I have a new commandment for leadership circles … “Look Up!” The life that is to be lived is all around you. That’s where the people are. Here’s the line at the coffee shop this morning. I turned around and … everyone was engrossed in whatever captured their attention on the cellphone screen. Research shows that the chemistry and hormones set off in your brain when you glance at your cell phone are the same as when you see a best friend. So it lends to reason that we gravitate back, over and over again to this device resting in our fingers to trigger that “love’n feel’n.”
Yet, the real possibilities for new or deep connections, friendship and love are in the people all around you. Sure, texting serves a valuable purpose for communication and touch points and the internet for information, but to what ends when everyone around you is starving for real recognition, acknowledgment, a smile and maybe even a “hello?” Take a chance to interrupt the cellphone trance and “Look Up,” share a smile, take an interest in someone, risk saying hi and see who’s life may be impacted today. As my friend Candy Mosier Stramera shares, “It makes my heart hurt. Communication, the true mix of expression, voice, body language is dying.” Let it live in you!
