By Jim Selman | Bio Ah, January 1st, the new beginning and a chance to finally get it right this year. Or is it? Perhaps it is the End of the Beginning. When we began as a nation, we were full of hope and idealism. We believed that every person could thrive and prosper if they worked hard and learned from their past mistakes. Today, can we honestly say we believe that hard work will take us in the direction of our dreams? What happened to us? Where are we going? [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
Tagged with:
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
The Fourth of July is a uniquely American
holiday. This weekend, I felt a little bit like I was a part of a Bill
Geist segment on small town celebrations on CBS’s Sunday Morning show.
My father is a World War II veteran. He joined the Army Air Corps in
1939 and retired after a career in the military in 1968. Yesterday, the
community of Lake Kiowa, Texas honored him and 31 other survivors of the
‘greatest generation’ for their contribution. It was a very
moving experience to witness[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
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By Jim Selman | Bio
Moods ‘color’ our experience of living. They
are all encompassing interpretations of the world—especially the
future—and tend to determine the quality of our lives. When we are in a
positive mood, the world is bright and we ‘feel’ great. When we are in
a negative mood, we typically want to withdraw from or strike out at
everyone around us. One of the most useful things we can learn as we
grow up (at any age) is that moods aren’t personal. First of all, they are involuntary. No one I know decides they will be
in a bad mood (although there are a few who more or less equate their
mood with ‘the way I am’, which can[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
Over the past few years, I have written about
how life in our society is increasingly becoming a 'spectator sport'. I
am again reminded of this as I listen to week after week of pundits
second-guessing President Obama and other leaders as if their points of
view are a) true, b) somehow contributing to a civil public discourse,
and c) honest and not contrived to produce controversy or provoke
conflict and drama.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
Tagged with:
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By Jim Selman | Bio
We’ve all experienced a situation—whether in
a marriage, friendship or business relationship—where we find ourselves
thinking about the other person and saying, “I love you, BUT…”. It’s in
that moment we realize a particular behavior of theirs is not
acceptable to us and has become a source of stress and resentment. For
many, resentment almost always leads to a downward spiral of
self-destructive behavior and the eventual destruction of the
relationship. I was coaching a friend recently who is in such a dilemma.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Personal Empowerment
Tagged with:
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 By Rick Fullerton | Bio
While I don’t have any quick fixes to offer, here are a few ideas that may have potential:
1. As within, so without. All change begins with me.
Recognize that who we are and what we stand for is the starting
point for all significant change. Looking inside ourselves to clarify
what is important is an essential step. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
Tagged with:
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
It is almost impossible to turn on the television or read a
newspaper or a magazine without encountering one pundit, expert or “man
on the street” either talking about the future or trying to blame
someone for something. Our media commentary is rarely about what is
happening now: mostly it’s about what happened in the past or what
someone thinks is going to happen in the future. Combine the
establishment media with all of the blogging and chatting going on, and
it is incredible how fixated we are on what will happen next.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
Tagged with:
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 By Rick Fullerton | Bio
Recently, I have been focusing more and more of my attention on
global warming and, in turn, on understanding my own reactions and responses to
what’s happening. The results so far have been both fascinating and
challenging. One aspect of the global warming conversation involves the role
of the media in reporting scientific evidence and projections regarding the
effects of carbon dioxide in heating the planet. In particular, I have learned
about
[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
Tagged with:
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By Jim Selman | Bio
Perhaps the most pervasive and omnipresent
aspect of being alive is our moods. We are always in one mood or
another. Moods are either positive or negative and they ‘color’ our
experience of living, affect how we relate to others and our
circumstances, and have extraordinary power to open or close
possibilities. If we examine this phenomenon, we can see that our moods
are portable—we take them with us wherever we go. I can be angry at
home and find that mood affecting me at work or even on the golf
course. Moods are also[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
Tagged with:
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By Jim Selman | Bio
There is a widely understood belief in
Argentina’s culture that “the way we are is a big part of the problem …
and one of our characteristics is that we’re always waiting for a
leader to come along and save us.” The first time I heard this I was
giving a talk to a large event in Buenos Aires. A man stood up and
challenged my ‘American optimism’, suggesting that I just didn’t
understand the way things really were in ‘their’ country. My response
was to acknowledge that this may be true and to suggest that, since
they were all waiting for the leader to appear, perhaps he could take
the job until the leader came along. That got a chuckle or two and
drove home my point. We live as if[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
Tagged with:
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