Tag Archives: commitment

Health

Patient Patients

By Shae Hadden | Bio

How often do we relate to our health as we grow older as something ‘less than’ what it was in the past? I am reminded of a dear friend in her 20s who has lived with polio all her life. For her, the baseline of health is so very different than mine, and yet, as she grows older, she too is caught up in the ‘less than’ comparison. Over the past few months, I have been discovering another way of relating to my health—both present and future. I have been discovering that I am not my health or any story I may have about what was possible in the past or what’s possible in the future for my body. I am learning how to be a patient patient, a middle-aged woman committed to my healing process.

Being
a patient patient is surrendering to ‘what is’ and being committed to
our own healing process—no matter what that involves. For me, this
shows up these days as learning how to balance regaining my strength
after several months of illness and surgery and the need to keep moving
my body and stimulating my mind to support my beleaguered immune system
and enhance my recovery. The balance shifts constantly: one day there’s
an

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Leadership

The Election

By Jim Selman | Bio

One more day and we’ll know for sure who will be our President. If we accept the polls, it looks like a slam-dunk for Obama. (I already voted for him.) But even should there be a miracle for McCain, the nation faces a moment of truth unlike any time that I can recall’—at least not since the end of the Civil War. I am talking about how we get beyond the LEFT versus RIGHT schism that has divided and fragmented our nation and made a mockery of what we used to say in the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ when we declared ourselves to be “One Nation Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All”.

I am betting that Obama is sincere in his commitment to this and that he will have the leadership skills to inspire and unite a divided nation. This is a lot more than just ‘working across the aisle’—although that might be a good start. Rather, it means confronting the institutionalized identities that political entrepreneurs have used to garner power. We must stop labeling each other as ‘black Americans’, ‘Hispanic Americans’ ‘Gay Americans’ and on and on.

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Health

Cancer

By Vince DiBianca | Bio

Over the last year or two, I’ve found myself surrounded by family and friends who have been diagnosed with cancer of different forms. I’d say the number amounts to a dozen people. Of these, only two are in remission (breast cancer and testicular cancer). Six have passed away (after lengthy chemo/radiation) and the remaining four are in the midst of their “battle”, as it’s put. These are, seemingly, not great odds of survival.

This seems like an unusually high incidence rate in such a short time. Is it our age? Is it The Age? I can’t attribute it purely to aging since these people range in age from their early 40s to their 80s. Trying to identify the cause of their cancer feels hopeless. Is it genetics, high stress, diet-related, environmental toxins, virus/fungus or bacteria-related, a run-down immune system, lack of nurturing, happenstance, fate or something else? I have my suspicions, but

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Fearless Aging

Friendship

By Jim Selman | Bio

I am spending a few days with my best
friends—11 guys who get together a couple of times a year to share our experience of our lives and support each other through difficult times or to celebrate accomplishments. We usually meet at Vince’s farm at least once a year. It is a magnificent property in Western New Jersey with geese, chickens, horses, a couple of llamas and lots of deer on a rolling green framing a revolutionary era stone house and two imposing red barns. 

We are all more or less in our sixties with one younger and one older. We are all in business or retired and we’ve all succeeded by most standards. Aside from lots of laughter and a few tears, we spend a lot of time listening to each other. The space we create for each other is one of unconditional love and respect, which generally allows us to express ourselves in ways in which we don’t normally have the opportunity. We are never judgmental, and whatever ‘coaching’

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Wisdom in Action

Brave Nation

By Jim Selman | Bio

There is an amazing website called The Brave Nation that is showcasing people who’ve made a difference. Many of these examples of human vision, commitment and perseverance are boomers who challenged ‘the system’ in the ’60s and ’70s and are now sharing their experience with the current generation of ‘change agents’. It is inspiring to remember and reconnect with the idealism of our youth and perplexing to wonder what happened to so many of us who have drifted into complacency about (or in some cases complicity with) current events.

Personally, I think the idealism is still there, perhaps under a cloak of resignation and lost dreams. So much has happened in the past 35 years or so that it is difficult to imagine, let alone remember, who we were. It seems so long ago that I can’t even remember how it felt to live in the possibility of a “world that works for everyone”. Civil rights marches and protests aside, the world of my youth was a heady time—a time when ‘the best and the brightest’ went

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Retirement

Life and Work

By Rick Fullerton | Bio

Last
week I began a new job. In itself, this is not remarkable; people
change jobs as a regular occurrence, whether as a result of individual
initiative or organizational circumstance. For me, this latest career
move serves as a stimulus to reflect on my commitments and priorities
and how these evolve over time.

Early in my career, I was
energetic, curious and ambitious. I had student debts to pay, a family
to support, and the aspiration of home ownership. At

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Fearless Aging

Fireworks 5000 for the Future

By Lauren Selman | Bio

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, GO!!! At midnight, on July 3rd, over nine hundred runners started off on a midnight fourth of July run in Seattle. Among the runners were my uncle and I. As I stood in the crowd waiting to start, I saw runners of all ages. From nine-year-olds to 85-year-olds, all of us were crazy enough to be standing in Seattle at midnight in short shorts and tank tops. It go me thinking. Here we were, all humans of different ages, gathering around to run.

Now, this

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Fearless Aging

I am not a thing

By Jim Selman | Bio

I just saw the movie WALL-E about a lonely robot on planet earth 700 years after a Wal-Mart-like enterprise wins the game of mega mergers and is the only corporation left, effectively running the world. The people had to leave because they couldn’t keep up with the trash. WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth Class) spends its days (we soon begin to think of it as a ‘he’ thanks to some brilliant scripting and Pixar magic) creating skyscraper-scale mountains of

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Wisdom in Action

Before You Go

Dear Dad,

I wanted to share this song, “Before You Go”, with you today. It says what I have never been able to communicate fully…THANK YOU for my life and all that I cherish, value and hold dear. As you and many of your generation know all too well, many of my generation and those younger than us don’t necessarily understand or agree with your views. But I wanted you to know we all acknowledge and appreciate the gifts you have given us.

The world today is not the same as it was in

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Fearless Aging

Renewing Relationships

By Rick Fullerton | Bio

Earlier this month, I was away from home for over a week on business. In itself, this is not a big deal. Lots of people travel more frequently and farther than I do. Yet for me, this trip was filled with unexpected feelings of gratitude and wonder.

At the outset, it was to be a routine work trip to two cities to conduct seminars at the completion of the MBA course I teach. What set this apart was the opportunity to be in Calgary, the home of Canada’s energy sector and fastest-growing city in the country. But it wasn’t the booming economy or the shocking growth that impressed me. Rather, it was being able to connect and have time with friends and family members whom I haven’t seen in many years that touched me

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