Guideposts and Epiphanies: Sunday musings…3/8/2026
1) PIP. Previously Important Person. A tongue in cheek way a particular sect of retired people think of themselves. Typically highly effective individuals who otherwise have little in common other than the fact that they no longer carry the importance they once enjoyed.
Good place for me to start my long piece inspired by the chatter emanating from the Olympics on multi-Games athletes and how my approach to the glide path is evolving.
2) Spring. As in spring forward as daylight savings time begins. We woke up feeling about as rested as usual, surprised to see that Dog o’clock was 7:20. Hmmm…about that. For some reason the second folks I thought about, after us of course, were all of the morning news show folks.
Man, up hours before dawn anyway they must REALLY dislike the whole DST thing.
3) Memories. Stumbled across a picture of our very young family at the beach. Looking at our three kids some of the impossibly cute phrases they used came floating out from my memory bank.
“Brellaba”. Umbrella. Dan riding in his stroller on a bright, sunny day, holding his umbrella aloft as he and Beth cruised around the little hamlet of Fleetwood, NY. “Brella brella brellaBA!”
“I’na huggy!” Megan, all of 3 feet tall standing at my feet, looking up and asking for a hug, peels of laughter cascading over us both as she escaped gravity.
“Sit by next to me!” Randy, patting the space next to him and pleased as punch to have Mom or Dad sit right there.
Such memories.
4) Oldster. Title of a Substack newsletter started by one Sari Botton, a writer and memoirist who also publishes Memoir Land to encourage fledgeling writers. As I continue my gentle glide to whatever comes next I find these two offerings quite interesting.
I’ll report back after I take a peek.
5) Guideposts. Over my years of off-loading ideas from my internal hard drive, here and elsewhere, I find myself returning to a few fundamental ideas and thought-streams. Reevaluating their relevance and relative importance, touching base to see if they are still as meaningful and helpful as they sit in their present state as I move through. Some are more like titles or headings on the internal spreadsheet. Stuff like friendship and regret, themes to which I continue to be drawn.
I stumbled across a piece I’d done quite a few years ago now that was prompted by a late night call with a West Coast friend who I still consider a close friend. We were thinking and reminiscing about the 3 core guiding principles that helped me (and in many ways him) make it through our training and early professional careers. All 3 have stood the test of time, have continued to inform my best decisions both professional and personal, and over the 35 years now since I first said them out loud I’ve only needed to add one additional guideline that resulted from a post 9/11 epiphany.
“Knowledge is power.” One is at such a profound disadvantage if there is asymmetry in the amount of information they possess relative to those with whom they interact that at a certain point they cease to be independent entities. Without knowledge, awareness of the ground as Sun Tzu would say, you are at the mercy of another and must depend upon their kindness for, well, almost everything.
“Perception is more important than reality.” The explanation of this, of course, is that perception is the reality of perceiver. Perception is curated observation. While you could say that this is simply an extension of the first guideline–creating the perception is in some way controlling the knowledge–I would simply say that one need only look at the deeply held worldview of some of the U.S. voting public, their perception of what is real and what is important, to illustrate that perception comes from within. Understanding this should inform your approach to any situation whatsoever. What does this individual perceive at this moment? That becomes the reality with which you will deal, your version notwithstanding.
“Evolution is better than revolution.” Here is where my conversation with my friend Dave was so helpful, for Dave was (and still is) a man in a hurry to effect change for the better: evolution involves a conscious attempt to minimize unnecessary collateral damage. Sometimes that damage might directed at oneself, and trying to steer toward evolution is a very reasonable approach to self-preservation. The fire of revolution burns brighter the nearer it gets to the revolutionary. At this stage in his life Dave seeks change in the cool contemplative glow somewhat removed from the fire, conscious always of the need to care for, and be careful of, the growing flock that surrounds him. As I fly the plane of my career along the glide path this care for those around me remains the center of my radar screen.
And the epiphany? I’ve told this story before, here and elsewhere. I think of my three guidelines as strategic; in effect my epiphany launched the fourth strategic guideline. 10 days after 9/11 my Dad, brother, brother-in-law and I gathered for what was then an annual golf boondoggle, this one on Kiawah Island in South Carolina. The resort had a 99% cancellation rate; we had the place to ourselves. Everywhere we went we received magnificent service. Walked up the the first tee of every course and teed off with no one in front and no one behind.
We played the most famous course one morning. Dad, Randall and Steve had a blast and wanted to return the next day to play it again. Me? Not so much. I really didn’t find anything about the course appealing. I voted nay: “I didn’t like anything about it. Thinking about playing it again actually makes me kind of unhappy.” The epiphany was just that. I just realized that I can’t always choose a path guaranteed to make me happy, but once I know something makes me UNhappy, I should choose something else if I can.
Thankfully, that night they chose me over the replay, a happy outcome, indeed.
These 3 guidelines and a 4th spawned from that epiphany have served me well lo these many years. They may or not work for you; they may be nothing more than tinder to light the fire of your own guiding principles. Some day perhaps I’ll re-visit concepts from Heinlein that underlie additional tactical application of these 3 strategies, but there’s plenty to think about in the simplicity of the guidelines: “Knowledge is power.” “Perception is more important than reality.” “Evolution is better than revolution.” “Choose the path more likely to result in happiness.”
I’ll see you next week…
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