If Your Life Were a Book

If you want to learn to appreciate life's luxuries, take an extended 
business trip. This stay in Japan is 35 days, working with many 
spectacular clients and enjoying the rich culture of this fascinating 
country and her people. I really appreciate my washing machine 
now that I have been doing my laundry in the bath tub each night. 
And I do apologize to all of my colleagues who continue to see me  
wearing the same clothes week after week! I've managed to learn  
all of the basic colors in Japanese, so my language skills are almost  
up there to that of a 2 year old child. Nevertheless people here are  
extremely supportive and encouraging of any progress! It's a  
magnificent adventure! I'm glad to be able to take some time to  
write this newsletter amidst travel, business and the occasional  
sake.

About 4 years ago it occurred to me to write a book! "How hard  
could it be?", I wondered. HA! When tackling an impossible project  
it's best not to know too much about the obstacles, challenges and  
pitfalls we'll face. If I'd known how hard it would be I would have  
set my hair afire and run naked down the street screaming "Run  
away! Run away!" and that would have been the end of it.  
Fortunately I lurched fitfully forward, blindly groping my way along in  
a most ungracious manner, buoyed by supportive and far more  
knowledgeable people. After decades of being determined to be  
fiercely independent, I discovered that it's OK to ask for help. None  
of us is a strong as all of us. 
 
What about YOUR book? Do you have a story to tell? I'm sure that  
you do. Not that I recommend writing a book, mind you, but I  
certainly do recommend thinking about your story. Who are you?  
What is it that you want to be remembered for? What is it that you  
are committed to contributing to this earth in your lifetime? Every  
person I've met has a story. Sometimes I am too busy rushing  
around to stop and listen to their story. Sometimes I foolishly  
assume their story is not worth listening to. But every time I DO  
stop and listen intently, I am surprised, amazed, shocked, touched,  
or moved, sometimes all of the above.  
 
I'll never forget the day I learned that a colleague I'd been working  
with for years told me that he swam to freedom through  
shark-infested water for 3 hours to escape from China back in the  
70's. Or the time I found out a rather ordinary looking  
grandmotherly woman had worked all over Africa helping to develop  
their economy. Or the many times I have heard people tell of their  
hopes, dreams, disappointments and fears only to find out that we  
share a lot of the same human challenges. 
 
What if your life WERE a book? 
 
* What would be the title? 
 
* What would be the title of the chapter that you are in right now? 
 
* What will be the title of the chapter you are in a year from now?  
5 years? 10 years? 
 
It's good to be sharing the planet with you all. We get to write our  
story every day. Let's make it a doosey!! . . . something worthy of  
telling so when we look back on our lives from our 128th birthday  
we smile contentedly with NO REGRETS!!