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Luck

“Let me put you on speaker,” I said to the phone as I set it on the bookshelf next to me. My sister, Marty, had called just as I’d pulled the last box out of the office closet. I’d spent the past hour unpacking the remaining half-dozen boxes I’d stuffed in the office closet a year ago, after I mo...

Jul 01, 2026 details plan vs luck taking credit

Three. And only three.

On a hot July Sunday in 2002, I sat at the kitchen table with my husband, Lee, and a pile of bills. The swamp cooler rattled and whined atop our trailer house in the middle of the New Mexico desert, yet the air inside clung to us like a sweater. Lee mopped his bald head with a bandana. He picked ...

Jun 14, 2026 business decisons marriage money

Gear Tax

On a recent Wednesday morning I found myself squinting at my monitor, trying to make sense of pricing options for a link-shortening service. I’d been getting some work done early, before I hopped on my daily chat with my friend Judy, and I was in the middle of scheduling some LinkedIn posts when ...

Jun 07, 2026 habits self-recognition working solo

Grasping

As I walked up to the bus stop bench at Mall of America, a man about my age pointed at my Minnesota Wild sweater and said, “Yeah! We’ve got to represent.” He contorted so I could see he was wearing team gear, too. One of the great benefits of bus stops is being able to chat without consequence. Y...

May 31, 2026 grasping letting go on work and life

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