According to the folks at Foursquare, today is Fall Off the Wagon Day – the day most people bail on their New Year’s Resolutions to exercise, eat more healthfully, and so on. This is consistent with my observations – attendance at my fitness boot camp goes up in January, and drops back to normal in […]
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I love this comic, “How to Be Perfectly Unhappy,” by The Oatmeal (AKA Matthew Inman) and inspired by Augusten Burroughs. I, too, am not a happy person. I am engaged, interested, busy, passionate, curious, and funny. I find the whole world pretty damn fascinating most of the time…except when I don’t. I am critical and […]
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I have never been able to meditate in the sitting-crosslegged-on-a-cushion sort of way; I am way too fidgety and my muscles cramp up. I can, however, achieve that same quietness of mind through repetitive movement. Running, hiking, paddling can get me there. So can doodling, moving a pen or brush across paper without a specific […]
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I started my Fourth of July festivities by running the 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) Kenwood Footrace. My finish time was a bit slower than usual, as I haven’t been running much; instead, I’ve been doing long, fully-laden hikes in preparation for a 240-mile backpacking trip. During a race, I get obsessed with those mile […]
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I’m in the process of planning this summer’s Sierra backpacking trip. Maps, guidebooks, and random bits of equipment are heaped all around my house. Along with testing gear, dehydrating food, and packing, I’m plotting out my itinerary. One crucial bit of information I am researching and marking on all my maps: potential bail-out points. If […]
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No one reads a comic strip because it’s drawn well. They read it because it makes them laugh! When I give a presentation about visual thinking tools, I ask folks to “raise your hand if you can draw.” Very few hands go up. If I asked that question in a kindergarten class, EVERY hand would […]
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Life coaches, personal trainers, and business consultants advise us to set goals and create a strategic plan with actions and deadlines that will enable us to achieve them. When is it appropriate to modify or abandon a goal? I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Last year, I set the goal of running my first […]
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This morning, I got all pissy that the ONE car parked in my building’s lot was RIGHT in front of MY office door, where I typically park. “How rude! They can’t go in my door, they have to walk around to the front or the back of the building anyway, why park in MY spot […]
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One of my latest adventures has been joining the Sonoma County Search and Rescue Team (SAR). Many of our rules, tasks, and attitudes have applicability beyond the SAR environment. 1. Don’t create another victim. Our own personal safety always has to come first; if I get injured, my teammates now have to rescue ME instead […]
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One of the things I love to do as I run my local rural roads is to observe the animals I pass by. I am especially interested in the variety of their responses to me. Cows strike me as curious critters. They turn and watch my progress. If I stop to tie my shoe or […]
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