What if you are the problem? Last week’s assignment was to look at how your actions, your behavior, your disposition is impacting others? Have you ever had anyone tell you that you are the problem? Have you ever come to the conclusion that they were right? If not, then you ARE the problem. If you Read more
Did you head forth with your torch and spread some joy or hope in your travels? What were your encounters like? Who did you interact with? If you chose people close to you like family, friends or relatives, did you feel like you were able to express kindness, hope or support that you have been Read more
When I started this blog, I wanted to be able to share with you some of the tools and resources I have found that helped me on my journey. I will update this list periodically. If you have any items you would like to share with your fellow Scroogers, please send me a message with Read more
“Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it.” As best as I can find this is a rephrasing of an aphorism from professor George Santayana. I was stuck trying to figure out how to open up this week’s discussion around last week’s assignment and then this quote popped into my head. Read more
“Know me better, man.” Scrooge was asked to know the Ghost of Christmas Present (and to see the present) better. Last week, I asked you to know yourself better. I asked you to write out a list of the skills, talents, abilities and knowledge, supplies, people, time, space, assets… available to you now. What were Read more
Wrestling with our past. Something most of us have to address at times in our life. Scrooge literally ends the visitation with the Ghost of Christmas Past wrestling with what he thinks is the spirit. Your assignment last week was to think about the journey so far in its entirety. Were you able to connect Read more
“May you be happy in the life you have chosen!” This is how we ended last week’s episode. Reflecting on this assignment made me also think about the expression “May you live in interesting times”. The latter is credited to British statesman Joseph Chamberlain and is wrongly said to be an English translation of a Read more
Control your thoughts and you can control your emotions. Control your emotions and you can control your actions. Control your actions and you can control your destiny. After thinking about it, how did you answer the question of what your “poverty” is? Did you reflect on this and why it is that this haunts you? Read more
Are you able to find the joy in the small things in life? I think that really sums up last week’s assignment. I am pretty sure anyone, even a billionaire, would be really happy if they were given a new Corvette. I am glad to be the test subject if anyone wants to give me Read more
It just occurred to me, I was recalling how I missed my friend Rick, and your assignment was to think about who your Dick Wilkins is. Coincidence? Hmm… If I try and distill what I link to Rick, it would be the joy of school, and the joy of the road. As we got our Read more
Resonance or reminiscence? Were you able to look back and find a period where you felt you were in your stride, where things just clicked and you felt you had a purpose? Or did you look back and just reminisce about the “good old days”? Nothing wrong with looking back and reflecting on the good Read more
Look across your life and find a piece that has both a past and a present place. That was your project last week. The focus was to look back and understand the changes between the earlier and current state. What changed, why, how did that change you, can you explain the essence of the place/event/thing Read more
Let’s get inside your head. Your last assignment was to write a very colorful, highly detailed scenario around you displaying a selected behavior. How often were you able to put yourself into that behavior? By the end of the week did this feel natural, or did you feel like an imposter or a poser and Read more
We are already at our second check in. Slow and steady wins the race. Rushing through this and thinking you can brute force this effort is NOT NOT NOT going to work. Do the weekly exercise and work on staying in personal growth awareness mode as much as you can. There are a few absolutely Read more
Looking back can be hard on your psyche. We all have skeletons and ghosts that we would rather not revisit. Last week I asked you to look back and think about people, places and relationships that you left behind. I asked that you think about opportunities or situations that made you not look your best. Read more
Imagine that you are diagnosed today with a terminal illness and know that you were going to die in 30 days. That was last week’s introspection to help you reflect on what will you wish you have been, done, seen, experienced….how will you feel about the person you are and have been? What runs through Read more
Becoming a new and better you is not easy. If it was, you would already be the person you want to be and be living the life you want to live. Did you do the exercise for last week? Did you contemplate the goal(s) that you have set for yourself? Do you get fired up Read more
How successful were you with finding images or role models that struck a chord with you? Have you been meditating on the image and how it feels to be the person you want to be? Are you starting to have periods where you are comfortable believing that this is who you are? You will never Read more
Who doesn’t love a good trip? Some travel food, tunes, the fun of the open road, and the anticipation of arriving at the destination. It is not uncommon for me to make a 600+ mile day trip. I really enjoy windshield time. As much as possible, I prefer to travel without using GPS. I will Read more
In the last paragraph of Stave I, Scrooge is locking up his room after Marley’s ghost left. In this scene we see that change has already begun. We read “Scrooge tried to say “Humbug!” but stopped at the first syllable”. Scrooge, resolute that Christmas was a Humbug, now on the same day as declaring it Read more