Life University Staff Council Newsletter Volume 5 Issue 2 | Page 2

A Look Inside yourStaff Council

“No person was ever honored by what he received. Honor has been
the reward for what he gave.” - Calvin Coolidge
A service message from Brett North, Staff Council Vice Chair:

Recently, we were invited to share a favorite quote or two for possible
use as epigrams in the CUS building, and one of several I submitted was
the quote above from Calvin Coolidge. I also used this quote a couple
of months ago when delivering the eulogy of a good friend of mine, who
was known by all for his joyful giving. You could always depend on him
to “pitch in” without hesitation.
Oftentimes, we think of “giving” as writing a check for a good or worthy
cause that we believe in, a cause that touches our hearts. I believe that
giving goes far beyond writing a check. I believe we have an obligation
to give of our time, our talent and our treasure.
In many cases, the most valuable of these three to the recipient is our
time. The difference we can make in a person’s life with a small bit of
our time can be profound. Whether it’s mowing the lawn for an elderly
neighbor or taking a meal to a family where someone has just had
surgery or brought home a new baby, the gift of time can be a blessing.
Someone I work with volunteers her time at a local animal shelter. She
goes in a few hours a week and simply sits on the floor and plays with a

little kitten or puppy as she tries to walk the little
critter through what we call “re-socializing,”
allowing the animal to regain its trust in pe ople.
This process makes a difference in the pet’s
life and makes it suitable for adoption, thus
providing a wonderful opportunity for a family
to have a friend that will make an impression on
their lives for years to come.

By Brett North

Many of us choose to serve weekly at our place of worship. We may
provide the only bright smile a person sees all week. We never know the
impact a firm handshake or hug can have on a person’s week.
Perhaps you have a talent that many others don’t have, and you can use
that talent to help someone else while doing what you enjoy.
Writing a check (sharing your treasure) is usually the easy part and can
frequently have an immediate impact on your cause, but sharing your
time and your talent is often priceless. I encourage you to explore
ways to give to others and give back to your community. Whatever
you choose, Give, Do, Love and Serve out of abundance; you’ll impact
lives… including your own.

Tech Tips
TIP 1: In Outlook email, you can quickly insert the email address
of a fellow LIFE employee by typing in a few letters of the person’s
name in the address line and then clicking Ctrl + k. That will pull up
a dialogue box with the name (or a list from which to choose). Just
click on the name you want, and you’re good to go!
TIP 2: In Microsoft Word, if you want to copy text from the web or
another document but don’t want to use all their formatting (font
style/color, italic, etc.), first copy as usual. Then, go to the File menu
and select Paste Special and then Unformatted Text. You’ll end up
with your default Word formatting.

TIP 3: Want to look up a word quickly, without finding a dictionary (or
app)? It’s as easy as typing “Define _whateverwordyouwant_” into
your browser and click Return. Easy peasy!
TIP 4: Who wants to take a mouse surfing when you can use
shortcut keys instead? On a PC, simply use the Backspace key to
return to the previous page. Or, Alt+left-arrow key also works for
Back, and Alt+right-arrow for Forward. For a Mac, use the Option
key instead of Alt.
HAPPY COMPUTING!

Stress...What Stress? By Shelia Wood
Is it just me, or does everyone seem to have an inordinate amount
of stress these days? Books are written about it, relationships
break up over it and it seems as though medications are invented
almost daily to help folks deal with it. There are institutions and
organizations dedicated to the study and reduction of the effects
of stress. Simply Google the word “stress” and 158,000,000
websites pop up in less than 3 seconds.
Obviously, stress is a hot-button topic.

How can we cope better? That’s the question I found myself
asking recently. So I did some research. Workplace stress is
particularly hard to avoid because we all have so much to get
done in any given day. We move quickly from one task to the next
with phones ringing, Outlook reminders dinging and voices calling
out our names. After days of realizing I had gotten so busy that I

had I forgotten to eat lunch or get a drink of water, I decided I had
to find a way to focus and make myself take two minutes every so
often to breathe!
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, there are
three primary types of stress:
• Routine stress related to the pressures of work, family and
other daily responsibilities.
• Stress brought about by a sudden negative change, such as
losing a job, divorce or illness.
• Traumatic stress, experienced in an event like a major
accident, war, assault or a natural disaster where one may be
seriously hurt or in danger of being killed.
Some practical recommendations on dealing with stress are:
• Get professional help: A qualified mental health care provider
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