Thanks

This is worth a separate post, even with the risk of leaving out some key player who I really wanted to thank.

One comment I often make to just about every client I have is that, if one looks at my goal list (which is not inconsiderable and may be a bit on the grandiose side), one discovers very quickly that I don't have anything on that list that is going to be accomplished without the right players providing the right support.  Since I now need to add, "Complete CLL treatment successfully" to my goal list, I would like to thank some of those 'right players'.

• Paul (friend) who has already committed to giving up a day accompanying me to one of my one-day treatments
• Becky (wife) who is stuck with me by virtue of her vows, but is totally engaged in the whirlwind of this treatment adventure and brings her own brand of intensity and focus to the team
• Dr. Choi (the physician who is following my case in the clinical trial)
• Dr. Kipps (the physician who birthed the idea for for the trial)
• Dr. Rosen (my CLL specialist at City of Hope who consulted with me in the process of arriving at the clinical trial decision)
• Maria (the nurse for Day One who answered about four trillion questions with the patience of Job and the sophistication of a nurse who takes her role very seriously and with a great deal of passion)
• Natalie (clinical research coordinator who seems to do pretty much everything non-medical in conducting the clinical trial; I don't know how much 'organizational' authority she has in this system, but she has huge amounts of 'moral' authority in my book).
• Jesus (skip this if you have religious issues) who provides actual peace and joy in the midst of an experience that could be anything but peaceful or joyful. A comment I often make to clients is that we really don't get to see "who we are" except in the crucible of challenge. As Dallas Willard has taught me through his books, Jesus is not so much interested in changing our behavior or feelings as he is in changing us into the sort of people who naturally have the right behavior and feelings.  And we don't really get to see what sort of people we are apart from challenges like CLL diagnoses.
• the Mountain Counseling & Training (a not-for-profit I lead) team who expertly fills in the gaps I leave when I take clinical trial 'vacations' to San Diego, and especially
• to Terri who fills in for my clinical roles when I'm away
• to Sarah who makes referrals flow in so we can pay the bills
• to Juliette who turns the referrals into actual services by assigning them to clinicians and coaches
• to Kelli who provides the personal touch in our phone contacts with clients and stakeholders
• to the pre-licensed therapists and credentialed coaches who do the real 'front line' work
• to Denise who leads the academic coaches and the Affinities Division generally

One more thing about thankfulness (this could be the steroids talking again).  Check out Shawn Achor's TED talk on happiness (toward the end) for some amazing practical tips (and scientific justification) for expressing gratitude. If you happen to be doing the 'follow of Christ' thing, you might want to notice that there are over 138 direct Biblical references to thanking or being thankful.