A Farewell to Summer

I woke at my usual time early this morning into complete darkness. One thing now sure:
Summer is Gone

The blistering sun soon to snuggle into the clouds, swimsuits to find the bottom drawer, jackets dusted off, the leaves soon to say goodbye their branches. It's time for the Fall: Less hours of sunlight, cold nights, rainy days and nothing else to do but concentrate on work.

Without long evenings, with no one on Embarcadero sun decks, without a soul on the beach...It is time to look to the finish line, set goals and complete another successful year.

With the last glimpses of sunshine hung up in the labor day weekend we can only move forward with strategic intent. Say goodbye to summer, it's time to buckle down.

May I propose the following for the final third of 2010:
* There is no high greater than the thrill of victory
* Choose Your Pain
* What's Your Movie Look Like?

Winning
The one place where being last matters most is the company parking lot. As the sun leaves, I propose long hours at the office to make up for lost time. Wandering down the beach with a beer in hand is great...wandering into Santa's workshop with a wallet full of money is better.

There are those of us who sighed deeply as traffic and impending responsibility swallowed us up this morning. It is hard to let go of fun in the sun...but, it is time to keep your sunny memories in your mind and bust out the sport coat. Longing for the beach will not be an option if you are unemployed. Time to think about paying the rent.

"There are two pains in life: The pain of Discipline and the pain of Regret"
- Russ Hellickson

This quote used to haunt me in High School as it was the motto of our wrestling team. There is no escaping it; there are things that need to be done and you cannot pretend otherwise. Your responsibilities will not go away and the winter wine tastes better on the wings of productive business progress.

A Comedy or a Tragedy?
What does your movie look like? We are all aspiring movie stars. So as the cold air hits us, be it not in dramatic fashion. Nay, today we trudge forward not for ourselves but for our wives, children, country and the good lord. For they cannot carry themselves with confidence if we do not set a course for them. Shovel the driveway, scrape the windshield and brave the snow laden roads.

It is football season, the baseball playoffs are afoot, Halloween is approaching then Turkey Day and before we know it Christmas will be here.

Be A Hero. Do That Which Seems Unfun. Brave the Fall and then the Winter. The sun will be back before too long.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave