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To say that people don’t change is to be naïve, cynical and foolish about the human condition.  People only change. That’s all people do.  Each one of us is approaching some invisible frontier on the way to maturity. Each one of us is a continually changing constellation of potentialities. Each one of us is caught in this world that we never made, and to which we must constantly readjust in order…

My favorite definition of joy is, not wanting to do something else.  It’s that sublime sense that your path is enough for you. It’s when a glorious current of gratitude amplifies within your bones and the muscles behind your eyes melt into radiant crystals of contentment.  Because there is nothing else just out of your grasp that will save and complete your soul.  Insert sitar music here.  The rub…

It’s easy to accept the will of the universe when we can see where it’s heading.  But when our future is shrouded in a cloud of mystery, that’s a different story.  Emerson’s legendary university lecture on trusting the process come to mind.  As the traveler who has lost his way throws his reins on his horse’s neck and trusts to the instinct of the animal to find his road,…

Although cakes have been around for thousands of years, the first recipe for confectionery icing was originally published in a cookbook in the late seventeen hundreds.  It was from that point on that cakes became a much more enjoyable food, thanks to the addition of this new fancy, sugary topping.  Hence the phrase, icing on the cake. An attractive but inessential enhancement. The unexpected and additional benefit to something…

If our strategy is to wait until our burdens diminish, when we are no longer constrained by obligation, when we are finally free enough to do what we really want to do, then we are going to be waiting a very long time.  Because there is no set of auspicious circumstances on the horizon that will make us whole. There is no magical day in the future when our…

In the modern business world, safety, security and stability are illusions.  At any moment, we can all be disposed of. Straight up railroaded. Rug pulled out from under us.  These things just happen. Anybody can get canned. There is no immunity. There is no potent vaccine of personal specialness, hard work, positive attitude and corporate politicking that will inoculate us against the cruel bite of commercialism.  Even our brilliance…

Doctors tell us that we should exercise moderately for about thirty minutes a day.  Pretty standard health advice.  The only thing, our mind is actually the asset that must be worked on most and understood best. But there doesn’t seem to be a minimum daily requirement for mental exertion.  And there should be. Especially when it comes to noticing and managing our more damaging thoughts.  Emmett’s daily devotional was among the…

Manhattan pizza is not good because it doesn’t have to be.  There are eight million angry, hungry, sweaty people in this city, and the majority of them are running late to something.  Pizza is convenient, tasty, cheap and full of energy. And so, from an economics perspective, the shops have no real incentive to make amazing food. Because their demand is inelastic. Their audience is built in.  Why would…

The startup landscape is littered with the carcasses of young, enthusiastic, creative entrepreneurs, buried beneath the ashes of brave ideas, failed dreams and misguided expectations.  My question is, when did we decide that was a bad thing?  At least those people took a risk. At least they had the guts to follow their dream, put it all on the line, live on an unpaved road and hope to find…

Camille reminds us in her book about envy that the ego is a fragile little demon that gorges itself on our eternal discontent. It sulks like a toddler when it doesn’t get its way.  Personally, that sounds exactly like most of the battles inside my head. Tell me if this sounds familiar.  Your ego cunningly tricks you into believing that happiness can be found in some other way. At some magical…