Becoming a Gay Adult

Defiance is foolish. Storms rage change on a massive scale. When we get the memo on these things; information overloaded as we are, we must pay attention. The blithe type A New Yorker in us, would love to dismiss seismic dissonance as a blip on the radar of success and our drive to achievement of career goals, however, this Irene is a full stop: a period in the angling towards promotions and new positions and networking. Pause: assess the things that matter and keep them as safe as possible. Follow the preparedness suggestions with the same diligence as an exact spreadsheet for your boss. This is your life; not some checkbox to fill out. And take the time in the quiet of the storm to assess the damage before barrelling back into the fray of work. Check on loved ones. Listen to the tension in your own body: do yoga, go for a run, shake off the effects of the agitated preparation, the wait, the held breath, the experience. Breathe into what happened, note the learnings and THEN move

The lessons we learned as kids during summer camp and vacations apply to us as adults. We need the respite to keep our saw sharp, our intuition alive and our emotional centeredness. We can reclaim our delight in life when we take breaks. So it is essential to use the days off we can use during the warm months especially if we live in the northeast Americas. The truth is that work just keeps piling up and there's always more to do. It is even tempting to check devices on the beach, however, we really do need to tune out of the things to do and tune into ourselves for truly healthy careers. It's a marathon, our lives, not a sprint. And so today is one of those days: I went to the beach, rode the Wantagh Parkway Bike Trail, had a delicious slow lunch and am "chilling" at my pad. It feels so wicked good. Live well.

Journal each day first thing in the morning when you get out of bed. See Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way" for even more morning practice ideas. For now, just get up 5 minutes earlier than you need to, in order to get to work. Write out for 5 minutes long hand in a journal with the date at the top of the page: "What I Want for my Life". Just keep writing each day: it can be bullet points, it can be a story, it can be your anger, just write every day. And then review it with a friend or trusted mentor. Come up with some clear statements about what you desire. It's interesting to talk with someone else about how you can move towards that. When I think about what I want for my life, I consider a couple things: what is it that God is calling me to do? what are the things that have come to me easily in my life? what have others given me feedback about that was valuable to them that I contributed? how can I turn these things into a career that helps me m

It seems more and more of us are experiencing days when work just seems to explode. It's either that it just comes at us faster and harder, or that there's that one issue that becomes so much more than in needed to be. And there's this constant balancing act between nurturing the relationships and checking of the "done" box on the "to do" list. And the bigger picture of why you do what you do in the world seems to fade away. Take some time to remind yourself of your bigger purpose. Take a deep breath and exhale. Identify one thing that's the most important for tomorrow to feel successful. Ask what you need to do to protect that success. This becomes an anchor to get you to rest tonight, and to get excited again to get back in the game tomorrow. The other thing is to ask yourself during dinner, or a walk in the rain, along the beach, what you need to help you succeed. It may be impossible to get this resource even this year, but what could help