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What's Next?!

The past 2 years living with a global pandemic has turned my business and life upside down. In the “before times” I would travel 2-3 times a month to visit clients, navigate airports, adjusting to all types of rental cars, Uber drivers and Google Maps. That was my normal life. My work commute was through the Hartsfield International airport in Atlanta. I was a Delta Million Mile flyer.

And then it stopped.

For the past 2 years I have not been on a plane, have not attended a conference, and I have not worn stockings or dress shoes until last night when I attended an award ceremony for my beloved Steve. My feet hurt all night!

Most of you have had your own life and work challenges adapting to the new world order. The energy it has taken to adjust to such change has been enormous. Trying to keep up the old ways of working while creating new paths to follow has been exhausting.

But now there are glimmers of hope that Covid19...

Eye Can See Clearly Now

Happy New Year! It’s crazy that it’s already the end of January 2022. This long and winding treacherous road of Covid19 has worn everyone out and the exhaustion level for so many has been off the charts.

My healthcare colleagues and clients are reporting staff call-outs for sick and/or quarantining at higher rates than at any other time since the pandemic began. Thankfully those vaccinated have not been gravely ill. One colleague said 10% of their staff have had close relatives die of Covid.

The indefatigable stress and strain in these times take a toll. Most of us went into healthcare to serve others, selflessly. That’s great when the reservoirs are full. However, for many, the tanks are empty. So how do we go on? What will it take to keep putting 1 foot in front of the other?

Intention. All of us alive today who keep going to work, caring for the kids, brushing our teeth, getting meals prepared, and functioning...

The Tilt of Your Axis

It’s December 21, Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere, and today is the darkest day of the year. 

Today is the day when the sun takes a few hours off and, peeks out only for a short stretch. In the Arctic Circle on this day the sun has called in sick and stays in bed all day.

The Solstice is all about the tilt, the tilt of our Earth’s axis in relationship to our elegant dance around the sun.  It’s about a change in the orientation and angles between the Earth and the Sun. The slightest of shifts determines if we receive or deflect the Light.

The slightest shift in our tilt determines if we receive…or deflect…the Light. It’s true with how we see all things, isn’t it? Tilt our head one way and one perspective comes into view, tilt it in another way and a new point of view emerges.

As we in the US navigate during the major holiday season from Thanksgiving to New...

FINISHING STRONG

As 2021 draws to its close most of us will find ourselves reflecting on the year that’s passing, and taking stock of our personal balance sheet to see how we did. Did we squander our most precious capital – our time, our health, our relationships – or did we build on it, by following through with our good intentions and doing just a little better in these pandemic times than we had in the “before times”?

            Making this kind of personal reckoning can be maddening because our intentions so often outstrip our actions. We all want to be more mindful and more intentional – I certainly do! – but life has other plans and we’re so often caught up in dealing with what’s coming at us in the moment that we lose the clarity that the long view brings. The year-end holidays can be difficult for some of us because they shine a bright light on how...

Thankful. Grateful. Appreciate.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  When I think about the 3 words around this season, they are thankful, grateful, and appreciate.

It is the time of giving and receiving the most valuable gift we have…Love. Love comes in all sorts of packages, a phone call to a friend, a donation to the food bank, a card to a family member, a small meal or an enormous feast, a glance of understanding by your beloved, or the curling up of the kitties in your lap. These are the gifts of the heart of Thanks Giving.

Gathering with friends and loved ones around a meal can be an act of Grace. The laughter and stories and food and joy all create a rarified atmosphere. A place where time can become irrelevant, and memories become alive again.

Like this memory of my niece Tori 15 years ago when we made Martha Stewart worthy pumpkin pies!

 Or this post-turkey photo of 4 generations of our family with sweet squirmy nieces and nephews that we...

How Goes It With Your Soul?

How goes it with your soul? That's the question my friend Peggy Dyson would ask me each time we spoke.  It always took me a moment to consider before my answer would emerge.  Which was just exactly what she hoped for. Prior to working in hospice, Peggy was an associate minister of the United Methodist Church. John Wesley, the joint founder of the Methodist movement in the Church of England, used this question two centuries ago when his followers met in small gatherings. 

We measure our lives in all kinds of ways—the hours we work, the salary we earn, our children’s successes, the number of days we workout, our titles, and the letters after our name. Businesses and organizations focus on "best practices" or "quality control. But how often do we assess the most important relationship in our lives, our relationship with our soul, our spirit, or our highest and best selves?

My friend Peggy taught me how to pay attention...

FEAR AND FAITH

Halloween is a time of tricks and treats, pumpkins, costumes, and scary masks. And of course medical masks!

The irony of Halloween is that most people live masked from their deepest reality all year long sometimes all lifelong. We sometimes let other things, people, and thoughts hide our true ambition or dreams.

“Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.”  Martin Luther King

I’d like to ask you just one question and it’s not what will you dress up at Halloween. Instead, it’s something deeper, darker, and far scarier than any haunted house or horror flick.

The question is…”What are you afraid of?”

In life, relationships, family, business, health, and even success?

The great philosopher Yoda said: “Named must be your fear before banishing it you can”

We all have fears both known or unknown that hold us back from even greater fulfillment, prosperity, achievement, and peace of...

Mercury is Retrograde!

Have you had any challenging communications in the past week or two? Any confrontations or frustrations in making decisions or working things out with others? I have been talking with friends and family and colleagues and there is a lot of wacky stuff going on out there these days!

So far this week I personally know of an assault on a hospice facility security guard by an irate family member, a major theft from a family member’s bank account, a friend who couldn’t take it anymore and suddenly quit her job, and a friend who after being super CDC careful for the past 18 months was diagnosed with Covid19 and is now in bed sick and frustrated.

Can you relate?

We bought a new vehicle this week. For months, Steve had searched high and low to find the perfect truck to replace the one we’ve had for 18 years. We spent 3 frustrating hours with the slick salesman and finally signed the deal. We got our new truck, drove it for 2 days...

RESPITE

RESPITE

For the past 18 months (which feels like 18 years!) we have talked about endurance and resilience and bucking up to stay strong during these crazy times.

But today is about relief! RESPITE.  In the Medicare Hospice Benefit, there is a level of care called Respite. Where caregivers can get a rest by having their loved one admitted to a facility for up to 5 days to give the caregiver a much-needed break.

What kind of a respite do you need today?  What will give you a breather from the chaos swirling around all of us? A nap? Is it a walk?  Is it a drive to see Fall unfolding?  Is it a funny movie or blueberry pancakes with extra syrup and no guilt? 

Things that fill my soul offering respite from my daily routine and reality are a boat ride and a walk in the wilderness on Cumberland Island, GA  then watching the sunset with my sweetie. 

Along with Music, Poetry, Art, Nature, laughter, BEAUTY, and yes, college...

Stillness

Very often my mind is so full and active it’s like New York City in there, churning and noisy, I have conversations with myself that often run me in circles.

At night, I’m tired, I go to bed, pull up the covers, and close my eyes and my brain says “YEA! No distractions it’s time to solve problems and wonder ‘why I did I say THAT to THEM’ or ‘why did I eat that for dinner?’ or ‘WHAT IF I CAN NEVER GET ON AN AIRPLANE AGAIN?!…” and on she goes. 

I do all sorts of things to distract myself to quiet my mind and find some stillness. 

I will begin with repetitions like “all is well, and I am well” or “the time to rest is now” and say it 20-30 times, just to get my mind to slow down.

Or, I’ll begin to say the Lord’s Prayer in my head until I find myself saying… “Our Father, who art in Heaven … hum, what I should cook for...