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!

Tuesday 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 work, 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!