Celebration
As Thanksgiving approaches for those residing in the US, many of us will gather with family and friends to celebrate, sharing food and stories, and offering gratitude. Part of the celebration includes reflection, perhaps answering the question I posed in the October 28, 2009 post, “What Do You Really Need?” The second comment on that post was from Anne Rubin, a cousin who was my Mom 2. On November 1, she wrote, “Certainly something to think about. Also the want/need equation changes depending on our age, circumstances, health etc. Personally, knowing that I am loved by my family & friends, becomes more important, the ‘things’ that make life easier, more pleasant or m

What Do You Really Need?
After two car rides, two flights, one metro ride from the Hamburg airport to the center city, and two train rides I arrived in Halendorf, Germany, a remote area that is part of Schleswig-Holstein with everything I needed to support me in my purpose for being here—write a first draft of my next book, which about thriving in tough times.I packed the right clothes for the weather and the right amount of clothes. I packed the right number of books on the right topic—Happiness—t

The Color Spectrum of Aging: When to Let Go
For about 45 minutes, a warm, inviting title slide was faithfully welcoming the 40 plus people who came to participate in an experiential program, “Making Sound Choices in Coaching Conversations” that I was co-presenting at the ICF Metro DC chapter October dinner meeting. Minutes before we were to begin, the laptop screen went black, restarted, stopped, restarted, and then went blue. My 5-year-old laptop stopped working. What an opportunity to be in the moment and come up with a way to describe models that were animated on the slides that were no longer to be shown in real time. As the saying goes, “If you stumble, make it part of the dance.” In this case, “If your equipment fa

Openness and Fascination
September 29, 2009, 14 miles and 2 hours to travel those miles to experience a different culture with my fascination kicking into gear at mile 6, which was the confluence of all roads leading to FedEx field in suburban Maryland where I was being treated to a U2 360 concert. The different culture was the rock concert—a first for me. I was having a full in body experience cramped in the car that took an ever so achingly slow time to move an inch and watching the movement on