Month: December 2011

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Lessons Learned – #1

For the past 10 days I’ve shared the top things I learned during 2011… from our December e-newsletter. Number one focuses on an organization that’s doing good things. (Remember, there are still a few hours remaining to make a donation and get that year-end tax deduction!):

Helping Others – Finally, if you’re looking to support a worthy cause at year-end, consider Helen Keller International, which operates in 22 countries and puts 85% of donations to work for those in need. Founded nearly 100 years ago by its famous namesake, HKI seeks ‘to combat the causes and consequences of blindness and malnutrition.’ A $25 contribution will provide prescription glasses for a child. Blessed by your generous gift of vision that youngster might grow up to impact the world.

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Lessons Learned #2

The second best thing I learned this year (and a funny one, too):

Brain Teaser – There’s a current Broadway musical set during World War I about a horse that serves in the military. Sound familiar? That’s because Steven Spielberg is releasing the movie version on Christmas Day. I’m amazed how an idea suddenly appears in more than one place at the same time. In three novels I read by different fiction writers the plot revolved around a particle that may travel faster than light. If that quantum physics conundrum that could shatter Einstein’s theory of relativity is a mystery to you, the best joke I heard this year won’t be all that funny: “‘We don’t allow neutrinos in here,’ said the bartender. A neutrino walks into a bar.”

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Lessons Learned – #3

Lesson #3 of my top 10 insights this year:

Good Book – On January 1, I committed to read 20 minutes each morning, and my first selection was a mystery filled with deception, war, betrayal and lust. Over the next 242 days, I missed just four, and finished the book on August 31. Reading 1,598 pages plus every footnote – along with the accompanying 579-page commentary – of the Bible is something I always wanted to do. What’s on your ‘need to read’ list for 2012?

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Lessons Learned – #4

My fourth most valuable lesson in 2011:

Better Ending – A friend’s daughter graduated in May after playing four years of collegiate softball. Each season she suffered a major injury yet kept battling back. Credit Suisse hired her when the person conducting the interview happened to have been a softball player whose career was injury-shortened. There’s usually a silver lining in all setbacks, if you’re willing to look for it.

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Lessons Learned – #5

What’s the fifth most important lesson I learned this year?

Father Time – For a service project leading up to his confirmation, my son decided we would spend a day working with Habitat for Humanity. A June day. In Houston. During the hottest summer on record. Our eight-person team painted the entire outside of a house in six hours. These were our only instructions: “be safe; ask for help if you don’t know; treat it like your own home; have fun.” Simple is often best. By the way, the grateful homeowner contributed 250 hours of labor in exchange for an interest-free note on her new 1,200 square foot residence.

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