I see Patrick Sloan around town from time to time and my greeting is always the same: “thanks for the tip”.

Editor’s Comment:  Perhaps in honor of Martin Luther King day and all the immigration and human trafficking issues we face, this song came to me recently.  When I listened to it again, I got the chills I always do.  More importantly, I resolved (again) to lose more of my shyness about such issues.

Editor’s Comment: I’m honored to be on the private email list of a wonderful writer named Carll Tucker. After ramping and selling a successful chain of community newspapers, Carll founded The Daily Voice, one of the first internet local news outlets. Think of your community newspaper accessed online, right down to classifieds, obits and council meeting reports. He’s also published an entertaining journey book, “The Bear Went Over the Mountain”, enjoyably recounting his search for US Vice Presidents’ gravesites while rethinking his life. The missive I’m sharing nicely defines my own view of life at age 66 plus this marvelous quote about the demands of great wealth: Had we ten times the wealth we’d have fewer investable moments – because great wealth makes great demands. Enjoy.

“For last year’s words belongs to last year’s language and next year’s await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.”
-T.S. Eliot

Editor’s Comment:  I like to think my life was “saved” by Amy Skerry and Paul Gellman who led me to meditation practice back in the 1990s.  The stress of starting a business while raising a family had led me to physical maladies that were anxiety-induced.  For eight years I sat most days and attended group meditation weekly.  Now, many years later I can come to the moment, particularly in times of greatest stress just by noticing my anxiety and actions that result from the clutter.  Jon Kabat-Zinn was one teacher and I’ve long recommended his books, retreats and audios on the subject but I will now add this great book to my collection.  It’s more thorough than anything I’ve read and keeps things western and simple.  If you struggle with anxiety, consider meditation; if you struggle with meditation, read this book.  As the authors point out, meditation is not something to “do well”, in fact I still struggle with monkey mind when I sit.  But it’s life changing just to notice your mind and where it’s taking you.

This last in this series of “things I know for sure” is that no person can become what they want to be without a written plan.

Editor’s Comments: The joy of reading Lewis’ latest book is that obscure details are made interesting. That is, the author takes us into three fairly unknown and misunderstood departments of our federal government and – in context of the current administration – teaches us a lot of what’s at stake in each. Like most people I’ve viewed federal workers as bureaucrats, at best. Lewis however dives into specific lives and careers of fed workers that are quite honorable. Did you ever wonder what Agriculture, Commerce and Energy Departments really do? Nope, me either. But as one of the book reviewers wrote of Fifth Risk: “Lewis has a reputation for taking fairly arcane subjects — high finance, sovereign debt, baseball statistics, behavioral economics — and making them not just accessible but entertaining.” Indeed he does.

“Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.”