Old Habits Die Hard

Time change at the end of Daylight Saving Time

Tonight's switch on Daylight Saving Time had me thinking about how this is such an ingrained part of our lives.

It's a habit: Spring Forward, Fall Back. Something we all just know and do. And why not, this concept is as old as our democracy. Although its practice is just as about as confounding as democracy.

This last spring, BusinessWeek debated the efficacy of the idea. Some say it is a power saver. Others just a drain.

Even if we wanted to get rid of it, would it be good and possible to do? Sure we always have that inevitable problem in the immediate week making the adjustment, but most people seem to get by ok.

Studies show that our brains become hardwired for habits. This too, is a double-edged sword as good habits can reinforce behavior, but they can also lead to bad behavior because we can't give up what we are used to.

Just to feel smarter, take a look at old Benjamin Franklin's reasoning for DST. Fascinating!

Check out my appearance on the The Toddcast Podcast

Click and watch the podcast recording of my appearance on the Toddcast Podcast Such a fun time!

New Life

It's weird, sad and slightly freeing. I've been headed towards a completely different life for a lot longer than I even knew. It took me a while to catch up to realize it was happening. Thankfully, I was cognizant enough to see it finally and mostly ready for it. It's amazing when you have the rug completely pulled out from underneath you. The adjustments are jarring. I made mistakes, but like most I learned from them, adapted, and tried my best to do better. The reason you see that truck next to a storage place? That's the sum of my life right now. Never take for granted that you will work hard for something or someone, and it will end up meaning very little. You are guaranteed nothing, owed nothing, promised nothing. Anything and everything can be taken away in a heartbeat. I wrote this to my kids a while back: I tried to be the best father I could be based on what I knew when I knew it and how I could. One of the lessons for your life needs to be: you need to b

Guiding Light

Most folk who know me, know I lost my father when I was 14 years old. However, before he passed, he shared a timeless secret with me—a practice that would shape my life in ways I could never have imagined. He didn't teach me meditation in the traditional sense, with incense and crossed legs. Instead, he showed me how to meditate by gazing at a lone light on the ceiling. When I was very young, I had night terrors that would wake me in the middle of the night. I'm sure it was terribly frustrating to calm a child from that. But my father had the way. I never understood how he came to the practice. But over the years, I've come to understand that my father's unique approach to meditation was, in fact, a profound lesson in mindfulness and presence. In a nearly pitch black room, he would tell me to find a speck of light, not unlike a star. Then focus. He would say, "Just watch the light, like you're watching a story unfold. Be the observer, not the thinker." I

Todd Lyden

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