When my wife and I started househunting in 1992, we worked with a real estate agent. He took us to a home where there were holes in the walls and a dent in the oven door (the oven door was so badly dented that it would not close). There were doors missing. Every time we […]
Comfortable In My Own Skin
About 15 years ago, I had a physician’s appointment. My physician was looking at my back, and she said “I don’t like the looks of this”. I asked her what she meant, and she told me that she saw a spot on my skin that looked abnormal. She referred me to a dermatologist. I went […]
Impatience & Impatiens
I’m impatient. I don’t like standing in long lines. I stare at the microwave, wondering why it takes so long to nuke my food. As Tom Petty once sang, “the waiting is the hardest part”. I don’t like to wait. I am impatient. What I am most impatient about is not knowing. —– Sometimes I […]
The Hero’s Journey
My wife share a book with me this week, titled “The Invisible Thread”. It’s a true story about a young businesswoman who passes a panhandling boy on the streets of New York City. They strike up a lifelong relationship that helps both of them. They boy endures the most difficult upbringing. He is at times […]
Siri, Take Me To Work!
In the last 12 hours, I have filled my car with gas, driven my daughter to a sports clinic, and driven to work. There isn’t anything remarkable about any of that, except that all of that will probably change in the next 10 years. Two technology changes are coming to the automotive world: electric cars […]
Showing Up
My role models show up for everything that they sign up for. They haven’t missed a day of work in the last decade, as far as I can tell. They show up. They attend every family gathering, and every social commitment that they commit to. This is remarkable to me. When my alarm goes off […]
Monsters Under The Bed
A few years ago, there was an animated movie called “Monsters Inc.” It was about a group of monsters who scared small children in order to collect the energy from their screams. The idea of “monsters under the bed” is part of our culture. After the lights go out at night, what is under the […]
Our Own Best Interests
Why do we do things that are bad for us? If Darwin was correct, we evolved in a “survival of the fittest” manner, and now represent the best and the brightest that DNA has to offer. So if we are the best and the brightest, why do we hurt ourselves with our own behavior? What […]
The Cathedral of Chartres
I heard this story recently, and decided to share it with you. —– Several hundred years ago, a traveler was walking through the French countryside. He came to the site of the Cathedral of Chartres, which was being built. He entered the building site, and he saw a sculptor working. He asked the sculptor what […]
Down To The River
I know a fellow who spent a year of his life living on the streets of Philadelphia. Let’s call him “K”. K is now an executive, and a widely respected member of his profession. Sometimes when he tells his story to other people, he reaches in his mouth and takes out half of his teeth, […]
