Blog
Living in Black and White
You might remember the 1998 Gary Ross movie, Pleastantville. The movie is based on a couple of boys in the 1990s who get caught inside a 1950s sitcom where the characters literally live in black and white. Think of getting transported into Leave it to Beaver and getting stuck there!
Funny thing for me is that when I was young, I always thought of my parents having grown up in black and white because that was what I saw in old photos. I guess Gary Ross must have thought the same, as he created a movie about it.
Of course, everyone shown in these old photos lived in color, even though the photos and the motion pictures and TV shows portrayed only black and white.
The Problem with Complacency
We just this weekend celebrated my granddaughter’s 5th birthday.
I can’t even believe how fast time has passed.
I vividly remember the day she was born and then meeting her for the first time the next day (which is today!)
I’ve been incredibly fortunate to spend a great deal of time with her and her siblings which have arrived after here. They live nearby, we – and they – visit often, and we talk by video almost daily.
And it takes a significant birthday to catch you by surprise.
Out of the Bunker
In golf, business, and life, we can find ourselves in precarious positions. Sometimes it’s even hard to take a solid stance to swing without falling backwards!
Believe it or not, my best play was to hit it in the sand for an easier next shot. I was able to reach the hole in just one stroke over regulation and minimize “damage.”
Are you ready in business and life to hit your next recovery shot?
Flexibility
I was recently going through old pictures in an effort to find a better way to store all the pre-phone images taken dating back to the 1960s when I was a child. Barb and I had fun seeing “old” pictures of our daughters dating from 1988 through their high school years. It’s amazing how much the granddaughters look like both of them!
I came across a picture of me as a 17-year old playing golf for the high school team. I was stunned to see how much my swing looks different today in one key place – flexibility.
As a 17 year old, I had the classic “Reverse C” in my spine; as a 57 year old, not so much. With age comes less flexibility. While I do try to exercise in ways to maintain it, it’s part of life to lose some as we age.
That’s not the only flexibility we lose as we “mature.”
Are You The Drama?
My mother lived with Barb and me for two and a half years before moving to a memory care facility. We were caregivers for her in the middle of her battle with dementia.
And it was a battle.
Maybe the better way to say it is that there was daily a lot of “drama.” This included arguing, frustration, impatience, bitterness, and sometimes a loss of composure. My mother’s consistent decline in mental capacity and the corresponding behavior was a factor in all our household drama.
But it wasn’t THE factor. Nope. The factor was something more odious.
I was the drama.
Patience, Thy Name is Bella
“C’mon Bella!!!”
Well, it was something like that.
I did say those words and may have sneaked in a few more spicy ones as I went to wash my hands of the red, sticky liquid medicine that was now all over me.
Bella – whom you might remember eclipsed the great Captain Jack for escapes last week – had minor eye surgery. She was adorned with the famous “cone of shame,” and required regularly scheduled doses of Gabapentin to help with the pain from the surgery.
For those of you who have had to give similar treatments to your pets, you can visualize the plastic syringe-like vessel that you squeeze the medicine through “seamlessly” into the mouth. With Captain Jack, I’d just wrestle with him to get his mouth closed, insert the syringe in the side of the mouth and through his teeth and let her rip. He hated it, but it was pretty simple.
Over The Edge
I was terrified to look over the edge…
How taking stock of relationships helps your career
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do in your life?
For me, two stand out.
The first is being married. The second is raising children.
What You Gonna Do?
How often are we beset with difficult situations that appear to be improbable to overcome?
My suggestion is that in business and life, it happens all the time. And much too often, people will get flustered with the situation, avoid “competing,” and end up using the situation as an excuse for failure.
These two young ladies didn’t do that. They assessed their situations, both of which were not a normal part of their practice. They got creative, committed, and then used their skills to make the next play and move on.
