Mandatory

 I hate the word MANDATORY.

I know hate is a strong word,however, I can honestly say, I hate this one.

MANDATORY!

The minute I hear someone use it, I assume the fight back position.

Masks wearing mandatory!

Social distancing mandatory!

Mandatory curfew!

Mandatory shutdown!

Mandatory vaccination!

Don't tell me what I have to do!

I understand completely that living in a free society does not mean that I get to do whatever I want to do.

As a socially responsible person, I believe I make fairly socially responsible choices.

Mandatory leaves me no choice.

I can't live with that.

There are certain words that just shut me off.

Words like should have, need to, and certainly have to.

These phrases nullify choice.

Mandatory is absolutely right at the top of my list of words that don't fit my lifestyle.

It makes me crazy when someone says"I had no choice".

Yes you did!

We always have a choice.

Legal or illegal, moral or immoral,safe or unsafe, there is and always must be a choice.

Consequences?

You bet there are consequences.

I don't mind consequences,as long as I have a choice.

Mandatory limits my ability to choose.

Mandatory drives me crazy.

Mandatory rarely comes from a consensus.

Mandatory is rarely formed out of consensual dialogue.

It is almost always driven by someone else's agenda.

I can't say it enough.

I hate MANDATORY!

Shabbat Shalom!

And just like that............

 And just like that....it's just another day of the week.

After an awesome day of greetings, well wishes and salutations on my birthday, I woke up to just another day of the week.

I did get an early morning "Happy Friday" text from a dear friend.

However the hoopla and fanfare that filled my day yesterday is now in the rearview mirror.

Well, not exactly.

You see,I have always taken birthday greetings as an opportunity to reconnect with friends and well wishers.

If you text, shout out on Facebook or call me, I will always respond to you.

Not the obligatory Facebook post of "thanks everyone for the well wishes".

Instead, I respond in messenger or by text or phone individually to anyone and everyone who reached out.

I take these birthday greetings seriously. When I get one, it reminds me to take pause and remember that person. Maybe remember a kindness we shared.

Maybe it was remembering a sorrow or a joy that we shared.

It affords me the opportunity to remember someone and check in with them.

I get to ask "how are you doing?' or "how is everyone in your world" .

Often times, it elicits a response and I can answer in kind.

We all get busy and a little bit lost in our day to day trivialities.

On my birthday, it's nice to use that opportunity to check in, catch up and acknowledge friends ,old and new.

In one very short day, I literally had the chance to connect with people all over the world.

It's a pretty awesome way to spend my birthday.

And just like that,it's over and today is just another Friday.

The good news is,it's less than 364 days until I get to do it all over again!

Not that I won't reach out to anyone in the meantime or get a call , text or nudge on Facebook along the way.

That's a given.

However, it's nice to have that 24 hour blitz where I can fill my cup of joy with the pictures of the faces of all who were kind enough to remember me as well.

Shabbat Shalom!

Just the way I ilke it

 Today is a gloriously awful stormy day.

I can't help it.

I love stormy days.

It's cold,dark,rainy,gloomy and by most people's standards nasty.

I couldn't be happier.

All of this nasty weather and it's happening on my birthday. What could be better than that!

I seem to remember more than my fair share of stormy days on my birthday.

Nine years ago we had a snowstorm and 8 years ago Hurricane Sandy.

Like I said, my birthday and nasty weather seem to go hand in hand.

I suppose the familiar feel of inclement weather serves as a reminder to me of birthdays past.

I remember one such birthday years ago,probably 1967 or '68.

My parents got me a faux leather motorcycle jacket. It was to replace the coat they bought me for Chanukah a year earlier....bright red plush with a totem pole on the back.

OMG.....how embarrassing!

The chubby kid wearing a bright red plash coat with a totem pole!

What were they thinking?

I can tell you exactly what they were thinking. It was on the sale rack at Alexanders.

It was marked down,80% off.

It wasn't often that a deal on my size appeared on the closeout rack.

Hence, it was a no brainer.

Bright red plush with a totem pole.

Are you getting the picture?

But now, I had this really cool, faux leather motorcycle jacket.

It had zippers all over.

So damn cool!

Outside, the weather was much like it is today,cold wet and rainy.

And I didn't care. I went outside and stood on our driveway, just hoping someone, anyone, would walk by and see how cool I was.

Now, it was after dinner, on a very small side street,on a school night so the chances of running into anyone were slim.

Still, it was certainly worth the try.

After a half hour or so, my head soaking wet, I went back inside.

I was drenched,and so was my new jacket,my new,faux leather motorcycle jacket, which took 3 days to dry out.

The red plush coat with the totem pole?

Well, it would have to suffice until my new cool jacket dried out.

I probably could have thought that out a little better!

Rainy birthdays.......such great memories!

I wouldn't want it any other way!

Tomfoolery

 For the last 25 years, I have often felt that I wasn't really contributing much to this world in my professional life.

I have friends who are educators, doctors,lawyers and clergy. Some of my friends are tradesman ,some work for charitable organizations.

Me?

I sold Halloween crap.

How does selling a bunch of junk for Halloween make this world a better place to live?

Today for the first time, I realized just how important what I did for a living really was.

Christmas is a time for joy.

Thanksgiving is a time for gratitude.

The 4th of July is a time for celebrating our great nation.

What's the deal with Halloween?

Halloween gave us a chance to be silly.

It gave us the opportunity to let loose,to be outrageous,to carry on.

There is no holiday feast associated with Halloween,only huge bags of candy!

We decorate our homes and lawns.

We wear silly costumes.

We have parties.

We visit with neighbors.

We spend time with our kids.

We mingle with the parents of the children our kids go to school with.

Halloween allows us to laugh at ourselves, laugh at each other and more importantly laugh with each other.

It's what is missing today.

We don't laugh anymore.

We don't dress up.

We don't get silly.

There is no tomfoolery.

This is not a result of Covid.

Halloween has been canceled by the cancel culture.

In our industry, we constantly asked ourselves how far is too far when creating new product.

Is this in bad taste?

Are we being insensitive?

Is this too outlandish?

Is it too silly?

The answer was almost always ,no, it's Halloween, this is what we do!

If a product didn't do well at retail, well, lessoned learned.

Somewhere along the line that changed.

At some point some voice began telling us "you can't do that."

You can't make that costume.

You can't offer that prop or decoration.

"It's offensive!"

If it offends you, don't buy it.

Trust me, if it doesn't sell I won't carry it again.

No, we became too sensitive to every breath of wind .

We lost the ability to laugh at ourselves, to have fun.

Too gorey.

Too scary.

Too outlandish.

Too over the top.

Too sexy.

It's a sad place to be in.

It's a truly said state of affairs.

Unfortunately,it is the world we live in today.

Sad,very sad.

We need some good old fashioned tomfoolery.

Zachor

 I had the opportunity to watch The Eichmann Story on Netflix. I don't tout a lot of movies , however,this was a pretty good one.

The one thing that jumped out at me was when they showed some brief frames of the films that were shown to Eichmann at his trial. The footage that documented the atrocities committed.

Although very brief,they were enough to remind me that we must never forget.

In a few weeks, we will remember Krystal Nacht once again.

November 9-10th,1938,The Night of Broken Glass.

It has been 82 years.

Unfortunately,the world has already forgot.

And as if forgetting isn't bad enough,there are many out there who just have no idea of just how horrific the Holocaust really was.

If they did, they would never throw around comparisons that paint any thing that we may be experiencing today to the evil that was perpetrated under the Nazis.

The comparison is beyond deplorable.

I am ashamed to say that I have seen people I know post things on Facebook in the past calling someone a Nazi and I didn't call them out.

In High School, they used to show a film,I think it was called A Night in Watching .

It was as graphic as one could ever want to see.

I for one would want to see more of this shown on tv.

That's the film festival I want to see.

This my friends was social injustice. Social injustice on such an enormous level,we should be reminded of it constantly, graphically, until it makes you puke.

Zachor, to remember.

Mark your calendar.

16 days.

Zachor...............remember.

Closet Cleaning

 With the change of seasons comes a change of wardrobe.

Short sleeved golf shirts are replaced by long sleeved hoodies.

This is the weekend that I have chosen to put away the warmer weather shirts and pull out the warmer clothes that will get me through the next 4 to 5 months.

As I began this task, I found myself rifling through clothes that to be perfectly honest, I will probably never wear again.

My life has changed,in part due to Covid and in part because that is just what happens. Change.

Change happens.

There was a time not that long ago, that I was The Guy In The Tie.

For a period of about 2 years, when I got dressed, it was in a dress shirt and tie.

7 days a week.

Even when my plans for the day were to stay home, I would still put on a shirt and tie.

Just in case I had to run to the store for something, I needed to be prepared.

There are probably 100 or more ties in my closet.

Why?

There is a very good chance, that I may never wear a tie again.

I haven't worn a tie since a year ago when Sara got married.

Covid and the quarantine has obviously had a huge effect on that.

My uniform has changed.

Dress slacks?

Dress shirts?

Nice seaters?

I can't foresee an occasion when I would ever need any of these.

The suit I bought for the wedding?

Unless something really special comes up, like another one of my kids getting married, I probably won't need a suit again.

At least not while I am still breathing.

No,short sleeve polos and long sleeved hoodies should suffice for the immediate as well as the foreseeable future.

(You can feel free to read foreseeable future as ever!)

So instead of reshuffling the deck, it's probably a good time to clear the decks if you would.

This weekend there will be a purge of my wardrobe.

I will not be hanging on to things for "someday" or "maybe".

Life just isn't that spontaneous that if the occasion should arise where I would want a special outfit, that I wouldn't have time to buy something appropriate.

Other than that aforementioned suit, the selection in my closet isn't what one would consider GQ worthy.

Oh sure I will save a sweater or 2.

At least 1 dress shirt.

Maybe a tie (I will need to make sure it goes with the shirt an sweater).

Other than that, the only thing that should end up hanging in my closet for the season are 10 or twelve hoodies.(and my snow overalls!).

The polos will get put away until spring time.

3 pair of jeans.

Maybe 1 pair of black slacks.

(just in case of a funeral).

That should do it.

The purge is upon us.

FYI.........

my birthday is next week,so if you were planning on buying me a new tie ............DON'T!

Zip up your jacket

 As a child, how many times did I hear"zip up your jacket,you'll catch a cold!".

It didn't matter if I was taking out the garbage, heading out to play with my friend or just going to the car because we were going somewhere.

Somehow, the magical zipper was going to prevent me from catching a cold.

It had nothing to do with the fact that kids get colds.

It had nothing to do with the fact that I was sent off to not 1 but 2 different schools,secular and hebrew ,where I would come in contact with a few hundred germ carrying super spreaders.

Nope.

It was all about the zipper.

Eventually I would catch a cold.

As noted before,kids catch colds.

There would be no sympathy.There was no concern. What there was was the inevitable"ya see, you should have zipped your coat up!".

It never failed.

My unzipped jacket,was at the epicenter of my cold.

20/20 hindsight, zipping up before going out was probably a good thing.

It certainly couldn't hurt.

During the cold and flu season,it makes sense to be more attentive to dressing properly, including zipping up and wearing a hat.

Kind of like wearing sunscreen when outdoors in the summertime.

There's no law that says you must,but what does it hurt.

This is kind of how I look at my approach to Covid 19.

After months of mask hysteria and social distancing protocols,we have more than enough evidence that while these things don't mean I won't test positive,it certainly doesn't hurt if you do follow these guidelines.(85% of people who test positive say they wear a mask all or most of the time).

Do I always zip up my jacket now?

Actually, no. That's why I wear hoodies as much as I do.

Will I drive alone in my car wearing a mask?

Ain't happening.

However, if the sign on the door of the building I am entering says I must wear a mask,I do (or I leave).

I don't stamp my feet and refuse to wear it.

People nowadays are clambering about all of the mistakes that have been made along the way in addressing this virus.

I for one,do not believe we make mistakes.

We make choices based on how we perceive the information we have at hand in that given moment.

Not a mistake. Maybe a bad choice.Maybe some bad intel.

In either case,it is always an opportunity to use that experience the next time I am faced with the same or similar situation.

Cold and flu season is right around the corner. Time to break out the hats and hopefully to remember to zip up my jacket.

An under appreciated blessing

 When I look back at the beginning of this quarantine, the one thing that stands out is how dark the world seemed.

It was mid March, the latter part of winter.

Daylight savings had just begun and we were still experiencing shorter amounts of daylight.

Even though snow was not a factor, it was still winter,cold,dank, and dark.

The trees were barren and although temperatures were not frigid it was virtually impossible to feel warm.

It was emotionally draining.

Sometime around late early May, all of that changed.

Seemingly overnight,winter vanished and spring came bursting through.

Trees started to bud,flowers started to bloom and the weather became ,for lack of a better descriptive, pretty awesome.

On a daily basis the sun was shining and the temperature responded in kind. Hoodies and sweatshirts were replaced very quickly with short sleeves and tees.

Day after day,people took to the streets, crawling out of their caves and enjoying these gifts from Mother Nature.

The weather here in the North East has for the last 6 months, been nothing short of spectacular.

Hardly a day goes by without the sin greeting us and treating us to a gorgeous day.

Oh sure,we have had our fair share of rain,even a hurricane a=or a tropical storm or two.

Even those seasonal storms were mild and mostly blips on the weather radar,despite the hysteria stirred up by the news media and our state governments who all seem to thrive when they create and perpetuate Doomsday scenarios.

It is late October and we are still experiencing seasonably warm temperatures.

For those who enjoy summertime outdoor activities (that doesn't include me!) you couldn't have asked for a better summer.

I continue to see friends enjoying the Jersey shore even as the fall foliage is ablaze all over the Northeast.

Every morning I see walkers and joggers.

I can't remember ever having experienced a 6 month period of such continued good fortune when it comes to the day to day weather forecast.

Blessings have been few and far between during this Covid nonsense.

I for one am grateful for this blessing that Mother Nature has been so kind to share with us.

Who knew?

 I can not begin to share with you how overwhelming and humbling your responses were to my post the other day about Breast Cancer Awareness were.

While my intent was to shine a light on the glaring absence of pink at NFL and MLB games,along with on the political hacks who appear on media outlets daily as well as the always "jumping on the latest cause celeb" celebrities,the overwhelming majority of feedback was so warm and supportive of what Susan has been through over these last few months.Touching doesn't come close to describing it.

I was sharing this with the nurse at my doctor's office the other day and she said,kind of matter of factly, while it is still Breast Cancer Awareness month, the NFL has shifted to a new platform called Crucial Catch.According to their website "The NFL's Crucial Catch mission is to fight cancer through early detection and risk reduction. The league, its clubs, players, the NFL Player Association, and the American Cancer Society are committed to providing individuals with the tools they need to help them better understand early detection and ways to reduce their cancer risk. Each year, every NFL team raises awareness during their Crucial Catch game, which features on-field and in-stadium Crucial Catch elements. Crucial Catch games also present a special opportunity to honor cancer survivors and those currently battling cancer."

Who knew?

Certainly not me.

Certainly not my daughter Becca who is as woke as she is into watching football.

Actually, not one person in the very large circle of friends who read my blog seemed aware of this either.

Whoever is in charge of marketing for the NFL should probably be fired.

The message seems to have gotten lost.

For years now, during the month of October, we have been flooded with pink images.

Socks,sneakers,wristbands,ribbons,t-shirts,hats you name it ,they all turned pink.

All of that has disappeared.

The all encompassing "all cancers are bad" have mollified the impact statement once so laser focused on this one particular cause.

Here's one thing I learned during Susan's treatment.

It worked because the entire plan was to pinpoint a specific problem,address it treat it and get rid of it.

Period!

Her medical team didn't concern itself with sore throats or her skin tags, or her knee pain. They found a lump,determined that it was cancer and dealt with that and only that.

The results?

Nothing but excellent.

Sorry NFL. Sorry Crucial Catch.

Nice try, but ineffective and ,well for lack of a better way to put it,dismissive of the cause.

You have taken the focus away from the mission.

Basically,you took your eye off of the ball.

Frankly, this is what happens all of the time.

Instead of addressing a cause,problem,situation or isolated incident,someone opens the barn door and pulls out the band wagon for everyone with a gripe and a placard to jump on.

Suddenly it is no longer about the fact issue,it is now about a movement.

Towards the end of 2019, there were a spathe of anti-semitic attacks here in the New York area.

A cry went out to Congress and our leaders to denounce this targeted anti-semitism.

Their response?

"All racism is bad".

Cowards!

When did speaking plain truth cease?

When did calling a spade a spade stop being a thing?

Why must every thing that happens become about the band wagon?

It's the horse that's pulling the load.

Take care of the horse!

Crucial Catch?

More like dropped pass in the end zone.

One thing every coach will always drill into his players,keep your eye on the ball until the catch is complete!

Shabbat Shalom!

Money doesn't grow on trees

 There were certain truisms that I learned at a very early age.Truisms like "money doesn't grow on trees".

They are as true today as they were 60 years ago and will be 60 years from now.

They are immutable and indisputable.

Fruit,nuts and leaves grow on trees, not money.

Another one of these truisms is "Life isn't fair".

Remember that one.

How many times after I blurted out "that's not fair" did some adult ,my father,my mother,an aunt ,an uncle or a teacher respond with "life isn't fair.....deal with it!".

Once again, this is as true today as it has ever been,

According to Oxford,some other words for fair are, just equitable,open-minded,honest upright honorable,trustworthy.impartial,unbiased,unprejudiced and nonpartisan.

Life really isn't any of these things.

Some aspects of life maybe.

Some individuals might be all or some of these.

We each may have the capacity to be these things at some level.

However, generally speaking, life itself just isn't.

I was beginning to slip into angry guy mode again earlier in the day.

I was feeling put upon, under appreciated,under valued ,disrespected, overlooked and unimportant.

It felt unfair.

It felt unjust.

Well David, that's too damn bad!

Grow up and pull up your big boy pants. Life isn't fair and it isn't just.

This made me think about all of the nonsense swirling around in the political and social arenas today.

The term Social Justice, is a biggie!

Here's the thing, at least as I see it.

You can legislate social change.

Women won the right to vote.

Color barriers have been legislated against.

Gay rights have become law.

Many many injustices have been and continue to be addressed in the courts and by law.

That's a good thing.

The problem that no one seems to understand is that you cannot legislate what people think.

You can't pass laws that will change a persons heart.

Biases are a part of being human.

No matter what acts of Congress are set before us, life will never be fair.

People will always be who they are.

It's human nature.

So, like I heard as a child, deal with it.

One thing I know for a fact, there is always a way to deal with it. Actually, there is more than one way to deal with it. There are at least two.

The right way,and the wrong way.

Seems to me, there is an awful lot of the latter going on and not a whole bunch of effort being put into the former in my view.

Today, amidst my frustration and negativity, I chose to deal with my life the right way and turn my mood and day around.

What a novel approach to life!

Shabbat Shalom!

Aha or Duh?

 Last night,actually early this morning, I found myself wide awake and staring at the ceiling thinking about a new project that I am will hopefully be starting in the very near future.

It has been in the works for quite some time now and I am just waiting for a final thumbs up before jumping in with both feet.

For weeks now, I have been mapping out a plan of action once I get the green light.

At some point every day,I find myself daydreaming about what needs to get done and how I plan to go about doing it.

I have been calculating expenses and mentally lining up resources that are available to me.

I have modified and re-modified the project 100 times over the past 2 months.

Last night was no different, that is until I had that "moment".

I am not exactly sure if it was an aha moment or a duh? moment.

In a matter of seconds, my hours of pensive , thoughtful . planning all went flying out the window.

The entire project got flipped on its head and now I can't even believe how I failed to see what is so clearly obvious and so much better.

All morning long I have gone back over all of this.

I keep asking myself how in the world did I not see this in the first place?

Obvious doesn't begin to describe what I now understand.

It was kind of a "what do you mean the world isn't flat" moment for me.

Not really an aha moment.

Truly a Duh! what were you thinking moment.

As excited as I was to get started on this in the past, I am now doubly excited.

In the immortal words of John "Hannibal" Smith of the A-Team..."I just love it when a plan comes together!".

Shoulda coulda woulda

 Shoulda coulda woulda.

This has been a constant concern for me my entire adult life.

Maybe even longer than that.

My fear is not missing what might have been.

It is rooted in not wanting to be one of those people who are constantly bemoaning their fate and what happened "to" them.

I am not an "if only" kind of guy.

If only sounds a lot like making excuses.

If only this or that had or had not happened, blah, blah, blah.

Pull up your big boy pants. What ever did or did not happened is in the past and we live in the here and now.

We live in the what is and can only deal with that and plan out what might be.

In my world, if only does not exist.

I'll tell you what does exist.

What if exists.

If only is like trying to drive your car down the road staring in the rear view mirror.

Only bad things can come from that.

What if has you gazing through your windshield looking squarely at the crossroads of opportunity.

What if is about choice.

If only leaves you powerless.

My what if attitude often drives those around me a little crazy.

I am always putting forth some new what if.

I am probably good for a half dozen to a dozen new venture ideas a year.

Not hairbrained schemes. All of them have potential and are novel ideas, if I do say so myself.

No, I have not brought the majority of them to life.

Mostly due to a lack of OPR, (other people's resources).

Sure I may have an idea, however I don't have all of the skills,knowledge, expertise or other resources that it would take to move the plan forward.

All to often, I have brought my latest idea to someone who might be the partner I would want to work with only to be met with a less than interested response.

As it is in coaching, my level of excitement and commitment can only go so far and can never exceed that of the people I am hoping to work with. Anything less than equal commitment on their part would only lead to frustration and disappointment on my end.

It's all about the choices I make.

There are no shoulda coulda wouldas for me.

Owning my choices guarantees one thing for certain.

No regrets.

It also guarantees more opportunities and that's all I can possibly want out of life.

At What Cost?

 Way back in March, I could not imagine how disruptive the next few months would be to my life and the life of my family.

We were sailing along, without a care in the world and then whammo, like an earthquake or a tsunami,everything around us would now and forever be seen through a difference set of eyes.

The fragile nature of life had showed up at our doorstep and it had absolutely nothing to do with a stupid virus.

Just before the shutdown,my wife discovered a lump in her breast.

She made an appointment with her doctor who immediately sent her for a mammogram.

The imaging confirmed what Susan was feeling and she was told to schedule a biopsy at once. Then came the shutdown.

Everything got shutdown.

Everything including "elective" procedures.

It was incredulous!

A biopsy to determine if a person has breast cancer was now considered elective treatment.

I was livid,to say the least.

I started doing my homework, gathering up as much information as I could find. I wasn't in a panic.

Information is a good thing and I wanted to be as well armed as possible.

In my research I found that 20-30% of breast cancer patients who get an early diagnosis end up with metastatic breast cancer, meaning it spreads to other parts of the body.

Obviously, being told that a biopsy was elective was not sitting well with me.

We were able to eventually schedule a biopsy after weeks of "are you freakin' kidding me" phone calls.

The results were not as clean as we had hoped they would be.

The diagnosis was confirmed.

Susan had breast cancer.

A plan of action was mapped out and of course, it had to be shelved because once again, the surgery and treatment were classified as "elective".

Once again, more research.

How long is too long to wait?

What happens if this quarantine continues?

In that moment, I could not have given a rat's ass about how many people might die from this stupid virus.It was a) an unknown quantity and b) not my #1 concern.

It was easy to find just how many people die from breast cancer each year.

Just Google it.

After months of anxiousness and frustration, eventually we were able to schedule the procedure and then the follow up radiation protocols.

Because of the ridiculous restrictions that the hospitals had in place, Susan had to go through this mostly on her own.

None of us could go with her.

"Being there" meant waiting at home.

Thankfully she was the trooper we all knew she would be and she came through it all with flying colors.

So why am I bringing this up again and rehashing the past?

It's October, Breast Cancer Awareness month.

And in a year where our family has become acutely aware of breast cancer, it is shockingly apparent that the NFL and MLB and just about every other "socially conscious" group on the face of the Earth, seem to have turned their backs on this fact.

I haven't seen one politician, or one news pundit wearing pink.

Where are the pink ribbons?

Where are the pink socks, shoes, and sweat bands?

Where is the support that was so important in years past?

Missing!

That's where.

I guess these athletes and actors and others who all hold themselves up as the moral standard bearers of our country, have more important things on their plates.

Or maybe, something as unifying and non discriminatory as fighting this dreaded disease just doesn't fit the current social narrative.

This should not have been an either or situation.

You can still be a social warrior while wearing pink.

But that might bring us all together and heaven forbid that should happen, especially in a election year.

Shame on you NFL.

Shame on you MLB.

Shame on you Hollywood.

Shame on every member of Government.

Shame on me for believing that any of them were ever sincere to begin with.

The Ask

 October is undoubtedly my favorite month of the year.

The Jewish High Holiday season is wrapping up and the harvest season is in it's full glory.

Each day, the morning air is crisp and cool.

It's hoodie season once again.

Soon the trees will transition from the lush green of Summer to the brilliant colors of Autumn.

Halloween is around the corner and that means Thanksgiving is not all that far away.

It also means that it will soon be my birthday,

not that birthdays are all that important to me.

However, this year, I have decided to gift myself with a special birthday wish.

When I stopped writing to you a short while back and stepped away for what now seems to have been a mental time out ,

I began writing the book. The book was going to be a collection of short essays. I made an initial list of about 20 topics I wanted to address.

One of those essays was going to be entitled The Ask.

During my "recovery" , I realized that I really do enjoy writing to you.

After years of not being able to answer the question "what do you do for fun?, I finally figured out that this, writing, is fun to me. Not just the writing but the feeling I have when I am done. Even better is the feeling I get when I get a response.

I also realized that my email list has not grown very much in years. I have been content to just write, and not done much to add more people to the group that I write to.

As a salesman I have to admit , I am a bit embarrassed by this.

The most important part of any sales meeting is The Ask.

Not the offer, The Ask.

If you don't ask, you don't get. It's just that simple.

So my birthday wish for this year is a simple one. No, I am not going to ask you to contribute to some fundraising charitable event.

In fact, this won't cost you a penny.

My ask is simple.

If you would be so kind, and if you get anything at all from me writing to you, share it with someone and ask them to join in.

When I started this seven years ago, I added 1 new person a day for 100 days.

My birthday wish is to add 1 person a day....every day.

Yes, I want to go viral (isn't that what it's called nowadays?).

I don't ever see myself doing Youtube videos or Ted Talks or anything like that. I just want to stay in my lane,writing daily, to as many people as I possibly can.

I am asking for your help.

Just that easy.

I am asking you to introduce me to someone you know who might also enjoy getting these emails.

Not such a huge ask.

Or is it?

Doesn't matter!

I'm asking anyway!

Thanks in advance!

(I can't wait to see what happens.)