“To infinity… and beyond!”- Buzz Lightyear

It seems to me to be the perfect quote to describe Steve Jobs. Without him, there would be no Buzz Lightyear. Without him, I wouldn’t be typing this blog up as easily on my MacBook Pro with iTunes playing in the background.

You may call it sentimental, but there is something truly remarkable about a man when his death is talked about and mourned by the company he founded, the founders of his rival companies, the heads of Disney, and the President of the United States.

I’ve been trying since his I first learned about his passing to put some thoughts down, and it’s been difficult. No, I did not personally know him–my closest interaction with him took place while I was visiting a friend of mine at Apple and saw Steve Jobs waiting in line in the cafeteria ultimately taking a seat a few tables away. But even that spoke volumes to me, to see such a successful person waiting in line.

So where do I begin to thank Steve Jobs for his impact on my life?

Is it the Apple IIe I first learned to type on in elementary school?
Is it the iPod providing the soundtrack for so many cross country trips?
Is it the Pixar movies that have made me laugh with friends?
Is it the iChat and FaceTime software that allows me to connect with others while I’m away?

It could be any one of these. I even attempted to do another one of those biography pieces that so many have written remembering this remarkable man. I agree that he was the Edison of our time.

But what I think is even remarkable about Steve Jobs is his failure and how it motivated him.

Here is a guy who bucks the rules for success and yet still totally achieved it.

Yes, he helped found Apple. Yes, he helped create the first Macintosh and launch the famous 1984 Super Bowl ad.

But he is also the guy who was fired by the company that he created. The people he brought it to help the company succeed moved him out.

Did he quite striving? No.

He went on to found another company which Apple would purchase years later. Yep, a decade later Apple would purchase his next creation and return him to the position of CEO. Oh yeah, and that technology would provide the building blocks for the Apple Store & iTunes software.

If that wasn’t enough, he also purchased another company. He invested a great deal of his own money into it, helping transition this hardware company into an animation company. We now know it at Pixar. For years, he lost millions of dollars in Pixar (a failure by most standards), but he was passionate about what they can do and this passion allowed the creative freedom Pixar needed to bring so beloved characters to life.

When he finally returned to Apple, he wasn’t bitter, he was driven. Soon we had the iMac and then years later the iPod.

And then he changed the game.

When I finally purchased my own MacBook in 2005, I remarked to my friends how easy it was to use and how much I wish that Apple would just make a cell phone.

My thought? A cell phone made by Apple. Same design as my Nokia–just made by Apple.

But Jobs never thought like that. He is always five steps ahead.

It wasn’t just a music player, it was the ease in purchasing that music. It was his ability to go to bat for the consumer experience.

He was a true innovator.

It allowed Apple to create the iPhone and the iPad.
It allowed Apple to set the pace.

And yet, he did this all with grace and humility.

Yes, there are stories about his temper, his standards, and his bluntness, but while he was tough, he was incredibly respected by his employees (at least those that I personally know).

He was known for his long sleeve t-shirt, his jeans, and his running shoes. He didn’t have an inflated CEO salary, just stock options. He would often still eat in the Apple cafeteria (where I saw him that one day). He used his money to invest in projects he believed in.

He would sit with old rivals and have incredible discussions (seriously, find any interview with him & Bill Gates–truly phenomenal conversations with the two of them).

And he looked to the future.

One of his last public presentations was to the Cupertino City Council about the new Apple Headquarters. It presented a whole new way of thinking about an office building and it remained in the town in which he grew up.

He was loyal.

There is much to say about Steve Jobs and I’m not doing the best here. I posted a link to this last night, and I want to post it again. I think he said it best during his Commencement Speech at Stanford University in 2005. I encourage you to take a few moments and watch it if you haven’t yet.

And here’s one more video. An earlier version of a 1997 ad where Steve Jobs actually does the voiceover that Richard Dreyfuss ultimately provided in the aired version.

Steve Jobs will be missed.

Special Note: I got the idea for the title of this from an illustration my friend and fellow speaker, Jason Kotecki, did on his blog. I encourage you to read it as well.

Last night as I did my dishes and cleaned my kitchen, I had the latest episode, “Constructing Serbia’s Largest Bridge,” playing in the background. I had just turned on my faucet when I heard the following:

Danny Forster, host: “Like the nearly one million bridges all over the world, the new Sava River Bridge in Belgrade is a unique solution to a unique set of challenges”

Martin Steinküehler, Project Manager: “Every bridge is a prototype, and every bridge is custom made, which you can see here–it’s a custom made pylon”

DF: “That is an amazing point. Every bridge is a prototype in that there has never been a condition with this geology. There’s never been a condition with this kind of traffic. There’s never been another condition that has this kind of wind. So design, the shape, the form, the height is all specific to this moment here in Belgrade.”

MS: “It is, and that’s why I like this job so much.”

I know they were talking about a bridge, but really, couldn’t they be talking about us?

Think about it.

Each of our lives are prototypes.

There has never been another person who has had the same set conditions, challenges, privileges, gifts, talents, struggles, etc. as you.

Yes, we can learn from others. The bridge in this episode is a cable stayed bridge like hundreds of other cable stayed bridges throughout the world. It utilizes many of the same principles. It can learn from other bridges and new technologies.

But in the end, it is unique.

I ended up sitting in my house thinking about this for quite some time last night. The past few weeks have been interesting to say the least (again, I’ll do a blog about them sometime soon), and I’ve been thinking about my current set of challenges. I would love for my “wind” to not be so intense and to have a bit more solid “geography” in my life to set down some firm feet.

But that isn’t in the cards.

Instead, my challenge…
OUR challenge
is to build our own prototype.

And if we do it well, perhaps we leave a lasting landmark.

The Sava River Bridge is being built in Serbia’s capital of Belgrade, still recovering for the Balkan Wars of the 1990’s. Buildings and bridges were destroyed and many lives were lost.

And yet they build…
…this beautiful prototype.

We’re all going to have struggles.
We’re all going to have challenges.
We’re all going to want moments with different circumstances.

It’s how we rise from these moments to bridge our gap into the next that makes life so interesting.

“It is, and that’s why I like this job so much.”

Don’t forget to take part in SUMMER SCHOOL, Patrick’s free six-week program to a better you.

We planned the trip back in February. Back then, we had our fingers crossed that the weather in the Bay Area would be pretty nice in April. Unfortunately, as the trip approached, it looked like we would be wrong. We started monitoring weather.com as soon as it could forecast our date, watching the forecast shift each day as our trip got closer and closer. We also watched our friends facebook posts. Sadly, they all described extreme cold, rain, and even some hail.

Things didn’t look well.

We called each other up as we packed. Umbrellas and heavier jackets found their way into our suitcases and we started to look at options for museums and indoor attractions in case the forecasted rain took place making an outside day in San Francisco a bit too miserable.

We landed in San Jose on Thursday night and had a really nice visit with my parents and my sister (currently working on her master’s degree in Social Work–she’s incredible!). They described how cold it had been in San Jose all that week and reiterated that San Francisco was probably even worse.

The next day, my girlfriend and I hopped in the car and headed up to the city, jackets and umbrellas packed, fearing the worse. And then we arrived in the city… and it was gorgeous.

Yes, there was some wind, but it wasn’t as bad as even the previous day. Yes, it was a little chilly (at least compared to the weather in Phoenix). But overall, the weather was perfect. The sky was blue and the presence of some clouds in the sky actually made the downtown even more beautiful. We enjoyed each activity throughout the day. As we headed out to dinner with one of my college friends and her husband, I couldn’t help but think that some of our joy in the day was simply in how great the weather was. We had expected the worse, and we experienced one of the best spring days San Francisco has offered so far this year.

I wondered if it would have been the same if we didn’t have the jackets or the umbrellas packed. The fact that we didn’t really need to use them other than a light sweatshirt here or there, made the day so pleasant. And yet, if we had to have them, we probably would have enjoyed the day anyways. We were stress free either way.

What is your preparation like?

Far too often, we only have the plan for sunshine and rainbows. If you look at a lot of our businesses and government organizations who are struggling right now, you can see their struggle simply due to the fact that they prepared budgets and business forecasts on far too optimistic scenarios. Had they prepared for the “rainy day” like a few currently thriving businesses had, they would be in far better circumstances.

Do you have a plan for your lunchtime rally if it indeed does rain? Or if the sound system breaks? Or if your computer crashes the night before the essay is due?

Sure, we can’t see every twist and turn that may come our way. There will be some surprises that catch us off-guard because they are indeed “surprises.”

But there are times where we can anticipate the “rain” and pack the umbrella. If we don’t need it, life can be pretty sweet.

Happy Monday, everyone.

But it wasn’t.

No, Rebecca Black’s Friday was unfortunately real, and it became a huge hit–or at least–widely viewed. People loved to hate the video making it the most disliked video on YouTube.

And yet people kept on sharing it.

Soon, Black was a guest on ABC, and the media raised the question of cyberbullying. Were people being too cruel?

(quick note: While I think the song is horrible and the video is ridiculous, I do think some of the online comments were beyond mean as people encouraged Black to kill herself. Wrong, mean, disgusting. But that is a different blog post).

Still, Black continued to appear in facebook newsfeeds and as a twitter trending topic. Reports of sales on iTunes became public. Was Black getting rich off this horrible song?

And then we come to today. The song really hit its stride just over two weeks ago and now there is hardly a mention of it online other than the publicized removal of the video earlier this week and its quick reinstatement.

I’ll admit I’ve wanted to write a blog about this video since I first saw it. Two weeks ago, I visited with several students out in Connecticut and we talked about the video before the start of a leadership conference. We all agreed it was a horrible song and video.

But it was published. It became popular.

Is this success? Is Rebecca Black a famous pop artist now? Will we still be talking about her a year from now?

My guess is no.

Rebecca Black’s family attempted to purchase instant fame. Pay $2,000 and record a music video. We’ll provide the music. We’ll provide the lyrics. We’ll upload it.

I don’t fault Black for a desire to be a performer. I don’t doubt that she loves to sing.

I take issue with the method that Black went about reaching this goal. A method we all tend to favor from time to time.

The Shortcut.

If Black really wanted to sing and perform, why did she write her own song? Why didn’t she wait for the right song? Why didn’t she take a few more vocal lessons instead of relying so heavily on autotune?

The answer: the shortcut is easier.

I watched the full ABC news story on her and listened to her acoustic rendition of Friday. Her singing voice isn’t perfect yet, but it’s definitely way better than my voice is even now. With some extra lessons, she might actually have a chance to one day do something although maybe not on a national stage.

Still, she (and her parents) picked this song and recorded this video and put their stamp on of approval on it. Sadly, she will be known for quite sometime as the Friday girl.

Contrast that with another YouTube sensation, Boyce Avenue. Their covers of popular songs have combined for over 250 million views on YouTube. They started posting in 2007. Their first videos lacked a lot o the polish of their latest, but their talent is present throughout. (Check out their recent covers of Just the Way You Are, Firework, and Fast Car.) During this time, they were also able to write and record their own original pieces. Now, they are in the middle on an international tour.

Long story short, there are far too many one hit wonders, and very few overnight successes.

Most people who achieve success spend countless hours perfecting their craft and enhancing their skill. Yet, we tend to get addicted to the quick route. We follow American Idol and cheer on the winner, but very few of those winners are still popular today. We want our path to success to simply be “fun, fun, fun, fun” but the truth is that while we may have joy during the journey, it tends to be a longer journey and it requires hard work.

We shouldn’t live the CliffsNotes version of life. We need to grow. We need to develop. We need to stretch ourselves.

It’s definitely difficult at times, but the end result is always worth it.

Enjoy your Friday!

I’ve enjoyed the past few weeks, but I’ve honestly been working or doing major activities ever since August 22nd. My days at home have been packed with morning meetings or events, and my weekends have been filled with fun gatherings with family, friends, and even an occasional speaking engagement. Again, I’m not complaining… I was just looking forward to some sleep.

…but early this morning, my house felt warm. It woke me up. I didn’t think too much about it at the time as I do program my AC to not turn on as frequently in the morning–but I thought I had made sure it would be cool, allowing my slumber to continue late into the morning.

I did a few things around the house in the morning, but started to really notice the temperature. It was then that I realized–my AC was broken.

This isn’t a good thing when you live in Arizona.

Now my day was thrown a bit off. Originally, I had planned to leave my house and run some necessary errands, preparing for a part of a retreat I’m doing tomorrow, some communication with clients, and packing for my flight out on Sunday for an event I’m doing Monday. Now, I had to wait around for the AC repairman.

Oh yeah, and I had to pick up my house. I’ll be honest and say that when I hit a super busy season of rapid fire trips in and out of my house, it can get a bit messy. I’ll dump a suitcase on the floor to quickly repack it with other things. I’ll have a stack or two of mail I need to sort. Right now, I live alone. This isn’t too much of a problem. I always clean it when I have more than two days at home in a row (I had planned to do a deep cleaning next week), but now I had an AC repairman on his way.

So my priorities shifted. I quickly cleaned. My other plans for the day were thrown off.

The house got clean (I still want to go deeper with it next week), but I felt scattered. The AC was repaired.

But half of my day was over.

I started to think about how perhaps my procrastination led to this whole situation. I could have signed up for a maintenance plan for the AC unit (something I’ve now done) and maybe that would have solved the problem before it started. I could have gradually cleaned my house and taken the 15 minutes after a long trip (even though I may be getting home well past midnight) to put a few things away, or sort through at least that day’s mail.

But I didn’t and I haven’t.

And because of this, I felt scattered at wasted part of my day.

Does this happen to you? Sure, we might be prepared. We might be ready to do our activity or host our event, but are you so prepared that you can handle when a few twists and turns are thrown your direction? In those moments are you able to place your focus on the solution or are you trying to make up for lost time?

I’m going to work to a be a bit more prepared in the coming weeks. That way if things don’t go wrong, I might actually be able to catch a few extra moments of shuteye on those rest days.

.. and I’ve seen it before
.. and I’ll see it again
.. yes I’ve seen it before
.. just little bits of history repeating

I believe there is a lot of truth the idea of history repeating. George Santayana said it best: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

I think the problem lies when we believe we have no role in changing our history, or breaking our cycles.

I had a conversation with one of my best friends today. He and I are quite similar in many regards. His common mistakes and flaws are almost identical to mine. His habits, cycles, and history are also the same. We end up being great advice people for one another because we can provide great perspective, and we can speak those harsh truths to one another, cutting to the core of our current situations. While discussing how we each could change our life at this point, there was some initial pushback on his part (I’d be on that end in another conversation, but it was my turn to give the harsh advice in this call). While he did ultimately agree, I could sense his hesitation. Our call ended well and I know one day the roles will likely be reversed again (it’s what a good friendship does).

Still, that history repeating notion was in my head throughout the day. It’s one of the reasons I listened to the Propellerheads song again.

And then I went for an evening walk to just think, and I thought about flying.

I’ve noticed my regular conversation with people today is “where’ve you been?” or “where you going?” Several of the questions on my new formspring page are travel related. It’s true, I do love travel. That’s been the case since I was a kid, but if I’m honest…

…I wasn’t always a good traveler.

My parents brought the family on several cross country trips for conferences. I think it’s where I got a bit of that traveling bug. While many of my childhood friends had more toys than me, I usually got to go somewhere in the US during the summer. I’d fly on planes, sit in cars, and even was able to ride in a sleeper car on a train on one trip. But…

…I’d often get sick.

There were several years (including some during middle school) where if I changed timezones, I’d get ill. It wasn’t the flu. It wasn’t food poisoning. Something it my head just made me sick. I’d get so excited for these conferences and after a flight back east, I’d wake up only to miss the first day, spending it sick in my room. There were even a few airplane flights where I got ill.

When I was elected Governor for the California-Nevada-Hawaii District of Key Club back in high school, I was really worried about my few trips back east. Would history repeat itself again?

It wasn’t really until that year where I got over a lot of my mental blocks with travel. I finally could take off or land on a plane without feeling I had to have piece of gum, I found the ability to sleep on a flight, and I could switch a timezone without having any illness the next day. Now, I can go 7-10 days in a row with a flight each day, popping around the US and changing timezones more than a newborn child changes Onesies.

In other words, my history didn’t repeat. My “history” got better. It got more exciting.

I think it’s because I followed the George Santayana quote more than the Propellerheads song. I could learn from my past to make sure it didn’t happen again. I eat better when I travel now. I try to get the necessary sleep. I take an early morning flight out as it is easier for me to sleep on the plane. And I also just tell myself: “you’re not going to get sick.”

It seems to work.

Travel is one thing, but our lives and our bigger struggles are another. I know that I’ll probably be on the other end of the conversation with my good friend sometime down the road. Hopefully, he’ll come back at me with some good solid advice, and talk to me about ways my history might not repeat.

The elliptical I used today was in perfect view of the Kids Club at my gym. I find it to be a hilarious scene, often times with the biggest, toughest guys in the gym transforming into their “daddy” roles, or a gaggle of kids emerging with an exhausted mom who probably enjoyed her only “me” time of the day. Today, one of the little guys caught my eye.

He couldn’t have been more than one and a half. He was small, wearing those funny baby pants that would be shorts on any normal human being, but fit babies perfectly. He stood at the door. His dad was in the process of checking him out of the club, but seemed to be having a conversation with the babysitters. The little guy wanted out.

Over the course of five minutes, he attempted over and over again to open up the door. He’d stand on his tippy-toes, grab the handle, and bring it down, only to be confused by what to do next. He looked directly at me a few times, apparently in hopes of getting a clue, but I didn’t think assisting in an escape was my best option. After every attempt, he’d look back at his dad–not to get sympathy, but to check if anyone was watching–and then try again. A few times he almost lost his balance, but he never fell down. He just grabbed that handle and released the door, unable to physically push it open.

Halfway through this, the other kids in the room, saw what he was doing. They moved closer to the baby gate, not even attempt to grab its handle. I imagine if they could talk it would sound like that scene from The Waterboy, but they were too young, and so instead they looked at him, eyes filled with hope.

I was surprised by the little guy’s disposition. He never cried, never whined, and never gave up.

Failure.

Tippy-toes, grab handle, release door latch, and…

Failure.

Tippy-toes, grab handle, release door latch, and…

Failure.

Finally, his dad picked up his gym bag, turned around, picked up the little guy with one arm, and carried him out of the gym.

I still had some more time left on the elliptical, providing me a moment to think.

I wonder if we are still really attempting to open up the doors in our life. Sure, there are the easy ones we walk through, but are we really problem solving anymore or pushing ourselves? When was the last time you attempted something in life that required you to get on your tippy-toes, only to fail again? When you did fail, did you turn around and look for sympathy, or did you try again?

I’m not saying I’m perfect at this. To be honest, I think I’ve been waiting for some to open doors for me, but part of me isn’t satisfied with that. Part of me wants to step up and try something tougher.

What about you?

But you can see from the title of this blog entry, it isn’t about The Blind Side. It’s about one of the trailers I saw before the feature. In nine days, Invictus will hit the theatres. Based on the true story of newly elected President Nelson Mandela and his challenge to unite his country torn apart by years of apartheid, the already appears to be one of the best films coming out this holiday season. The film focuses primarily on the Mandela’s seemingly strange idea to inspire and unite the country by winning the Rugby World Cup.

I watched the trailer and a phrase kept popping out as did the strange title. It took me only a matter of seconds of searching to learn that the phrases come from William Ernest Henley’s poem, Invictus. The words resonate even more when you realize that Henley wrote them from a hospital bed, on one of his frequent visits (he had one foot amputated, and was likely fighting the amputation of his second foot when the poem was written). Still, Henley writes:

OUT of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

The last two lines jumped out of me during the trailer. Those last two lines jump out at me when I think about what Henley endured.

I think for many, 2009 was still a very rough year. The economy isn’t full recovered and a lot of us simply feel a certain burden. News reports about the holidays seem to always transition to pocketbooks. People are in jobs they don’t necessarily like because they are afraid they can’t get new ones. People want to be charitable, but they aren’t sure if they will be the one needing charity soon. And that’s just the economy… that doesn’t even consider war, the healthcare debate, our divided country, etc. It’s a stress. It’s a burden. It’s preventing us from fully living.

I don’t want to gloss over and say that life is easy or that life is perfect. I’ve had several close friends negatively impacted by the economy. Others are currently serving overseas. When I watch the news, I can link the news story to a close friend or relative and it adds.

But then there is Mandela, there is Henley, and a poem called Invictus. The title is latin for “unconquered.” There are many burdens that we will bear. Life will be tough at times, and in those times, we must ask ourselves if we will be conquered or if we can be “masters of our fate.”

]]> http://www.pmaurer.com/invictus/feed/ 1 http://www.pmaurer.com/failing-up/ http://www.pmaurer.com/failing-up/#comments Wed, 27 May 2009 16:41:46 +0000 admin http://www.pmaurer.com/?p=275 So the scene ended with my Hammer-Pants-wearing-semi-roller-skating crew running into the plate spinning crew at the middle school talent show, causing the class-assigned “wife” of one of the plate spinners to drop their electronic baby from home economics. Yep, just a Tuesday night practice at Comedy Sportz.

I’m back in San Jose, California for a few weeks due to various speaking engagements, weddings, conferences, and camps. It’ll be nice to spend some time with local family and friends, and with Comedy Sportz San Jose, the family-friendly improvisational comedy troupe where I performed for four years. I arrived in time for our Tuesday night practice. People ask me, “How do you rehearse improvisation?”  The simple answer is you just get up and do it.

It’s really about stopping yourself from stopping yourself. Far too often we get in our heads and we worry about failure. Once you get over that fear, it’s a lot easier.

I’ll be performing in the 9pm show this Friday and the practice was good for me. I’m a bit rusty having not done a show in several months. Luckily, my first scene of the practice took place with the founders of Comedy Sportz San Jose. It’s a great feeling to be on stage and know that the person in the scene is not going to let you fail—that you can take that risk, and something good is going to come of it. I like that team environment.

I thought about saw a trailer for the new Pixar movie, UP. If you have a chance watch The Pixar Story. I’ve seen it twice, and the level of failure the creators of Pixar faced in their early days blows me away. Many were fired from their dream jobs for thinking outside of the box.  When they formed Pixar, they nourished that type of thinking, allowing people to decorate their cubicles however they’d like and hosting annual paper airplane contests in their cafeteria, all while putting out some of the best animated films ever.

During a Comedy Sportz rehearsal, we might take a moment to point out a habit someone is developing in character, in scene convention, in vocal patterns, etc. The Tuesday nights are used to try something different to push ourselves to another level. A few weeks ago, the cast focused just on accents. This week we spent time working on the Tarantino storytelling method. Pixar does the same thing. They purposefully break habits. When they saw that they were ending all their films with outtakes, they removed them. When they realized that everyone who directed a film was an original Pixar member, they brought in Brad Bird to challenge their way of thinking. Each film takes on a new challenge that the animators, computer programmers, and storytellers have to master. UP is no different as Pixar heads into the 3D era.

I’ve seen far too many groups hold themselves back by falling into habits and not supporting one another while they take appropriate risks. They insulate themselves from the viewpoints of outsiders, and it hurts them.

We need to not be afraid. We need to stop ourselves from stopping ourselves.

As I sit here, I’ve been thinking about my past week and its collection of experiences.

On Wednesday, I spoke to a group of students at South Lake Tahoe Middle School. I’m surprised they are even able to focus in school as it sits in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I scheduled a quick one-day trip, flying in that morning and out in the evening. Before I travel in fall or winter, I check the forecast, but I figured with it being June I didn’t have much to worry about and simply tossed on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. As I drove from Reno, I started to see… SNOW. Yep, good ole-fashioned, “how’s Frosty doing?” snow. For some of you, that might not be a big deal, but I live in N. CA. It has snowed a total of 2 times where I live in my lifetime and both of those occassions were for about 15 minutes–but now, in the MONTH OF JUNE, it was snowing. I was not dressed for the occassion and was quite cold.

The program went fairly well and I was able to make it back to my flight in plenty of time only to get stuck in the security line with what had to be a trainee. She ran each bag 3 times and then had someone inspect my bag (which always cracks me up when I do teambuilding days and carry on a bag full of beach balls, balloons, yarn, clothespins, etc.) When I finally got out of the line, I walked right onto my plane.

A nice woman sat down next to me. For the first 1/2 of the flight we hardly shared a word, but then we began chatting. I’m always a bit surprised by how an airplane conversation begins. Some take off–others don’t (the conversation that is). This woman was quite incredible–very successful, very driven, and yet very much in search of something else. She had found in recent years that life wasn’t quite the plan she expected initially. Her husband after a few short years of marriage was diagnosed and died of cancer in 3 months. Within the next 3 years she lost her father and all of her brothers to heart disease. Now, she sits as the head of a very successful company and wants her life to be something more.

As I left the plane I thought about the two contrast events of that day–I hadn’t adequately prepared for my trip (a sweater would have been nice), and yet here was a woman who had done all the correct preparation (in our modern sense) for life–and yet life itself went and surprised her anyway. I guess we can’t plan for every twist and turn that will happen in life–some will be sweet (I love seeing falling snow), others will be bitter–but I guess they are all part of the next chapter.

This woman I met is looking at the next chapter and really open to the possibility it may present. She didn’t seem sad at the hardships she faced, although they obviously have to have some influence on her. She was simply looking forward to today.

As we left the plane, two young passengers continuing on the flight sat and smiled at each exiting passenger. “Have a nice day!” “Enjoy your day!” they said.

“Isn’t that the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?” the woman said to me as we walked up the ramp.

Yeah, it was pretty nice.

Enjoy your day everybody (but maybe check the forecast if you’re headed to Tahoe)