Stuart's grandmother has died. She was much cherished in the family, and she lived to be over 103 years old. My mom has also been sick with bronchitis for over a month, and to complicate the situation, she was also scheduled for surgery last week and is recovering from that. All that is upsetting enough, but she also works for me as customer support. So we are doubly affected by that. The six perfections are said to be: Generosity, ethics, patience, effort, concentration, and wisdom. Right this moment, it feels like patience, effort and concentration seem to be the most required of me in my business, and generosity, ethics and wisdom are most needed in my personal life with taking care of family right now. What is required of me oscillates back and forth like a taught vibrating string, and the challenge is to use that tension to make music and harmony, rather than over tightening into a disasterous snap! I am finding that Concentration is currently the most challenging. There are times when the idea of impermanence is sad, and surely we are sorry to not have the pleasure of miss Mary's graceful company with us anymore, but there are also times when impermanence can be a comfort. As in "this too shall pass"...even when life gives us a series of swift punches in the tummy. Remember "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down?" Count me as currently living among the weeble nation!

There's no place like home... There's no place like home.... We are back after traveling for the funeral for Stuart's grandmother, who lived to nearly 104 years old. A good life greatly celebrated by a very strong family. While we were there visiting relatives, we were told a story by another family member who is a counselor that there was a kid who had gotten into some trouble, and he was being interviewed to get some help putting his life back on track. The topic of his computer skills came up, and since he was quite tech savvy, my (family) business was used as a "home spun" example of entrepreneurial "get up and go." What surprised my family member is that the kid ALREADY knew who we were, and also got all excited to know that our family member actually "knew" us, and he started opening up and that interview got him thinking about new possibilities for his life. The kid is apparently now doing better, and thinking deeply about how to put his tech skills to work, and I was just touched to think how far an idea can go and how much positive impact we all can have if we just keep putting the best of ourselves forward. It does come back to you in surprising ways. I hope that his positive actions continue to benefit himself and others around him. So often I feel like nobody knows anything about us or our business. It is a constant struggle to get the word out about our Life Balance software, and who the heck gives a gosh darn about what we do anyway. And sometimes it can seem like everyone has something critical to say not knowing the constraints that we are working under in terms of people (only 3), money (not very much) and other resources (around here only the dog hair is plentiful). Self doubt is a constant companion of entrepreneurs, and I have my ways of recognizing it and not letting it get the better of me. Mostly I hold my ground tenaciously until there is a story like this one, and that heart to heart connection is the wound up rubber band that truly drives us forward again. It is good to be with family, and good to be home, as it always is. It is also good to be back where we have our own ways to make a difference in the world. What we do matters to so many people in ways that we can't even fathom. It all works out somehow and we do get by, and we are always learning how to do things better. Spirit is a renewable resource. Green... as the emerald city. :-) Now to get those ruby slippers skipping...