In This Issue:

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You Got an Itch?

What is your Purpose Tomorrow?

The Stories We Tell
Last Month's Poll Results
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You got an itch?
By Steven L. Anderson, Ph.D., MBA

Ever wonder why your skin sometimes itches for no apparent reason?  If you stop and sit still for a while you will see that it does not take very long before some part of your body starts itching and you have to scratch it.  Did you ever wonder why that is?  What useful purpose might it serve that suddenly a part of your body needs to be scratched?  

In case you are interested the reason a part of your body starts to itch is because that patch of skin is not getting enough circulation.  There are pressure receptors in your blood vessels located all over your body.  If these receptors start to sense that an area is not getting enough circulation these receptors send signals to your brain to urge you to get circulation to that area.  By scratching or massaging the surface of your skin you stimulate blood flow to that area so that those cells get the required food, oxygen and waste removal they need to survive.  Another way to think of it is that if you don’t scratch that itch a part of you starts to die.  I think that itch is a pretty good metaphor for what it takes to be a leader.   (continued)

What is Your Purpose Tomorrow?
By Kim Radison, SPHR

 Every night at bedtime, my three year old son asks me what we are going to do tomorrow.  I usually answer something like “go to Grandma’s,” “go shopping,” or “stay at home and play.”  “But what are we doing?” is his replay.  To him, just going somewhere is not answer enough.  What will happen tomorrow?  Will a new train track be built tomorrow for his toy train set?  Will Elmo learn how to brush his teeth on Sesame Street?

 Although many of us can relate these questions to a child’s excuse to prolong the bedtime process, I have realized that there is a nugget of wisdom in those questions he asks each night.  He wants to know what the deeper meaning of the day will be.  Going to Grandma’s will not accomplish anything in and of itself.  Yet, most of us spend our lives focused on nebulous answers to bedtime questions.  Tomorrow I have two meetings.  I need to pick up the dry cleaning.  Dinner has to be ready by six.  We never get to the deeper meaning of the day.   (continued)

The Stories We Tell
By M.J. Clark, M.A., APR

 I used to have a terrible temper when driving. When someone would cut me off or drive too slowly in front of me or tailgate me, I would begin yelling at them or making gestures that I hoped would give them the message that I thought they were an idiot.

One day, as I was yelling and making gestures at an offending tailgater, I was so enflamed with rage, I actually turned my head clear around (they were behind me) to yell at them as they turned a corner. When I turned back around I was frightened to see I had careened off the road and was about to go over a tall curb and straight into a gas pump at a local gas station! I slammed on the breaks and avoided a terrible consequence to my lack of attentive driving.  (continued)

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