I used to respond to Request for Proposals. 

Not anymore. No way Jose.

I call them: 

Pre-meditated Solutions

Pre-conceived Notions

Pre-pared Frameworks

Pre-planned Realities

Well, to tell you the truth:

These RfPs:

Do not conform to real-life situations, experiences, and delivery practicalities.

They are developed by a bunch of staff sitting on their desks all day and doing the charts, formula, and frameworks they have studies/learned in their sector.

They usually have a consultation team that favors bureaucratic processes and practices rather than getting the best candidate for the job.

They focused many times on the money factor, Eg. Value for Money as if money/costs are all to this. 

It's like a vacuum. Nobody knows what happened to these ideas and insights. For all you know, these ideas are suggested to the chosen candidate.

Much of the proposals are responded to by those who have actual relationships with the organizations tendering these. If you don't have a foot nail on the door, don't even try. Waste of time. 

There is power balance. It's all rigged to the issuing organization. They can cancel anytime, take 1-2 candidates that they liked, and the scoring system is prejudicial to their own biases and preferences which have no bearing on reality.

In short, it's not fair, equitable, and just.

Let's talk about the abundance of love and grace.

I asked my husband if he has plans for me for Valentine's day. Maybe a trip to our favorite restaurant post-VD or chocolates with flowers. He said, "Honey, chocolates and flowers or grocery."

I hastily replied, "Grocery, of course." Our grocery items will always have some sweets with it in some form or another.

We always look at our love tank as something full or empty.

A wise person told me that, in reality, you're not really that empty and you're not that full.

You can't be too full because it means that you have no room for more love that shows through compassion, patience, perseverance, understanding, and respect.

You can't be too empty because somewhere along the way, you have decided to not care at all but yourself. Maybe your love skills are underdeveloped/underused or neglected.

We are always in the in-between situation where there lots of room for personal improvement, growth, and challenge. I don't like to be improving for nothing just to prove you have credentials, awards, and achievements.

I remembered one of the trainees in my class regretted attending the course because she thought she was missing out on new training programs and needed to update her skills and knowledge. Training for the sake of padding up your resume is totally a waste of energy. Because she also has a disability, the effort in taking the course became a liability as well.

Abundance is a good purpose to adhere to and this not just goes to finances, business, and entrepreneurship where dollars are screaming at you.

Abundance of love in organizations particularly in grace shows up in policies, programs, micro-practices, and culture that silently tells you that they care and they will simply do the right thing when presented the opportunity. 

What does the people in your organization say when you're not around?

How does an abundance of love show up in your organization? 
​

While lying in bed and recovering from a surgery, there are things that you can do (aside from Netflix and Youtube and sleeping). 

You can arrange your bed and your bedside table.

You can write long letters to friends and loved ones.

You can plan your year by doing a monthly goal and getting accountability partners with you.

You can also start a conversation with friends that you haven't talked to for years or months.

You can also plan your blog topics and bank it ahead of time if you're a blogger. 

​Plan in your head some of the activities that you will do once you're 100% mobile and strong (e.g. eating outside, cooking new recipes, deep cleaning some rooms, building the storage room, driving for playdates, etc.)

Think about the things that you have done in the last three years, make a mental note of the people you helped, your successes, and the things to improve this year. 

You can feel totally useless, I would understand but there's a time for every season.

Healing works when you cooperate with it, not against nature and the law of universe.

Believe that you receive and it will come to pass.

Have a thoughtful recovery days.

​Take it easy.