Creative Success Depends on Long View
Listen Here:
In this podcast, we feature author Taylor Marsh, who [read more]
How To Empty Your Emotional Backpack When It Gets Too Heavy
Each winter I load my backpack up for mountaineering skiing to 10th Mountain Huts in the Rocky Mountains.
I load survival gear to make sure I don’t die while I cross-country up to the top of 13,000-foot mountains at 40 below zero. In the summers, [...]
Betrayal: How It Feels and What To Do About It
Throughout my life, I have considered every human being on an even keel with me.
I treat each person I meet with dignity and respect; and I expect them to return the same. I’m the guy who walks into the gym with a smile on my face and a greeting, [...]
The Voluptuousness Of Living
“Everything is downhill from here, ‘cept what’s up…it’s all in your attitude.” Katie Lee, 95, Jerome, Arizona, singer, environmental activist.
Long ago, before modern communications, before electric lights, before mobility—people [...]
Pulling On A Life-Coat That Fits Your Aspirations
Too often, countless Americans stumble out of high school into ill-suited jobs, incompatible relationships and no plans for the future.
They hang with discordant jobs in order to write checks for food, rent and car payments. Without using an [...]
Living In The Conversation of Your Life
Six days a week, I wake up early, pull on my jeans and head to the recreation center where I commit my body to a two hour workout.
I swim a half-mile, lift weights, run, bicycle and meditate along with stretching in the hot tub. Why? I engage [...]
Speak Up About Something: Courage To Create Good In The World
Henry David Thoreau said, “The masses of men (and women) live lives of quiet desperation.”
That equates to the fact that most people lack the courage or incentive to get involved with the great events of life within their communities, states [...]
Mountains for Breakfast, Sunsets for Dessert, Camping for Your Dreams
This year, a longtime friend asked me to go on a bicycle journey with him down the West Coast from Canada to Mexico.
The journey encompassed 2,000 miles of the Pacific Ocean, mountains, beaches, seabirds, whales, seals, otters, dolphins and [...]
Death: A Tight Shoe Taken Off So You Can Find A New Way To Dance
Last year, seven of my lifelong friends made their transition back to the greater dimensions of the universe.
One very young and the rest spread across a time line of decades. Each lived a spectacular life. You might say that each died with [...]
Mother Nature Reaching The Edge of Silence
In the corner of my office, near my computer, a white marble statue stands against a dark blue velvet cloth to create a dramatic contrast. The statue?
As a college sophomore, my humanities professor introduced me to the eminent Italian sculptor [...]
Choosing Low Self-Esteem: Carrying The Mental Equivalent For Self-defeat
Millions of Americans live their lives with low self-esteem.
Teenagers learn it from one or both parents. Others choose it by comparing themselves with movie stars. Many young women mutter to themselves, “I’m not good enough…I’m not [...]
Bottled Lightning: Skin Your Knees On Eternity
At the beginning of my presentations on “How to Live a Life of Adventure” at high schools, colleges, civic clubs and church groups, my first words exclaim, “I live a spectacular life!”
After the audience digests such brash words, I invite [...]
Your Creative Mind: Unpredictable Collision of Thought and Circumstance
How do ideas strike you?
When do they hit? Have you heard of the phrase, “Stroke of luck…flash of insight…eureka moment!” Creativity involves anticipation mingled with uncertainty. For the record, ideas grow out of your brain through [...]
Find a Safe Place to Dance
In your life, someone cheated you out of something.
Another lied to you. Others gossiped about you. At some point, you suffered the loss of a friend, parent or spouse. Someone hammered you on the tennis court, chessboard or the boardroom. A [...]
The Point Of True Beginning: Your Perfection
Back in the 1880s while living as a sawyer in Yosemite National Park, America’s first ecologist, John Muir, lived face to face with nature.
He climbed into the High Sierras throughout his life. He summited mountains, fished in clear streams [...]
A Single Thread In The Tapestry Of Life: Tuscany, Italy
The mystique of bicycle travel fascinates most people.
Why would anyone “endure” the pains of providing their own locomotion via pedaling rather than the comfort and speed of a car, boat, plane or train? The answer lies in the antiquity [...]
Illusion of Being Right: High Level Fear Wearing A Mask
We humans make judgments on just about everything that comes into our eyesight.
We judge ourselves when we look into the mirror in the morning. We judge our friends by the cars they drive. We judge strangers by the clothes they wear. We judge [...]
Harriet Anderson: 78 Year Old Ironman Champion
In 2013, Harriet Anderson raced the Ironman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii.
No big deal if you’re 25, full of muscle, pep and vinegar! You can power through the 2.4-mile swim in ocean water. You can jump on your 27-speed carbon bicycle to ram [...]
Your Invitation to a Great Life
In recent weeks, my son Trevor quit his well-paying pharmacy tech job in Denver, Colorado for a “room and board” position in a quiet village in the Austrian Alps.
He sickened of his role in filling drug prescriptions for people addicted [...]
You Can Do That: The Key to Your Life’s Successful Path
Have you ever faced a situation that caused you to question yourself?
Did you confront a teacher that you disliked or a fellow student who badgered you? Have you dwelt with co-workers that made you tear your hair out? Welcome to the human race! [...]
Crossing the Bridge into 2015
Quick as a wink, Christmas faded into our rear view mirrors.
Up ahead, a brand spanking New Year 2015 awaits! New possibilities! Fresh ideas! A new set of 365 days to accomplish something marvelous in your life.
What actions will you take in [...]
Unleash The Daring Dance Within You
Sometimes in life, no matter your stature, success, sartorial dress, rich or modest home, friends and magnificent job—you may come to a point of getting down on yourself.
If you live by modest means or in poverty, you may come to the conclusion [...]
Societal Exhaustion In Our High Speed World: Slow It Down
You live in a high speed, high stress society.
Everything ramps you up to meet deadlines, reach class on time and excel at work. You face texting, emails and Smart Phone recordings. If you’re a parent, you must take the kids to soccer practice, [...]
Attune To Your Heart, Mind And Body: Gift Of Appreciation
While growing up, you faced many challenges.
You tackled schoolbooks that demanded your attention to gain knowledge. Your teachers busted your butt with homework assignments. Your parents piled on chores such as mowing the lawn, washing the [...]
Boyan Slat: Cleaning Up 300 Million Tons Of Ocean Plastic
“Once there was the Stone Age, then the Bronze Age, and now we are in the middle of the Plastic Age,” said teenager Boyan Slat. “Ever year, we produce 300 million tons of plastic. Much of it reaches our oceans.”
At 16 years of age, Boyan [...]
A ‘Center For Happiness’
Listening to “Happiness Princess” Laura Lavigne feels like participating in an Easter egg hunt.
You never know where you might discover the next treasure. You cannot imagine what you might find. She “eggs” you on toward your own riches [...]
You Against Yourself: Which Wolf Wins?
At one point in history, President Thomas Jefferson faced a national crisis.
He said, “We have a wolf by the ears; he’s too dangerous to keep and he’s even more dangerous if we let him go.”
Jefferson also spoke about his own battles [...]
Always Sit Down Wind Of Flowers
Susan Schutz said, “Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair.”
Years ago, I backpacked in Nepal, Tibet and other parts of Asia. I distinctly remember the peace and quietude of the Himalayas and the stunning beauty of Mount [...]
Pedaling For Peace
Lori Bell pedals a bicycle around the United States in order to create a much-needed discussion on America’s continual participation in wars: she pedals for peace.
Bell, 49, single, and having taken a non-traditional path in her life and work [...]
Exploit The Sharp Edge Of Your Sword
Back in high school, you attended classes without much appreciation of your reasons for education.
You complied with scholastic protocol for all teenagers. For the most part, you carried your books to school, read your assignments, cheered at [...]
The Journey Back: I Choose Me
My friend Fred sat down in the booth at Woody’s Pizza in downtown Golden, Colorado last fall. He represented sartorial splendor in that he wore a suit and tie with Italian shoes. I slid into the booth opposite him.
“Good evening gentlemen,” [...]
Life: Your Highest Performance Of Function
“Life” charges around your body every second of every day until your last breath on Earth.
Your red blood cells race through thousands of miles of arteries, capillaries and veins. Everything about you thrives toward performance and function.
Blood [...]
Coming Through The Fire: Your Road Less Traveled
By the time you reach your senior year in high school, it dawns on you that this life offers no easy path.
You discovered the only way to succeed academically or athletically: study your butt off and/or practice your sport until your body felt [...]
Hold The Sky: What You Can Do About Personal Grief
During your journey on Earth, you face incredible moments of joy, challenge and discomfort.
You never know where those “moments” may originate or for how long.
In your life, you may face an accident, loss of a loved one, disintegration of [...]
Diagonally Parked In A Parallel Universe: Confusion To Clarity
Confusion dominates American society.
Endless choices cause stress, uncertainty and frustration. Americans gobble painkillers, stomach calming pills and sedatives to relax themselves.
One look at the local news through the week illustrates bewilderment, [...]
Life Choices: Confidence Versus Insecurity
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.
You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this trauma. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must [...]
© 2026