"How To Change From The Inside, Out..."

From a February 2002 "Power Lunch"...

Do it now.

Do not blame others.

Examine your good and bad habits.

Ask for assistance from a "higher Power".

Keep away from temptation (You may not fall down if you avoid slippery places!).

Focus on something better...

Restore mendable broken relationships.

Enlist accountability.

Extend yourself to others...

And from 2005 personal philosophy random thoughts...

Physically and mentally exercise daily.

Exude energy.

Accept change for its learning potential.

Accentuate the positive.

Let go of negative energy.

Give thanks generously.

Walk in other peoples' shoes.

Think globally.

Cherish truth.

LOVE thyself.

LOVE others.



"August Reflections..."

August...my birthday month...always a time to reflect....to appreciate and be thankful for all of the gifts of another year...to renew old, and set new goals...probably even more so for me,  than at the New Year...

Early this morning, there was a news clip on a motivational speaker, golf instructor, Jake Olson, trying for a  PGA ranking...and he is blind!

The fantastic London Olympics Closing Ceremonies just ended...there were SO many stories of heroes...like Oscar Pistorius, the sprinter from South Africa that had his legs partially amputated at 11 months of age.  There was the distance runner who won a gold as the only athlete from his country...who lost his whole family as a child...

It was GREAT to have so much coverage of these events where so many heroes emerged...in these times where our youth need heroes that they can use as life models.   The U.S. prevailed over second place, China, in medals...the two "Super Powers"...one historic, re-motivating...and the other upcoming...in athletics...and in world social, economic and academic realms...

Sochi, Russia, Winter Olympics 2014, and Rio, Brazil, Summer Olympics, 2016, here they come...  

Although bothersome with lots of received cell calls and mail, it is great to see so many young people who are running for office in 2012 from both political parties... 

Last weekend at two alumni hosted events, I got a chance to meet a number of the 26 students who will be entering the University of Virginia Class of 1917 from South Florida...these young men and women are incredible future leaders...

I'm blessed to have such a close family; to have had a father that maintained a positive attitude with 30+ years of negative health; to have strong mother that survived a major health issue, and remains a strong person that lives for the success of her family; to be blessed with a God-given talent that led toward a rewarding architecture academic and professional career; with an incredible energy level to multi-task  thru all aspects of a rich diversified professional and social life; to have an incredible "people collection"; to continue to experience all "corners" of our world...

 These are without a doubt "challenging times" in the homo sapiens history of the world, for our country, and with personal health issues, but I am re-energized to "charge" for more successes in LIFE!  Let's do it together...

"Headlines..."

While the coverage of the fantastic, inspirational London Olympics, occurs on the front pages of the Sports section of the paper, the less inspirational ones have appeared on the front page of the  same paper: 

The average price of a gallon of gas has rose $.13 in the last week to $3.59 (and due to a refinery fire on the west coast is expected to be over $4 soon)

Florida is 4th in the nation for real estate costs.

South Florida has dropped to 38th out of 100 best retirement metropolitan communities.

Auto insurance costs are 4th in the nation for Florida.

Florida has the 3rd highest number of foreclosed properties.

Florida has the 3rd highest incidence of shark attacks.

Florida is ranked 48th for education of the 50 states.

With such positive marketing, why do we need Chambers of Commerce and region marketing representatives?

Post Script:  4 hours after writing this the Florida average price of a gallon of gas rose $.10 to $3.69!

Post Script # 2:  Today's headline was...the US Post Office is bankrupt...losing $51,000,000 per day!!!  Does that ever speak to more US Government-run organizations!!!



"Dental Appointments..."

I checked my phone messages..."This is your dentist's office reminding you of your Wednesday 3:00 appointment with Gail...please call to confirm this"...

Gail has been our family dental hygienist for nearly 20 years.  Our dentist took early retirement and two partners split his patients.  The office clerical staff was replaced with a new group that initiated special arrival sign-in, and computerized scheduling technologies....

I checked the mail at lunch....there was a card sent to remind me of my upcoming teeth cleaning with Gail.  I checked and there was an e-mail from the office..."Please respond to this e-mail to confirm that you are coming"... I responded three times...

Wednesday morning I had messages to call the dentists' office..."Gail will not be in today...we can reschedule you for a month later...or you can use someone else"...I took someone else because I wanted to have my teeth cleaned due to quick plaque build-up, and for egotistical reasons, because I was leaving for a 40th high school reunion!

After the appointment with a less than great technician, she said she would schedule my appointment.  I related that I had already scheduled appointments for every three months.  She checked my patient "computer" record to relate that none were shown!  At the front desk, they remembered that this had been done, and were able to find the appointments.

Last Thursday I received a call to remind me of my upcoming Monday 10:00 AM appointment with Gail.  I checked my calendar for the month and did not have this written down, it seemed to me that I had just been for a cleaning, and moreover I added that I usually only schedule afternoon appointments. The assistant related that it had been over three months since my last appointment so that I was due, and that I could be moved to 4:00 PM on Monday.  I accepted this.

During a Sunday conversation with my mother when I asked her plans for the following week, she started with her 10:00 Monday appointment!  I checked my accounting records to discover that I had been to the dentist only 5 weeks prior! Oops...with the clerical mistake, I had switched her appointment to the afternoon when she prefers not to drive!!!  Since the office was closed I left a phone and an e-mail messages to be received Monday when the office would open.  I suspected that the 10:00 slot  would be filled... 

Monday at 8:30..."This is the dentist's office for Elizabeth"...When I said that she could be reached at their phone number, I was told that their computer records had this as her phone number!!!  After their records were straightened out again, they were able to contact her and take her for a 10:00 appointment...and then it was pouring outside!!!!

Post Script:  I saw my mother after she returned from her appointment...she showed me her computer printout that listed my future appointments under her name!!!

Post Script No. 2:  My mother showed me another declaration sheet from her new residential contents insurance policy that had been issued to correct the previous three issuances' mistakes.  Believably the supposedly corrected sheet STILL incorrectly showed no fire alarm or fire sprinkler system!!!

Post Script No. 3:  I opened my mail to discover a computer generated 7/31/12 PAST DUE invoice for $43.20 from my oncology center.  I checked my check ledger to verify that I had paid that bill a month earlier!  The next envelope contained a $36 DUE NOW invoice for monthly extermination service. Even though I have given a check to my exterminator in person each month for eleven years, ever since the company switched to a billing service, each month I get a double billing!

I pity the person with bad personal records-keeping in this contemporary world!!!

"Degrees of Separation..."

Years ago, a popular book described "six degrees of separation", to hypothesize that everyone in the world was at most six contacts away from knowing everyone else! 

This morning, while checking out from our Palm Beach County Costco, wearing a University of Virginia shirt and cap, with party supplies for an afternoon alumni event, the cashier said "UVA...I'm from Charlottesville...great school...I went to Washington and Lee..."

A few weeks, while preparing for Palm Beach's attempted first "run from the Bulls" ( to relate to Pomplona, Spain's event), I was talking to a couple..."We just moved here from Arizona...my husband is an author that specializes on the life, travels, and wines of Thomas Jefferson (the founder of UVA)..."..."You are? My whole family graduated from the University...an out of state record..."

In this "social media" world, I find that all of a sudden I have 1,133 Facebook "friends"!  Every time I log on, I get pop ups that suggest that I "friend" another ten individuals that have mutual friends. 

When I set out to arrange our 40th high school reunion, the list of contacts from the reunion 30 years before only had about 25 active contact records.  Thru Facebook, Linked In, and Google Search, I was able to discover over 100 others.

There is hardly a conversation anywhere, where I mention something that doesn't lead to a mutual contact...

In current time I suggest that six degrees of separation has been replaced with one degree!