Before retirement, I worked for a large company. The company had an exceptional track record for growing sales, earnings, and investor returns while providing attractive salaries and benefits to employees. Results were achieved by relying on expertise from specialized functions like marketing, sales, finance, and supply chain. At a “macro” level, we all benefited from …
No Regrets
Consolations, by the poet David Whyte, is one of the most deeply evocative books I’ve read. In it, Whyte riffs on 52 common words in a most uncommon manner. I keep the book on a side table next to my writing chair. Occasionally, I open it to a random page and read what Whyte’s keen …
The Predicament of Our Shared Humanity
Like many worldwide, I watched this week in horror as video and pictures of the Hamas attack and Israeli retaliations streamed on my devices. I don’t understand violence. No conflict can be fully understood from a distance. Beyond geopolitics, beyond rights and transgressions, beyond tactical details, I saw bleeding little children. What if that bleeding …
Be Stronger Than You Need To Be
I have a confession to make. I have spidey sense. For those not hip to the Marvel franchise, spidey sense is one of Spiderman’s superpowers. It starts as a tingling in the back of his head, giving him the power to sense and react to danger before it happens. After numerous coincidental occurrences, I realized …
Making Space
We’ve lived in the same house for 37 years. Absent the forced discipline of frequent moves, one accumulates a lot of stuff in that period of time. Every once in a while, I go around the house with the intention of getting rid of stuff. Generally, I’m not very successful. The problem is it’s all …
Enjoying A Meaningful Life
There’s been a lot of books written on finding one’s life purpose. The Amazon bookstore lists thirty-thousand. I can’t say I have a definitive life purpose beyond enjoying a meaningful life. That may seem shallow, but there’s more to it than it sounds. Over the years, I developed a discipline to move in that direction. …
It’s Been A Long Time
It's been a long time since I rock and rolled It's been a long time since I did the stroll Ooh let me get it back, let me get it back Let me get it back, baby, where I come from -It’ Been A Long Time, Led Zepplin, 1971 Yes, it has! My 50th-year high …
Gratitude and Acceptance
There are two halves in life; the Franciscan priest Richard Rohr sums them up: “The task of the first half of life is to create a proper container for one’s life. It answers such questions as “Who am I?” “What makes me significant?”The task of the second half of life is to find the actual …
Politics
Last week, I wrote about belief in God. Sticking with taboo subjects, I turn this week to politics. Both areas provide an opportunity to listen. ————————————— Politics More than a century ago, humorist Mark Twain reminded us there are three types of liars; “liars, damned liars, and politicians.” Some things never change! Political views in …
Spirit and Belief
Developing mind, body, and Spirit are essential to a life well-lived. A friend, a Deacon in the Catholic church, asked what I mean by Spirit and whether or not I believe in God. We decided to meet for breakfast to discuss it. Over the course of a two-and-a-half-hour conversation, we found plenty to agree on, …
Towards A Life Well-Lived 