Monday 5 Things…..Of Turkey, Ham, Stuffing & Pecan Pie….. “It’s not what you eat between Thanksgiving and Christmas that counts; what’s really important is what you eat between Christmas and Thanksgiving.” Yeah. Right. I found myself in gastronomic “pain zones”…
Monday 5 Things…..Thankful….. Driving back from a place called Uvalda, Georgia this week, I decided to pull over and take in the setting sun over a field of cotton that had yet to be harvested. A stressful week slowly began…
Monday 5 Things…..On Productivity….. A couple of Monday’s ago, M5T considered how we use our time. We all share the constraint of having only 24 hours (or 86,400 seconds) in the day and I am constantly looking for ways to…
Monday 5 Things…..On Remembrance & Veterans Day….. Today M5T extends a heartfelt thank you on both sides of the border to celebrate the valor and selflessness of those men and women who have fought for and served their countries, to those who…
Monday 5 Things…..86,400….. Over 4 years ago, your scribe took a look at this number. With only 56 days left to double 20’s, I took some time to revisit and revise a M5T for this most important numeral. I really…
Monday 5 Things…..Nip It In The Bud….. Until I was 12 years old, we had a black and white TV that had a whopping two channels; a few more if I was able to wiggle the antenna for UHF channels…
Monday 5 Things….. Singularity….. For the past couple of years, I have flirted with a woman. At times wanting her close, recognizing what she could add to my life. Other times, I have pushed her away in fear, ignoring her;…
Monday 5 Things…..Of Thankfulness, Turkey and Discovery….. I wrap up this week’s M5T on the eve of Canadian Thanksgiving and US Columbus Day. Two days that invoke thankfulness, the wonder and audacity of exploring and discovery, and for today, in…
Monday 5 Things…..Moments….. It’s been a hectic few weeks again of travel. The kind of hectic that often leads to melancholic thoughts. As I sip some wine in the hotel lounge overlooking Buckhead condos and office buildings, I have been…
Monday 5 Things…..Just Three Words….. A few weeks ago, I was enjoying a solitary lunch on a terrace overlooking Carmel Bay, basking in an uncharacteristically hot day in California, sipping on the most exquisite Schrader RBS Napa Cabernet. My view,…
Monday 5 Things…..Patience….. Last week I had the privilege of photographing Tibetan monks as they created a sand mandala in Savannah. It was a humbling experience on a number of levels. Peace, persecution and patience were three powerful words that…
Monday 5 Things…..Flight Paths….. Last week M5T looked at five types of people that impact your life. As I dodged and weaved around people at MIA, finding slight solace in the Delta lounge, and then playing the, “can I get…
Monday 5 Things…..Five V’s in Three Letters….. Gordon McDonald wrote two books that impacted my life. The first was ‘Ordering Your Private World” – that book taught me the difference between being driven or called in life. The second book,…
Monday 5 Things…..Laboring….. Labor Day has been celebrated in the US since 1882 and was made a national holiday in 1894 to unify union workers and celebrate the accomplishments of workers across the nation. North of the 49th parallel, Canadians…
Monday 5 Things…..Super Powers….. Waiting for the red-eye from SJC back to ATL, I smiled as the young boy zipped around the Delta Sky Lounge with his cape pretending to fly. When I asked him who he was, he stopped,…
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Monday 5 Things….. Stop….. I was looking at picture I took a few years ago that had a stop sign behind a beautiful Ferrari. For whatever reason, I fixated on that sign and got thinking about things that we should…
Monday 5 Things…..To Boldly Go….. Unless you have been living under a rock, on a deserted island, or possibly on Pluto, you could not have missed that this past Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. We…
Monday 5 Things…..Give….. So much of life seems to be built on the idiom of “give and take.” Last week, M5T discussed things to “take” in life. It seemed to be appropriate this week to consider things we all have the propensity…
Monday 5 Things…..Take….. A leisurely, lazy Sunday brunch. The kind of brunch that leaves one properly caffeinated, appropriately mimosa-ed (if there is such a word) and well fed. The kind of brunch that frames a day of taking time to just…
Monday 5 Things…..Two Birthdays….. The two countries who share the largest unprotected border in the world celebrate their birthdays this week. Today Canada turns 152 and on Thursday this week the U.S. turns 243. Once again on this birthday week,…
Monday 5 Things…..Life’s Mysteries….. I found myself thinking about life’s mysteries this past week and came across a quote from distinguished professor and theologian, Henri Nouwen: “The mystery of one man is too immense and too profound to be explained…
Monday 5 Things…..Can’t Coexist….. On a conference call this week with a CEO and investors, we discussed a few things that can’t coexist. This morning’s M5T takes a closer look at emotions and states of our lives that can be…
Monday 5 Things…..What If Today….. Today’s missive is a result of a man, a moment, a movie, a memory and a meme. As we start another week heading into the latter half of this year, M5T deliberates, very simply with…
Monday 5 Things…..No Time….. Not a cloud was in the sky on Friday as I drove down to the “Land of the Big Rat,” which some call Orlando or Disney, for meetings and a conference this week. An overabundance of troopers…
Monday 5 Things…..Not to Morn but to Praise….. Driving by Hunter Airfield Base earlier this week, I slowed along the road to watch a hulking C-17 landing on the airfield. I recalled a funeral I attended in 2012 for fallen…
Monday 5 Things…..Kimya….. Kimya is an interesting word. I first learned the expression while working in East Africa. In Swahili it translates to silence. Kimya is also a Persian female’s name that means precious, unique or hard to find. Kimya came to…
Monday 5 Things…..Unspoken….. All week I had this nagging voice in my head asking, ‘Why didn’t you just say it? Why didn’t you just ask her?’ Things I wish I had said to my mom while she was still here…
Monday 5 Things…..“I’ll Take W’s for $200 Alex”….. Today’s M5T was inspired while driving at undisclosed speeds, on undisclosed red clay Georgia back-roads singing along with Daltrey at an undisclosed volume, all while attempting to keep up the syncopation on…
Monday 5 Things….. Success….. The M5T that was scheduled for today has been interrupted, and rudely at that, because of a Facebook memory sent to me this Saturday. Let me digress a moment… My heart has been broken, over and…
Monday 5 Things…. Risen….. A spur of the moment decision to get out of the city for the weekend afforded time to not only wind down and decompress, but also the opportunity to sit around a fire pit until the…
Monday 5 Things…..Cogitare….. Take a moment as you wrap your hands around your favorite bit of ceramic – inhaling the aroma that is like no other – then take that first sip of jitter juice. And pause. Cogitare; Latin for think.…
Monday 5 Things…..Everything….. Having dinner in a quaint Italian restaurant in Vidalia, Georgia a few weeks ago, my table was across from a couple that seemed more interested in their cell phones than in each other. Putting down his phone…
Monday 5 Things…..Blind Spots….. Twice, while driving a rental car to a client meeting a few weeks ago, I almost caused an accident by not checking my blind spot. The SUV that I drive daily has a great option that…
Monday 5 Things…..Changed Perspective….. I recently acquired a drone. Well two actually. The first is somewhere off shore in the depths of the intercoastal water way near Tybee Island, but that’s a different story. The drone and its camera have…
Monday 5 Things…..Of Listing….. Lists. They can help us remember and can create calm and peace by bringing order to chaos. Interestingly, they can bring form and function to help avoid procrastination or give you the opportunity for you to…
Monday 5 Things.....It's Easy Being Green..... I spent the weekend strolling the lush green fairways of the Ritz Carlton in Amelia, cameras in hand, photographing some of the world’s rarest and most beautiful designs on four wheels. The sun was…
Monday 5 Things…..I Don’t Know….. The Pudden’s, who were likely in their 70’s at the time, lived next door when I was a precocious and curious 8-year-old. Mr. Pudden had an inordinate amount of forbearance for the then-sun- bleached white-haired,…
Monday 5 Things….. Persistence and Belief….. I could see the pain in his eyes and hear in his voice the strain of the difficulties he continues to face. By all means of logic, his company should have been bankrupt two…
Monday 5 Things….Know and No….. Two simple words; two profound words of significance and definition in our lives. What do we know about ourselves and then purposefully, consciously choose to build into our lives? To what, and to whom, should…
Monday 5 Things.....Just Pause..... I once again found myself interloping whilst trying to enjoy an overpriced caffeinated cup of morning goodness. The couple was arguing – albeit relatively quietly – I’m sure, as not to upset the harried baristas. Between…
Monday 5 Things…..On Fire….. It was the moment of peace that I have been needing; craving. The sun had set, the birds had gone silent. The tide unhurriedly, yet deliberately, worked its way up the river, overflowing back into the…
Monday 5 Things…..Rebuilding Walls….. On a recent drive back from meetings in Atlanta, I was listening to a radio program about the vision and leadership of Nehemiah as he rebuilt the walls in Israel. I realized that almost 3 years…
Monday 5 Things…..Shaped….. We are full-on into a new chapter of yet another year. My melancholic mindset that happens each year around this time gets mixed with the joy and anticipation of a blank canvas for a new year. I…
Monday 5 Things…..The Dreaded “R” Word…. How good is your crystal ball as to when the next recession will hit? Mine’s quite murky. Ask ten economists when the next recession will hit. You’ll likely get twelve different answers. The media…
Monday 5 Things…..Verba MMXIX….. Well, here we are in a New Year. How many resolutions have failed so far? Yeah. My thoughts exactly, which is why I don’t make resolutions. For the past few years however, I pick five words…
Monday 5 Things…..2018 Annual Blunders….. It’s hard to believe another year has come and, within 24 hours, will be gone. This is the 8th year that M5T takes a look at some of the incredulous blunders made by some of…
Monday 5 Things…..Joy To The World….. Creatures aren’t stirring. Children are nestled. Dancing visions of sugarplums. Hoofs prancing on the roof. A strange plump man bearing gifts. Travel. Traffic jams. Flight delays. Arguments in stores. Stress. Yup. Today’s M5T realizes…
