Well-known positive psychologist Martin Seligman has found that there are 3 P’s that can help us to see the light at the end of a dark tunnel of setbacks. For any of you navigating transitions in your life, you might consider these as your seeds of resilience.

“There are at least two ways to understand what it means to have our hearts broken. One is to imagine the heart broken into shards and scattered about. The other is to imagine the heart broken open into new capacity. As I stand in the tragic gap between reality and possibility, this small, tight fist of a thing called my heart can break open into greater capacity to hold more of my own and the world's suffering and joy, despair and hope.” ~ Parker Palmer in A HIDDEN WHOLENESS

The original meaning of the word “epic” is not an adjective to describe “bigger than, greater than, king of the hill, master of the universe.” It means a long form story of “derring do” – daring to do and daring to be. And stories are important. It turns out we don’t live in our lives or our relationships.

Last week, I co-led a workshop with Wisdom 2.0 founder Soren Gordhamer called “The Emergence of the Wise Leader” and we had an impressive collection of wisdom seekers and wisdom keepers.

Many years ago, I told a lovely older woman she was a role model for me as I deeply appreciated her poise and presence and how plain-spoken she was. She told me something I’ll never forget, "I am you twenty-five years from now.” Wow!

The microwave was invented accidentally in 1945 by a self-taught engineer named Percy Spencer, who was leading a radar project for the defense giant, Raytheon. While testing a new vacuum tube called a magnetron, he discovered that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted from the heat. He decided to try another experiment by placing some popcorn kernels near the magnetron, and watched as the kernels popped.

“Doing is never enough if you neglect Being. The ego knows nothing of Being but believes you will eventually be saved by doing. If you are in the grip of the ego, you believe that by doing more and more you will eventually accumulate enough 'doings' to make yourself feel complete at some point in the future. You won't. You will only lose yourself in doing. The entire civilization is losing itself in doing that is not rooted in Being and thus becomes futile.” - Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

Post-pandemic it’s never been more clear that we are a culture disconnected from our rebel souls. What exactly do I mean by that? Consider this disheartening evidence:

“Never have I enjoyed youth so thoroughly as I have in my old age...Nothing is inherently and invincibly young except spirit. And spirit can enter a human being perhaps better in the quiet of old age and dwell there more undisturbed than in the turmoil of adventure.” - George Santanaya

A big thank you to MEA beta alum Liz Gebhardt who turned us onto cyberlibertarian John Perry Barlow’s principles for being the adult in the room.