How do you generate your personal positive energy?

Three years ago my satisfaction with ‘friends’ on the Seven Fs was discouragingly low.  My son had the nerve to grow up, go to college and leave me without my daily guy-fix.  The three women left at home didn’t understand.  The culture at my workplace was deteriorating and my emotional stability mirrored the stock market.  It helped to know I wasn’t alone in my feelings of isolation. A colleague beautifully stated the obvious: “I’m more than 40 years old now and I’m starting to understand that sometimes life is hard.” Wow!…a mind reader.

Fast forward to January, 2012.  I’m crafting this message mid-air returning from a guys’ golf trip in Naples, Florida.  My “friends” score just got a booster shot.  Seven red-blooded males battled over $20 bills on the skinny fairways of Naples National Golf Club. It’s wickedly difficult in a way that makes golf-lovers smile extra wide.

We also ogled over Maseratis, Ferraris and one particular Aston Martin which drew intense envy.  We stayed out way too late, laughed at octogenarian disco-dancers, drank one too many Tequila shots and freely absorbed the Florida sun.  We might need a vacation to recover from our vacation.

The most satisfying part of the boondoggle was the reassurance of knowing we share many of the same joys and challenges.  Everyone has a story about where they came from, where they are today and where they are going.  We’re all in love with our families, proud of what we have overcome and motivated by what’s ahead.  With friends at the center, we shared fitness, fun and finances – and stories about family, faith and future.  A Seven Fs clean sweep.

Yes, sometimes life is hard.  But as long as the sun rises the next day, our friends will give us a ‘mulligan’ on the first tee.

Good leaders protect the time to relax, get away and soak up positive energy from people they admire. It doesn’t have to be Naples National — Starbucks or Perkins works too.  Friends have a way of energizing one another.

Please join me in congratulating the 2012 golfing Grand Champion, Phil.  Happy Birthday to Dominski, and thanks to Mr. Koch for making it happen again this year.  And the Oscar goes to my wife Melinda for encouraging me to go again this year.

Drop me a note: how are you generating your personal positive energy these days?