It\u2019s a new month so there\u2019s a new theme here at Buon Viaggio. For the next four weeks, we\u2019ll explore a question that I ponder regularly: got options?<\/p>\n
Of course, it\u2019s a bit of a trick question since options aren\u2019t something we get<\/em>; options are more often something that we recognize<\/em>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a lesson I learned long ago.<\/p>\n At a particularly difficult time in my life, I was sharing my frustration with a friend. She listened attentively to my story and then quietly said, \u201cBarbara, you always<\/em> have options.\u201d<\/p>\n I was too miserable to grasp what she said in that\u00a0 moment of my despair. Later, as I was making decisions, changing directions, and setting new goals, I\u2019d remember those wise words and get busy exploring the options available to me.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a practice that has served me well\u2014and I\u2019m not alone in that discovery.<\/p>\n Several months ago, CBS Sunday Morning<\/em> did a piece about comedian\/actor Chris Rock who was appearing in a Broadway play that was about to open. The interviewer commented on the diversity of Rock\u2019s career and his financial success as a performer.<\/p>\n Rock sat up a little straighter and said, \u201cBeing rich is not about having lots of money. Being rich is about having lots of options.\u201d<\/p>\n By that definition, which I believe is totally accurate, the world is full of rich people who have no idea. As writer Brenda Uleland said in her marvelous If You Want to Write<\/em><\/strong>, \u201cIt seems to me like this: if you have a million dollars in the bank and you don\u2019t know it\u2019s there, it doesn\u2019t do you any good.\u201d<\/p>\n Seems to me like this, if you have unlimited options and don\u2019t know it, it doesn\u2019t do you any good.<\/p>\n So this month, we\u2019ll look at practical ways to uncover all that buried treasure. It may take a bit of digging, but I predict you\u2019re going to love what you discover.<\/p>\n In the meantime, consider this bit of advice from Mike Dooley: “Both having money and not having money make fantastic adventures possible that would not otherwise be possible. Same for having, and not having, anything else.”<\/p>\n Opens the options window wider, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s a new month so there\u2019s a new theme here at Buon Viaggio. For the next four weeks, we\u2019ll explore a question that I ponder regularly: got options? Of course, it\u2019s a bit of a trick question since options aren\u2019t something we get; options are more often something that we recognize. It\u2019s a lesson I…<\/p>\n