Patch Adams & Life Lessons

The mix of blue/gray hair, a ponytail, & his outrageous clown suit, those were my memories of Patch Adams from 1999.  Yesterday, we walked him to our Children’s Cancer Hospital & watched him engage kids & families, helping them escape their cancer fight for a few moments by just clowning around.  As he was leaving I told him, “When I heard you speak in 1999 I was all about my research & keynotes on the benefits of worksite wellness, but you pulled me out of my head & into my heart, now I teach more classes & keynote on joy, happiness, & living fully each day.”  He grabbed my head & brought it to his shoulders, patted my head as he made cooing sounds, and his approval was awesome!  Plan to clown-around a little more today.      

Passion Buddy

It started as a long distance relationship in the mid-80s when Michael O’Donnell asks me to be one of the founding members of the American Journal of Health Promotion.  In 1988, we finally met at a conference where I was doing my usual fly-in-speak-fly-out.  We talked as I packed, but in those few minutes we both silently realized we’d probably be “passion buddies” for life.  In 1994, Michael asks me to write the Program Management chapter for the 2^nd Edition of his very popular Health Promotion in the Workplace text, followed by the 3^rd Edition in 2002, and the newly published 4^th Edition in 2014.  I look at the new text with pride, but what I really see is 30 years of a friendship inspired by passion.  Find a passion buddy today and be inspired for life!

Tuesdays with Morrie

If you haven’t read Tuesdays with Morrie it’s a good read and full of the wisdom and insight we want to pass on to those we love.  I was working as a hospice volunteer when I first picked it up, and living the book with several of my cases.  Carl would wait for me on the bench outside his nursing home with his walker.  Some days I’d help him walk a few yards to just stand under the trees, one day we took a ride in my Miata convertible.  His smile grew as we drove past houses, schools, and parks.  We stopped at his old church, too tired to get out, and after long minutes of silence he said with tears in his eyes, “Good to be going home”. 

Strengths – Never Too Old to Try

My first summer job outside of Louisiana was at Camp Rio Vista in Kerrville, Texas. Seventeen and one of the youngest water front counselors; this was a summer for many “firsts”. I learned I was a natural goofy foot surfer after long weekends surfing Port Aransas, and in the springs of San Marcus did my first scuba diving. My best friend at camp ran the archery program, and I spent most of my off hours with a bow in my hands. I was a natural at archery, and after that summer back in the swamps of Louisiana, where friends carried sawed off shotguns for poisonous snakes, I carried a bow and 5 arrows. We learn our strengths through trial and error and we are never too old to try.

Sky Button

We’d met in basic training at Fort Sill in the late 60’s.  The Oklahoma heat never bothered him and his contagious smile and Cajun humor kept our tent laughing all summer.  I’d lost track of my Cajun friend when he left for Vietnam, till a letter informed me the “Cajun smile” had died trying to rescue another tunnel rat.  It was a day full of too many tears that started nightmares I fought off for years.  Friday, as I entered the sky bridge elevator, read “SKY” and pressed the up button, I instantly felt that Cajun smile as he pushed the SKY button and left this world years ago, leaving his pain and my nightmares far behind.  Today choose the SKY button and up your gratitude and attitude for another day of life. 

Friday Rituals

Fridays always haven’t been the end of my week. Many of my Army Fridays were just another day to put on a flak vest, helmet, 21 rounds for my .45, and 360 rounds for my M16. In graduate school Fridays started before sunrise and 3-day weekend shifts working in the emergency room to cover family expenses. I had a ritual to stop in a park before I went to the hosptial, and take a short walk around the playground watching and listening to my kids that weren’t there, but in my own way spending time with them. We create simple rituals that help us through times when life disconnects us from those we love. What rituals are important in your life today?

MD Anderson Cares! Indoor Bike Barns

I’ve been riding my bike to work in the cool October weather.  Last year I bought a Sun Atlas Cargo bike with a steel frame that weighs 50 pounds, and has an extended back rack that carries 4 grocery bags, and a front rack that easily carries a case of 6, 1-gallon water bottles.  What’s so neat about riding my bike to work?  I can park it inside my building in a Bike Barn that has showers, restrooms, and lockers.  How cool is that?  Over 600 MD Anderson employees ride their bikes to work each day, and our 3^rd indoor bike barn is being constructed in the Zayed building.  MD Anderson cares about its employees’ health and well-being!

Start of a New Day

Most mornings I wake, and find myself looking down what feels like a tunnel for the courage to let go and focus on healing, and to be all of me again today.  Some mornings the tunnel stays around longer, but most mornings it slips away as my passion and excitement to get to do life another day triggers the courage I need to be me.  Passion and excitement fueled by a mirage of life experiences, and felt in a joy filled millisecond.  Filled with joy, I start my morning prayers and meditation.  How do you start your day? 

Enjoy the Passage of Time

What fun!  Halloween decorations are going up around the neighborhood making our evening walks a whole new adventure.  One of my favorites is where jack-o’-lanterns are hung throughout the branches of three majestic live oaks.  The other night I stood under the jack-o’-lanterns and listened to James Taylor sing, “The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time, any fool can do it, there ain’t nothing to it”.  Some days, I do this better than others, and on those days I don’t work so hard at just enjoying the journey.  Know what I mean?  Today, don’t work so hard at getting somewhere, instead be present for the passage of time.   

James Taylor Secret of Life

Delusional Happiness

It was one of the last comments and she questioned the potential dangers of delusional happiness. When we use the practice of gratitude, joy, and laughter to provide breaks from the stressors of life, can this disconnect us from reality? It rained hard on Sunday, but for just a few minutes at dusk the sky was streaked with splashes of pink. I pulled over and watched it through my scooter mirror and felt joy, an edge in me that streaks my life’s reality with happiness. For me joy is not a disconnect, but a calming breath filled with hope and the need to be. Streak your life with an edge of joy.

Intent on an Adventurous Journey

Last week I taught in Austin at the UT Work-Life Balance & Wellness program for faculty and staff.  My first class was the art of calm which looks at several mindfulness practices that quiet the mind encouraging participants to settle deeper into the present moment, just for itself.  For it is through this centering or grounding that we distill our intentions down to core actions that reenergize our passion and purpose for this adventurous journey we call life.  Tap into your inner wisdom by letting go of yesterday, and tomorrow, and live fully in the present moment.   

Believe and Shine

There are times when life moments blend in ways that transform our understanding and the emotions tied to words forever.  I’d been reading scriptures out loud to him, looked up and realized he was passing as the sunlight “shined” on his bed.  I told him not to be afraid, but to go with the light.  Friday, I stood in the Indian Orthodox Church before my talk listening to the prayers and chants in a language I didn’t understand, but instantly was drawn back to the sunlight in his room as I held his hand and felt a warmth as he died.  Shine - you could hear it in their chants, see it in their eyes, and feel it in the warmth surrounding all.  Believe and shine!

End Tobacco

In 2014, the American Cancer Society has estimated that 1,665,540 Americans will develop cancer and 585,720 will die from this disease changing the lives of their families forever.  The data is clear that weight and inactivity are threatening to overtake tobacco as the #1 risk factor for cancer, but tobacco is still an issue in many communities where secondhand smoke kills 50,000 nonsmokers a year.  Yesterday, my wife and I testified at the Houston City Council meeting supporting extending the smoking ban into several high pedestrian traffic areas.  I hope our actions yesterday in Houston inspire others to take a stand in their communities.  Take a stand and save lives!