A debt of gratitude list

Le Westin Montreal lobby sign
The date, time, and place stamped on the digital lobby sign.

 

Old Harbor Montreal
The small yellow image, a walker, caught my eye.

 

Montreal war veteran memorial.
Closer inspection revealed a military tribute monument. Two days prior was Remembrance Day (Veteran’s Day in America).

 

Teddy Bear in Montreal airport
An airport tradition for a decade or more.

 

Freedom Tower from JFK tarmac.
Freedom Tower from JFK tarmac yesterday.

 

A debt of gratitude:

To my wife, for covering the home front, solo, for three days.

To our son, for, well, just being a son, and a studious ninth-grader.

To Lee Cockerell, for his referral; otherwise there would not have been a Montreal trip.

To Manon Richard for being a superb event planner. Superb.

To Michel for guiding me the entire day and having me want for nothing. Remarkable.

To Westin and Delta for doing what they do so well.

To our Military, for providing safe passage in North America.

To God, for the blessing of having a purposeful way to contribute to society.

Editor’s note: The above list was started yesterday during a two-hour layover at JFK airport. Little did i know as i wrote about “safe passage in North America” that hours later tragedy would hit Paris.

 

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This website is about our mental attitude. To leave this site to read today’s post on my physical health website, click here.

Who’s writing my story?

Mickey Mouse tattoo on calf
Yesterday on high school tour. Mickey is tattooed on my heart.

 

Who’s writing my story?

It’s a question that changed my life in 2008/09.

This was the timeframe that an unusually weird Disney layoff provided the gift of feeling vulnerable for the first time (at the time, i was in my 24th year at Disney).

This was the catalyst for creating a Plan B even though the layoffs were done.

The best time to worry about your next job is when you don’t need to.

My next job revolved around the dream of being the captain of my own ship – a solo entrepreneur. To take everything i learned in 30 years at Disney and retire at 55 and begin the quest to put a dent in our Universe.

PS. Unusually weird means that the process didn’t make sense to me, nor to literally all of my colleagues.

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It starts, hopefully, and then it grows

Mickey and Minnie Muse holding hands
Random photo from the other day at Downtown Disney. It just speaks to gratitude.

 

It starts, hopefully, and then it grows…

A choice, a commitment, and a lifelong habit.

A positive mind-set.

An attitude that never fails.

Gratitude that can overcome any challenge.

Like anything else that’s valuable, it requires daily protection.

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Writer’s flood never ceases to amaze

Ellie Caulkins Opera House exterior at night
Final photo last night in Denver.

 

Is it weird to feel guilty for having so many nice things happen to you?

Begging some questions:

  • Should we feel guilty?
  • Do we deserve it all?
  • Day after day?

And then some days goodness rains down on you. Is that fair?

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PS. A day full of goodness is not without pain, temptation, sorrow, failure, just to clarify.

A primitive weapon to fight midlife crisis

Mid Life Celebration book
Wisdom come from experience. Experience comes from making mistakes.

 

The best and easiest way to combat a midlife crisis is to:

Reduce our expectations to zero.

Natural reaction to this is, “Are you crazy, there’s no way.”

Remember this truth:

We see what we want to see.

When we expect nothing, everything becomes a gift.

Gratitude reigns down.

We don’t believe we are worthy of this wonderful overload of goodness.

But, my dear friends, we are.

You are.

Whether you believe it or not.

A midlife celebration.

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