MAX Mindfulness: Fear or Love

by David Wine, President & CEO

I have shared before that there are really just two emotions in our world – fear or love.  And that impacts everything in our lives in big, big ways!  We perceive our world and our relationships through whatever emotion we are feeling at the time.  Lead with love and we trust others, feel their support, and understand our relationship with them in helpful, healthy ways.  Lead with fear, and we distrust others, feel division and a sense that someone is “out to get us”, and our relationships can easily fall apart.  This is as true of team life in businesses as it is with our families and other relationships.  That is why I write on mindfulness – at MAX we are about personal growth (as one of our values)- but it is also good for MAX when our team is built on trust and supportive relationships.  It leads to a productive and fun environment.  (And, I am so very appreciative of the ways I see this happening so often at MAX!).

I could write a tome on this subject – thankfully for you, I won’t!   So I’ll make this very simple and tie it to our mindfulness theme.  One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves is to watch our emotions and our feelings.  And through that mindful attention, we can begin to ask ourselves a very important question, “Am I right now leading with love or leading with fear?”  “Am I leading with trust or distrust?”  “Am I accepting responsibility for my own life and results (loving ourselves) or am I blaming outside people and externals (disliking ourselves)?”

The first step, always the hardest one, in leading with love is recognizing all those times when we are not and paying attention to the emotions that are driving perceptions of ourselves, others and our world.  That is why mindfulness is so important to our personal growth and development.  We have to pay attention to our emotions and feelings to get a sense of how responsible we really are for what we are creating in our lives.  If indeed we are our thoughts, we are, indeed, the only ones who can change them.  Leading with love leads to wholeness! Leading with fear fragments!  Hmmm….that sounds like a MAX theme!

Dave WineDavid Wine

David is the President and CEO of the MAX enterprise, having served in that capacity since its formation in 2001.   He has forty plus years of  leadership experience in the business and faith-based worlds, being an ordained minister, having been elected to the highest position in his denomination,  and receiving numerous awards and recognition for his leadership in the insurance industry. He currently serves on numerous boards in the church and insurance sectors.  His hobbies include hiking, biking, skiing and snowshoeing as well as being an avid reader.  David and his wife, Sharon, have three daughters, a son, and four grandchildren.

MAX Provides Grant to Help Purchase New Cancer Assistance Relief (CAR) Van

(Lexington, MO) — Area cancer patients will have a more reliable and comfortable ride to their out-of-town medical appointments, thanks to a $6,000 grant from MutualAid eXchange (MAX) Insurance and its Mutual Aid Ministries program.

The funds will help purchase a new, lower-mileage van for the Cancer Assistance Relief program (C.A.R.).  In conjunction with Trinity United Church of Christ, C.A.R. provides free transportation to cancer patients living in the 64067 zip code who need rides to their medical appointments in Greater Kansas City or other distant cities.   The current C.A.R. van has been on the road since 2011, averaging nearly 1,200 miles a month.  Volunteer drivers took local residents on 138 round trips in 2015 alone.

“We want to replace the current van in order to avoid potential breakdowns with ill patients on board,” said Betty Weddle of Letzig Group, Inc., and a founder of C.A.R.  “This grant will go a long way toward our goal.”  Letzig Group represents MAX in Lexington and surrounding areas.  Mrs. Weddle helped organize C.A.R. in memory of her husband, Bill Schwermer, who died of cancer in 1987.check presentation

“MAX is a fair, faithful and socially responsible insurance company that tries to give back in the communities we serve.  We are pleased and honored to help the residents of Lexington and the C.A.R. program with this grant,” said Dave Wine, CEO of MAX Insurance.  “Our Mutual Aid Ministries program provides grants to individuals in need and community programs that address the needs of their residents.  When Betty Weddle told us about the C.A.R. program we were more than happy to lend our support.  It’s a great service that helps many families at a critical time in their lives.”

For more about MAX and its unique Mutual Aid Ministries program visit www.MAXInsurance.com.

###