In This Edition:
1. Babies Teach the Darndest Things
2. Info Avalanche!
3. A Minute to Connect on the Highest Levels
4. Jokes Worth Saving

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I hope the weather where you are is as spectacular as it is here! Clean air, blue skies, Breathing Space kind-of-days!

Speaking about Breathing Space, have you ever considered that earlier in life — right after birth — we each attempt to make sense out of a noisy, congested world? We overcome information and communication overload like true pros! 

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Babies Teach the Darndest Things

A newborn faces the challenge of making sense of sights and sounds. Most of what babies hear is gobbledegook until they can incorporate what they hear into the structure of language. Until babies slowly begin to form words, what they utter is gobbledegook to others.

Words such as “mama” (single syllables repeated) are a baby’s first words. Later, a baby tries more complex polysyllabic words. A baby eats strained peaches, pears, plums and other mush. As a baby develops teeth, he/she can eat more solid and complex foods. A baby plays with simple toys (often brightly colored, washable, child-safe, and durable) that he/she hits, bangs, or simply touches.

Babies steadily draw upon basic skills. They start walking by first leaning on the side of a couch or whatever else is available. In time, babies take a step, and finally walk across a room without help. Even then, babies will fall many times, but usually get up and optimistically begin again.

Concurrently, tackling new information such as navigating the Internet, integrating another technology into your work routine, or assimilating other change is smoother when you employ basics.

Basics: Follow directions, take a step at a time, assess where you are every couple of steps, determine that you’re on the right path, measure your progress, practice everyday, and develop a new routine. Having Breathing Space entails employing basics such as managing the beforehand, conditioning your environments, and employing multiple stations until they become routines. 

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Info Avalanche!

A single Barnes & Noble bookstore offers 150,000+ titles; stocks nearly 2,500 domestic and international newspapers, periodicals, and magazines; and can order an additional 200,000 book titles from national distributors.

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A Minute to Connect on the Highest Levels

I was driving back from the store with my daughter, Valerie. While we were waiting at a traffic light, a promotional bus, owned by one of the large radio stations in Raleigh, passed us. On the side panel of the bus, in huge letters, were the radio station’s call letters followed by the message, “Big Ass Bus.”

When I saw this phrase, I was taken aback. I hoped that my daughter didn’t see it, but she did. She said, “Daddy, how come it says ‘ass’ on the bus?” I didn’t have a good answer for her. 

When I got home, I called the radio station and finally reached the voicemail of the manager in charge of this particular promotion. I said that having such a bus was offensive and it wasn’t appropriate to be parading it through communities in the Research Triangle with such a message. I left my email address, and to my surprise, later that day received his reply. His responding email follows:

“Thanks for your phone call. We are not changing the bus, and fans of the morning show love it. We have had it for a year now. Thanks for caring enough to call. I certainly appreciate it. Good luck with Breathingspace.com.”

“Sure they do,” I responded. “You’ve attracted the element that found what they were seeking. You need to rethink why you’re in business and what you want to accomplish in your career and in your life. It’s not parading a sign saying Big Ass Bus through the streets of Triangle communities.”

The next day he wrote back: “I would have to agree with you. I will certainly bring it up with everyone on our management team. Thanks.”

By luck or happenstance, I was able to reach into his psyche and touch him in a way that caused immediate change. From this encounter, I concluded that others could change in a minute or even a few seconds if the appeal was made at the appropriate time, on the highest level, to the other person’s greatest sense of good. 

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Jokes Worth Saving

Along with legitimate email messages, and spam, come jokes from friends. I received this in my inbox: Secrets to a Great Relationship

• 1. It is important to find a man who works around the house, occasionally cooks and cleans, and who has a job.
• 2. It is important to find a man who makes you laugh.
• 3. It is important to find a man who is dependable.
• 4. It is important that these three men never meet.

and this: An airline pilot wrote that on a particular flight he had hammered his plane into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, offer a smile, and say “Thanks for flying XYZ airline.” He said that in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment.

Finally everyone had gotten off, except for this old lady walking with a cane. She said, “Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?” “Why no Ma’am,” said the pilot, “what is it?” The little old lady said, “Did we land the plane or were we shot down?”