Step Out. Step Up.
My Kindle edition of “168 Hours” by Laura Vanderkam just whooshed into my Home Page.
A lifetime, if calculated from week to week, is “simply 168 hours, back to back, repeated again and again,” according to Ms. Vanderkam. Subtract 56 weekly sleeping hours (eight a night) and 50 for work and you still have 62 unscheduled [...]
Over a cup of coffee at Folly Beach, a wise friend told me what I needed to hear.
I’ve experienced several major changes in my life during the last six months, including putting a home I’ve owned for 13 years on the market and moving to another state. I told my friend that I feel as [...]
“It got too much water but it’s gonna be all right, Miss Barbara,” says Roth, my landscaper, smiling while his shaven head glistens in the July sun. “Just be patient.”
Patient, my petunias. I’d throw one of those Bluestones he’s unloading in his direction if it weren’t so heavy.
One half of the new sod placed in my front [...]
Dead wrong? I’m overstating it a bit. At least half of us in mid-life are happy. In fact, we’re happier than we’ve ever been.
The other half of Boomers? Suicidal and making good on it.
That’s a brutal reality for the largest and richest generation in history.
The results of the latest Centers for Disease Controle and Prevention study [...]
There may be nothing more powerful to get you off your procrastinating toadstool than listening to stories of other people’s 50-year slog through life until – bingo – they get it right! While the first step may be negotiating that sabbatical you want or changing careers, let Jane help you.
Relegated to the last 20 minutes [...]
So far this week I counted my blessings twice and neither time lasted longer than it takes to scroll down my home’s digital thermostat so I can be cooler.
Sunday night’s bedside reading about the dire straits of Haitians 6-months post earthquake (The New York Times, cover story, July 11,2010) regurgitated Monday night by Katy Couric on [...]
Forget the backpack and walking sticks. Ditch the health goals. To set your eyes on a place or thing is all it takes for an extraordinary sabbatical experience.
People returning from a career break often talk about the impact of the expereince by describing something they saw, not something they did.
What they carry back into the real world [...]
Last month I spent a week on a walking tour in the Northern Lakes District of England with poet, David Whyte. In community with 21 others, I experienced the pastures and mountains, villages, locals, cuisine, pubs and sheep (lots of sheep) of the region. The treks were challenging; so is life. No matter your age, title, or size of [...]
Presented as “deep thoughts” for 2010 graduates who are poised to make decisions and take action about their lives, this conversation between CBS Sunday Morning contributor Ben Stein and his shrink is astounding and crystal clear. No matter what date is on your diploma, read it. It could change the direction of your life.
Ben Stein’s segment (CBS [...]
Johnny Paycheck’s 1977 hit went platinum. Don’t know what tune you’re humming, but the research tells us that Paycheck’s song is on the lips of many:
Better not try to stand in my way,
As I’m walking out the door.
Take this job and shove it.
I ain’t working here no more.
In February, the number of employees voluntarily quitting surpassed the [...]