Recalibrate Your Work, Rest, and Play.
previous issues of the sabbatical lifestyle
What My 95-Yr-Old Neighbor/Friend/Priest's Boxing Exploits Have to Do With Your Life Goals
I just compared notes about my former boxing days with my 95-yr-old neighbor/friend/priest (<----- never words I ever thought I'd string together), and I had an "aha" moment... "Punch through the target, not at the target" is a truism of boxing...AND OF LIFE.
The Worst Type of Travel? A Guilt Trip
Why do we let kids have all the back-to-school fun? (This includes tubs of paste. Remember those? I longed for a fresh tub of paste every year, no matter how much I left unused the previous year. I know what you're thinking, , but I didn't eat it. I left that job to Jamie King in Mrs. Economy’s 1st grade classroom. I guess I just saw hope…possibility…and sweet satisfaction when I opened a fresh new tub. Yep...I find inspiration in inanimate objects like any good child of an artist/counselor. ;)
The Upside of Those Voices in Your Head
"I talk to myself more than I listen to myself," said Dr. James Gills, a super-accomplished surgeon who's published more than 180 medical articles, edited or authored eight medical textbooks, competed in 46 marathons (including 18 Boston marathons), completed 14 mountain terrain endurance events of 100 miles or more, and run in nearly 20 assorted races of 50 miles or more, completed six Double Iron Triathlons within the 36-hour maximum time frame, and completed five Hawaii Ironman Triathlon World Championships...oh, and raised six children.
Blocks of Cheese, Dr. Pimple Popper, and Numbing Out
Amid reports of more mass shootings, you might opt to numb out. I understand. Most of us use something in our lives to numb out when we don’t know how to handle or process our distress.
Aging, Lessons Learned, and What Level Are You?
I’m writing you from my family's lake home, where I'm staring at the deck umbrella that's bent perpendicular and cannot be restored. It was one of those "accidentally left the umbrella open during a storm" moments by a family member.
The 3 Biggest Lessons of My 40th Year
Imagine the awkward burn lines. (Not quite as awkward as the lines I used to get playing fastpitch. Shout out to the red stripe across the top of my fivehead, compliments of a visor…you’re the real MVP.)
Imagine the tomato-colored skin earned from (an arguably short) time in the unrelenting Baja California Sur sun (she said with a hint of defensiveness).
Imagine the sting from the light brush of my caftan billowing in the breeze.
3 Tips for When Your Overload Is On Overdrive...
It's true confessions time. Does your life feel unreasonably busy? Do you work your tail off each day... but still feel like you’re never doing enough?🙋🙋🙋 There's a big, ol' chorus of people who feel this way. So many of us live in a constant state of fear and distress that no matter how hard we push, we’re still not doing enough. But what if you are?
I Like Big Bones and I Cannot Lie...
Was at my nephew Spencer’s grad party this past weekend, which happened to fall on Father’s Day. It was a lunch lady sitch for me, which is ideal for making convo with all kinds of friends I’ve not yet met.
Big talk, small talk. I love it all. Size doesn’t matter. Actually, that’s not true. Size absolutely matters (it’s not what you’re thinking, perv).
Building My Own Damn Pool, That Time I Enjoyed An Extra 2 Inches, and the Liberation Lifestyle
“By the time we hit 40, most of us face a reality that can look quite different from the future we anticipated at 25. Sure, there’s a spiritual maturity--a deepening self-awareness and introspection--that results from embracing (Getting hit upside the head with?) the truth about ourselves. If we’re honest, though, it’s a bit more confusing, searching, and scary than we’d imagined…”
Cancer Sucks
I said goodbye to her roughly 60 minutes before she passed.
It was both painful and beautiful to witness her end of life.
As I left her cute little house in a quiet suburb--where the shades were drawn as her wife, friend, and parents were holding vigil--I couldn't help but notice the study in contrast: the shadowed, trough-like yin energy inside the house and the bright, active yang energy of the neighborhood streets.
The Problem With All Those Intro/Extroversion Buzzfeed Quizzes
I’m sure I’m not the first person you’ve heard say that too many smart, driven 40-somethings lack personal satisfaction (cue the Rolling Stones). There’ve been a lot of think pieces over the years about midlife malaise—the overload, fear, and frustration.
That Time a Kid Threw a Rock at My Face
If I asked you where your midlife satisfaction comes from, you’d likely rattle off a list of accomplishments:
Promotion at work
A loving partnership
Feeling fit
A big nest egg for retirement
Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro
Okay, maybe you hit pause on that last one. But I imagine you’d feel pretty great once the altitude sickness wore off, right?
Here's Why Your Midlife Struggle Has Nothing to Do With You
“I have everything that should make me feel satisfied—but I feel so guilty because I’m not and it feels like something is missing. Why?”
A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to 40...
A funny thing happened on the way to 40. I went in search of self-worth but instead gained self-acceptance.
Two Human Thighs and a Swimsuit
I thought I was a friend to myself. Then I spent a week in a swimsuit.
What the Luck: Your 4-Step Patty Party
When I think about how much I’ve grown in the past 2 years alone, I feel pretty darn lucky. Which is timely since St. Patrick’s Day is this Sunday. But I use “luck” here on purpose…because there’s a science to luck. And that’s what I’m here to share today. Lucky you!
Crisis Subverted
“A ‘midlife crisis’ happens to other people, not me.” I told myself. Genial, hard working, multi-talented…I could maneuver most situations like a human Swiss Army Knife. But as I approached 38, I entered into a two-year period I couldn’t maneuver out of…
That Time I Left the 2018 Snowmaggedon for Cabo and Everything was Magical
We're having an impossibly beautiful snowpocalypse here in Minnesota. "Impossibly" because I can't get out my back door to take a proper picture of the soft, gleaming blanket of fresh powder. But, trust me, I've got Norman Rockwell-type beauty outside my window.
Which, ironically, has me thinking about my upcoming spring break to Cabo.
Which has me thinking about last year's spring break trip...also to Cabo.
Can You Talk to Your Mom About Vegas "Cock Ranches"?
I was in the middle of listening to Mom and Dad recount their travels in the American Southwest--Hoover Dam! Grand Canyon! A mountain top near Taos!--when they mentioned their forthcoming stay in Vegas.
Cutting the MacBook Strings: bringing meaning back to "not working"
Nearly two months ago, my friend had a baby. But for all the time she spends feeding him, burping him, changing his diaper, putting him down, or picking him up, I’m pretty sure I currently spend more time each day with my laptop (#startuplife #onlinecoaching).