"What If?"

Good morning folks and thank you all for this time away from the office. We, I hope I am speaking for Alysson too, consider it a privilege to serve you all, well most of you! (And you know who you are...)I have a friend named Josh, and he is always saying, "I gotta be honest with you."So let me be honest with you. Rejuvenation is critical to longevity in every endeavor of life. And making yourself do it on a regular basis is important.But closing our business, even for a few days, gives me the shivers. Being away from the thing that gives my days structure and meaning and daily bread, scares me. Pretty pathetic I know but... I gotta be honest with you.Thank you all again for this time away. We do love and appreciate you.That being said the week ahead looms large in my imagination.I have heard it said there is no such thing as a dumb question. Well, that's just plain dumb. The one I am thinking of is...drum-roll....."What if?"Do you find yourself kicking this silly question around? I do. And I can tell you from experience it is a dumb question. And useless. The future is unknown and unknowable from a human perspective. But we want that knowledge. We really don't like surprises. Surprises cause our nervous system, the fight or flight part, to be activated. The repetition of this activation is bad news for your health and causes all sorts of problems like weight gain, sleeplessness, increased heart rate, etc. Resist the desire to know the future. Focus on the here and now. There are enough problems staring us in the face each day. So what am I suggesting?Stop asking yourself the dumbest question in the world, "What if?"Rather ask yourself, "What is actually in my control?" (Hint: it's not the outcome of an election.)Here is a partial list of what is in your control:

• What we put in our mouths.
• What we put into our minds.
• Who we allow to influence us.

You get the idea. Make your own list and stick to it. You can control these things and the discipline it takes will be well worth the effort.Stay clear headed friends. Stay focused on what you can control. Stop engaging your imagination with "What if?"Your life depends on it.Cheers,ks