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- Why Alice's Rabbit Was So Distraught
The two worst subjects to write about? Death and taxes.
My topic today is not taxes.
Rather, The Big Chill. Big Rip. Big Freeze. Big Crunch. The Grim Reaper. Oh sure, comedians make light of it. Woody Allen: “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work....I want to achieve it through not dying.” George Burns: “If you live to be one hundred, you’ve got it made. Very few people die past that age.” Johnny Carson: “For three days after death, hair and fingernails continue to grow, but phone calls taper off.” Read More
- Money, Money, Money
What is it about money?
We must have it to live, but it can also be a terrible burden. When we have too much, life is easy; if not, life is hard. Do we really allow money to exert too much control over us?
Case in point (true story): Many years ago, I met with a young woman who had come into some money. A few years before we met, she had stopped at a gas station to fill up her tank. The time was 6:55 p.m. She filled up, went into the gas station to pay, and impulsively decided to buy one lottery ticket. She paid for it, went back to her car, and tuned into the live radio broadcast of the lottery drawing. Read More
- Growing Greatness
The holidays are upon us again—which reminds me of an old plumber story Ed Coyle used to tell.
It was New Year’s Eve. A couple living in a posh condo in downtown Chicago were preparing to receive friends and family for a New Year’s Eve party. An hour before guests were due, the hostess discovered their toilets were backed up. No functioning commode—and thirsty, hungry guests were on the way. Panic set in! Quickly, the couple searched the Yellow Pages for plumbers, and after repeated tries, reached a plumber closing up shop. They pleaded with him to fix their broken toilet. Read More
- Understanding Complexity - And Taming It
Complexity is the bane of our daily life.
So many decisions, so much confusing input, so little time.
And our world – already complex before the microchip's invention – now runs on computer steroids. Read More
- What to Live Really Means
I met Margaret 15 years ago. She changed my outlook on life. She was not a teacher, public
speaker or best-selling author. It wasn’t her words that moved me, but her countenance,
her spirit, her vital connection to the importance of living each day in the present
with immense joy and great purpose. Read More
- Uncertainty is Good
The Market’s reaction to the recently passed $787 billion
Economic Stimulus Package has us questioning whether or not this plan will help our flagging economy. No one can say with any certainty
whether it will help or not. We will have to wait to see what results from the economic
stimulus (tax credits, reductions, incentives) and spending on healthcare, infrastructure,
energy, schools and police, among others. I can't help but wonder when we, the American people, will re-think our perception about the state of the world, and move forward with our lives. Read More
- Navigating Today's Storms & Currents
Are you feeling isolated,
powerless and
confused? If so, you
have lots of company.
The current economic
malaise reminds me of a
stressful event experienced
by my daughter 20 years ago.
She had just started kindergarten.
I picked her up from the
babysitter one day and while
driving home, the car radio
reported a powerful F5 tornado
had hit Plainfield, Illinois.
Some 29 people ultimately
died. Read More
- Do the Correct Thing
When stationed with the U. S. Army in Fairbanks, Alaska, I spent a year with an air cavalry unit. We spent almost every day flying around in UH-IH "Huey" helicopters, the one seen in Vietnam War footage. On one particular mission,
we flew from 2,000-foot elevation with a complement of troops and equipment and landed at 7,000-foot elevation on the side of a mountain next to a glacier. Read More
- The Moment Is Now
I sat on a rock,
overlooking The
Cantwell Glacier in
the Alaskan Range. I was
24 years old and just beginning
my military career. My
boss and I had hiked for two
days across two glaciers to this
Bureau of Land Management
cabin. The small A-frame had
been air-lifted here a decade
earlier. There was a journal
inside, chronicling fascinating
stories by cross-country skiers
and hikers from the past
ten years. Read More
- We're Better Together
Recently I scheduled
a trip out to the West coast to visit with a client. My plane was to depart from O'Hare Airport at 9:00 am, arriving in Los Angeles by 11:05 am. My meeting was to begin at 4:00 pm—plenty of slack time in the schedule I thought. My cell phone rang at 6:45 am with a message from Orbitz that my flight had been canceled due to mechanical problems. Read More
- Pass It On
The Bob Marshall
Wilderness straddles
the Continental Divide in
Northwestern Montana. If
you find yourself here, you
should hike up to Sun Butte
for a breathtaking site, miles
and miles of beautiful aspen
and pine forests. When you
climb back down to the river
bottom, however, your view
will be altogether different.
Read More
- Learn To Fly
She was terrified.
She looked frantically up and down the aisle, as if contemplating a mad dash to safety. In desperation, she yearned for open space. I shared a seat next to this woman on a recent plane trip to New York and came to understand that she was having a full-blown claustrophobia attack. Read More
- The Psychology of Money
Money talk is tricky business.
Like religion
and politics, it is a sensitive topic of conversation. You just don’t know who you can trust or how your money will be perceived by others, even close family members.
The following story demonstrates.
Several years back, my 5th grade daughter asked, “Are we rich?” Read More
- How Do You Communicate?
They say that communication is all about what is “heard” not about what is “said”. Take the following story for instance. A young man, Joe, began dating a nice
young lady, Karen. They had been on three dates and everything was progressing nicely. Karen suggested they have dinner at her place one Friday and asked Joe to
bring a bottle of wine. Read More
- Are you a Chief or an Indian?
During my 30 plus years in the workforce
I have met many memorable people. When I first left the Army and started work at a Fortune 500 company, there were adjustments I had to make in the civilian sector. During my first weeks on the job I met many co-workers and one in particular who to this day sticks out clearly in my memory. Read More
- The Age of Art and Heart
I first learned about
the great poets, composers,
and painters of the
Renaissance period in fifth
grade. It was very exciting to
learn about these great masters
and their beautiful art which has
stood the test of time. Then my
teacher changed subjects. My
school day finished with arithmetic,
english, and science. Yet, I found myself daydreaming about the Renaissance period and its emphasis on the arts. Read More
- Are you a Philanthropist?
When posing
this question
to clients,
friends and family
members the responses
we hear are quite often
clouded by the preconceived
notion that “philanthropy is for
the rich”—the Rockefellers,
Morgans, Carnegies and
Vanderbilts. Maybe this was true
100 years ago, but not so today. Read More
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