Category: Decision making
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My suitcase, myself
We are about to go on vacation, 10 days with dear friends on a European river cruise. Sounds idyllic, and I have no doubt that it will be just that. We will see new things, visit new places and, as we always do when we are together, laugh a lot. The trip is not the…
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The Right Thing
I have come to realize that, at my center, my decision making process as a leader, and as a person, is a simple one. Although I would never describe myself as as someone who sees things as “black and white,” rather than very many shades of gray, the question I always come back to is…
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The Ending We Wish
I’ve often thought about how not to die, thinking about unfinished business and lives cut too short. I’ve thought about losing people I loved long before their time and the terrible holes that their death left in so many lives, holes that will never be filled. In my mind, I think of the course of…
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Sweet Triggers
Yesterday we shopped at our local farmer’s market, one more stop on an afternoon jammed with errands. Filling my arms with our favorite fresh vegetables, happy to see this signs of spring and local produce, I stopped at a small basket filled with rhubarb. “Rhubarb!” I said aloud as I blinked away the tears that…
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Mothering
Last night, as people started posting Mother’s Day tributes, I was struck, as I always am, by how many of us have lost our moms. Some relatively recently and some, like me, so long ago. In fact, I realized, my mom has been gone from my life nearly twice as long as she was with…
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Energy
Sitting in an airport waiting area, wondering why a flight scheduled for just before 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning could possibly be delayed by an hour by air traffic. I mean, seriously? But, as we know all too well when it comes to flying, we are, as I often say, no more than prisoner…
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On Love and Loss
If you are not a pet person, not a dog or cat person, you may not understand the role that these fur babies play in other people’s lives. I didn’t for a long time. As a young child, pets were limited to goldfish. Time and again, my brother and I, with the best of intentions,…
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Celebrating Freedom
We have just concluded the holiday of Passover, a time when we tell the story of the escape from Egypt, a time that we bring life to the words of “let my people go.” We list the ten plagues that were sent to the Egyptians, increasing horrors to convince them that the Israelites must be…
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Losing Control
An interesting question posed this week, in a room full of professional colleagues, as we were asked to reflect upon these words, “When was the last time you cried in front of someone else?” And then we were asked to share that answer with others. It’s a question that clearly triggers a lot for people,…
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Living It
Values—we all have them, we can probably name and claim the ones we hold dear. But when asked to take part in a values exercise, and determine which three of the ones presented are most likely you, it requires a deeper look inside. Which qualities best express who I am, what resonates with me and…
With a Full Heart 