08/24/2006 06:53 pm
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(and their human parents)
This blog started as The adventures of a D.I.N.K. family where the two "kids" are four legged and how we are going to retire early. Now it's a 1 income, 1 entrepreneur, and 1 pup getting closer and closer to retirement.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Entry for August 23, 2006
Entry for August 23, 2006
08/24/2006 06:53 pm
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Look who turns 18 today! That's 85 years old in human years.
08/24/2006 06:53 pm
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Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Entry for August 22, 2006
Entry for August 22, 2006
08/22/2006 02:02 pm
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Taking a break from work - This morning things keep coming in and NOTHING has gone out.
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25 years ago today, Vincent and Joanne got married! Doesn't seem that long! The first wedding I was in. I was always so jealous of my friend Pamela because she was ALWAYS the flowergirl in someone's wedding.
I forgot to mention that last week I went to the chiropractor - it's been like 8 years. Last night, I went again. What a feeling after I get "aligned". I feel so loose and almost faintlike. I REALLY crack too.
08/22/2006 02:02 pm
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Taking a break from work - This morning things keep coming in and NOTHING has gone out.
25 years ago today, Vincent and Joanne got married! Doesn't seem that long! The first wedding I was in. I was always so jealous of my friend Pamela because she was ALWAYS the flowergirl in someone's wedding.
I forgot to mention that last week I went to the chiropractor - it's been like 8 years. Last night, I went again. What a feeling after I get "aligned". I feel so loose and almost faintlike. I REALLY crack too.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Making the 'A' list - Forget resolutions, write what you want to accomplish in life
Making the 'A' list - Forget resolutions, write what you want to accomplish in life
08/20/2006 08:46 pm
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There's a list people keep folded in some corner of their minds or tucked in a nearby drawer. It enumerates things they want to see, experience or accomplish before some personal deadline or their death.
Different from the obligatory string of resolutions people dutifully make this time of year, "the list" involves more soul-fueling pursuits than losing weight, flossing or spending less time at work.
There's the 127-item "Life List" that author and adventurer John Goddard is said to have written when he was 15. It included exploring eight rivers, climbing 16 mountains, flying a plane, becoming an Eagle Scout, performing 200 sit-ups and learning French, Spanish and Arabic. Nearly 60 years later, Goddard has checked off more than 100 items on the list and has written about his experiences in The Survivor (HCI, 2001, $12.95 paperback). Stephen Lankton, a Phoenix psychotherapist, trainer, teacher and author of 17 books, began his list when he was 10, taking inspiration from his grandmother's short-wave radio and the lyrics from the song You Belong to Me.
He heard the words, "See the pyramids along the Nile / Watch the sunrise on a tropic isle / . . . See the market place in old Algiers," and it occurred to him that there was a world beyond his hometown.
"There is an El Paso, pyramids, Cape Cod. All those things went on my list when I was 10," Lankton says. "I have flown a silver plane and the only thing I haven't done is the pyramids," he says. "It's always been a dream. It's on my list."
This June, he'll check it off when he visits Cairo, the last on his itinerary created from song lyrics.
Arizona author Stella Pope Duarte keeps her list in the form of notes she scrawls and sticks on pages of her journals. They're not places to travel, but pathways to her soul. They goad her to remain true to the best of herself.
Phoenix life coach Marcia Reynolds says that creating lists like these help people tap into what makes their lives rich. In her workshops, Reynolds asks participants to come up with a list of what they'd do if they were given $5 million tax free. The first list usually includes paying off credit cards and mortgages, and taking trips. She then asks them to write what they would do if given another $5 million.
"The next $5 million (list) is really what you want to do," she says. "It gets deeper into what would make your heart sing rather than fill in what's missing."
It's what Queen Latifah's character laments in her latest movie, Last Holiday, when she's told she has three weeks to live: She wishes she had laughed more and feared less.
But coming up with a list that includes running marathons, climbing mountains or traveling to foreign countries won't make your soul soar if it's just an item to cross off a list, Reynolds says.
"It's the pursuit, not the event," she says. "Once you run the marathon, that's done. It's important to focus on who you are being, not just what you are doing."
Psychotherapist Lankton finds that writing a list doesn't necessarily mean it will be any more than words on paper, just like a lot of New Year's resolutions. He points to two things that often keep people from turning words on a list into action: a lack of problem-solving skills and a learned helplessness when it comes to things like goals on a list.
He once planned a trip to Japan with his son to visit the birthplace of aikido and the son of the man who created this martial art. Others studying aikido were enthusiastic about going on the trip. Lankton offered ideas for how they could cobble together jobs, teaching opportunities and other resources to make the three-week trip happen. In the end, only he and his son went.
"It wasn't that they lacked a skill set. I gave them a bunch of ideas. These men aren't failures," he says. "But when it came time to go, they had done nothing to get themselves there."
Problem-solving skills help one figure out how to get to Paris by saving a little every month. Learned helplessness comes from rehashing past failures rather than successes. Change the retrieval system to focus on past successes, says Lankton. A list can be a good mechanism to reprogram that internal memory, he says.
"It can help you retrieve memories of success no matter how small," he says. "The list will be an anchor for these positive experiences."
Sonia Choquette is creating a lifetime of positive experiences. Every New Year's Eve for the past 30 years, she has written a list of what she wants to accomplish in the next 12 months.
Choquette, who lives in Chicago and is author of several books, including Your Heart's Desire (Three Rivers Press, 1997, $18 paperback), finds that this annual ritual keeps her living large and making sure she doesn't wind up at the end of her life having missed it.
Choquette began the ritual at age 16. Her parents introduced her to the value of writing down goals.
She brought the tradition to her own family. Every New Year's Eve, Choquette, her husband and their two teenage daughters take turns sharing their lists and reviewing those they made the year before. The exercise helps the family support and hold each other accountable, she says.
By Dec. 15, there was only one thing remaining on Choquette's 2005 list: creating more time for herself. She had cashed in her frequent-flier miles and taken the family to India. She had raised more than $100,000 from a charity event she'd planned. She had spent time helping a daughter choose potential colleges and she had arranged a couple of husband-and-wife retreats, accomplishing a goal to spend more quality time with him.
"There's one thing of value, and that's time, and it's something we all gamble (on)," Choquette says.
She related a story about a woman who was dying and had realized she'd frittered her life away doing what others wanted.
"She said, 'I forgot to live my life. Who knew I wouldn't have the time?' "
For Choquette, the deathbed epiphany reinforced the value of her family's year-end tradition.
"It's important to have a list of things that really do feed your spirit and transcend the mundane things." Susan Felt
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 31, 2005 12:00 AM
People's lists
Stella Pope Duarte
Duarte, 54, is an author, teacher and speaker.
Where she keeps her list: On post-a-notes and pages of numerous journals.
When she started: Duarte, author of Let Their Spirits Dance (Rayo, 2003, $12.95 paperback), has always written notes to herself. She can't pinpoint a date she started. She uses them to remind herself of what she wants to accomplish in arenas of her life: teaching, writing, health and being a mom.
Why she keeps it: I want to know deep inside of me what it is I want to accomplish. (The notes) are my measuring rods of how successful I have been in accomplishing the things that are my heart. Am I living out my heart? Am I being true to myself?
What's on her list: Like her post-a-note journals, Duarte's "list" isn't a neat 1-through-10 list of items. Much of her list is an internal accounting: Was she present to her students? Did she relinquish old hurts with family members? Is she maintaining her daily walking regimen? Is she letting the story she's writing take her where it's leading, not where she's directing? Is she letting each of her four children be their own person?
Why it's important: They (the notes) are the way I create little pathways to my souls. Words are only words until you live them out. (For instance,) working out daily all these years is a struggle. But you learn how to endure. I've learned how to pursue something to the end and not stop because I'm exhausted. You understand, "Oh, this is endurance."
Kathy Sacks
Sacks, 31, is married and owner of Kathy Sacks Group, a public relations and marketing firm.
Where she keeps her list: I have a piece of paper. It's a running list.
When she started: I started getting serious (about a list) in college. I wanted to tour Europe with friends, and that was a catalyst to write it down. By writing it down, it was something to work towards. I started it when I was 21 or 22, and I went to Europe when I was 23.
What's on her list: The list has expanded from backpacking through Europe to going on a yoga retreat; visiting Australia; touring Europe with my husband; traveling to some third-world country on some sort of aid mission; remastering Hungarian (her first language); write a book; start at least three businesses in my lifetime (she started her firm in March); run a marathon or a triathlon; raise a family of at least two children.
Why it's important: Life goals are important. If I don't write them down and revisit them, it doesn't work. I'm a big believer in checking things off, whether it's a daily list, yearly list or a lifelong list.
I put things on the list randomly when I feel real strongly about something. Once I get something in my head, I'm going to do it. I get restless fairly quickly if I'm not challenged.
Eric Caruth
Caruth, 37, is executive vice president sales and marketing for Primary Financial Services, a husband and father of two.
Where he keeps his list: I know it by heart.
When he started: I started it right before I was graduating (Arizona State University, 1993). I'm an athlete, and in order for you to achieve anything you have to set goals.
Why he keeps it: As a football player at ASU, Caruth was injured during his junior year. It ended his football career and any dream of playing professional ball. "I needed to figure out what I was going to do for the rest of my life," he says. He transformed his list from the number of tackles to graduating from college and getting a job with an annual income of at least $30,000.
What's on his list: He systematically adds goals: an MBA by 30; purchase a house; earn $125,000 a year by age 35; earn more than $150,000 by 38; be at executive level and earn more than $200,000 by 40; be a president or CEO by 43 and be a millionaire; give back to the community.
Why it's important: I don't know any other gauge as benchmarks for achieving goals. When I was done with football, I turned the list into challenging me on a business level.
08/20/2006 08:46 pm
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There's a list people keep folded in some corner of their minds or tucked in a nearby drawer. It enumerates things they want to see, experience or accomplish before some personal deadline or their death.
Different from the obligatory string of resolutions people dutifully make this time of year, "the list" involves more soul-fueling pursuits than losing weight, flossing or spending less time at work.
There's the 127-item "Life List" that author and adventurer John Goddard is said to have written when he was 15. It included exploring eight rivers, climbing 16 mountains, flying a plane, becoming an Eagle Scout, performing 200 sit-ups and learning French, Spanish and Arabic. Nearly 60 years later, Goddard has checked off more than 100 items on the list and has written about his experiences in The Survivor (HCI, 2001, $12.95 paperback). Stephen Lankton, a Phoenix psychotherapist, trainer, teacher and author of 17 books, began his list when he was 10, taking inspiration from his grandmother's short-wave radio and the lyrics from the song You Belong to Me.
He heard the words, "See the pyramids along the Nile / Watch the sunrise on a tropic isle / . . . See the market place in old Algiers," and it occurred to him that there was a world beyond his hometown.
"There is an El Paso, pyramids, Cape Cod. All those things went on my list when I was 10," Lankton says. "I have flown a silver plane and the only thing I haven't done is the pyramids," he says. "It's always been a dream. It's on my list."
This June, he'll check it off when he visits Cairo, the last on his itinerary created from song lyrics.
Arizona author Stella Pope Duarte keeps her list in the form of notes she scrawls and sticks on pages of her journals. They're not places to travel, but pathways to her soul. They goad her to remain true to the best of herself.
Phoenix life coach Marcia Reynolds says that creating lists like these help people tap into what makes their lives rich. In her workshops, Reynolds asks participants to come up with a list of what they'd do if they were given $5 million tax free. The first list usually includes paying off credit cards and mortgages, and taking trips. She then asks them to write what they would do if given another $5 million.
"The next $5 million (list) is really what you want to do," she says. "It gets deeper into what would make your heart sing rather than fill in what's missing."
It's what Queen Latifah's character laments in her latest movie, Last Holiday, when she's told she has three weeks to live: She wishes she had laughed more and feared less.
But coming up with a list that includes running marathons, climbing mountains or traveling to foreign countries won't make your soul soar if it's just an item to cross off a list, Reynolds says.
"It's the pursuit, not the event," she says. "Once you run the marathon, that's done. It's important to focus on who you are being, not just what you are doing."
Psychotherapist Lankton finds that writing a list doesn't necessarily mean it will be any more than words on paper, just like a lot of New Year's resolutions. He points to two things that often keep people from turning words on a list into action: a lack of problem-solving skills and a learned helplessness when it comes to things like goals on a list.
He once planned a trip to Japan with his son to visit the birthplace of aikido and the son of the man who created this martial art. Others studying aikido were enthusiastic about going on the trip. Lankton offered ideas for how they could cobble together jobs, teaching opportunities and other resources to make the three-week trip happen. In the end, only he and his son went.
"It wasn't that they lacked a skill set. I gave them a bunch of ideas. These men aren't failures," he says. "But when it came time to go, they had done nothing to get themselves there."
Problem-solving skills help one figure out how to get to Paris by saving a little every month. Learned helplessness comes from rehashing past failures rather than successes. Change the retrieval system to focus on past successes, says Lankton. A list can be a good mechanism to reprogram that internal memory, he says.
"It can help you retrieve memories of success no matter how small," he says. "The list will be an anchor for these positive experiences."
Sonia Choquette is creating a lifetime of positive experiences. Every New Year's Eve for the past 30 years, she has written a list of what she wants to accomplish in the next 12 months.
Choquette, who lives in Chicago and is author of several books, including Your Heart's Desire (Three Rivers Press, 1997, $18 paperback), finds that this annual ritual keeps her living large and making sure she doesn't wind up at the end of her life having missed it.
Choquette began the ritual at age 16. Her parents introduced her to the value of writing down goals.
She brought the tradition to her own family. Every New Year's Eve, Choquette, her husband and their two teenage daughters take turns sharing their lists and reviewing those they made the year before. The exercise helps the family support and hold each other accountable, she says.
By Dec. 15, there was only one thing remaining on Choquette's 2005 list: creating more time for herself. She had cashed in her frequent-flier miles and taken the family to India. She had raised more than $100,000 from a charity event she'd planned. She had spent time helping a daughter choose potential colleges and she had arranged a couple of husband-and-wife retreats, accomplishing a goal to spend more quality time with him.
"There's one thing of value, and that's time, and it's something we all gamble (on)," Choquette says.
She related a story about a woman who was dying and had realized she'd frittered her life away doing what others wanted.
"She said, 'I forgot to live my life. Who knew I wouldn't have the time?' "
For Choquette, the deathbed epiphany reinforced the value of her family's year-end tradition.
"It's important to have a list of things that really do feed your spirit and transcend the mundane things." Susan Felt
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 31, 2005 12:00 AM
People's lists
Stella Pope Duarte
Duarte, 54, is an author, teacher and speaker.
Where she keeps her list: On post-a-notes and pages of numerous journals.
When she started: Duarte, author of Let Their Spirits Dance (Rayo, 2003, $12.95 paperback), has always written notes to herself. She can't pinpoint a date she started. She uses them to remind herself of what she wants to accomplish in arenas of her life: teaching, writing, health and being a mom.
Why she keeps it: I want to know deep inside of me what it is I want to accomplish. (The notes) are my measuring rods of how successful I have been in accomplishing the things that are my heart. Am I living out my heart? Am I being true to myself?
What's on her list: Like her post-a-note journals, Duarte's "list" isn't a neat 1-through-10 list of items. Much of her list is an internal accounting: Was she present to her students? Did she relinquish old hurts with family members? Is she maintaining her daily walking regimen? Is she letting the story she's writing take her where it's leading, not where she's directing? Is she letting each of her four children be their own person?
Why it's important: They (the notes) are the way I create little pathways to my souls. Words are only words until you live them out. (For instance,) working out daily all these years is a struggle. But you learn how to endure. I've learned how to pursue something to the end and not stop because I'm exhausted. You understand, "Oh, this is endurance."
Kathy Sacks
Sacks, 31, is married and owner of Kathy Sacks Group, a public relations and marketing firm.
Where she keeps her list: I have a piece of paper. It's a running list.
When she started: I started getting serious (about a list) in college. I wanted to tour Europe with friends, and that was a catalyst to write it down. By writing it down, it was something to work towards. I started it when I was 21 or 22, and I went to Europe when I was 23.
What's on her list: The list has expanded from backpacking through Europe to going on a yoga retreat; visiting Australia; touring Europe with my husband; traveling to some third-world country on some sort of aid mission; remastering Hungarian (her first language); write a book; start at least three businesses in my lifetime (she started her firm in March); run a marathon or a triathlon; raise a family of at least two children.
Why it's important: Life goals are important. If I don't write them down and revisit them, it doesn't work. I'm a big believer in checking things off, whether it's a daily list, yearly list or a lifelong list.
I put things on the list randomly when I feel real strongly about something. Once I get something in my head, I'm going to do it. I get restless fairly quickly if I'm not challenged.
Eric Caruth
Caruth, 37, is executive vice president sales and marketing for Primary Financial Services, a husband and father of two.
Where he keeps his list: I know it by heart.
When he started: I started it right before I was graduating (Arizona State University, 1993). I'm an athlete, and in order for you to achieve anything you have to set goals.
Why he keeps it: As a football player at ASU, Caruth was injured during his junior year. It ended his football career and any dream of playing professional ball. "I needed to figure out what I was going to do for the rest of my life," he says. He transformed his list from the number of tackles to graduating from college and getting a job with an annual income of at least $30,000.
What's on his list: He systematically adds goals: an MBA by 30; purchase a house; earn $125,000 a year by age 35; earn more than $150,000 by 38; be at executive level and earn more than $200,000 by 40; be a president or CEO by 43 and be a millionaire; give back to the community.
Why it's important: I don't know any other gauge as benchmarks for achieving goals. When I was done with football, I turned the list into challenging me on a business level.
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