The Carrot

61-second minute

Maybe you've heard by now: New Year's Day 2006 is going to be delayed by a whole second to make up for changes in the Earth's rotation. The technicalities are explained in a Dec. 26 MSNBC article.

But I'm not interested in that.

Since I'm always dreaming of having more time, I've started thinking about what I might do with my extra second this year ...

• squeeze my daughter extra hard during a hug

• just one more scratch behind my dog's ear

• wave to a neighbor I've never met

• wink at the heavens

• go for 25:01 on the stair-stepper

• thank a co-worker for something before asking for something

Sure it's only a second. But isn't that all it really takes to be there for someone?

Teachers Seeking Oprah

Sometimes people will refer to the "Trojan FISH!" as a way to describe how the philosophy initially makes its way into one's life or one's organization because of its fun attitude and natural energy. But then one day, at a deeper more heart-felt level, people have this "WOW!-That-Felt-Great!" moment and there's no turning back.

At my daughter's hockey practice the other day, I met a parent who's written a new book that kind of works the same way. The book is titled Desperately Seeking Oprah Reservations. It's a zany story about how a group of teachers one-day decided that they wanted to see Oprah live in Chicago.

Now when I was a kid, I thought getting hockey tickets to see the Toronto Maple Leafs was tough. Evidently getting in to see Oprah is way harder!

But of course, that's only part of the story. What I got from the book and my conversation with the author, Sue Conley, was a deeper message about the magic of persistence – yes, about getting the tickets, but also about book publishing, launching her first blog and facing personal crossroads in our lives. (Sue's a litigation attorney by trade but has really got juiced about writing this book. Now what?)

I say "the magic of persistence" because often when I've pursued things I'm really passionate about, my compass goes haywire at some point. I lose sight of a clear, linear path. My surroundings seem totally foreign. And I'm struck with the realization that I can either turn back or just keep going. It's that moment of truth when I realize what I'm really working toward.

FISH! has inspired me on this journey before. I never knew a story about getting tickets to Oprah could do the same!

Give Us Wings

I'm involved in some volunteer work with an organization called Give Us Wings this holiday season, so I've been thinking a lot about what I learned as to why so many African aid programs aren't as successful as they could be:

"These efforts work when they're people-centered, not profit-centered," shared an African bishop with the founder of Give Us Wings.

Apparently many corporate donors, foundations and wealthy individuals merely prescribe solutions, throw money at quick-fixes, then move on to the next issue. This approach does help, but it often creates a community of people who become more dependent on the source of incoming cash vs. sustainable independence on themselves.

Remind you of anything else near & dear to our hearts – such as the best way to see FISH! flourish (invite people to learn about it, talk about it, own it and nurture its natural energy) vs. the quickest way to kill FISH! (mandate it based on lousy fourth-quarter earnings)?

In her book, Turning to One Another, Meg Wheatly dreams of the day when "people are seen as a blessing instead of the problem."

Just a few powerful ideas I'm reflecting on this holiday season – and how they relate to my family at home, at work and on the other side of the globe.

Wallace vs. Kersten

Who isn't deluged with December to-do lists?

My own first two weeks have been packed with a weekend hockey-tournament trip to Grand Forks, ND, holiday choir concerts at school and Mall of America, driving my mom shopping all over town, another weekend hockey tournament in Inver Grove, MN, re-stringing my holiday lights to get the right end to the power source and frantically trying to grab gifts and mail them to my Lithuanian relatives before the big 2-5.

Zany? sure. Magical? It can be. I do my best to stay in tune with the real meaning of the holiday season.

I even came across a wonderful line from poet Wallace Stevens that puts some wind in my sails for the next two weeks of December:

"Beneath every No, lays a passion for Yes that had never been broken."

(Just like that current of electricity you know is coursing through a string of holiday lights while you keep futzing with a section that doesn't want to light!)

Wow. Stopped me dead in my tracks quicker than a half-price sale sign at Sports Authority.

But so did this Despair, Inc catalog I just got in the mail. Front-cover headline reads: "No matter how luckluster you are, you have the potential to be so much less."

My cynical nature engaged, I smirked, flipped through the catalog, but just couldn't come all the way around to E.L. Kersten's motivational philosophy of inspiring people with "Demotivator" products.

Heck, I think he even likes FISH! In his book The Art of Demotivation, Kersten writes that FISH! "is a suitable complement to a comprehensive program of Radical Demotivation," though first you have to eliminate the principles of Play and Make Their Day.

I don't know: tongue & cheek stuff for folks with a great sense of humor or real fuel for the cynic's soul of coal?

I've got both types on my list and I've got figure out who gets what!