Life is a Full-Course Meal. Bon Appetit!

I believe I am the luckiest man alive. I am blessed to be married to the same marvelous person for more than 26 years. In all my years of living I have not met another person I would rather be married to, so what an extraordinary blessing that is. We have three amazing children, each one so different and yet so dear to us. For every day for 48 years -- more than 17,500 days -- I have had food to eat, a roof over my head and air to breathe. I have seen sunrises and sunsets, the flaming landscapes of autumn, and the breathtaking peace of morning snow transforming the world to silver. I have held newborn babies, had soft kittens purring in my lap, and felt salt-water waves washing against my feet. I have had a chance to do what I love to do, to write, and have worked with some of the most brilliant business thinkers and genuinely extraordinary people on the planet. I have worked on two dozen books and have been blessed to meet some absolutely marvelous people, from business gurus to Buddhist monks. I've traveled around Europe, Asia and Africa. I've crossed the United States by car and plane, and paddled a kayak with my dad 225 miles down the Grand Canyon.

And, yes, I also have had cancer and other dark passages that might have been excised from the Disney version of my life. Yet I would not trade my life, all of it, for anyone else's. No way, no how. I have lived a rich and fulfilling life -- and I am just getting started.

Some people think they can live life a la carte. They think of it as a buffet where they can pick and choose the good stuff. They can pile on more filet mignon and less liver, more french fries and fewer brussel sprouts, more brownies and less broccoli. But life is not a buffet. It is a full-course meal. It comes plate after plate, and some are absolutely wonderful. Others, you just smile at your host and try not to look too disgusted when you spoon out the local delicacy of monkey brains. But it is all one magnificent, full-course meal. You may not enjoy every dish, but eat up. It could be good for you. And you must enjoy the whole feast that is life in all its stunning richness.

As the title character in the musical Mame says, "Life is a banquet and most of you poor sons of a bitches are starving to death!" (Thanks to Michael for this.)

This feast is your life, the only one you have. You can live it, or go hungry. So, down the hatch. Bon appetit!


And I cannot wait to see what is for dessert.