Wonder if Walt Disney Ever…

Wonder if Walt Disney ever jogged?  Or ever went to the gym?  Or swam, walked or biked with any regularity?

I have never read anything that suggests Walt Disney was physically active.

This is one dimension where Walt Disney and jeff noel differ.

Yesterday, to celebrate turning 50, I ran the annual Watermelon 5k, in Winter Park.  There had to be close to 1,500 to 2,000 runners and walkers there.

The American Council of the Blind (ACB) had their annual convention in Orlando and its members participated! For the first time ever the ACB used a fun run/walk to raise funds and encourage their members to embrace an active and healthy lifestyle.

Embrace an active and healthy lifestyle? Hmm….That’s one of the common sense things that everyone can embrace.

Here’s to your health:

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

JULY 4, 2009

July 4, 2009.   Happy Independence Day!

Started the day running the Watermelon 5k in Winter Park.  Then spent the rest of the day with family and friends .  Now it’s 9:00PM and I’m going to postpone today’s post until tomorrow.

Today, by the way, President Barack Obama’s audio-animatronic figure was unveiled at The Walt Disney World Resort, at the Magic Kingdom’s Hall of Presidents.

Carpe PM, jungle jeff:)

This Reminds Me

This reminds me of what vacationing Disney Guests feel like.

My family and I are preparing for my very first Writer’s Retreat combined with an annual summer vacation to our favorite beach get-a-way.

We’ve calculated this is our 23rd visit in the past 21 years.

Same island.  Same accommodations.  Same Ocean.

Different owners.  Different management team.  Different emotions.

We are not sure this experience will be as relaxing as in the past.

Why?

Too much change perhaps.   Too much focus on the bottom line.  Too much heritage lost.

The last one, heritage lost, is the thing that worries me.

Now that our son is almost nine, he has really great memories of this place and looks forward to it even more than we do.  Our first Lab went for 12 years.  Our second Lab, now ten, has been going to this sunny place since he was four months old.

In fact, last October, we took him there, for what we thought was his last weekend on earth.  He obviously, and miraculously, survived – further cementing our emotional attachment to this special place.

We feel like owners.  Seriously.  I’ve never felt this unusual feeling of entitlement.

Because of our loyalty, we could easily daydream that when we arrive, the trumpets will sound as the red carpet awaits us.

This is what I’m absolutely certain Disney’s long-time returning Guests must feel like.

I hope the trumpets blare and the red carpet awaits them and their families.

What a huge responsibility it is to make people feel like Royalty.

What a huge privilege.

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

Twitterdom or Wisdom?

Click below to read…….

Twitterdom or Wisdom?

This thought-provoking article is worth a few minutes of your time.

Oh, I almost forgot, you don’t have 180 seconds to spare.

I was at Starbucks on Friday and ordered a tall (which is really a small – too funny) cup of coffee.  They were out.  So if Starbucks has to brew a fresh pot for you – in 180 seconds – they provide it complimentary.

When he made the offer, I thought, “I don’t have three minutes.  I gotta get going“.

Then it hit me, “If you don’t have 180 seconds to spare in your life, you better go look in the mirror and ask why”, I said to myself.

It was amazing, in those brief three minutes, what I saw in the mirror.

I saw a man who has a difficult time fitting all life’s puzzle pieces together.  But a man who doesn’t give up.

I was sad and happy all in the course of 180 seconds.

After picking up my son at summer camp, we went to Gold’s Gym for an hour.

It was a great day, because I took even more time to reflect on what’s important, and then acted on it

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂