Eyres On The Road

The Eyre's just returned from a Motorhome road trip with four teenage granddaughters, and today they talk about their tradition of taking small groups of similar age grandkids on little trips away from distractions, parents, school, friends and "normal life" where real cousin-bonding can occur and where meaningful conversation and relationships can form between generations 1 and 3.

On today's episode, Richard and Linda talk about their upcoming family reunion, about their new grandparenting class, and focus on gratitude for relationships and on a new technique for setting "relationship goals" for how you want individual family relationships to be five years from now. The Eyre's challenge themselves, and each of us, to write a one paragraph description of those future relationships in our gratitude journals.

The Eyre's are casting today from Blakley Island in the San Juan Islands where they are visiting their son Jonah and his family who are spending the summer running the marina and store on the Island. Richard and Linda point out how all parents throughout the world share the goal of raising Joyful, Responsible, Sensitive Children, we all find our own methods for doing so. Jonah and Aja's example is extreme in some ways, but it will prompt our own ideas.

Today the Eyre's continue their 3-letter lesson series. REL abbreviates Relationships, which they contrast with Achievements as the two things we desire and that we spend our time and energy on. Achievements are about what we DO and they make up our "Resume virtues" while Relationships are about who we ARE and who we LOVE, and they make up our "Eulogy Virtues." The Eyre's conclude with the revolutionary concept of setting "Relationship Goals."

On today's show, the Eyre's continue their series on "three-letter lessons"--little word-pegs that represent touchstones or concepts to live by. The word LOW may initially have a negative connotation, but think of it as a representation of humility, of the joyful acknowledgement of our own vulnerability and "nothingness" contrasted with the glory and "everythingness" of God. This replaces self-confidence with faith and leads to calmness and peace (and even to lower blood pressure!)

As always in the second week of the month, the Eyre's focus today on grandparenting and on the teamwork that good families strive to create between parents and grandparents for the benefit of the children. Their 6-month grandparenting course is now open for registration at www.Grandparenting101.com and the challenge is to make this Summer of 2022 the time to become more proactive by developing deeper individual relationships with each grandchild.

On the first week of every month, Richard and Linda talk about another unique aspect of Gratitude, and today they challenge us to focus on one physical, bodily blessing each day while meditating for three minutes, and then to write, in our gratitude journals, a sentence about that aspect of our health. Gratitude, the Eyre's believe, is a key to vitality, and shifting our focus from something that is not going well in our bodies to something that is--can bring a welcome bit of joy.

After a family week in Costa Rica and a few days in LA for Richard's national tennis tournament, the Eyre's are casting today from Phoenix where their granddaughter's high school graduation. They are joined on today's podcast by their daughter Shawni, a prominent mom-blogger (71toes.com) in a discussion of UNITY in politics, in communities, in Church, and in Families. Are we more divided than ever before, and what is the path to more UNITY?

There is no shortage of talk about centering yourself, living in the present, embracing the now, but the Eyre's give it a few new dimensions as they discuss ways to be more aware and in tune even in the midst of the really HARD points and phases of life. Richard and Linda's youngest daughter, Charity, joins them on the podcast today from Costa Rica.

On today's episode the Richard and Linda reveal more about the book they are writing called "Three Letter Lessons" and how simple little "word-pegs" can influence how we live and how we see the world. The eleventh lesson is "ONE" which is about how we can be united with and tolerant of those we disagree with or are different from. And, the Eyre's contend, "oneness" is a better and more complete goal for marriage than "equality."

Richard and Linda are spending a lot of their time and effort these days on grandparenting and forming parent/grandparenting teams to more effectively teach and raise children. The interest has proven to be so huge that they are creating a 6-month course called Grandparenting 101. On today's show they go through the syllabus for that course and invite listeners to write to EyresGrandparenting101@gmail to get on the invitation list.

On today's episode, Richard and Linda unveil the new "take" on gratitude and challenge us to write one handwritten thank-you note each week and to write one "happy" and one "sad" each day in our gratitude journals. They discuss how the art of graceful and grateful receiving can transform our lives and the lives of others. One metaphor is that no matter how perfect a pass the quarterback throws, it is not complete until the receiver gathers it in.

The Eyre's are casting today from the Island of Mallorca off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean. They are there with their son Talmadge, working on their forthcoming book THREE-LETTER LESSONS, which presents 20 "word pegs" to help refine and improve our attitudes and our characters. Most people today work and plan harder on what they are DOING than on who they are BECOMING. The word pegs of the three-letter lessons can change that balance.

On today's episode, the Eyre's continue with their mini-series on short, three letter words or abbreviations that can set our priorities and attitudes for life. The tenth three letter lesson is FAM, or the ultimate priority of our families in the broadest extended sense that includes cousins, uncles, aunts, parents--everyone to whom we are blood related. Learning to love and serve and forgive and mend fences within this "inner" of life is the key to everything.

Today the Eyre's talk about the importance and joy of three generation families where parents and grandparents team up to make life good for kids. Richard and Linda are developing a how-to skills course for Grandparents, and today they reveal the results of a survey of grandparents needs. You can be included in the survey and in the seminars by sending a simple "I'm interested" email to EyresGrandparenting101@gmail.com.

On the first episode of each month, Richard and Linda discuss a new twist on making gratitude journals more meaningful and effective. Today's show is dramatic, in that it suggests that we make a shift during April from "thanking" to "asking." Listen in as the Eyre's elaborate on the tremendous power and clarity that can result from the right question at the right time--particularly a question to God.

On today's show, the Eyre's continue their series on "three-letter lessons"--little word-pegs that represent touchstones or concepts to live by. The word LOW may initially have a negative connotation, but think of it as a representation of humility, of the joyful acknowledgement of our own vulnerability and "nothingness" contrasted with the glory and "everythingness" of God. This replaces self-confidence with faith and leads to calmness and peace (and even to lower blood pressure!)

Continuing with their series on "Three-Letter Lessons," the Eyre's talk today about the concept, the attitude, and the paradigm of FLO--of getting into the mental "zone" where things happen naturally and calmly and fall into sync with the realities of the day. Discussing methods like meditation, breathing, and music, Richard and Linda discuss the internal ways of feeling FLO, and then turn to the more spiritual approach of prayer and asking for God's Spirit to bring the FLO.

If you are a grandparent, listen to this episode. If you are not a grandparent, send the link to someone who is. The discussion is about taking grandparenting to a new, higher level, and becoming the "trunk" that links your roots with your branches. The spiritual part is understanding that our grandkids are actually our brothers and sisters, and that we can get help and inspiration from the real Father.

As always on their first podcast of the month, Richard and Linda discuss the connections between gratitude and character and propose that "the deliberate effort to see through a gratitude lens makes bad people good and good people better." They quote Cicero who said "Gratitude is the greatest of virtues, in fact, the parent of all other virtues." The Eyre's then present the Gratitude challenge for March which is to thank someone personally each day and record it in our gratitude journals.