A number of these connections and relationships are great for my soul and encourage me very much. A few of them are very draining and exhausting, yet I am learning new ways to mitigate and negate their effects on me. Every time I make a trip, I feel like I learn more and more. This one was no different on that front.
What I learned this time in the States:
1. There is always someone nearby who is smarter than I am and that I can learn from!
2. There is a hunger in most folks to move forward with their lives and to make progress, and they are highly attracted to people who can help them do that.
3. The more you can uncomplicate the complicated for them, the more they are going to pay attention to what you have to say.
4. You better have something of substance to say!
5. Cherish the moments when you can sit on the patio (and not freeze!) and have a cigar!
6. It is never too late in life to make a new friend.
7. People learn faster when they are laughing.
8. Most people want you to make all the application for them and draw all the lines that connect all the dots. Don't.
9. Don't because it robs them of understanding themselves, and diminishes their personal commitment and follow-through to their own success.
10. Stop (or at least slow down enough) to enjoy the beauty along the journey, both the relational ones and the natural ones. Snow in Vermont, warm and wet in Florida, warm and dry and early Spring in California! Priceless!
