Dropping the baton

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched. Aesop C 550 B.C. I’m not sure if you remember the 2008 summer Olympic Games, but in the track and field category, there was one event that was particularly disappointing: the 4 by 100 meter relay race. For those not familiar with a relay race, each team has four runners. One runner starts the race and carries a baton. At the end of 100 meters, there’s a transfer zone where the runner hands the baton to the next runner. If the hand off isn’t completed in the designated zone — or …
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Learning to walk

We have met the enemy and it is us. The comic strip Pogo Walt Kelly 1913 – 1973 Some time ago, I was in the presence of a year-old child who was learning to walk. Watching a child going through this process can be fairly entertaining, since they have very little control at first. But they’re always eager to learn. She would take a few tentative steps and then either sit down or fall down. Everyone would clap, laugh and offer words of encouragement. When the child fell, someone would help her back to her feet and she would try …
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What’s your worst mistake?

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live. Leo Buscaglia 1924 – 1998 If you reflect back on your life, what’s the worst mistake you ever made? Think about it a moment. If you’re anything like me, you’ve made quite a few mistakes in your lifetime. Most of us have trouble letting go of our missteps; we relive them in our minds and want to go back and correct them. But I would …
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