Sparkling the Season

Home, USA

My best wishes to you and your family for a joyful holyday season!

Enrique

Expressing Gratitude - 2006

Sonoma, CA 

May you have wonderful holidays!

Enrique

The Alaska Range - 2015

Alaska

Resilience

When the topic of human resilience comes up in writing or conversation, it’s natural to think about strength, toughness, adaptability, flexibility, etc. These attributes are commonly associated with an individual’s character, personality and is reflected in his responses to significant challenges.

In the course of your life, you may encounter major trials, trauma and perhaps tragedies. I refer to these as “life’s exclamation points.” They have in common that they often elicit resilience born of urgency and at times, the desire to survive.

Endurance

There’s another human quality that is the companion of resilience. The kind that is not readily evident in a person’s response to occasional crises. That attribute is endurance.

While resilience is a manifestation of flexibility, the ability to “bounce back,” endurance is the will to persist toward a grand goal, deliberately and purposely…sometimes over a long period of time. 

Endurance is a ...

Glorious Expression - 2009

Florida

Summary:

An Unspoken but Common Challenge to Your End of Career

The anticipation and actual experience of the end of your career is a major life transition. It will present you with unfamiliar challenges in addition to financial concerns.

Some of the concerns will be obvious to you, others are not. Yet, they are profound, common and often unspoken.

These are some of the less evident, but important ones:

• Not knowing how to go about the process of transition. 
• Not clearly distinguishing Who you are as an individual vs. What your title has been…your sense of identity and how this is relates to your transition.
• Not knowing What you will do in the future that fulfills your purpose and desires in a balanced manner.
• Not having the confidence that after the end of your career you will continue to feel relevant.

In this audio I discuss these and, specifically, why the topic of relevance is important to you now and as you approach your end of car...

Autumn Splendor - 2013

Colorado

Summary: 

Planning and Execution: How to do it

This is the familiar story of Alex, a fictional character like many accomplished individuals from all walks of life. Alex is at that time of his (or her) career when he can see his end of career on the horizon.

He has had a successful career. The discipline of creating visions, actionable plans executing them is familiar to him. He has done it repeatedly during his career. But a powerful insight in a moment of clarity revealed to him the source of his angst. It is that he is about to enter an unknown phase of his life…that this is all new and he is not prepared. So how do you go about creating your Post Career Lifestyle Plan _TM?

First, it will serve you well too pause and reflect. Clearly describe your character and your life’s purpose. State the endeavors, activities that fulfilled your purpose. Think about the things that are fun and you enjoy doing. Then consider that a fulfilling lifestyle is chara...

Equanimity Reflects Tranquility - 2021

Buffalo River, ID

Summary:

To Experience Tranquility and Equanimity As a Way of Life…is to Live

When it comes to time, our choices and perceptions, there are three things that differentiates us as individuals:

• How we choose to use the precious time of our lives.
• How those choices reflect the value we attribute to how we use our time.
• How we perceive the speed at which time passes.

As your choices and perceptions are uniquely yours, you can change them. 

Your perception of time and how you experience your life are related to the degree that you have a sense of tranquility and equanimity.

This may not come easily, especially for great achievers. It may require a personal discipline of deliberately practicing your sense of tranquility and equanimity. The goal is to live peacefully in harmony within yourself.

Some things to consider:

• Focus and favor your allocation of time on that which you know is essential to accomplish. 
• Consider
...

Exuberant Expressions - 2009 

Midway Geyser Basin and Firehole River

Yellowstone National Park

Summary:

Fulfill Your Needs and Desires

It is commonly familiar that it is in those quiet moments when our mind is free to wander, that we are the most creative. This simple discipline can be beneficial as you plan your end of career. 

That is when you can create a window of opportunity for creating your roadmap prior to embarking on the next great phase of your life. This is the guide that will take you in the direction that you want your life to go…with confidence.

When the time comes, you will initially find that the time you have at your disposal is seemingly unlimited compared to your previous lifestyle. That can be a fallacy. Like other vacuums, there's a natural tendency for it to be filled. 

Will you create the a la cart menu of your life? Or will you simply react to what life presents you?

To help answer that for yourself, it is useful engage in deliberate, purposeful thi...

Waves of Joyful Anticipation

New Smyrna Beach, FL - 2008

Plan Now, Prosper Later

The End of Career is one of those major life events for which it is critical to prepare well in advance. 

Early on, you will recognize that the magnitude and scope of the challenge is significant. As a result, you will realize that to achieve a successful Transition you will need to devote focused effort over a significant period  of time. These inevitable, initial questions will arise: 

How do I begin? 

What should I do? 

In what order should I do it?

I am confident that you have learned long ago, as I have, that great achievements require great preparation.

The First Step of the Path 

To begin, there are three major concerns for which preparation is essential.

The first of these is to prepare yourself, personally, to enter the next great phase of your life. As you do so, it is important to keep in mind that your spouse and in unique ways, your family, are also going through a transition.

The ...

This painting by John Trumbull (1756-1843), depicts the moment when the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was presented to the Second Continental Congress on June 28, 1776.

 The Seldom Declared History of its Writing

The summer of 1776 was a time of escalating conflict with England.  It was a dangerous time for the American colonies and in particular, its leaders.  Military and political uncertainties abounded.

The conflict between the American colonists and British soldiers that began in April, 1775 had grown into the Revolutionary War during the summer of 1776.

In the meantime, there had developed a significant movement in favor of Independence from England.  Delegates to the Continental Congress were faced with the necessity to vote on this critical issue.

In order to do so, the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia for the purpose of voting on the question of independence. To accomplish that, there was a parliamentary and political need to draft a resolution up...

Flowing Amidst Enduring Nature - 2009

Little Pigeon River, Great Smoky Mountains N. P.

The Reciprocity of Service and Satisfaction

I have previously discussed the importance of expressing gratitude to those who have had a positive influence on our lives. Our expressions of heartfelt gratitude creates joy for those who have given of themselves for our benefit. It also provides satisfaction to ourselves.

Early Experiences…a Prelude

Early life, while in college, I would visit my high school. It was fun to reminisce fond memories. But my strongest motivation for those visits, was to seek out my teachers and mentors. To simply see them again and more importantly, to express my gratitude to them. I recall very well the great smiles on their radiant faces. 

I learned from those early experiences how gratifying it was to acknowledge those who were an important part of my education and development.

As my years of education and training continued, I had opportunities to teach and mentor y...