100 - One Hundred Episodes of Heart
The "Living with Heart" Podcast is brought to you by Chip Dodd Resources (www.chipdodd.com) and The Voice of the Heart Center (vothcenter.com). You can connect with Dr. Chip Dodd at chip@chipdodd.com. Contact Bryan Barley for coaching at bryan@vothcenter.com.
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The cost of the subscription is only $7 a month. Dr. Dodd shares content two to three times a week. The content focuses on healthy relationship, personal growth, and leadership. To subscribe, use the link above or go to chipdodd.com.
What is the purpose for creating this podcast, Living with Heart: From Birth to Death?
When Chip and Bryan began Living with Heart: From Birth to Death, they hoped to communicate one central message: Helping people see who they are made to be, so they can do what they are made to do, which will move them to live fully, love deeply, and lead well lives that bless others.
In today’s episode, they take a break from their current series on addiction to celebrate with listeners the achievement of the milestone of episode #100.
Bryan asked Dr Dodd to explain the driving force that has motivated him to continue in his work.
Dr Dodd’s responses:
The most productive time in a person’s career when he/she is in their 60s.
We so often make the mistake of seeing the 60–70-year-old age bracket as a time for retirement or “letting the younger generations have it now” period. Nothing could be more mistaken or sad.
The younger generations need paths to follow and the older generations still need to remain beneficial to their communities.
A wise person once said that the fullest life is one of maximum service. From the age of 60 onward is potentially the most productive period of one’s life for four reasons:
The wisdom gained from experience and proven capability are most integrated at that age.
The older, more experienced person can pass forward what they have gleaned and gained over the years.
Knowing one has something valuable to offer increases one’s own energy and capacity to continue to generate output that is creative and valuable.
There is an increased urgency to offer what one has because the person is in their own last quarter of life.
We all need each other; together we are more than we are apart or separated. We all need to remain open to each other’s gifts and needs.
Integrity is a value and blessing:
One hallmark of integrity is the inability to give up on what one is dedicated to or compelled from within to do.
We are called to and we are capable of living with passion, intimacy, and integrity, which allows us to live fully, love deeply, and lead well lives that can bless others.
The value of mission and learning:
I have been blessed to have a mission, rooted in a vision, “to do everything I can to help people see who they are made to be, so they can do what they are made to do.” This mission has been a compelling drive. I know it will not be completed, but it moves me to continue as long as I am able.
I have been teaching for years the need for each person to be able to name their own mission, and then to submit to that mission that they cannot stop wanting to do.
As to learning, I have found that everyone, whether young or old, is their own best teacher. We all need to listen for more knowledge, but even more, we need to listen to the following:
What life is actually like for all of us. Everyone is telling that story, and it can unite us or divide us, according to how truthful we actually are.
What we want to be like and what we can have affinity with.
Wisdom of living that comes from all living sources, young or old, and nature itself.
Everything that I know and offer has come from all the others I have learned from and listened to over the years.
Summary:
If we feed the roots of how God made us, we grow the fruits of our own God-made giftedness.
We are gifted and there is a world in need of our gifts.
The great tragedy occurs when the “world” suppresses the roots and the person doesn’t grow the fruits of living fully, loving deeply, and leading well. That person doesn’t get the joy of giving, and others don’t get the blessing.
We are created to generate fruit and be of maximum service until we are no longer capable. This action is the ultimate fulfillment.
God created us to live life and live it to the full, and that is a specific and individual blessing.
The famous story of the “starfish and the child” told in this episode is a focus we all need to keep at the forefront of our hearts and minds. We are all the starfish and the child.
Dr. Chip Dodd
Voice of the Heart Center