As I sit here eating yet another Samoa, I remember my single-digit days when Iâd don my green uniform, carefully arrange my badge-encrusted sash, and head out to knock on neighborsâ doors, Girl Scout cookie order sheet in hand. There was an iceberg in my stomach and my knees knocked as I pressed the first doorbell, though the fear eventually subsided. The more front doors that were opened by smiling people the smaller the iceberg became, the more stable my knees became, and the more fun I started having, whether those people bought any cookies or not.
I wonder how many successful women started that way. Did you?
This is Girl Scout Week. Not to take anything away from the more testosterone-laden half of society, this week is designed to shine a spotlight on the more than 50 million women whoâve been part of Girl Scouts, plus the girls currently in the program.
Were you part of a scouting program? If so, itâs likely that you grew up learning more leadership skills, better communicatio...
Have you ever thought about harnessing up 16 sled dogs, putting them in front of a sled loaded with dog food, survival gear, and a few protein bars for you, and heading out for a week or two into arctic weather, 1128 miles of rugged trail conditions, and wildlife that might want to hurt you?
Yeah, me neither! Yet thatâs just what thirty-three otherwise rational humans are doing right now.
There were forty mushers â 7 mushers withdrew from the Iditarod before it even started. Came to their senses, you might say? Many others would join that chorus â for the thirty-three mushers, this is what theyâve waited and trained for their entire lives. The challenge of whatâs called the Last Great Race on Earth is one they feel theyâre up for, and the âprove itâ is happening now on the windswept wilderness between Fairbanks and Nome, Alaska. Some teams will be on the trail for eight or 9 days, most far longer, and some teams will scratch along the way, ending their shot at completing the Iditarod...
Today, letâs talk about hugs. Are you a hugger? I am. Whenever I feel a connection to someone my default is to want to hug them. Not everyoneâs a hugger, though, so occasionally the hug impulse has to be squelched.
Why do humans hug? Have you ever wondered about that? Turns out, hugging is addictive behavior. Hugging is also crucial to infants, helping them survive, and hugging is one of the best ways to lower stress in your body.
Hugs feel good. Hugs are good. But how do they constitute âaddictive behaviorâ in humans? Because the act of being in a hug, whether initiating or accepting it, releases dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin, which are the natural feel-good chemicals in our bodies. Physical touch, hugs included, triggers the release of endorphins, our bodiesâ natural painkillers.
Turns out, we love hugging and being hugged because we love the way it makes us feel. We have an addiction to our own âhappy drugsâ and hugs satisfy the need to feel accepted, included, and loved. If ...
âTis the season that those of us in the northern hemisphere bundle up. And those of us with dogs, especially the small and relatively hairless ones, bundle their dogs up, too. If thatâs you today, you have unwittingly celebrated todayâs fun holiday â itâs Dress Up Your Pet Day.
Iâm not ashamed to admit it â for most of my life I would have scoffed at this holiday, so if youâre rolling your eyes, itâs ok. I have had Siberian Huskies all my adult life, and theyâre a breed that needs no bundling up in cold weather. Mother Nature literally designed them to be comfy in arctic conditions. Iâve never bought a coat or sweater for my dogs, and the only time any of them have worn booties is when they were loaned to a friend to run on his sled dog team for the winter. So no, Iâm not someone who dresses up her dogs, except maybe at Halloween for a quick photo op.
That is, until I got my current Siberian, Kacey. It was during the pandemic lockdown that she moved from my friend Lisaâs house to min...
Last week a dear friend asked me a question, and Iâm going to ask you the same one: do you make New Yearâs resolutions?
My answer is no. Iâve been on this planet long enough to have experienced my pattern of good intentions and so-so results when trying to make life changes in the middle of winter, my least-favorite season. Whatâs your answer?
No matter which side youâre on, Team Resolution or Team Go With the Flow, youâre in good company. About half of Americans make resolutions at the changing of the year, and the rest of us donât. For those who do, only about 10% will succeed at their stated goal, and the other 90% will tap out this week or next.
Yes, most people who make resolutions give themselves two weeks or less before throwing in the towel. Turns out, the idea of change is much more fun than the reality of instituting that change. When you understand how habits form and are reinforced inside your brainâs architecture, this wave of mass January failure makes perfect sense.
...Oh, we human beings cherish endings and beginnings. From baby showers to funerals, housewarmings to homecomings, and of course to the hoopla around the changing of the year, the celebrations for the milestones in our lives show us just how important these events are.
But why?
Many of the traditions around endings and beginnings have been in place for hundreds of years, maybe even thousands of years, and in some cases far more than thousands of years. Around 100,000 years ago humans started intentionally burying their dead. In the century or so BCE, the Romans started celebrating birthdays, though usually only menâs birthdays and then only the big milestones, like 50 and 60 years. In the Renaissance period, families with wealth and nobility began celebrating birthdays amongst themselves. The concept of childrenâs birthday parties developed in Germany in the 1800âs and the brave new world of consumer products had a fresh itch to scratch. The origins of tonightâs changing-of-the-year fe...
If thereâs a high-water mark for brains, Alfred Nobel probably etched it. In his last will, signed in Paris on November 27th, 1895, he left the bulk of his fortune to a special prize fund. He passed away just over a year later, and his legacy lives on today with the awarding of this yearâs Nobel Prizes.
Nobel wanted the money heâd made in his varied and successful life to be invested well, and each year the organization he created would award monetary prizes. The categories he specified are those he was most interested in during his own life: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. The awards would go to âthose who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.â
Which brings us to we mere mortals â what is our benefit to humankind? Itâs common for people to wonder what their purpose in this life is, and to wonder if theyâre doing enough to âearn their keepâ in this world. If your thoughts occasionally venture down roads ...
Are you a veteran? Thank you! Are you the parent or sibling or child or spouse/partner of a veteran? Thank you! And yes, Veterans Day was yesterday â there are not enough ways to thank those who choose to serve in ways that most of us wouldnât. Veterans are vital to the survival of our country â thank you to everyone who serves and has served.
And then thereâs this weird, confusing piece:
Veterans Day is often treated as a very somber occasion, and Iâve never really figured that one out. On Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember Americans who died in battle, we have cookouts and fireworks. On Veterans Day, a day set aside to thank those who fought on behalf of our nation and returned home, there is a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington Cemeteryâs Tomb of the Unknowns, a monument to military men and women who died in battle and whose remains were not recovered.
Iâm pretty sure we have the observances flipped, arenât you? The fireworks and picnics belong to Veterans Day and ...
What are you passionate about? What do you do to share your passion? When youâre sharing your passion, do you feel like youâre in your sphere of genius?Â
Today Iâm at the Saint Bernard Club of Americaâs National Specialty, a huge annual show held this year in Loveland CO. Do I have a Saint Bernard? No. Do I want a Saint Bernard? No â I admire the breed and it is way more dog than I want to try to manage, though they are sweet as they can possibly be. Iâm there because theyâve invited me to come and share what I know about being more successful in the show ring, and about canine structure and movement.  Â
Kinda random, right? And today, as you read this, Iâm standing firmly and happily in my sphere of genius. I want you to know how to do it, too. So back to those first three questions, because theyâre the springboard to you stepping into your own sphere of genius:Â
Six seasons. One hundred eighty episodes. Syndicated in dozens of languages in countries worldwide. Almost 75 years since it debuted, the I Love Lucy show still attracts over 40,000,000 viewers each year.
Howâs that for a silly half-hour sitcom?
Turns out, the sitcom created as a showcase for Lucille Ball and her then-husband, Desi Arnaz, was more than simply a showcase. Itâs a deceptively simple, incredibly complex series of life lessons about humor, acceptance, perseverance, and trust. With comical storylines crafted around core values, along with four main characters who are instantly relatable and likable, the I Love Lucy show changed the landscape of television and of how people viewed relationships, friendships, and careers.
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