CJ's Annual Holiday Newsletter

2010 in Review
As you may know, it has not been a great year personally. Bob's uncle passed away in May. My father passed away in June and both my grandparents passed away in August. To top it all off, my new fancy-schmancy uber-computer (purchased in June) had a hardware meltdown in December, and despite all my efforts to keep up with my backups, I lost a few weeks worth of work. (Just a thought - you DO have a backup of all your electronic data, don't you? I thought I did, but I forgot about a few hidden folders. Now's the time to learn from my mistakes - make a backup now, and check to make sure you have it ALL!)

Of course, I try not to resent the obstacles that life throws at me. I try to embrace them because they have a way of directing attention to a focal point. I've given a lot of thought in the last six months as to how I want to spend the rest of my life, and some of my priorities have changed. (More on this later in the letter.)

Nestled in between the tragedies of family and technology was a little bright ray of unadulterated fun in our 25th Wedding Anniversary Party. Bob and I hosted a large gathering at the GoggleWorks. Melissa Devlin and Stella Deeble organized the affair and turned a large barren space into a magical wonderland. Joe Borelli and his band 56 Men played captivating rock and roll, and Betsy Chapman did a heavenly job playing the harp. Charles Votaw took amazing pictures of everyone, and Joanne Chang did a phenomenal job printing as many as possible out so that people could take them home. Friends and family alike pitched in to help set up and clean up, and the food from Konopelski's (who catered our wedding) was outrageously delicious. (By the way, if you attended and didn't get your picture yet, let me know and I'll get it to you. My biggest problem is that the whole affair was so overwhelming I'm still trying to catch up on thank you notes and correspondence.) You can see me (in "the dress" ), my cousin Jennifer, and my aunt Kathy dancing it up in the picture.

Taijiquan World and Health Practices
On the hobby front we are really expanding the Taijiquan Enthusiasts Organization this year, and the Health and Martial Arts Festival and Symposium on May 19-22, 2011 is shaping up to be the best ever. We already have a host of sponsors at the ready [if my feeble brain can remember with whom I talked]. We've lined up 25 workshop leaders doing 45 workshops on a wide range of health and martial arts topics. So many people are helping it is totally mind boggling and quite a challenge to keep track.

I cannot wait to see all my friends and see what kind of progress we've all made in improving our wellbeing. As you may remember, health practices are a huge part of my life now because of dealing with ongoing recovery of injuries from the 2002 car accident. The whole field has changed drastically in the last ten years because of the medical research in neurology, metabolism, and the nervous system. Health insurance companies are beginning to take notice of what my personal recovery journey has revealed to me; that integrative health practices are less expensive and more effective than many expensive pharmaceutical and surgical treatments.

My daily practices have become as important to me as eating. On the way I'm learning so much new info about the body and the brain and their role in leadership characteristics. It seems so obvious to me that there are tremendous benefits to anyone seeking to improve their own health, prosperity, and leadership - especially those in the business community. It seems like a natural progression to combine the two domains of knowledge.

Priorities and Focus
Which brings me to my plans for the next decade. Last year I mentioned that my focus would be on helping the clients of my management consulting business become more prosperous, and I have done that. But my sights are aiming higher now. It makes more sense for me in the future to expand my horizon. This would be a bit of a change in how I approach the business.

I've been a bit overwhelmed this past year in trying to do too much. Instead of taking on any more direct clients, I'll be developing tools to help other consultants and healthcare practitioners do more to help their clients. I've resolved to cut back on all the extra-curricular activities like SIFE and committee work at the University so I can spend more time on my writing and research. I've already started; I resigned from several committees and just finished re-writing one of the textbooks for the undergraduate course I teach. I also did more work on my research on improving business during the recession. Some colleagues and I developed a predictive model and identified successful leadership strategies for flourishing in a poor economy. We will be published this month in a peer-reviewed journal article. I'm also looking forward to teaching a graduate Entrepreneurship course this spring.

I'm hoping to apply for a sabbatical for the following year. That will fit into my master plan; a life path that will enable me to combine (1) my research on leadership and strategy, (2) my experience in technology, (3) my talents in education and training, (4) my skills in process design, (5) my interest in connecting people, and (6) my focus on health. I'm bursting with enthusiasm as I carefully re-orient all my activities toward the unified whole that will provide a special kind of purpose and meaning to my life. If we are successful at implementing even half of the plan I have envisioned, we will do no less than change the world (I say with irrepressible naive exuberance, as if I have not already been smacked down time and time again. But hey - now that I'm a half-century old I'm allowed to act like a teenager, aren't I? ).

Well, in any case my fervent wish for you and all of your loved ones is that you have, in front of you, as exciting and prosperous year as possible. Peace and joy will be yours.

Holiday Greeting Letter from 2009