The other day on a mailbox that’s right outside my office, I noticed someone had put a key on top of the mailbox. I imagine that it was dropped somewhere in the area and this person picked it up, and put it on top of the mailbox, trying to be helpful. It brings up two […]
lost, lost and found
There is not a week that goes by in my life that I don’t think about something a teacher throughout my life had told me or taught me about something. More often than not, quite honestly, it’s something that I learned from them about succeeding in life, not necessarily something about geometry. I have over […]
gratitude, teach, teachers, thank you, thankful
The other day, I went into a bank and there was a counter at the entrance where there was a greeter who asked me why I was there. I explained what I wanted to do and he said, “I can help you with that.” And I thought, great. He said, “Do you have a cellphone?” […]
bank, customer service, process, story
In a commencement speech given by the wonderful author David Foster Wallace, he begins by telling a story about two young fish who are swimming along, when an older fish passes them and says, “Morning, how’s the water?” As they swim by, one of the younger fish turns to the other and says, “What the […]
david foster wallace, fish, fish story, parable
A friend recently recommended an article called “17 Ways to be More Positive” and one of the early tips on that list that caught my eye, was to do something nice for someone else. The author was pinning the reason for that on some supposed research or evidence that the good feelings we get from […]
article, kindness, nice, positive
The other day, I was checking out at a supermarket and the cashier was talking to somebody next to them who was stocking a shelf. That might explain why when I handed them a $20 bill, they weren’t really paying attention, and shoved a credit card machine towards me, until they realized I wasn’t holding […]
cash, grocery store, money, multitasking
A quotation I read recently was from John Barrymore, the actor, and it was “happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.” It captures so many awesome things about the surprise of happiness coming into our lives, but also through something that we did, by leaving that door open. It […]
happiness, john barrymore, open door
In the excellent movie Jerry Maguire, Jerry, who is played by Tom Cruise, is a sports agent who’s leaving the big firm he’s part of to go out on his own. Dorothy Boyd, played by Renee Zellweger, is an assistant at the firm who decides to leave and join him to build this new venture. […]
dorothy boyd, jerry maguire, quote, renee zellweger, sad stories, tom cruise
I was walking down the street the other day, and somebody asked me what time it was. I instinctively looked at my watch to tell them and after we passed each other, I realized two things. One is, I can’t remember the last time somebody asked me what time it was when I was just […]
telling time, time, watch
A recent Wall Street Journal article rated the best and worst airports in the US for business travel. The top-rated one was San Francisco, and one of the reasons they gave in the article was that it is relatively quieter than other airports because the number of announcements that are allowed on the overhead speaker […]
airport, noise, quiet, travel, wall street journal