It started in 1881. Prussian president Otto Von Bismark developed a radical suggestion. Retirement. In a time when people worked until they dropped dead, it was a departure. Von Bismark’s idea was different than the modern conception. His argument was "those who are disabled from [...]
During the week of Christmas, my wife and I went to see Mary Poppins Returns. I was skeptical. As a baby boomer who watched the 1964 original in a drive-in theater, Mary Poppins is Julie Andrews. I listened to records of the music as a [...]
For at least 13 years (and more, if you are fortunate), you attend school. The curriculum is specific loaded with canned lessons Then, you get into another school called “life experience.” While the curriculum is not structured, the lessons continue to come. The problem is [...]
Tinsel drapes the holiday season and leaves it in aglow in light. Some people don’t have that feeling. I write this post out of a kinship with those who encounter loss because I have had mine. I have busied myself with putting up a tree, [...]
December’s cold winds signal changes. For animals, they head to caves to hibernate. Humans light fireplaces and eat comfort foods. December for me is also a time to review the past year and prepare for the next one. I am a believer in reviews and [...]
Western society worships at the altar of position. Whether it be business, religion, government, or academia, the guy at the top gets the spotlight. That leaves someone else, someone more important, in the dark. Once I had a half-day layover in London. I caught a [...]
At the season of Thanksgiving, the trite advice is “be thankful.” For most people, it is a hazy phrase. The remedy for most first-world maladies is simple. Practice gratitude. What Gratitude Does for Us? “The practice of gratitude can have dramatic and lasting [...]
At some age, you realize that all the “stuff” you paid good money for is just “stuff. It’s then you know it’s not about the accumulation of things but the accumulation of life. Life comes through a series of experiences. In 1997 MasterCard International [...]
Insight is headed to a new world. To get there, it needs to check and change its trajectory. Insight, a Mars lander, is scheduled to touch down on the red planet on November 26, 2018. It is on trajectory but to stay on the right [...]
Life passes us through crucible experiences that change us. No one escapes life unscathed by challenges. Tragedies flow into every life, some more severe or numerous than others. What do these crucible experiences do for us? In Doris Kearns Goodwin’s new book Leadership in Turbulent [...]
