Affinity Building

3 Lessons Learned from Trestle Trail Tragedy

Affinity in Tragedy

You Have Only One Chance . . .

“You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.”  -Will Rogers I love meeting new people.  Whether they’re a potential friend or client or someone I may never see again, I’m fascinated by the world of possibilities that opens up every time a new person comes into my life. Whether you share my passion for meeting new people or not, I hope you share my passion for wanting to make a good first impression . . . and for affinity building. One thing I love about the concept of affinity building is that ALL of us have the ability to do it.  Yes, it’s fairly basic, but, no, not everyone is good at it.  And, even those who have the skill sets aren’t always deliberate about using them.  Even at the very elementary level of “meeting new people,” we often breeze into the opening moment without making the most of the opportunity.

Childbirth and Cinnamon

My baby girl turned 24 this week.   My mind drifted back  to the hours leading up to her birth. “On a scale of one to ten, what is your pain?” the OB-GYN nurse asked, as I entered another round of contractions. “About an eight,” I grunted, dreading what a ten was going to feel like. “OK, let’s turn you over on your side so that your labor can be more productive,” the nurse said.  More productive turned out to be more agonizing as the pain soon hit a ten.  They didn’t tell us in Lamaze class that you will likely feel like your body is going to snap in half.  I suppose there’s no way to really explain that type of body contortion. Only women who have given birth know how it feels.