Friday Donuts

Friends, We wander this changing world aboard these perishable vessels we call bodies, ceaselessly and inexorably rushing forward. We put-off the important because we're drowning in an endless stream of often self-imposed urgent activity. Menial tasks and superficial relationships are par for the course. It's easy to forget what truly matters as we let that person in the mirror become a stranger we struggle to recognize. Hairlines recede, waistbands expand. We worry our skin is getting looser while our clothes are getting tighter. We long to be somewhere or somewhen else, letting memories, aspirations and smartphones carry us away from the here and now. At some point we got so busy living we forgot to live. It’s like we’re waiting for something to wake us from our slumber. Well, consider this your wake-up call! Work on the things that will make a difference and check to make sure your chosen path leads to a destination you would like to reach. Open-up to those around you...

Friends, Ever heard of the 'fair innings' principle? Until recently, I figured it was just another baseball thing. As it turns-out the term comes from cricket, but it’s not a sports thing at all. It's the idea that everyone is entitled to an equal amount of time under the sun. Sounds great, right? Sure, unless you use this criteria to ration scarce healthcare resources (the context in which this philosophical approach rears its ugly head). Suddenly, a terrifying corollary emerges: the longer and healthier life you've led, the lower priority treatment you should receive vis-a-vis younger patients who have not had their 'fair innings' -regardless of suffering, probability of recovery or future prospects. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want a loved one to be turned away from treatment because they've met their healthy life 'quota' -no matter how old they've become. Of course one paragraph is probably not enough time to give the iss...

Friends, Despite signs that suggest we’re already there, fall starts next week. That time of year when the crisp bite of the fresh dawn air deposits fresh dew on the sweet vine-ripened grapes in my back yard. A time when the cooler weather makes me long for the bucolic sunsets at my father’s ranch. Darkness would awaken the fireflies which provided a fitting foreground to the myriad stars, framed by the tall peaks in that narrow mountain valley. Where my imagination could run rampant, foraging on some distant jungle or envisioning life in space. Ironic how today my imagination takes me to the place where I wondered about so many other places. And while memories and flights of fancy are fine and well, it is also important to mindfully enjoy the present. I recommend exercising this discipline by biting into a Holy Donut and immersing your senses in the flavor explosion. Happy Friday

Friends How about them Broncos? Overcoming challenges, erasing a large deficit and, with a little help from lady luck, winning by a hair. The photo finish victory was made all that much sweeter by my low expectations. Better living, right? Well, sort of. While it is true that if we assume things will go poorly we are pleasantly surprised when they don’t, this only holds true if the person with the lowered expectations is not the one doing the work. If you watched the post-game interviews, nobody on the team had any doubts about Simeon. His teammates gleamed when speaking of his poise and how they were glad the world now sees what they did. If the Broncos had expected to lose, I imagine that would have become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I’m sure there’s a moral there for all of us. Fortunately, you were not involved in the confection of the Holy Donuts I brought-in this morning so… go ahead, lower the bar! You might be pleasantly surprised when you take that first bite. Happy Friday...

Friends, I wish I could say that donuts are here, that donuts are near. Alas, not today! I’m working from home, rare as that may be, that’s us’lly not me, not in my genome. But, sorry my friend, you’re all on your own, so please don’t bemoan, and do comprehend. Next week we’ll resume the donut tradition, an all new rendition, so, no doom and gloom. I bid you adieu, a good labor day of course, happy Friday so long, toodaloo!