Pain.....

Sometimes it just RAINS!

Pain and suffering - but it will be overcome

In the final analysis, your attitude determines your effectiveness in everything, every time! LGL

The end of suffering....

It has now been one year since my brother Roberto received his double-lung transplant, a miracle unto itself. He has been in the hospital now nearly 7 months beyond initial rehab due to complications too numerous to name, yet he lives. My mother and sister are his most constant companions as the rest of us live states away. The pain, the anxiety of any new development, coupled with the daily living issues associated with work, family, time....I am so grateful to my wife Debbie and my children for providing solace in the storm. My own self-doubt, my own "little faith" with God's will, my fear - these have been my companions this past year. It is very difficult to compartmentalize your life, for me anyway. So the entire experience of Roberto's suffering, my own struggles, and the realization that life is short and unhappiness can not be long-term; they all congregate (to quote Harry Truman)to "fall on you like the earth, the sun and all the stars". All of this will pass and where tomorrrow leads.....BUT, we will push and drive and persevere, because that is what got us here! Gracias Papi, we remember you on your 14th anniversary this Monday - Costa Rica's Independence Day, he showed us how!

Teaching is Learning

The anxiety, the elation, the preparation, the organization, the last-minute off-the-cuff change that makes it GO! It is very interesting teaching - maybe the word is facilitating - a gathering of 30 very interested and knowledgeable professionals. Some already know what you know, some know more than what you know about the subject matter and are simply verifying their positions. The best method is to encourage the "team" to contribute to the material as it is presented, even to refute it with empirical evidence, so that the "team" can learn beyond the awareness and ability of the teacher. Humility of not knowing it ALL, and true enthusiasm for the subject matter are key attributes that gain the interest of the team members in active participation. By the way, even outside the classroom, people are learning by what they see you do. LGLOBO