: Am I getting it done in every way?
Every day? 
I wasn't sure.
I wasn't sure I WANTED to get it done in EVERY way, EVERY day. That sounds exhausting. I would need a lot of Pepsi Max (spiked with cocaine) to be able to sustain that kind of "get it done" factor. Not even Red Bull gets it done every day in every way.

Years ago, one of my work teams had a slogan: "Git 'er done!" They printed out a sign with these words on it and posted it up in their office space as an official slogan. They stole the phrase from a sleeveless flannel wearing TV celebrity I am sure you are picturing at this point (or trying not to) and what it meant to them was "Make it happen! No excuses! Find a way!" I do like this sentiment even if I don't look good in sleeveless flannel. I have one of my own that has stuck with me my whole life: "Whatever It Takes." Same idea, but

I don't think I need to get it done in every way every day. I prefer--if it matters, get it done.
You've heard the old phrase, "You have time for what you make time for"? It's one of my favorites. How is it that we don't have time to mow the lawn but we always find time to golf? Why is it so hard to 'find time' to call Mom but somehow we have time to post on Facebook? Years ago, a friend told me you can tell a lot about what someone values by looking at their checkbook. Where do they spend their money? No one has a check book anymore except my Mom, so I think the new phrase should probably be: "You can tell a lot about someone by their credit card statement."
So maybe I don't get it done in EVERY way EVERY day, but what I DO get done--where I spend my time and money--shows what and who I value. Where is my time going? Who is it going to? I have to work, sleep and eat, but when I do get a free moment, how do I spend it?
Every day in every way, I make it count! I make it count! Maybe I will chant that on my run tomorrow. I want to make each day count for something bigger than the daily grind, or the morning run, the Netflix movie, or the dinner buffet. I want to spend time on what matters--help those who are in need. Say thanks to the people who have made a difference in my life. Pray.Write songs and stories that touch a nerve or inspire. I want the people I care about to know it, to feel it. I want to notice the people God places in my path and reach out in love. OK, maybe not at 4:30 in the morning, but you get the idea.

-Hope A. Horner
http://www.hopehorner.com
Follow Hope on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/HopeNote
Contact the author on hotmail at hopeh1122.