The Duke University Medical Center has published a report confirming that stress management appears to reduce the long-term chances of heart patients having another "cardiac event" and also provides an immediate and significant cost savings. The team found a financial benefit of stress management strategies within the first year of the study. Average costs for patients who utilized stress management were $1,228 per patient during the first year, as compared to $2,352 per patient for those who exercised and $4,523 per patient for those who received usual care. The medical center defines a …
Archives for June 2005
Ice Cold Water
One of my favorite things to do in the world is to go on a walk with my husband. That's actually one of the reasons we fell in love with Madison. It has some very beautiful lakes surrounded by trails for walking. The other day, as we walked in the humid, sticky weather, I was blessed with a "swingset moment." The childhood memory whisked back before I even saw what was happening. I heard the high pitched screeches of excitement from three children, two of which were wearing their everyday clothes soaking wet, weighing them down like heavy blankets. The third child was a toddler who very …
8 Ways to Escape Adulthood at Dinner
1. Add some fun background music. Pick some that helps you "Escape." 2. Pick some dandelions or wildflowers for your centerpiece. 3. Use the fun china (could be fancy...or paper...whichever you fancy) 4. Share a childlike happening from your day with those you are dining with. (If nothing childlike happened, then share a childhood memory about summer.) …
Expecting Rain?
When I was little nothing thrilled me more at a restaurant than to get one of those cute bright colored paper umbrellas in my drink. Pure joy! There was one place in particular we would go, as a big treat, in Joliet, IL, Merichkas, where my parents allowed us to order kitty cocktails. And what a treat this was! My parents loved the food there...I, well...I was satisfied with the "funness" added to my drink. I'm not even sure I really liked the cherry-flavored 7-up, or whatever kitty cocktails are even made of. So, you can imagine my childlike spirit leapt for joy when I read the following blog …
Does This Mean I’m Napoleon Dynamite?
Today I went to a National Speaker's Association meeting near Milwaukee. I got to meet and talk to the current President, Scott Friedman. Funny guy and great motivator. He totally gets the "Escape Adulthood" thing and used the term "Adultitis" several times after I shared the concept with the group. We traded books, which was also very cool. He spoke about adding humor to your presentations, but a couple things I took away are applicable to everyone: • Humor is pain, embarrassment, or stress distanced by time. • Comfort never produced greatness. • Don't make a living, design a life. …
If You Build it, They Will Come
As much as I love that movie, Field of Dreams, I am not going to encourage you to build a baseball field in your backyard in hopes of some mysterious visitors. What I have been thinking about is the importance of building one’s family. Not only is it important for our own well-being and emotional health, it is important for our society and in the communities in which we live. I have to admit, I am often frustrated by the “break-down” of the family in today's households. It seems like people don’t make the time to have dinner together, communicate without having the TV on in the background, …
Kudos for Escape Adulthood
Got a nice letter from Lynn Johnston the other day. You may not know her by name (cartoonists have a way of remaining anonymous – how many of you know what Bill Watterson looks like?), but I'm sure you've seen her strip, For Better or For Worse. She had some nice things to say about my book. She thanked me for sending her an advance copy and said, "I wasn't prepared for it to be so good! You write well and the subject matter is so appropriate. It's obvious you have been thinking about this for a long time...One good thing about being a cartoonist is with minds like ours, it's …
Sleeping with the Jellyfishes
I thought I had been fairly extensive in coming up with 88 ways to escape adulthood for my book. Somehow, I completely missed this one. According to a Japanese newspaper, the hottest ticket in town is a slumber party with some spineless sea creatures. Thirty lucky people won a lottery to experience the Enoshima Aquarium jellyfish tour. The experence includes dinner and educational behind-the-scenes access to the exhibit, followed by the opportunity to cozy up in sleeping bags in front of the jellyfish tank. According to the article, …
On Rummage Sales
A new installment of Allan's Alley is ready for nostalgic consumption. On the day this was written, the Kim & Jason strip depicted Kim’s amazement that her mom was about to sell her old hair dryer for 50¢ at the family garage sale. The drawing of Kim digging into her pocket to see if she had the money to buy the dryer herself brought back memories of our young son, at our long-ago driveway sale, trying to buy things we already owned. …
NASA Has Adultitis
In my last post, I commented on Mr. Buzz Aldrin, one of the first (and only) guys to walk on the moon. In 1962, in a speech given at Rice University in Texas, President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to put a man on the moon: We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to …