Energetic Leadership
In spite of anything you’ve heard to the contrary, you ARE a “leader” in your “organization”. There’s just no denying it. “But wait just a second,” you say. “I’m only an admin…or a mid-level manager…or a soccer mom. I’m no leader.” This is an understandable reaction, to be sure – and yet completely inaccurate. Leadership […]
Patience
Yoda: Luke! You must complete the training. Luke Skywalker: I can’t keep the vision out of my head. They’re my friends. I’ve gotta help them. Yoda: You must not go! … Obi-Wan: Patience! Luke: And sacrifice Han and Leia? Yoda: If you honor what they fight for, yes! Obi-Wan: If you choose to face Vader, […]
Running One’s Stories
My girlfriend and I are running through the park yesterday on a warm, sunny, California afternoon when my partner — observing my relatively-slow jogging rate — suggests, “Ready to step up the pace?” Nonplussed, I respond: “Give me a break! Can’t you see I’m struggling to keep up?” Silence ensues, followed by a hurt: “I […]
7 Attitudes Towards Competition
“I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam: I looked into the soul of another boy.” –Woody Allen It’s funny how the things we learn in elementary school stick in our heads and take on an element of “truth” as we get older. As far back as I can remember, for […]
Choosing Your Lessons
I’ve always played sports — never particularly well, mind you — but I’ve always played something. In elementary school and junior high, I was all about football — that is, until the game graduated from flags to tackle, I stopped growing and everyone else started to loom over me. In high school, I took up […]
Running on Empty
Trudging up the modest incline yesterday towards Spring Lake – huffing and puffing, chest tight, legs heavy as stones — I feel a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that this run is going to be a momentous struggle. To my utter dismay, this 50-year-old body of mine just isn’t responding the way […]
Mindfulness at Work: The Goose is Out
There’s a Zen koan that goes like this: “If a man puts a gosling in the bottle and feeds it until it is full-grown, how can the man get the goose out without killing it or breaking the bottle?” Apparently this riddle has been driving Zen monks crazy for the past several hundred years. Now, […]
Abraxas
If you had to list your five, daily “must do” actions or activities in your life, what would they be? My own list would probably include (in no particular order): –Eating right (healthfully and low-cal) –Exercising –Sleeping sufficiently –Meditating –Writing
Because I Said I Would…
While on my way to North Carolina this past week, I discovered a fascinating article in Southwest Airlines’ Spirit Magazine, entitled “The Everyday Action Hero”. It tells the story of 28-year-old Alex Sheen, founder of Because I Said it Would, a nonprofit dedicated to “bettering humanity through the power of a promise.” Inspired by his […]
The Power of Choice
There once was a knight of the Round Table who met a beautiful woman — fair of skin with long, raven hair — and took her to court to marry her. Little did the knight know that his bride-to-be was bewitched by a terrible spell, cast upon her by an evil sorcerer. According to the […]