Month: March 2019

Closer to God in a garden than anywhere else on earth?

Redwood seedling in Florida
Redwood seedling, a gift from Redwood (my cousin). RJ (Redwood Junior) enjoying the January 5th Florida Sun yesterday.

It would be great to arrive at a place in life where being present consumed the day.

Why?

To be a better servant.

Being too busy to be present may be the death of humanity.

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RIP Herb Kelleher

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort
Last night, heading home from dinner at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.

Inspired by this article…

20 Reasons Why Herb Kelleher Was One Of The Most Beloved Leaders Of Our Time

What you see in each bullet point is the author’s original attribute followed by (and separated with a -) my Disney-insight similarity. Herb was better than great because he did the basics brilliantly.

  1. Be interested – seek out Guest contact
  2. Be approachable – demonstrate appropriate body langauge at all times
  3. Look beyond titles and status – first name company, never go a day, or an hour, without your nametag
  4. Hire for attitude, train for success – we hire for attitude, not aptitude
  5. Put employees first, customers second – Cast first, the guest is always at the center of all we do
  6. Jettison tribalism and office politics – destroy silos, think ‘One Disney’
  7. Be yourself. Allow people to be themselves – everyone is a VIP, Very Individual Person
  8.  Be trustworthy – our (Disney’s) vision is to become the world’s most admired company
  9. Leave your ego at the door – great ideas can, and should, come from anywhere
  10. Be irreverent – balance timelessness with timeliness (maintain your heritage, and remember your heritage includes “impossible innovations’
  11. Be tough but not mean – aim for perfection, settle for excellence
  12. Don’t take yourself too seriously – Walt is famous for saying, laughter is no enemy to learning
  13. Spend time on what you value – actions speak louder than words
  14. Cultivate a warrior spirit – dog an idea until it’s done and done right (Walt)
  15.  Forget strategic planning – Guest Satisfaction Measurement (flipping the proverbial organizational pyramid upside down, allowing frontline Cast to change things that inhibit Guest and Cast Satisfaction)
  16. Managing the good times to protect the company in the bad times – balance the three-legged stool of Cast, Guest, and Business
  17. Be decisive, move with speed and agility – Walt said, “I believe in being an innovator.” Also, “80% and go”
  18. Culture is the boss – Michael Eisner said in 1984 when he became CEO, “The Disney Culture, and maintaining it, is my #1 priority.”
  19. Define the business as a cause – We create happiness (our Unifying Goal)
  20. Kelleher’s golden rule: it’s okay to break the rules – Walt said, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”

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How Jack the Bear was named

Jack the Bear
Exact same bear. One is a road warrior and former pet toy.
Jack the Bear
Jack was my Dad’s name.

Our Son did a little Spring cleaning yesterday too.

Jack the Bear came named from the factory.

My Dad and Son never met.

Missing each other by only two months from a planned visit to Pennsylvania.

My Dad became very ill and died 72 hours later.

i made it home to be there, the rest of my Family did not. 

In the next few weeks, we received three copies of the exact same teddy bear named Jack.

The one our Yellow Lab befriended was the one i traveled with for a decade.

Chapin found one of the others yesterday – the underside of the bib reveals the Fisher-Price name.

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Now that i’m clear

quote about independence
With God as my witness, this is a screen shot from an hour ago. i believe my wife and son always deserve an explanation.

Now that i’m clear, i feel a lightness that is literally indescribable.

Wow.

So cool.

Thriving to the next level.

Life is hard.

i get it.

i’m an alcolholic.

Probably addicted to sugar too.

And i used to smoke cigarettes, but only when i drank. And for 28 years, i only drank twice a week, on weekends and weekdays.

Dysfunction is nothing to be ashamed of.

It’s widespread.

But carrying some (self-imposed) unnecessary burden that it’s my job to fix it was unreasonable.

Ever hopeful. 

Optimistic to a fault?

Then the creative year-long effort to reveal the obvious.

Change can only come from self-motivation.

Let’s just admit where we stand and then be willing to accept it and let go of things we can’t control.

 PS. Facebook does not a solution make. Too public. Too impersonal. Like the dictatorial boss who thinks she can send memos to change her company’s culture…

PSS: Context – this post may seem hypocritical, like the boss writing the memo. Not everything is as it appears – private efforts remain private. i am at peace with the personal face-to-face and voice-to-voice efforts i have made in the past. Moving forward, these are always welcome. And i have retired from initiating them. Not initiating them in 2018 was the equivalent of the USA imposing economic sanctions on a country that takes USA’s generosity for granted, meaning a mental health professional agreed it would be a legitimate approach.

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Guessing i don’t owe you anything

quick books note
Slate is clear. It’s a new year to do what feels right and good.

The 2018 creative endeavor is done.

The goal: do something i’ve never done before. No expectation from anyone to react to my new behavior. None. You can never try something new if you aren’t willing to live with the consequences.

It sheds light and illuminates life with richer clarity than before.

With:

  • my personal Facebook account with only blood relatives and a handful of HS & College (40+ years relationships) friends
  • with texts
  • with emails
  • with phone calls

i didn’t initiate.

For a year.

The big reveal?

This was ok.

Why?

No one noticed.

No Facebook inquiries, no texts, no emails, no phone calls.

Turns out, what i felt guilty about, i didn’t need to feel guilty about.

Such a delightful surprise.

If the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me.

i hear you loud and clear too.

Glad this is okay on both sides.

All that worrying for nothing.

Freedom.

Gratitude.

Update (today, March 2): it’s now been 14 months, not 12.

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