Mimi's Sporty Car

My dear mother-in-law drove a delightful, sporty baby blue 1967 Mercedes 230SL.  She died nearly 18 years ago.  Imagine the surprise when Mimi's car arrived at our niece's garage sale this past weekend.  It still appropriately bears its Rice sticker, as the current owner is a recent Rice graduate.  Shared photos of this classic vehicle brought much joy and remembrance.  Everything truly is connected.

Shared Sense of Urgency

Delivery companies and many retail establishments are willing to act on our sense of urgency when we are willing to pay a quick delivery premium or expedite charge. Each party has clearly defined expectations. In order to get others to share our sense of urgency, we need to give them a reason, financial or other, to want to meet our expected timeline. In our personal relationships, it often only takes clearly communicating when we want or need something done.


In other cases, we must realize that our time-sensitivity doesn’t necessarily mean a lot to others who have no way to benefit from our desire to be served quickly. Hospital emergency rooms share our sense of urgency only when we present a true medical emergency. Because so many patients present non-medically urgent conditions, appropriate care is delivered based upon the hospital’s timeline. And, it doesn’t matter to the other passengers in the airport security line that we’re cutting it close to make our flight. They all have planes to catch as well.

When time is of the essence to us, we must create a shared sense of urgency with others.

When Fine Isn't

In many contexts, “fine” is an indication of a superior product: fine food, wine, linens, china, crystal and jewelry. How odd that this word gets so badly distorted in conversation. This one word answer, to the question, “How are you doing?”, often means the person responding is far from fine. When curtly or unenthusiastically delivered, it can be evasive, meaning “I’m upset” or “I just don’t want to talk about it” or “I don’t think you really want to know”.

Deadlines Drive Completion

There's nothing like a due date to motivate action.  Vague time frames for any project provide the opportunity for other time sensitive, or more exciting activities, to push the project without a deadline further and further into the future.  Structure is necessary to prioritize activities leading to completion.  It's easy to respect externally imposed deadlines.  Where many of us falter is setting our own expected deadlines for important projects that don't have outside accountability.  For anything we consider important, setting a deadline is critical.  When we know our expected completion date, it motivates us to activate a timeline. Deadlines keep days from turning into weeks, months or years without completion.  

Ultimate Control

We can choose to be victims or take control of many elements of our destiny.  I'd written in an earlier post that I can control my thoughts, actions, attitude and reactions.  I've expanded my list to include appearance, approachability, demeanor, energy level, gratitude, outlook, behavior and outreach.  Everyone likes options.  When things aren't progressing as we'd like, we can get bogged down in focusing on the things that we can't control.  Remembering that there are a dozen things that we can control can change the dynamics of the situation.

Under One Roof

It is always exciting when our family is together, even if it is briefly.  Julia's flight arrived in the wee hours just in time to be among the first to wish Edgar a very happy birthday.  Gar's flight is scheduled to depart less than 36 hours later.  The clock is ticking so I'm anxious for everyone to rise and shine.  Short windows of opportunity remind us to seize and treasure special moments.

How Many Ways Can We Get Around?

We often limit our views.  Typically when we think of mobility, our list is pretty sparse. When I challenged myself to consider 50 ways to get around, I quickly assembled the following list.  What are other ways to get where we want or need to be?


1. Car
2. Truck
3. SUV
4. Airplane
5. Bus
6. Subway
7. Train
8. Horse
9. Motorcycle
10. Bicycle
11. Tricycle
12. Dune Buggy
13. ATV
14. Sailboat
15. Powerboat
16. Hot air balloon
17. Snow Mobile
18. Wagon
19. Rollerblades
20. Feet
21. Wheelchair
22. Escalator
23. Elevator
24. Shoulders
25. Arms
26. Rolling sidewalk
27. Corporate ladder
28. Rollercoaster
29. Tractor
30. 18-wheeler
31. Tanker
32. Tank
33. Scooter
34. Grocery cart
35. Glider
36. Space rocket
37. Memories
38. Books
39. Dinghy
40. Lifeboat
41. Cruise liner
42. Helicopter
43. Skate board
44. Camel
45. Monorail
46. Swimming
47. Taxi
48. Vanpool
49. Submarine
50. Dogsled