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Nancy in Motion:
Treasured tradition
Black Friday was fun! Yesterday’s Game Plan column was written well before the horrible news about shopping gone bad in Long Island, but it feels ever more meaningful now — Keeping It Light on Black Friday. It seems when electronics and/or toys are involved, some people really lose it. Thankfully, my Black Friday tradition revolves around fun and camaraderie and connecting in a way like no other.
Grateful and kind
As I head out for the Thanksgiving holiday, I leave you with today’s Game Plan column called Try Kindness in Trying Times. I find that people are too quick to lash out and judge others without any knowledge of what might be really going on. We can’t control how others behave, but we can exhibit kindness and we can even go out of our way to understand or be tolerant.
Take a deep breath, look people in the eye, and think of all the reasons you have to be grateful.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Let’s get physical
True confession time. Prior to beginning work with a personal trainer about a month ago, I was doing the same darned thing at the gym, over and over. The treadmill, the weights. And even though in some respects that served me well, I cannot begin to describe how much better I feel since working other things into my routine. And I can see a difference in my body.
This morning I got on the elliptical machine with some measure of dread. Last week I fought my trainer tooth and nail while he worked on it next to me, even though — ironically — I was the one who suggested it because I knew I needed it. Twisted, right?
The last three days I have hopped on it on my own. I did five minutes the first day. Pardon me while I fight the urge to put the word “only” in that last sentence. Then I did six minutes. Then, today, seven. It is hard. I sweat a lot. Crazy for a person who’s been going to the gym pretty regularly for years. But there’s no self-flagellation allowed. I need to walk my talk. I have found a trainer whose personality and skill set are a perfect complement to mine.
So that’s my true confession. And it felt goooooooooooooood.
Imagine
I’m quite certain this wasn’t meant to elicit a laugh, but it sure did. There’s a Reuters story in The New York Times that says the Vatican newspaper has forgiven John Lennon for declaring back in 1966 that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ.
Did anyone mention to the Vatican newspaper that John Lennon is dead? And that, according to its teachings, he has already gone through the real, actual, genuine Judgment Day? You know, the one headed up by God?
Hello, arrogance.
Love wisdom
For the second Sunday in a row, I share words of wisdom from The New York Times “Vows” column, this time from bride Caroline Tiger’s book:
May you date people who chew with their mouths closed and turn their cellphone off during dinner. May you fall madly in love with gentle souls who give thoughtful gifts (and they with you). And may you continue to be nice to one another long after your honeymoon periods have passed.
Friday night a la Union Square
Went to see Rachel Getting Married last night. Anne Hathaway was terrific, but truly I found the non-stop dysfunction of the film suffocating. Dinner afterward was fun — the Max Brenner, chocolate by the bald man experience. I recommend the dark chocolate truffles.
Vision of fear
A few weeks ago, prior to the 2008 presidential election, I came across a profoundly disturbing 16-page vision letter written and distributed by James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. As one who has always been a proponent of the positive power of vision letters in my life coaching practice, I was horrified to see it used as an instrument of terror. It is a series of predictions based on Barack Obama becoming President of the United States.
That was the inspiration for today’s Game Plan column on FoxBusiness.com — Be Careful What You ‘Vision’ For.
Spinning forward
Into every meaningful social issue, a little Anna Quindlen logic must fall — The Loving Decision.
This is a woman who made me a better columnist just by her example back in her days at The New York Times. This Newsweek piece on same-sex marriage gets it exactly right.
Quarter for your thoughts
On my way home from a fun cocktail event in Rockefeller Center last night, I was walking on a crowded sidewalk on Fifth Avenue when I saw a penny. I usually pick them up because I believe they’re signs of abundance. I like to make a wish on them and then put them in a little mosaic box. Well, there was so much activity on that street that stopping to pick up that particular penny seemed more dangerous than magical, so I reluctantly let it go.
Later, as I stood on the PATH platform to catch a ride back to Hoboken, a young man walked by me and dropped a quarter. He paused, then left it there. It was gleaming, so new looking. I picked it up, put it in my pocket, and decided this needed to be a big wish. Twenty-five times the usual. It needed to pack a punch.
I made a doozy. And I’m not telling …
Layoff survival guide
Having gone through a layoff I was entirely unprepared for in 2002, I put together some thoughts for those going through the shock of layoffs now. Today’s Game Plan on FoxBusiness.com features my Ten Tips for Surviving a Layoff.
For those willing to embrace tip No. 3, contact me for a consultation and you’ll feel like a new person!
