Bring your own ...

someness, courage, hope, or any other positive, encouraging, and affirming

So, let’s tackle a few, shall we?

BYOK, bring your own kindness. As I did some research for this column, asking people what they wished the world would bring if they had to bring their own anything, kindness was the number one word. Those I spoke with and others who responded to a survey shared that the ugliness and negativity of the world had them wishing that the world could be a little kinder, well actually, a lot kinder. One respondent was so convicted of this that she felt that, “If we could all just show up with kindness every day, we could actually have a greater impact on the world than climate change efforts, economic shifts, and voting in the right candidate for president.”

BYOS, bring your own strength. Sometimes life deals us a bad or difficult hand. Sometimes we find ourselves in a season of life where we succumb to our weaknesses, or we see the situation as too much for us to handle; Illness, divorce, addiction, or death in our circle of family and friends, and so many other horrible life events that can cause us to cave. BYOS means that we find our inner strength, and if we don’t have that strength or can’t find that strength, we need to BYOS, bring the strength of others who come alongside us, just when we need them the most.

BYOP, bring your own peace. Wow, could this be the most prolific of all BYO’s? In the agitated world that finds us reading news about road rage, random violence, wars, school or community shootings, or any other topic that drives a wedge between humanity, peace is the most desired of human emotions right now. We live in a world of violence on TV, in the movies, in video games, and it’s all tolerated or worse, accepted as the norm of the world in which we live. BYOP, bring your own peace, this means we can own how we react or respond to each and every news feed or situation we find ourselves in with peace.

You get the point, right? BYO isn’t restricted to restauranteurs,

BYO means we can bring our own anything to each and every situation we face. We all face seasons of life that bring us heartache and anguish, seasons of joy and celebration, and well, just seasons of life. No matter what we face, we, and only we, can determine what we bring to the game or situation. Will it be kindness, strength, peace, hope, grace, love, awesomeness, courage, or hope?

The choice is yours; the choice is ours. It doesn’t matter what other BYO might be, we get to select our own BYO. What’s yours? If your BYO is kindness, please live it. If it’s strength, please own it. And if it’s peace, please keep it. And if it is any other quality or trait that can have a positive impact on our world, please share it. I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail.com and when we can decide which BYO to live, it really will be a better than good life.

Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.