TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2009
I always suggest you read Younger Next Year in December, because then you only have
to wait a month.
“Physical exercise and involvement in life trigger great waves of „grow‟ messages
throughout your body and mind… Exercise is the only way to engage your body and
your physical brain, but if you do it, you will get „younger.‟ Not completely, but to an
astonishing degree.”
Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge MD: Younger Next Year:
A Guide to Living Like You’re 50 to 80 and Beyond
This reminds me of Winston Churchill‟s 80th birthday. The official photographer
assigned to take his portrait on that occasion asked if he might return to take Churchill's
picture on his 100th birthday. Churchill‟s reply was: “I don't see why not, young man.
You look reasonably fit to me.”
“We are happier in many ways when we are old than when we were young. The young
sow wild oats. The old grow sage.” –Winston Churchill
“I am an old man but in many senses a very young man. And this is what I want you to
be, young, young all your life, and to say things to the world that are true.” –Pablo Casals
“Old men are always young enough to learn with profit.” –Aeschylus
“The young are permanently in a state resembling intoxication; for youth is sweet and
they are growing.” –Aristotle
“I am not young enough to know everything.” –Oscar Wilde
“I was born old and get younger every day. At present I am sixty years young.” –Herbert
Beerbohm Tree
“Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young.” –
Fred Astaire
“O, Wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?” –Percy Shelley
“God gave us memory that we might have roses in December.” –James Matthew Barrie
“May you stay forever young.” –Bob Dylan
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2009
Earlier this year I wrote about a news item I read that indicated that goldfish had an
attention span of 3 seconds. I then received a note from a reader who seemed to own
“Lassie class” goldfish. His pets know when it's time to eat (twice a day) and actually
will hound him until he starts spreading the flakes! As the reader (Paul) suggested, maybe
their concentration improves when food is involved.
So there you have it, goldfish can be demanding. I find that as interesting as the supposed
short attention span. By the way, if you were paying attention you would know that there
will be a full moon this evening.
Today‟s tip #1…Check with your doctor before remaining sedentary.
Today‟s tip #2…“Never kick a man when he‟s up.” –Thomas “Tip” O‟Neill
“The supply of words in the world market is plentiful but the demand is falling. Let deeds
follow words now.” –Lech Walesa
“When I was a young man I observed that nine out of every ten things I did were failures.
I didn't want to be a failure. So I did ten times more work.” –George Bernard Shaw
“We need old friends to help us grow old and new friends to help us stay young.” –Letty
Cottin Pogrebin
“It is magnificent to grow old, if one keeps young.” –Harry Emerson Fosdick
“When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it's a sure sign you're
getting old.” –Mark Twain
“When I was young I used to think that money was the most important thing in life; now
that I am old, I know it is.” –Oscar Wilde
“The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.” –
Lucille Ball
“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” –Francis Bacon
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2009
On this planet there are over 600 million people with a disability. The annual observance
of the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities is December 3.
Since 1992 it has provided opportunities for disability organizations, governments and
society as a whole to focus on the inclusion of people with disabilities in every aspect of
political, social, economic and cultural life. The aim is to promote an understanding of
disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons
with disabilities.
This population has also provided me with endless examples of how to face adversity and
efforts to redesign our environment to make everything accessable to everybody has
made it easier for me as well. So today I wish to suggest that we are all in this together
and that each and every one of us has some barrier that needs to be either surmounted or
removed.
“Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you‟re needed by
someone.” – Martina Navratilova
“The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help
others.” –Albert Schweitzer
“The most immutable barrier in nature is between one man's thoughts and another's.” –
William James
“Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude towards us.” –Earl Nightingale
“A barrier is of ideas, not of things.” –Mark Caine
“Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave -- and it sure behooves us to be kind
to one another along the way.” –Alice Childress
“By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man's, I mean.” –Mark
Twain
“The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it.” –Epictetus
“I am little concerned with beauty or perfection. I don't care for the great centuries. All I
care about is life, struggle, intensity.” –Emile Zola
“There is really no insurmountable barrier save your own inherent weakness of purpose.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
“See into life -- don't just look at it.” –Anne Baxter
“Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a
limited set of targets.” –Nido Qubein
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2009
Did you hear about the MIT study of roses? I guess researchers there cut them up and
placed them in various bags with cut grass and asked subjects to smell them, ah but here
is the rub, they named each bag differently. Some were labeled as rose and others by
other names. As it turns out those with “any other name” did not smell as sweet.
I have often seen this effect in other areas. People that don‟t want to exercise…will be
more than willing to dance all night. Some would not want to walk a mile will window
shop for twice that distance. Others hate calisthenics but will garden several hours a day.
“I think the King is but a man as I am: the violet smells to him as it doth to me.” –
William Shakespeare (I will use this quote until MIT figures out a way to test and see if
indeed this condition doth exist.)
“Smell is a potent wizard that transports us across thousands of miles and all the years we
have lived.” –Helen Keller
“Everywhere I go I smell fresh paint.” –Princess of Wales Diana
“Don't hurry. Don't worry. You're only here for a short visit. So don't forget to stop and
smell the roses.” –Walter Hagen
“Get excited and enthusiastic about you own dream. This excitement is like a forest fire -you can smell it, taste it, and see it from a mile away.” –Denis Waitley
“Success is a great deodorant. It takes away all your past smells.” –Elizabeth Taylor
“Nothing recalls the past so potently as a smell.” –Winston Churchill
“The block of granite which is an obstacle in the pathway of the weak, becomes a
stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.” –Thomas Carlyle (12/4/1795-1881)
“Talk that does not end in any kind of action is better suppressed altogether.” –Thomas
Carlyle
“Endurance is patience concentrated.” –Thomas Carlyle
“Character isn't inherited. One builds it daily by the way one thinks and acts, thought by
thought, action by action.” –Helen Gahagen Douglas
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.” –
Ben Franklin
MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2009
My friend Joe Tye shared a story from his friend Alden Solovy who pounces when
someone engages in verbal self- abuse. His reflexive reaction is “You can't talk to my
friend that way.”
My suggestion for today is that you spend some time translating the scripts you play for
yourself and determine if you would say those things to your best friend.
“When the mind is thinking, it is talking to itself.” –Plato
“Ineffective leaders often act on the advice and counsel of the last person they talked to.”
–Warren Bennis
“A professor is one who talks in someone else's sleep.” –W. H. Auden
“When we talk to God, we're praying. When God talks to us, we're schizophrenic.” –Lily
Tomlin
“Never get a mime talking. He won't stop.” –Marcel Marceau
“The less you talk, the more you're listened to.” –Abigail Van Buren
“To get the best results you must talk to your vegetables.” –Prince of Wales Charles
“You can't have everything. Where would you put it?” –Steven Wright (12/6/1955)
“Hell is paved with great granite blocks hewn from the hearts of those who said, „I can do
no other.‟” –Heywood C. Broun (12/7/1888-1939)
“Life is the sum of your choices.” –Albert Camus
“Liberty means responsibility. That‟s why most men dread it.” –George Bernard Shaw
“Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling that
desire.” –Epictetus
MONDAY DECEMBER 8, 2008
On Friday, I suggested some appropriate gifts for the season. Today, I wish to celebrate
the giving of self. In this endeavor you could follow in the tracks of “The Bus.” That is
Jerome Bettis, AKA “The Bus,” who is a former running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He now does media gigs and works with his foundation “The Bus Stops Here.” The
mission is to bring kids to a football camp and make a difference in their life. Bettis also
works with Carnegie Mellon University to help 25 to 35 underprivileged middle-school
students learn basic computer skills, after which they then take the computer home.
“I think the highest point has been recently being able to control my asthma and be
confident and educated on asthma such that I can be a spokesperson for people with
asthma. So if I can be a beacon of light and hope for the kids that have asthma --so that
kids say, 'Hey, this guy has asthma but hey, he's a professional athlete'--that's the thrill.
Because I know that asthma and athletics is not something most people put together in
the same sentence.” –Jerome Bettis
In that note I also mentioned Dr. Collis and his Website, but I called it org rather than
com. The correct address for Speakwell is <Speakwell.com>!
“Giving kids clothes and food is one thing but it's much more important to teach them
that other people besides themselves are important, and that the best thing they can do
with their lives is to use them in the service of other people.” –Dolores Huerta
“I believe… that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.” –Thomas
Jefferson
“Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.” –
Marilyn vos Savant
“Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of
that fact.” –George Eliot
“Courageous risks are life giving, they help you grow, make you brave and better than
you think you are.” –Joan L. Curcio
“I hate the giving of the hand unless the whole man accompanies it.” –Ralph Waldo
Emerson
“It is only in the giving of oneself to others that we truly live.” –Ethel Percy Andrus
“Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving.” –Erma Bombeck
“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.” –
Mark Twain
(I know that last quote had absolutely nothing to do with today‟s theme…but I love the
image.)
Have a great week.
TUESDAY DECEMBER 9, 2008
Years ago when Dr. Michael Fleming became president of the American Academy of
Family Physicians he took some bold steps. Ten thousand to be exact. At the time, Dr.
Fleming was significantly overweight, but had decided to do something about it. When
he took over the Academy, he challenged his colleagues to join him in striving to include
10,000 steps a day. He had moved from victim (buying into the “I don‟t have time” myth)
to the role of advocate and model.
His wife posed the question that broke the camels back for Dr. Fleming. She asked if he
wanted to be around to watch his grandkids grow up.
Let‟s recap here. Walking is… recommended by doctors, easy, cheap, and one of the best
things you can do for your health. The only thing I can tell you that makes more sense
would be to breathe.
“To know just what has to be done, then to do it, comprises the whole philosophy of
practical life.” –Sir William Osler
“Golf seems to be an arduous way to go for a walk. I prefer to take the dogs out.” –
Princess Anne
“Ninety percent of what's wrong with singers today is that they don't breathe right.” –
Marilyn Horne
“Ideas are the mightiest influence on earth. One great thought breathed into a man may
regenerate him.” –William E. Channing
“An aim in life is the only fortune worth the finding; and it is not to be found in foreign
lands, but in the heart itself.” –Robert Louis Stevenson
“Happiness depends upon ourselves.” –Aristotle
“When you have over 300 horses under the hood and are in a 35 mph zone…then you can
think of your limitations; in all other instances think in terms of possibilities.” –Michele
Joseph
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 10, 2008
On December 10, 1877, Dr. Jared Kirtland passed away. This physician and botanist is
credited with developing 26 varieties of cherries and six varieties of pears! I am sure that
as a physician he was aware of the benefits of good nutrition.
Yesterday‟s note featured a doctor pushing walking and today‟s features one adding to
the variety of fruit. Too bad they didn‟t practice at the same time; it would have been a
great office.
“Life is always walking up to us and saying, „Come on in, the living's find,‟ and what do
we do? Back off and take its picture.” –Russell Baker
“Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things.” –Noam Chomsky
“Nobody is bored when he is trying to make something that is beautiful, or to discover
something that is true.” –William Inge
“It is with the heart that one sees rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” –
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.” –Albert Einstein
“No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking.” –Francois Marie Arouet de
Voltaire
“To swear off making mistakes is very easy. All you have to do is swear off having
ideas.” –Leo Burnett
THURSDAY DECEMBER 11, 2008
A monument to the boll weevil, which had forced farmers to diversify, was erected in
Enterprise, Alabama in 1919. I first mentioned this “art work” in 2003 and mentioned
how I had not been able to visit Enterprise, and thus I have seen no weevil! I still haven‟t
been able to take it in but I do recognize that opportunity often comes disguised as
adversity.
“Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind.” –Bulgarian proverb
“When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil.” –Max
Lerner
“Nothing is too much trouble.” –Edward Kirby Bonds
“He who has a choice has trouble.” –Dutch proverb
“The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you
are.”
–John Burrows
“Banish care, it's no time for it now - on with the dance, let joy be unconfined is my
motto.” –Mark Twain
“The only really good place to buy lumber is at a store where the lumber has already
been cut and attached together in the form of furniture, finished, and put inside boxes.” –
Dave Berry
FRIDAY DECEMBER 12, 2008
On the evening of December 12, 1979, the Soviet Union‟s leadership met with
Communist Party chairman Leonid Brezhnev and decided to invade Afghanistan. The
goal was to prevent the installation of a regime friendly to the United States. Brezhnev
was told the military operation would take three to four weeks. The war lasted over nine
years. It is very hard to predict the reactions that some actions will generate. On the other
hand, there are certain things that will always generate positive expected results…like
taking a walk, for example.
Tonight we will have a full moon and long night to enjoy it. It will be a great time to
invade your neighborhood on foot. That, unlike the Soviet Unions choice, would be a
very wise one.
“Imagination was given to us to compensate for what we are not; a sense of humor was
given to us to console us for what we are.” –Mack McGinnis
“The greatest and most important problems in life are all in a certain sense insoluble.
They can never be solved, but only outgrown.” –Carl Jung,
“Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you
think.” –Benjamin Disraeli
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” –
Albert Einstein
“Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that
won't work.” –Thomas Edison
“Let us watch well our beginnings, and results will manage themselves.” –Alexander
Clark
Have a great weekend.
MONDAY DECEMBER 15, 2008
“Music is the soil in that the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” –Ludwig Von Beethoven
(12/16/1770)
I sometimes wonder if Beethoven ever had the opportunity to eat lemons. You know that
saying about what you should do when life gives you lemons? I can‟t help but think that
Beethoven would have composed a symphony and baked a lemon chiffon pie. He created
the “Moonlight Sonata” after having a marriage proposal rejected. As a youth Beethoven
was treated harshly by his father, yet he was extremely sensitive to the emotions between
parents and their children.
One theory suggests that the total deafness of Beethoven was a result of blows to the head
by his father. Yet that same head composed his Ninth Symphony. That same head had the
ability to compose entire symphonies and “hear” the part for every instrument. That same
head, when unable to console a friend who had lost a child, could create music that
provided comfort beyond words.
The next time you feel life has handed you lemons, I suggest you listen to the Ninth
Symphony. Then go for a nice long walk and then make lemonade.
Along those lines…on December 15, 1965 NASA launched musical instruments into
space. Well, actually Walter M. Schirra and Thomas P. Safford smuggled a harmonica
and a string of bells on to a flight of Gemni VI-A. Later in the mission, Schirra contacted
Mission Control to report that he spotted an object and that it looked like a satellite! He
went on to state that it was: “going from north to south, up in a polar orbit. I see a
command module and eight smaller modules in front. Stand by it seems he is trying to
signal us.” This was followed by a rendition of Jingle Bells. The astronauts couldn‟t carry
a tune in a basket…but they did find a way to capture some holiday spirit.
May you find ways of spreading light and spirit during this very dark period of the year.
“Music is a higher revelation than philosophy.” –Ludwig Von Beethoven
“Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the
ear of man.” –E. M. Forster
“Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears form the eyes of
woman.” –Ludwig van Beethoven
“Most people live and die with their music still unplayed. They never dare to try.” –Mary
Kay Ash
“How monotonous the sounds of the forest would be if the music came only from the Top
Ten birds.” –Dan Bennett
“There are two means of refuge from the misery of life -- music and cats.” –Albert
Schweitzer
“At my lemonade stand I used to give the first glass away free and charge five dollars for
the second glass. The refill contained the antidote.” –Emo Philips
“It is an amazing and sometimes crazy world. Lemonade is made from artificial flavors
and furniture polish is made from real lemons.” –Wes Hall
“You reside today where your thoughts have brought you; tomorrow you will reside
where your thoughts take you. You are bound to the direction of your thoughts.” –
Michele F. Solomon (I have also seen this quote attributed to a M. Frank.)
TUESDAY DECEMBER 16, 2008
When I created the scripts for this year, I wanted to talk about Sitting Bull‟s horse on
December 15. But that text was preempted by Beethoven. So I will get to it today. On
December 15, 1890, tribal police came to arrest Sitting Bull on the Standing Rock
Reservation. The arrest was the result of a crackdown on those who were supporting the
Ghost Dance movement. The Hunkpapa leader did not choose to go peacefully, and a
lethal gunfight ensued. Upon hearing the shots, Sitting Bull‟s horse sat down and started
to perform tricks. The performing horse had been a gift to symbolize the friendship of
Buffalo Bill Cody. The bizarre image of the horse performing as his owner was under
attack reminds me of the incredible power (for good and bad) that resides in habit and
conditioning.
There are all sorts of triggers out there that send us to the buffet, to excess, and to the
couch with no more thought than that demonstrated by a horse. Sitting Bull‟s death was a
shame and so is the tragic number of deaths we witness every year as a result of these
Pavlovian responses.
Sitting Bull was buried at Fort Yates in North Dakota, and in 1953 his remains were
moved to Mobridge, South Dakota. There a granite shaft was erected to mark his grave.
Among the Lakota he is remembered as an inspirational leader, fearless warrior, loving
father, and gifted singer, and as a man always affable and friendly toward others, whose
deep religious faith gave him prophetic insight and special spiritual power.
“The worst thing about the miracle of modern communications is the Pavlovian pressure
it places upon everyone to communicate whenever a bell rings.” –Russell Baker
“Science demands from a man all his life. If you had two lives that would not be enough
for you. Be passionate in your work and in your searching.” –Ivan Pavlov
“Old habits are strong and jealous.” –Dorothea Brande
“Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.” –Mark Twain
“Make a habit of two things: to help; or at least to do no harm.” –Hippocrates
“It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing
such actions.” –Aristotle
“How use doth breed a habit in a man!” –William Shakespeare
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 17, 2008
“My handicap forces me to focus better … I can't let my mind wander.…(It) taught me
not to quit, not to need sympathy from people or have them treat me differently.” –Curtis
Pride (12/17/1968)
As a youth, Curtis Pride contracted German measles. This illness led to a permanent loss
of hearing. Today, Curtis is 95 percent deaf. Curtis was in the “mainstream” classes ever
since the 4th grade. In that stream he floated to the top and graduated with a degree in
Finance from William and Mary in 1990. Prior to graduation, Curtis was offered a
professional baseball contract, but he opted to get his degree first. In his professional
career he frequently batted over 300, well below his batting average for life.
“Swallow your pride occasionally, it's not fattening.” –Frank Tyger
“A buoyant, positive approach to the game is as basic as a sound swing.” –Tony Lema
“You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” –Mark Twain
“The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of
intelligence.”
–Robert Schiller
“Energy is the essence of life. Every day you decide how you're going to use it by
knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that goal, and by maintaining focus.” –
Oprah Winfrey
“Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.” –Margaret Mead
“Orville Wright did not have a pilot‟s license.” –Gordon MacKenze
“Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.” –Victor
Borge
THURSDAY DECEMBER 18, 2008
The injury rate for football players is 100 percent! If you are planning on playing football
for any length of time, you can expect injuries. A more startling statistic is that 87 percent
of professional boxers will suffer brain damage. Research provides us with both the
benefits and the risks of most physical activities. I spend 99 percent of my time on the
positives, because that is the ratio of benefit to risk, but I wanted you to know I am
objective (well sort of) and will not be encouraging you to take up boxing or football.
On the other hand there is shadow boxing and touch football.
“Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk.” –Joaquin
Setanti
“If you don't risk anything you risk even more.” –Joyce Brothers
“What you risk reveals what you value.” –Jeanette Winterson
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk
it took to blossom.” –Anais Nin
“There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range
risks and costs of comfortable inaction.” –John F. Kennedy
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
–T. S. Eliot
“In America any boy may become President and I suppose it's just one of the risks he
takes.” –Adlai E. Stevenson
“If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.” –Dan Quayle
“Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk
life, to be needed.” –Storm Jameson
FRIDAY DECEMBER 19, 2008
The average life expectancy of cats is 15 years. On the other hand, the saddleback
tortoise can expect to live a century. Cats spend their days lying in the sun. On the other
hand it will take a tortoise all day to walk from the living room to the bedroom. As a
matter of necessity, tortoises can‟t be spending their days lying around. Now I am not
saying the entire 85-year gap is a factor of naps. But then I am not ruling it out either.
Given what I know of the benefits of activity, it wouldn‟t surprise me.
“Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function.” –Joy Frank
“Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow.” –Jeff
Valdez
“Cats regard people as warm blooded furniture.” –Jacquelyn Mitchard
“If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner.” –
Tallulah Bankhead
“Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.” –Victor Hugo
“Carpe diem is a great start, but at this time of the year it is also good advice to carpe
noctem as well.” –Tim Lane
“The delights of self-discovery are always available.” –Gail Sheehy
“Genius is the gold in the mine; talent is the miner who works and brings it out.” –Lady
Marguerite Blessington
Have a great weekend.
MONDAY DECEMBER 22, 2008
Last week I was sharing how long cats and tortoises live. For the record, the life
expectancy for an alligators is 75 years and 95 for an elephant. I can see that. Those two
species are active, neither smokes, and I have never seen any species watch what they eat
more than alligators. Maybe the various dietetic organizations should adopt the alligator
as a logo. I can see those big eyes peering from the water line and the “watch what you
eat” tag line underneath making a big splash. But of course that‟s just me. I know it will
fly with those organizations at about the same time the alligator does.
Anyway, during the next two weeks, please do watch what you eat.
“Nothing is impossible. Some things are just less likely than others.” –Jonathan Winters
“Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what's more than
enough.” –Billie Holiday
“When you like your work every day is a holiday.” –Frank Tyger
“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips it's turn.” –Hal Borland
TUESDAY DECEMBER 23, 2008
Are there others in your community who could use a small gift? Some warm gloves, or a
small toy? Including those less fortunate in our seasonal plans may be the best gift we
give…. to ourselves.
“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of
house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove, but the world may be different because I was
important in the life of a child.” –Kathy Davis
“There isn‟t enough darkness in the whole world to dim the light of one small candle.” –
George P. Miletich
“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the
impossible.” –Arthur C. Clark
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” –Robert Collier
“A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it, is committing another
mistake.” –Confucius
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 24, 2008
Typically I like dwelling on light issues at this time of year. For example Venus, it is
often at it‟s brightest at this time of the year. The surface temperature of Venus is 860
degrees F (460 C) and thus the hottest planet in the solar system. A block of lead placed
on the ground there would quickly melt. (I always try to include hot topics in my daily
notes.) Venus is so hot because it has a dense atmosphere, 90 times more so than Earth's,
that is 96% carbon dioxide. Venus is also entirely blanketed by clouds. These are not of
the cute fluffy variety, rather these are grey and laced with sulfuric acid. These
oppressive and poisonous clouds, ironically, are what make the planet seem from a
distance so bright and lovely. They‟re excellent reflectors of sunlight.
In this case the gas on the other side of the fence may look lovely, but there is no place
like Earth. I say take to the sidewalks this evening and soak up the majesty of the sky. If
the weather is inclement, maybe you can spend some time over the next couple of days
surfing over to www.livehealthyiowa.org and consider getting a team together for the
most important competition of 2009.
“…time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.
That's why it's called the Present!!!” –Josie Biagioli
“Nothing splendid was ever created in cold blood. Heat is required to forge anything.
Every great accomplishment is the story of a flaming heart.” –Arnold Glasgow
“One cool judgment is worth a thousand hasty counsels. The thing to do is to supply light
and not heat.” –Woodrow Wilson
“Joy is one of nature‟s greatest medicines. Joy is always healthy.” –Catherine Ponder
“The more joy we have, the more nearly perfect we are.” –Benedict Spinoza
“See what will happen if you don't stop biting your fingernails?” –Will Rogers (To his
niece on seeing the Venus de Milo)
THURSDAY DECEMBER 25, 2008
I once received a report from Texas on a school that had avoided the flu for an entire
year. The staff credited a protocol they started requiring hand washing. All the children
washed their hands prior to starting the school day, after recess, before and after lunch.
They also have the children take regular breaks every two hour and have them jump up
and down in the aisles 5-6 times. They have compiled data indicating this helps prevent
scoliosis in children! What a great gift that school is giving their children.
“Voyages are accomplished inwardly, and the most hazardous ones, needless to say, are
made without moving from the spot.” –Henry Miller
“One little step at a time, lest I be presumptuous, lest I hurt myself, lest I hurt others.” –
Joan Halifax
“The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions.” –Ellen Glasgow
“You can't just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You've got to
get out there and make it happen for yourself.” –Diana Ross
FRIDAY DECEMBER 26, 2008
“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my
tenacity.” –Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur was considered a mediocre student in chemistry at the Royal College in
France. This assessment was a result of his learning deficit disorder and not his ability.
This student, labeled as mediocre, founded the science of microbiology. His germ
research led to the development of vaccines for rabies and anthrax, pasteurization of milk
and beer.
He single handedly saved the French silkworm industry when he discovered the parasite
that killed the worms. He also advocated changes in hospitals to reduce the spread of
disease by microbes. Louis was also born on December 27, 1822. Be tenacious this
weekend in your efforts to formulate useful resolutions and include some walks!
“Chance favors the prepared mind.” –Louis Pasteur
“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience
of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” –Douglas
Adams
“You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow
through.” –Rosalynn Carter
“Like an ability or a muscle, hearing your inner wisdom is strengthened by doing it.” –
Robbie Gass
“Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.” –F. Scott
Fitzgerald
“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his
life by conscious endeavor.” -Henry David Thoreau
MONDAY DECEMBER 29, 2008
Do you know the 4 dimensions? They are length, width, depth, and time. As you create
your resolutions for the New Year, maybe you might wish to touch on all four.
1) Plan on adding length to your walking, running, or biking routes.
2) Often we concentrate on weight. A good activity plan will make us slimmer
but may not reduce weight. Muscle is heavier than fat, so consider width too.
3) When I think of depth, I think of all the reasons and plans you develop to
support your resolution. Don‟t just say “I am going to do this or that.” Plan on
it and have that plan reflect depth.
4) Time…many say that they don‟t have any, but we have 1440 minutes every
day and 365 days a year. Go through your planner and earmark the time you
plan on being active in 2009.
“Man's mind, stretched by a new idea, never goes back to its original dimensions.” –
Oliver Wendell Holmes
“All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that.” –Baltasar
Gracian
“I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I
want to have lived the width of it as well.” –Diane Ackerman
“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood...Make big plans, aim high
in hope and work.” –Daniel Burnham
“Plan for the future because that‟s where you are going to spend the rest of your life.” –
Mark Twain
TUESDAY DECEMBER 30, 2008
Every year at this time I like to revisit some advice of Plato. He believed that “the
unexamined life is not worth living.” As with so many of ideas of the great thinkers, I
agree. I often suggest that we reflect on those resolutions made a year ago and spend time
considering on how we can be more successful in our next effort. No matter what your
2008 resolution was, it is now time to examine your effort and retool for 2009. Never say
die always say try!
“He who knows others is wise, he who knows himself is enlightened.” –Tao Te Ching
“Begin somewhere. You cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do.” –Liz Smith
“The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever
seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are
going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with
them.” –Dennis Watley
“Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.” –Winston Churchill
“Your life can't go according to plan if you don‟t have one!” –Michele Smith
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 31, 2008
“My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the universe. Why it is as it is and
why it exists at all.” –Stephen Hawking
Obviously Mr. Hawking wasn‟t paying attention when I suggested small obtainable
goals. But then for the author of A Brief History of Time, and the Universe in a Nutshell,
maybe this is an easy step.
“The reason of a resolution is more to be considered than the resolution itself.” –John
Holt
“It takes in reality only one to make a quarrel. It is useless for the sheep to pass
resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion.” –
William Inge
“Where there is a will there is a way…he who resolves upon doing a thing, by that very
resolution often scales the barriers to it, and secures its achievement. To think we are
able, is almost to be so - to determine upon attainment is frequently attainment itself.” –
Samuel Smiles
“The best measure of a man's honesty isn't his income tax return. It's the zero adjust on
his bathroom scale.” –Arthur C. Clark
“I'm not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You're as old as you
feel.” –Elizabeth Arden (12/31/1884-1966)
“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” –
Groucho Marx
“The man who treasures his friends is usually solid gold himself.” –Marjorie Holmes
“All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost.” –J. R. R. Tolkien
“We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new
experience and character.” –Henry David Thoreau
“Discoveries are often made by not following instructions, by going off the main road, by
trying the untried.” –Frank Tyger
May your New Year be filled with a universe of understanding, health, and joy. All the
best in 2010!