How Thankful Can You Be?
Nov 26 2015

I think many of us are very blessed to be when and where we are right now in the timeline of human existence.  There are others of us who still seem to be living in the dark ages of hate and anger. And sadly, many still living in poverty, financially and/or emotionally.  I wish for them and us the continued light of compassion, understanding, and psychic freedom that has helped humanity get through dark times before.  May we continue to arrive on the other side of turmoil & change more enlightened and connected than before.

I think Thanksgiving is one of the best US holidays because it forces us to pause from our busy lives and take time to be grateful for the many things we have such as health, happiness, people who love us, people we love, physical & spiritual wealth, friends, family, and comfortable homes no matter what they may look like.  There are others who have far less (like the boy in the photo), and ironically they might feel and act more thankful than we do sometimes.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone around the world!

Transitions are Constant
Nov 24 2014

Change is constant. We are always transitioning from one thing to another and/or from one stage of life to another.  I find that when those transition times happen for me, they tend to be good times to sort through and organize stuff I rarely make time to organize.  My home office is just a little more organized as of yesterday.  I’ve shoved things out of view into closets, file cabinets, and drawers which makes me feel better and helps create space to process the transition.

I’ve also been cleaning out my email inbox, and I found some articles I’ve been meaning to post about:

Thirty years of projects – Seth Godin.  He writes about his numerous projects and career transitions.  It was strangely comforting to see all the different things he’s attempted over the years and their different outcomes.

The Creativity Myth – Kevin Ashton. Mozart did not create his music by magic or overnight.  Creativity takes time.

Cassandra and Pollyanna – Seth Godin. “Things don’t usually explode. They melt.”

Nobody Knows What the Hell They Are Doing – Oliver Burkeman. “The genuinely untalented, meanwhile, probably have no idea that they’re no good—because they’re too untalented to realize it.”  And “If you’re worried you don’t measure up, that could well be a sign that you do.”

“If you’re interested in building a business to make money, forget it. You won’t. If you’re interested in building a business to make a contribution to society, then let’s talk.” – Arthur Rock

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgivukkah and Black Friday
Dec 1 2013

This year Thanksgiving and Hanukkah collided.  In the US, apparently the retailers decided to start the crazy sales activity just that much earlier and open up Thanksgiving eve.  I guess the news folks will tell us if it was worth it.  I didn’t venture out or even online to purchase anything on “Black Friday,” Thursday, or whatever.  I know people who did.  I did venture out today (Sunday) to Target to return some things and get some basics, but there was only the normal crowd there.

At any rate, I’m thankful that I can choose to shop or not shop.  I’m thankful for many, many things…mostly that I’m here right now in this intersection of space & time with many wonderful people around me.  Plus, I’m easily able to type this post and share these articles with you:

Our Self-Inflicted Complexity – Harvard Business Review

The Fall Of The Alphas – A VC, Fred Wilson (I just now bought the Kindle version of the book)

10 Life Lessons You Should Unlearn – Huffington Post (“Problems are bad. It’s important to stay happy. I’m irreparably damaged by my past. Working hard leads to success. Success is the opposite of failure.  It matters what people think of me.  We should think rationally about our decisions. The pretty girls get all the good stuff.  If all my wishes came true right now, life would be perfect.  Loss is terrible.”)

The first lie… – Seth Godin

What “no” means – Seth Godin

Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime – Scientific American

The Paradoxical Traits of Resilient People – Fast Company

And of course a song and music video: Let Her Go by Passenger

“Well you only need the light when it’s burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Staring at the ceiling in the dark
Same old empty feeling in your heart
‘Cause love comes slow and it goes so fast”

Thankful – 2012
Nov 25 2012

Another Thanksgiving in the US has passed.  It’s nice to have a holiday to remind us to be thankful and grateful for the many positive things in our lives as well as for the challenges we have overcome.  I was reviewing my past Thanksgiving posts and last year I wrote Thankful – 2011 (such an original title!) and included a photo of a dragon from my October 2011 trip to China.  That trip was amazing, the memories wonderful, and I made some great new friends who I still hang out with.

I also wrote a post on Nov 30, 2008 called The Strength Of A Thought, and I still wonder the same about “thoughts” but have softened my query and am moving more toward observation/acceptance of my musing on that day: “So, how do we rule our thoughts instead of our thoughts ruling us?  Or maybe the question is can we accomplish this in this lifetime? In this body? In this experience? Oh what power our thoughts have on the direction we step in our lives…whether it’s right, left, backward, straight, or directly into stardust…into our dreams.”

Reason for photo: The kids insisted on taking the cloud photo a few weeks back that I’m using in this post.  My son felt quite certain that the middle cloud looked exactly like a dragon’s foot and my daughter agreed.  I’m thankful for their vivid imaginations.

Thankful – 2011
Nov 27 2011

Dragon in China

The Thanksgiving holiday just passed here in the US.  It’s a time where we reflect on all that we are thankful for and, of course, eat turkey.  I was thankful I was able to spend it with family (new and old).   We had turkey and lobster which was a very nice combination.

I’m thankful for so many things and I, like others, lose sight of how lucky we are to live in the time we live, have the things we have, are for the most part healthy, etc.  I think I need to record the things I’m thankful for and play them back to myself every day, because like so many I get caught up in the day to day stresses of life and forget to be grateful for what I do have.

Thank you to all my loyal readers who have stuck around despite my inconsistent blogging and my often random topics.  I am in the morass of a full life right now.  I am still trying to find my way while at the same time helping two little kids find their ways… 🙂

Giving Thanks And Being Grateful And Rapunzel
Nov 28 2010

This past year has been one of my most challenging personally, and I am so thankful for many things including my friends, family, my kids, my kid’s teachers, and the fact that I managed not to jump off the Entrepreneurial Ledge. 🙂 [Check out Fred Wilson’s post: Thanks for the Entrepreneurs.  I’m thankful for them too since they are the main motivation for me to go to work everyday…other than my neat co-workers!]  There were times that some people certainly pushed me to the limit (some intentionally and others unintentionally) but somehow by the grace of God, I kept it mostly together and didn’t completely fall apart. I’m not out of the woods yet, but I have started to see some light in the green and inviting clearing ahead.

I wonder if there is a handsome man on a white horse waiting to understand me, connect with me, make me laugh, and take me away to an easier life waiting in that clearing.  But that sort of stuff just happens in fairy tales like Tangled (based on Rapunzel), which the kids, their cousins, my cousin and I saw over the break.  It was a great movie, but I left wondering why we perpetuate this ‘night in shining armor’ fairly tales to our kids when no one falls in love in 3 days and princesses (women) don’t get rescued from evil parents/mothers by handsome thieves who turn good to get the girl.  Everyone always lives “happily ever after” in these fairy tales, and they leave out the part where Rapunzel will eventually need loads of therapy to get over the fact some evil old lady kidnapped her, used her for her powers, locked her up in a tower for 17 years, and pretended to be her mother. During that time she also made her feel not worthy to live her own life and made her doubt her survival skills.  Talk about ‘trust issues!’  Prince Charming (a.k.a. Robin Hood type) won’t know what hit him after their kids are born. 🙂

Anyway, I digress.  I really enjoyed this Thanksgiving as I had time with family, and the kids and I were able to just be and relax.  We ate a wonderful tasting brined turkey with mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, and sweet potatoes.  We also had three fabulous pies and my favorite was the berry/strawberry/raspberry one.  Yummy!  I was in charge of the sweet potatoes and they turned out fairly well…especially with the marshmallows on top.  Oh and a family tradition is crab curry. It was delicious and very meaty for crab!  We even did (first time ever) the classic singing of Christmas music around the piano and the kids were fascinated to see the grownups behave so musically.  I think it surprised them.  My son even played us some songs on the piano he had learned.  All in all, the trip was short, the conversation enlightening, the feeling peaceful which made it a wonderful Thanksgiving trip.  It made me wish I lived closer to my family.

I hope all of you out there had a nice Thanksgiving and that you had an opportunity to think about all the things you have to be thankful for…not just during this time of year but always!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Nov 26 2009

I’m interrupting my blogging break to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  I have so much to be thankful for, and I hope all my readers feel the same.  Here’s a short list:

• My wonderful, beautiful, healthy kids
• My health
• My family
• My precious, caring friends
• My job
• Living in Austin where the weather these days is pretty nice
• And many more things too numerous to list here

May you all be living the life of your dreams or at least like most of us working towards it… 😀

Success To Me – Leilah Powell
Nov 22 2007

Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels to everyone!

As some of you know, I co-write articles on the topic of success for university alumni magazines with my fabulous writing partner Pam Losefsky. Our latest article for The University of Texas at Austin’s alumni magazine, The Alcalde, is on Leilah Powell, Government Relations Manager for Bexar County, Texas and former Assistant to the Mayor of San Antonio, Texas. 

Our goal with this endeavor is to get people thinking about what success means to them by reading stories on how others define success.  Please click here to see more success profiles.