The individuals who taught me useful skills at an early age were not the wisest folks in any room. But boy, were they street smart. My dad was street smart. He sold grain aerators to farmers in the Midwest. He never drove a fancy car. He had a Ford and made certain it wasn’t …
So, I made a list of my 10 best friends. What do they all have in common? I came up with three personal traits: 1. All my friends are curious people. They search for answers to questions I’m only thinking about. Their curiosity leads to wisdom and unique points of …
I was the youngest in the Irene and Vern Kuhl family. It went girl (Connie), boy (Eddie), girl (Marlene) and me, little Don. At 75, little Don still has pieces of each of his siblings deep inside. Eddie was my big brother, a natural athlete with a big temper. Often, his …
I read somewhere: “Enjoy life now. It has an expiration date.” What if a tall stranger in a tan trench coat slipped me a note saying, “Your expiration date is tomorrow”? What would I do differently? My first thought is, “By golly, I’d better get busy.” Doing what? My …
I have an old friend who is making daily visits now. After two back surgeries and two new hips, Gabby, my chronic pain pal, is waking me up each morning and sometimes following me to work. Back in an earlier day, chronic pain controlled much of my life. I’d try to hide from …
One of my favorite artists is Simon Bull. He feeds me beauty each day. He opens my creative mind in ways I could never do on my own. Here is what Simon wrote in 2001. “Each one of us carries some special gift. We all have contributions to make. For me, it happens to be …
Oh my goodness. What’s happening to me? As many of you know, I fell in love with the work of Ira Progoff, the person who captured me with the power of intensive journaling. My curiosity could not stop. What made Ira so smart? Ira was greatly influenced by the work of Carl …
I don’t like friends dying on me. Didn’t they realize how much I counted on them? This has been a tough year. I count four important people in my life who took off – most of them without any notice at all. When close friends or relatives die, no one is there to take …
My friend and colleague Alyssa Forcehimes writes a thoughtful and joyous blog, Leading With Heart, every Thursday. Last week, she wrote about the intellectual humility of children – they are unabashedly open in declaring, “I don’t know.” Alyssa contrasted this with …
What a great book. I never would have guessed it was written by Fred, the guy I had to read all about as a college psychology student. The book, Enjoy Old Age: A Practical Guide, was written in 1983 and shares all this useful stuff about what you should and should not do as …