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I am writing this post in advance because when it comes out, my husband and I will be on The Star Flyer, taking a bucket trip around the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain. It was not what we had intended to do.  But when the offer came up: “two for the price of one”, we jumped at it. After all, how many people can say they have been on a clipper ship and—weather permitting—can also hoist the sails?! On a closer examination, that decision began to look like a failure in judgment. It wasn’t until the deposit was made that we noticed the per person port charges. I had not factored in that August is prime vacation month in Europe and airfares jump through the roof. Oh yes, I could have opted for changing planes three times or going to Barcelona by way of Moscow. But neither option seemed logistically smart even if financially prudent. Wine with meals appeared to be extra as well as any and all excursions though I am hoping they will at least take us to shore for our own walking tours. Then how could I call this trip a “success”? Simple: We’ll be having an adventure and an experience. No one will be harmed in the process. We won’t need to refinance the farm. And so what does it matter that I’ll work more days. We’ll call this trip our anniversary-birthday-Christmas present for the next five years. Every decision carries consequences—both positive and negative. The point is this. As leaders, as managers, or as entrepreneurs, we can study all the angles until we can make the safest, most beneficial move. But in the meantime, prices could rocket, a ship could be put in dry dock, terrorists could get closer to this part of the Mediterranean, and one of us (or both) could suffer health challenges. At some point in life, you hold your nose and jump. Waiting could be much worse. PS: I’ll give you an update when we return!

A benefit of a slower summer is being able to stop and observe the natural world—often realizing that we humans still haven’t matched the forces of Mother Nature. For example, when the male Annas hummingbird drops out of the sky, he pulls more G forces than a landing space shuttle.  I watched this death-defying stunt from my kitchen window as this tiny plumed rocket dove toward the ground at 90 feet per second or nearly 400 times his body length per second.  (No - I didn’t clock it. I had to do research because their aerial stunts just fascinate me.) According to Chris Clark, a biologist at UC Berkeley, the male Anna Hummingbird quickly bullets skyward, multiplying by 10 the gravitational pull of the earth. Such a stunt would knock out a human fighter pilot and the wings of most planes would break off.  To put icing on this amazing display, the male always orients the dive so that sun reflects on his pink feathered neck. I should have known. A few years ago, we found a hummingbird nest in my camellia bush. The tiny nest perched under a glossy leaf was a little smaller than a silver dollar and made from feathers and spider webs.  For days I watched. Two even tinier eggs, no bigger than my finger tip appeared. At last, two tiny babies hatched. In short order they grew much larger, wedged in so tight I couldn’t see how they could eventually leave and fly. It was during one of my nest observations that I experienced the propulsion might of this amazing bird. The mom had zipped off for breakfast. I stood about 3 feet from the nest, watching the twins. Suddenly, one of them lifted its tail and zap—straight as an arrow, faster than a bullet—I had baby hummer poop on my shirt.  Now—you do the math: If a bird no bigger than an inch can be that deadly accurate and fast at three feet, whatever could a human do?  I’ve heard of projectile vomit but this is a whole new skill.  I couldn’t help but laugh. It’s a whole new meaning to “bombs away.” What are you observing this summer?

In my garden are milkweed plants. Yes, weeds!!  But they have a very valuable place in the eco system and the survival of the endangered Monarch butterfly. I have become fascinated in the incredible transformational saga of these majestic members of the Lepidoptera family. The Mother Monarch lays eggs only on milkweed because that is the only plant the caterpillar will eat as it begin its metamorphic journey. And eat they do, stripping plants of all foliage within less than 24 hours. Today, my next-door-children came to count the number of caterpillars chomping away on leaves. Some of the 'pillars are the size of my pinky while other can hardly be seen at all. The kids squealed with delight as they kept counting. "Ooo, Look at that tiny one. It’s number 20." "No wait. look under the leaf. No wait, there’s one on the wall." "Thirty nine," hollered Maggie—the oldest with an air of knowing. After all, she studied the Monarchs in school. "But that’s counting the three that are now chrysalis." Holy Schmolly. How am I going to keep 36 hungry caterpillars in food?? But I will find a way. Their transformation helps me believe that the impossible is always... possible. It is a lesson about those people whom we might regard as "caterpillars". Such people can hold so much more beauty and possibility inside if we supply the right environment. (Listen up leaders!) This week, I finally was able to record the caterpillar on my iPhone, shedding its skin to become enclosed.  You can watch the video at https://vimeo.com/133281527. Remember as you watch this: I am crouched in a flower bed, holding the phone. You’ll see me stumble. Doesn’t matter. You will behold an amazing transformation. The tenacity with which this creature works to shed the skin it no longer needs is another great message about resiliency. While it might be a struggle, could we be holding on to an external personae that we need to shed in order to become who we are meant to be? Something to think about. PS: As detailed in a new report from the Center for Food Safety, the butterfly’s dramatic decline is being driven in large part by the widespread planting of genetically engineered crops in the Midwest, where most monarchs are born. The vast majority of genetically engineered crops are made to be resistant to Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, a potent killer of milkweed, the monarch caterpillar’s only food. The dramatic surge in Roundup use with Roundup Ready crops has virtually wiped out milkweed plants in midwestern corn and soybean fields. It is estimated that in the past 20 years these once-common, iconic orange-and-black butterflies may have lost more than 165 million acres of habitat — an area about the size of Texas — including nearly a third of their summer breeding grounds. The population has declined from a recorded high of approximately 1 billion butterflies in the mid-1990s to only 56.5 million butterflies this winter, the second lowest number ever recorded, after a slight rebound that is likely attributable to favorable weather during their breeding season. The overall population shows a steep and statistically significant decline of 82 percent over the past couple of decades. In addition to herbicide use with genetically engineered crops, monarchs are also threatened by global climate change, drought and heat waves, other pesticides, urban sprawl and logging on their Mexican wintering grounds. Monarchs need a very large population size to be resilient to threats from severe weather events and predation. Nearly half of the overwintering population in Mexico can be eaten by bird and mammal predators in any single winter; a single winter storm in 2002 killed an estimated 500 million monarchs — 8 times the size of the entire current population. PS: Exactly 31 caterpillars made it to the chrysalis stage when I left home to speak--for the second time--to 12,000 Thirty One Gifts consultants. Now--what are the odds of that!!!!

Here's a riddle to start you thinking: What can curve at the corners, droop in lopsided fashion, stretch to great extremes, crunch noses into cherries, crinkle eyes into almonds and turn rain into sunshine? What responds when your heart is breaking, when Irish eyes are doing it, when you want the whole world to join you? It can even become an umbrella! Getting warm? Here's more: For Mona Lisa, it's lacquered; for Donny and Marie, it's plastered. Howdy Doody puppeted it. Emmett Kelly sobbed it. Yes, a smile. But there's nothing to joke about when it comes to smiling. Some scientists take it quite seriously, claiming that the upward turn of lips is actually a primal, silent scream. Personally, I think they're wrong. I don't think a smile is any ONE thing. Consider what a smile opens for inspection: There's the plastic smile, the sickly smile, the I'm-smiling-now-in-front-of-these-people-but-wait-until-we-get-home-smile. Or picture the teasing smile, the mocking smile, the knee-slapping grin. Recall the dentifrice ad smile, the snaggle-tooth smile, the gold inlaid smile, the electric warmth lover smile,the wistful grandmother smile, the dimpled baby smile. Why there are enough smiles to mandate writing a lexicon for understanding! But for the moment, bask your thoughts in the last smile that you received -- the one that you answered, that made you feel like you had been noticed and accepted just for being YOU, that maybe even made you straighten your shoulders or skip or whistle. Pretty powerful reflex, would you not agree? I'd like to think we have real facial power that can become proactive rather than reactive. We don't have to wait for that feel-good moment when a store clerk, a friend, a passer-by, or even the stranger in the elevator flips a smile in our direction. WE can be the senders. I can't figure out why we hoard such a precious thing as an I-care-for-you-fellow-human smile. Too often we're like misers, giving away the most meager coin in our rusty treasure chest. In these days of gloom and doom, high rates and low expectations, moral majority and immoral minority, wouldn't it make a difference if we unleashed the power of a genuine smile? What a transformation might arise if we answered that instinctive (and probably primal) impulse which is often pushed to the bottom of our gut and just for one week - nay,even one day - turned a real megawatt smile on our world. I 'll bet OPEC would pay richly to tap that energy source.

In our sped-up world of hypertext, hyperspace, and hypertension, we might all do well to consider what happens when we are forced to "wait". In fact, summer is the perfect time for celebration of "wait". I found myself mulling over all those moments in which stillness takes precedence over activity. Indeed, it is in the quiet of waiting that our creativity, imagination and dreams take place. Some waiting contains optimism and others hold negativity. Some waiting we can control. Others we cannot. Stress occurs when we do not know the difference. Consider this list as a prompting for your own reflection on "waiting". Expand the list and discover what lies dormant, resting until you decide to take action. Release those areas in which you must surrender to the outcome. Consider this an article for reflection, amusement, and remembrance. Waiting... the mental fingers-crossed image when the offer's been made on the house. Waiting... the breathless time between first date and first kiss. Waiting... the hush of morning stillness when sleepy heads listen for the morning paper to thud on the pavement. Waiting... the eager anticipation of birth and the every-expanding stomach which hides your feet from view. Waiting... the empty mailbox yawning for a letter from someone, maybe just anyone. Waiting... the anxious moments when we visualize the worst news from the doctor. Waiting... the tingly, giggly, squirmy endless march from Thanksgiving to Santa's arrival. Waiting... the boredom of watching airline repair crews work on your last flight of the long week. Waiting... the stomach-growling grace-before meals while the smell of pungent Italian sausage drifts from the plate. Waiting... the blank space from artist's block to fruitful creativity. Waiting... the pause between the end of a speech and the audience's response. Waiting... the slow march of a decision from a loan officer. Waiting... the pen poised above the signature block on the contract. Waiting... the frustrating, maddening on-hold music while you wait for technical support to answer your software question. Waiting... for the check's-in-the-mail arrival. Waiting... the moments between dusk and dark and the fireworks display. Waiting... the prayer and sorrow as a hand is held while death approaches. Waiting... the interminable time when you finally can get out of your end-of-the-plane seat and exit the aircraft. Waiting... the anticipation of seeing your family after a too-long business trip. Waiting... NOW, it's your turn. How wonderful/ terrible is the verb/noun wait. And I'll wait to see how you use my words to trigger your thought.

What is the difference between resiliency and stupidity? In my mind, resilience encompasses grit, determination, focus, and tenacity. Stupidity (in the realm of resiliency) speaks to growing your ego at all costs, jumping without critical facts, and moving without a clear end In mind. But then I got an even better understanding thanks to Joe Tye. Joe is my colleague, a member of The Resiliency Group, and America's Value Coach. His latest ezine makes an even better distinction that - with his permission - I want to share. (Reprinted with permission) The difference between courageous and crazy is often evident only in retrospect. "Unless you are willing to take risks, you will suffer paralyzing inhibitions, and you will never do what you are capable of doing. Mistakes - missteps - are necessary for actualizing your vision, and necessary steps toward success." - Warren Bennis: On Becoming a Leader I had my nose broken twice when I was in high school. The first time was when the school bully - who was quite a bit bigger and stronger than me - challenged me to a fight. When we got to the alley after school, there was already a crowd waiting for the spectacle - including some of the prettiest girls in the school. I had psyched myself up - it was going to be Rocky versus Apollo Creed, the Wild Hogs taking on the outlaw motorcycle gang. Of course scenes like that usually only happen in the movies. I never saw the hard straight right that connected with the tip of my nose, but was later told that it made quite a memorable sound.  Two years later I was working out at the gym of the military base where my Dad was stationed. I'd gotten pretty good at working the speed bag. If you're not familiar with how such things work, you hit them but they don't hit back. I'd gotten sufficiently proficient that I thought I was ready for something that would. I should have known it was a mistake when the midshipman I entered the ring with was wearing real boxing shorts instead of the high school issue grey gym shorts I had on. This time it was a stiff left jab that did the trick on my nose. (A left jab! Can you imagine the humiliation of being knocked out by a left jab? It was only later than I learned my "sparring partner" was the base welterweight boxing champ that year.) Before each fight I had people comment on how courageous I was, but in retrospect I was crazy to have accepted either challenge (the word stupid also comes to mind). After graduation from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1985, most of my classmates went on to lucrative careers in business, consulting, and banking. With no money in the bank and a mountain of debt, I started a nonprofit organization called STAT (Stop Teenage Addiction to Tobacco) to take on the white collar drug pushers at Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds. It was a lost cause, and everyone thought I was crazy for doing it (including me). But, as Jimmy Stewart memorably said in the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for. Over the next ten years, STAT made important contributions to preventing the illegal sale of tobacco to minors and outlawing cigarette vending machines, and to the demise of the Marlboro Man and Camel Joe and surreptitious paid cigarette advertising in movies made for kids. I am now proud to have been one of a small group of men and women who took on a lost cause and brought about one of the most profound societal changes in the history of this country - the eradication of toxic cigarette smoke from public places and outlawing of the tobacco industry's most egregious efforts to recruit children to be their next generation of addicted customers. The Difference between Crazy and Courageous Anyone who has ever quit a day job to start their own business has heard the word "crazy" applied to their decision. You often hear the figure that 8 of every 10 new businesses fail within five years. Even if that figure were accurate (it's not), it's not true. Businesses do not fail, owners quit. The difference between crazy and courageous is often evident only in retrospect. Win the fight and you were courageous, lose the fight and you were crazy. Close the doors of your new business and you were crazy to have quit the day job. Make one more call, work one more late night, do whatever it takes to make it through one more day so you can try again tomorrow, endure one more sleepless night worried about how you will survive what marketing guru Seth Godin calls "the dip" in his book of that name, and someday they will remark upon your courage. Courage isn't stepping through the ropes into the ring so much as it is getting back up after you've been knocked down. Courage is working your way through the slump, and finding a way over or around the brick wall if you can't smash through it. email: joe@joetye.com phone: 319-624-3889 web: http://valuescoach.com

USA TODAY, recently ran a full-page article of Kerry Hannon’s book Love Your Job. She rightfully quotes the latest stats that just 30% of the American workforce is engaged at work. She goes on to relay that most people either don’t want to leave for another career or are simply putting in time to protect income and health insurance. That’s a fine kettle of fish!  So if leaving is not in the cards and merely putting up with work to collect a paycheck are the only options, I conclude 70% of the workforce are doomed!! Unless... unless they begin to take charge of their own ecosystem and self-management. That’s what resiliency is all about. It is not about settling. It’s about stirring the pot. Stir your imagination. That’s right: think more broadly about what you could do that would stretch your skills, add to your interest AND provide value for the organization. You might need a series of other “imagineers” who would help you consider possibilities. Make sure the people you ask are not those recognized as naysayers and whiners. Beware of your negative imagination. That’s the voice that will tell you why everything is bad, why it won’t work, and on and on and on. Listen to your imagineers without judgment. Ask. If you don’t ask, you can’t get. Don’t assume that your manager has any clue about what would re-engage your spirit. Mind-reading, as far as I can tell, is only found in Vegas shows. Think contribution. Research continually demonstrates that people who help others are far happier than those who are only internally focused. Help might be assisting a colleague, mentoring a new employee (and asking them to teach you something in return) or it could even be as simple as giving out a smile or making someone laugh. That could actually be a huge contribution to someone’s day. Big Sam was the all-around maintenance man for an assisted living center. His hugs were gigantic and welcomed. Sure, he could fix the garbage disposal in the kitchen but it was the way he dispensed caring that mattered the most to family and residents. Leave well. Years ago, I was giving a seminar on difficult people. An older woman in the audience stood up and proclaimed how she worked for nothing but miserable people, how bad her job was, the company stunk, etc. etc. “In two years, I'll retire and be out of there,” she sneered as she looked around the room. I suggested she really had two choices. She could continue her negative discourse about every one and everything so that when she did leave, people would say, “Thank goodness she is gone!” Or, she could figure out how to make herself so useful and other-focused so that when she left, colleagues would miss her deeply. Her choice. My hope is that these simple ides prove useful. Just try one. For more in-depth ideas I have a recommendation. Colleagues Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans wrote a marvelous, simple, action-packed book with 26 ways to get what you want at work. If you work for other folks, Love it. Don’t Leave it belongs on your desk. What have you tried that turned work around for you IF you were in a place where you felt you could not leave? Let’s chat! Leave a comment below.

In 2014 the Rustic Crust was on track for record sales of its all-natural pizza crust. Investors were excited about soon-to-launch products that were gluten-free, thin crusts, and basil pesto. Founder and CEO Brad Sterl was thrilled. Then-disaster! Fire burned the rural New Hampshire factory to the ground on March 6. According to an article in USA Today, Sterl literally jumped into action. Today, despite a $4 million loss in revenue during down time, customers and brokers are intact, retailers ready to stock their shelves, a large contract signed with Safeway to put his product in 1400 stores, employees working seven days a week to make up for the loss, the makeshift factory bustling, and a new facility ready to open in late October or early November. While it’s very instructive to read the article to get an impressive lesson in speedy recovery, I contend that had Sterl not been working on resiliency skills all along, Rustic Crust would still be digging out of the ashes. In fact, Sterl demonstrates what I think of as “presilience™”—pre-emptive resilience. He had these things in place before disaster happened: A solid relationship with customers and brokers—nurtured over time. Knowledge of how to use social media to communicate with the product’s biggest fans so he could quickly assure them of a restored supply. Investors who believed he was a man of his word so that when he asked for funding to continue to pay his employees, they agreed. Loyal employees who were ready to jump in and do whatever it took to get up and running. Strong banking relationships that quickly netted a secured loan so that construction could begin. Active community involvement that resulted in securing permits on a faster basis to meet aggressive building timelines. There’s a thread that runs through all this presilience™: relationships, relationships, and relationships! Sterl has been building solid relationships with everyone from his digital community to his investors, from his employees to his community. I’ve never met Sterl but I can bet my first-born child that he did not create good relationships with an eye toward needing something in the future. Relationships solidify when someone keeps his word, treats everyone as though they matter, practices transparency and honesty in communication, and backs words with actions. It’s one thing to say, “I care about you” to employees but it’s something else to seek funding so no one is laid off. So, with my newly-minted word of presilience™, we’d all be wise to look in the mirror and ask: How am I nurturing relationships with my customers and clients? What would my colleagues, peers, and other employees say about our relationship? How involved am I in giving back to my community of choice? Don’t wait for a disaster to strike.

Email is a wonderful/terrible thing. Get an email from a friend who asks you to pass along some important message. Sometimes it tugs at your heart: a dying kid wanting post cards; an animal shelter for terribly abused pets; a wounded warrior who needs a helping hand.  Other times, the email is a data dump of all the horrible things that someone has done—normally a politician, a religious personage, or someone folks love to hate—depending upon their mindset. The more this type of email matches our beliefs, the quicker we are to click “send”. I am no exception. But now I realize this fact: Danger!  Danger!  Danger! I received one just the other day, itemizing all the ways a chief political figure is destroying the United States and our values. The email was a grave warning of the perils we face. Something told me to stop and do some research.I checked these web sites: http://www.truthorfiction.com/ http://www.snopes.com/info/whatsnew.asp Sure enough. The “data” was cherry-picked and incredibly wrong. Words were pulled out of sentences to make a completely inaccurate statement. A photo was used which was taken from a totally different venue and an inaccurate caption applied. Here I am—in the communication and leadership arena and I was almost prey to a very wrong piece of communication: inflammatory, filled with intense negative emotion, and just the type of polarizing message that is pulling us into narrow camps of special interests. None of us are immune. My personal take away—besides recommitting to checking things out—is to practice cutting thru flawed assumptions – including my own—by using this guide to rational thinking Please tell me I am not the only one to have committed the error of “send-without-checking”.

One of our friends has not invited anyone to visit his house in 30 years.  The other week, he finally admitted to being a hoarder. He was too embarrassed to open the front door—if he even could. John (fictitious name) still won’t seek professional help for what has now become a psychological disorder. According to the American Psychiatric Association, many people with a hoarding disorder also have associated problems such as indecisiveness, perfectionism, procrastination, disorganization, and distractibility. While John’s situation is on the far end of a scale, many of us continue to accumulate possessions. Worse, we help our kids gather material goods. Children in the U.S. make up 3.1% of the world’s kid population but U.S. families buy more than 40% of toys produced globally.  The average weight of a household move in the U.S. is 8000 pounds. (TIME March 23, 2015) We have become a one click-nation with overnight delivery. Stuff!!!  That might explain why The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo has been a NY Times best seller since February.  We too often hang on to stuff. The self-storage industry took in $24 billion in revenue in 2013—more than the NFL (TIME March 23, 2015) But we’re not happy with stuff.  I watch friends running to storage facilities to spend hours trying to find some object. They become tired and grumpy in the bargain.  Or perhaps you’ve looked at the 10 pairs of black pants in the closet and determined, unhappily, “I have nothing to wear.”  Bookshelves over flow, four jars of mayo sit in the pantry, and cartons of old holiday ornaments have lost their color and sparkle. Sentiment is fine—to a point. But when we spend our precious allotted hours looking for something, stowing something, or stuffing something—we also use energy that could be channeled in more positive ways. I had my own rude awakening when my assistant and I spent two days going through file cabinets and discarding HUGE bags of articles, papers, news clipping, and overhead transparencies. I’ll bet some dated back at least 10 years. Time to reclaim our space AND our energy. Here are a few brief suggestions to get started. Start big - NOT one thing at a time. You will never see progress if you decide to only discard or move ONE thing.  Select a closet, a room, a garage, and become a ruthless discarder. Ask: when was the last time I used this? Needed this? Looked for this? The answer will tell you the next step.  Begin to create three piles:  Give away. Throw away.  Keep. Ask: is there someone else who could use this instead of me? You know which pile that belongs in. The local Assistance League. Salvation Army and Goodwill are just some of the organizations eager for items. Have a Stop-it Supporter. This would be someone who is not afraid to push you and ask the question: “What next?” “Why not?” Allocate at least 3 hours to this project. However, do not stop until the items are literally gone—ether in the trash can, at the non-profit, or neatly back into an appropriate place. If you are stuck, ask your Stop-It Supporter to say: “WHY do you want to keep this?”  Think of this as an onion and it will take at least six “why” questions to get to the core Celebrate when you are finished with the first project. Set a date for the next Stow-it-Stuff-it-STOP-it-project.  Do it within the next few weeks. Create a future-you goal. For example, for every item bought, you will give 2 items away. It’s a real commitment but you’ll feel an internal sense of pride AND energy. Here’s my question for you: What is the “stuff” you hoard? What steps do you take to stop it?  We can learn from each other. Look forward to hearing from you.

Resiliency requires energy and focus—both of which vanish in our ever-pressing sense that we can only get “it all done” by handling many things at the same time.  We bring our work to our homes, watch smart phone screens instead of the eyes around the dinner table, and go into a restless sleep right after checking more email. STOP!!!! Devora Zack, author of Singletasking , wins the case from both a neuroscience and productivity perspective: multitasking is just plain ineffective at the least and dangerous at best. The technology trap has convinced us that we can do many things at once. But I was struck by the fact that brain research says we are NOT wired that way. Stanford University research concludes that the brain is incapable of focusing on two things at once. Unless… Unless the two things don’t compete for the same mental resources. We can listen to music while doing the dishes. But Zack warns that even doing routine things (like driving to the grocery store) can become dangerous if we zone out while thinking of our next project and run the stoplight. This one quote alone freed my spirit: "whatever you choose, do it fully". That summarizes Zack's first principle: "Get it done, one thing at a time.”I think I need that tattooed on my wrist! I "know" this stuff and yet I fall into the multitasking mess—watching the computer screen while talking on the phone; balancing QuickBooks while wrapping a present; and yes, sneaking a peek at text messages while at a stop light. (Don’t tell the highway patrol!) Shame on me. I love this book and Zack’s writing style but it was the assessment of where I fell in the multitasking continuum that got my attention. Thankfully, Zack offers plenty of practical advice to jump off the multitasking merry-go-round. This is another of the those books I say, “read and reap.”

Answer: everything. At least it does when both parties have gone through divorces; there’s little money between them, and three kids to boot. One can imagine that saying “yes” a second time is akin to banging one's head against an iron skillet. Time for a confession: that scenario is what my sweet husband, Bill Elvins and I faced 35 years ago when we stood in front of Father John and said “We do!”. And do we have done: three amazing kids with successful careers and solid marriages, four outrageously wonderful grandchildren, and adventures galore. Bill and I have: Backpacked over the High Sierras Joined a veterinarian in his ride to count the wild mustangs of the Eastern Sierras Trekked the northwestern corner of the India Himalayas Sat in the middle of San Ignacio Lagoon in the Baja while kissing the head of the California gray whales and their 18-footlong babies Fished for salmon in Alaska Danced our feet off at many events, wedding, and award ceremonies After 35 years, I am so clear that we don’t need “stuff”. What we yearn for are shared experiences from which we learn, laugh, and soak in amazing sights, sounds and people. I write this to honor my amazing Bill who is so supportive as I travel the globe, speaking. He’s the anchor that draws me home, the man who tends daily chores that I can’t manage, the one who calms me down and evens me out. He’s the laundryman, the chef, the wine steward, and the best hugger/snuggler on the planet. Yes, the wind beneath my wings. I want the world to know about him. I want to honor the incredible job he has done as a father and a grandfather. He’ll be upset that I have written about him. Too bad. Sometimes, you just have to follow your intuition. Happy Anniversary, Sweet William.