The last year has been an incredible adventure.  While visiting Cornell in mid November for a home football game, I was approached with the opportunity to speak at an area inpatient chemical dependency treatment center.  I accepted, and “the rest is history” as they say.

The experience was one-of-a-kind, and provided me with a new level of awareness, as well as a charge to pursue my Masters of Addiction Counseling degree at the Hazelden Graduate School of Addiction Studies in Center City, MN.  As I enter my third and final semester at Hazelden, after having worked two clinical internships at Hazelden’s Center City campus, I have accepted a position as Case Manager with C.A.S.T. Recovery (Complete Aftercare Support Team) of Los Angeles, CA.  At CAST, I will help to launch the Twin Cities Office and help to empower clients to transition from treatment to recovery lifestyles.  C.A.S.T. is an outpatient drug rehab program which specializes in designing highly individualized recovery plans with appropriate professionals to support a client’s health, accountability, and success.  This, you may have noticed, is a natural extension of my life coaching skills and experiences.

I am excited about where my life has taken me and the opportunity C.A.S.T. affords me.  I am at-the-ready to share with you how my education, training, and life’s experiences can be of service to you and/or others you may know.

Please do not hesitate to call upon me at any time to ask questions, gain insights, or to simply say “hello.”  All communications will be held in strict confidence.

Best Regards,

David B. Bohl
Case Manager
CAST Recovery
DavidB@CASTRecovery.com
www.CASTRecovery.com

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This from Amazon.com:

Editorial Reviews

“The Power of Slow is a life-changing book. Far from stating the obvious, Christine Hohlbaum provides new insights and persuasive arguments for reshaping our time and changing our lives for the better. A must read in our over-scheduled world!”–Wendy Walker, author of Social Lives, Four Wives, and Chicken Soup for the Soul – Power Moms

“In the fast-paced world of Blackberrys, Iphones, and Twitter, it’s hard to find one’s footing. In an easy-to-read style, Ms. Hohlbaum has described a process of slowing down that is so very important to our wholeness, balance, and well being. She does so in a poetic and sometimes humorous way. She has captured a heavy topic with a light touch and yet we learn many lessons.  I highly recommend this book to help anyone who wants to stay healthy, sane, and enjoy life more fully.”–Bonnie Michaels, work-life balance expert and author of Solving the Work/Family Puzzle and A Journey of Work-Life Renewal

Product Description

Getting to the heart of our hassled and over-scheduled existence, Christine Louise Hohlbaum cheerfully investigates 101 ways to increase our quality of life and productivity by reevalu ating how we perceive and use time. She claims that everyone has their own personal bank account of time. We cannot control time itself, but we can manage the activities within the time we do have. The Power of Slow gives readers practical, concise directions to change the relationship they have with time and debunks the myths of multitasking, speed, and urgency as the only ways to efficiency.

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Have you been affected by the recession? I surely have, and so have most of us, right? Our economy has gone through some pretty startling changes in the last year or two.

I believe that how we react to these changes will determine whether we prosper or fail, as individuals, and as a nation. Will you wave the white flag and hope that better days are coming, or will you adapt and overcome? I choose the latter. Whether you call it a “down-turn”, “recession”, “slow-down”, or even the dreaded “DEPRESSION”, the truth is that it is up to you to use our changing economy as an opportunity to excel.

Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid.

We’ve all been hearing it in the media. Every other commercial is advertising a “recession proof” this, or a “beat the slow-down” that. The television news has been falling all over themselves covering the recession ad nauseum. If you listened to all this hype you might believe the world was coming to an end. It isn’t.

It’s hard to find quality information on the news these days. What you can easily find is infinite quantities of spin and hype. Don’t focus on the gloom and doom, sensationalist reporting. Stay positive, even if times have gotten tough. You’ll be fine, but you’re probably going to have to make a few changes.

Do Something Different.

The other day, a friend was telling me about his woes. “I’m a union carpenter, and I haven’t worked in six months. I’ve never seen it this bad”, he says. I got the sense that this man was prepared to wait another six months, or more, for things to get better.

In the meantime there are other union carpenters – smarter, more industrious ones who are already making their moves. They are becoming entrepreneurial, and going into business for themselves. They aren’t going to sit and wait for the union to save them, they are going to make things happen now. These are the kinds of folks who will prosper through difficult and changing times while others shake their heads and blame “the recession”.

Diversify:

When money gets tight, we need to re-think our business model. Say, for example, your hours have been cut. You went from 40 to 30 hours per week. It is probably time to find a source of supplemental income. Pick a skill or a talent that you have and market it.

Say, for example, you play the guitar. If you’ve been at it for a while, then you probably have knowledge and information that is worth money. Put an ad on Craigslist, or something similar, and start giving guitar lessons. Get yourself a few good customers and you’ll be right back where you were in terms of income, and you’ll be doing something different and presumably more enjoyable in the process.

If you’re not sure what to do, then make a list of your skills. We all have them – things like: gardening, tennis, piano, second language, computer, etc. Now put a possible way to earn money next to each skill. Go from there, and you’ll be on your way to leveraging your individual skills to earn extra cash.

Most of us believe that we have made something out of ourselves through hard work, and smart decision making. In this country we have to earn what we have. We aren’t born entitled, and there are no free rides. The economy has made some pretty tough circumstances for most of us. Nobody is denying that, but, it is important to recognize that we are dealing with exactly that – circumstances.

I will never surrender and become a victim of circumstance. We will all persevere and meet these challenges as long as we keep things in their proper perspective. Tune out the hype and negativity, get back to the basics of hard work and opportunism. Let the tough times weed out the defeatists, and we and our economy will come through this recession stronger than ever.

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Personally, I’ve never been bored a day in my life, but for some people, if they’re out of their normal routine, say on a weekend, holiday, or vacation, they get stuck and lose their momentum. They may not be thinking creatively of what they can come up with to do. Or they may have a pretty simple life of work and the basic home life. Or they keep so busy at their jobs, that there’s no time to develop hobbies or outside interests, so when they do have that rare free time, they don’t know what to do with themselves.

Do you see yourself in any of these scenarios? One suggestion I’ve made to some of my coaching clients, is when they have a few minutes, to make a list of all the fun activities they’d like to do—with no limits on time, talent, or money. This list might include simple things they rarely have time for like going to the movies, visiting a friend or relative, or working in the garden. Or they might include more time-intensive activities like learning a new hobby or sport, writing a book, or taking a trip.

So consider spending 5 or 10 minutes making a list of your own of your interests, hobbies, passions, secret dreams, and anything else you can think of that you don’t have time to do, you’ve always wanted to do, or you fantasize about doing if you had the time and money.

If your creative juices need a little tune up, here are just a few ideas to get you started:

1. Read a book: do you have a massive collection of books gathering dust on the bookshelves in every room of your house? I love books and sometimes feel more like a collector than a reader. But if you have some downtime when you’re feeling there’s nothing to do, it’s the perfect time to pull one of those dusty books off the shelf and settle in for an adventure.

2. Write a book: I’ve heard the 81% of people say they want to write a book someday but a very small percentage ever do. If you find yourself with time on your hands, that’s the perfect time to plunge into this project. You’d be surprised that once you’ve outlined your book, the rest is just filling in the blanks. Set a certain amount of time every week (or day) for this project and you won’t have nothing to do for quite a while!

3. Review your investments: If you’re like most people you might get all those statements in the mail, but you either stack them or file them away in your filing cabinet. With nothing to do, how about pulling them out, sorting through them, making a chart to see what you have, what the current values are, and deciding if you want to make some adjustments.

4. Start a business: If you work the 9-5 routine, you may have always dreamed of starting your own business. There are some that can be started easily in your home that you can do part time to provide some tax benefits. Now that you have some time, start the research into seeing what might be the best venture for you, whether it’s offering a service that you are skilled at like consulting, or a product you’d like to sell, perhaps on eBay.

5. Organize your house: To some people this is a lot of fun, to others it’s drudgery. If the whole family is in the “nothing to do” mode, gather them together, assign each one a room, and have a reward when everyone is done–pizza and a movie! You can also encourage the kids that they’ll make some money when you hold a garage sale to sell all your cast-offs!

6. Take some “me” time: How little “me” time most of us have in our busy lives. When we have nothing to do, we generally think we need to get busy, find some activity to fill in the empty spaces. Instead, what about time for reflection, a walk in the woods or on the beach, writing in your journal, just lying quietly on a blanket or lounge chair. We spend so much time as human “doings” it’s refreshing and renewing to spend time as a human “being.”

7. Volunteer: I see notices in my local newspaper every day with more volunteer opportunities than I could even imagine. Giving back is extremely rewarding to the place and people you’re giving to as well as yourself. If you’ve never done it, put it at the top of your list of what to do when there’s nothing to do.

With all these suggestions and your own list, I don’t ever again want to hear you say “There’s nothing to do.”

For some humorous things to do that you may want to add to your list, check out http://www.cs.earlham.edu/~jimg/reading/bored.html.

NEWSFLASH: I’ve added another chapter to my life by joining C.A.S.T. Recovery, a Los Angeles based outpatient drug rehab program which specializes in designing highly individualized recovery plans with appropriate professionals to support a client’s health, accountability, and success.

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I once heard a great definition of worry: it’s negative goal setting. That’s because worry is always about the future, and none of us can really predict the future. It’s such wasted energy that could be constructively used to make the present a lot better. Reign in your overactive imagination. Imagine instead using the energy you would have expended on worry to envision a positive future.

Those who worry think that by worrying over an issue they are keeping it from happening, when in fact they may actually be attracting it. Based on the Law of Attraction, what you focus your thoughts on you draw to you. It’s helpful to understand this negative effect worry has in attracting what you are worrying about.

You might think if you worry enough about not forgetting what to say when you have to give a speech at work today, then somehow you could stop it from occurring. Yet, your worry might cause you to get nervous and create just what you were worried about happening. (Not to mention the physical side effects of chronic worrying like heart disease and ulcers.)

Take a look at something you’re worried about now and see what it’s really about. Are you worried you’ll catch the flu from your kids? Focus instead on the fact that you take good care of yourself, eat well, take supplements, exercise, and haven’t been sick in years. Then shift your focus to staying healthy and seeing the kids getting well quickly. Are you worried about having enough money for retirement? Focus on the present and be thankful that you have enough now and can put some away each month for the future. Then look at what you need to do realistically to reach the goals you set for your retirement.

Action is another antidote to worry. And if your life has really been pretty good so far, worry is just a bad habit and not based on any proof. If you look at all the good in your life, you’ll see that you’re only making up stories that will in most likelihood never come true. Save your creativity for writing novels.

We were also taught to not assume something good is going to happen or we’ll jinx it. Or don’t put all our eggs in one basket. A lot of these clichés actually create the opposite effect of what we intend. See if this helps. Ask yourself: what’s the worst that can happen? Then you can rationalize worry away by seeing your fears are unfounded.

Being appreciative for the present is a great way to reduce worry. If we are focusing on the good in our lives, we’re less likely to focus on imagined scenarios of what hasn’t even happened yet. And just because some event happened in the past is no reason to assume it will repeat itself in the future. I like this cliché: the past is history, the future is a mystery, and the present is a gift–that’s why it’s called the “present.”

NEWSFLASH: I’ve added another chapter to my life by joining C.A.S.T. Recovery, a Los Angeles based outpatient drug rehab program which specializes in designing highly individualized recovery plans with appropriate professionals to support a client’s health, accountability, and success.

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Type the words ‘living style’ and any combination of other related keywords into Google and you get a list of sites about home design, fashion, cars, pets and all the newest trends associated with them. These are the accumulated trappings that reflect our lifestyle. Lifestyle is the visible evidence of our preferences, our tastes, our wealth. So what kind of question is “What’s your living style”? And why give it your attention?

Well, the word ‘living’ is the present participle of the verb ‘live’. It suggests activity and interactivity. What we are doing, experiencing, living, now. If you’re like most working folk in mainstream society your present reality is a balancing act between work stress, family responsibilities, friendships and untold other obligations. And if you’re like most basically stable but somewhat frazzled folk, the prolonged strain often leaves you with a vague but troublesome sense of disconnect from your soul’s center.

If this describes your typical day, it might be time to examine, even define your living style and get it under control. Shape your inner life space so that the living is good.

Most of us think in terms of living a long, full term life of about 80-85 years. In that span we go through various seasons. Each one brings its own set of concerns, challenges and joys. We only get one go round with each, and we are responsible to experience each one fully. But because we are human and driven to constantly learn, improve and grow, we’ll push that instinctual ambition to the limit of our known available resources. And resources we have–to the point of information overload.

So how do you marry your frenzied life with all its necessary daily activities with the season in which we now live, to create a more balanced, more satisfying living style? Consider your present season. What about this season is worth cherishing? And what within this season would you like to accomplish that is compatible with what you cherish?

Deep Style Lite

Are you young, unattached, and loving your freedom? Want to study, travel, or a combination of the two? Then maybe rather than allowing a new relationship develop–just because the opportunity presents itself, you put it on hold. Emotional ties can wait. But maybe your freedoms can’t. Respect your new found focus and remain true to it in the overall scheme of your dreams. Save for airfare rather than blow it on a city weekend. Instead, spend that weekend immersed in plans and activities that support your present passion. Your style of living has suddenly taken a shape appropriate to the conditions of your season.

Do you want to adopt a healthier living style? Better eating habits, a regular exercise routine? You’ve taken the obvious steps. Emptied the freezer of ice cream, joined a gym, changed your bed time to allow more sleep. But unless you have seriously considered the pattern of your living style, your initial efforts will be compromised.

Have you closed the chapter (temporarily) on Wednesday night poker and beer in favor of an evening with someone who can encourage your efforts? Are you still shopping for shoes on your lunch break, when the extra money could go toward healthy groceries? Did you earlier in the year commit to journaling in the morning, but now find it impossible?

The conflicting priorities demand concerted planning. Envision the sacrifices and make the adjustments before they are staring you in the face. Then give yourself permission to presently and fully engage in a living style that will ferry you through to success.

The principles of creating a living style apply to all seasons. A newly awakened concern for social justice, a political movement, the environment, all call for modifications. How can you really live with concern for sea life when you continue to indiscriminately use plastic?

When you make the right adjustments, your energy is brought into synch with your values, and the subconscious conflicts that plague you are released to create more forward momentum. This will show up in newly formed relationships or a more tightly crafted budget to support your goals.

Seasons of motherhood, fatherhood, spiritual exploration, educational growth, building a house, learning your family heritage, reading every book by Tolstoy, are all seasons. By identifying what you treasure within these seasons, and linking them to the parallel activities of daily life, you will create an integrated inner landscape and a harmonious, comfortable living style.

NEWSFLASH: I’ve added another chapter to my life by joining C.A.S.T. Recovery, a Los Angeles based outpatient drug rehab program which specializes in designing highly individualized recovery plans with appropriate professionals to support a client’s health, accountability, and success.

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The practice of networking is one of those essential elements of life we often take for granted, since we do it naturally. Essentially, I see networking as connecting with people, exchanging ideas, and building relationships. Since early man, networking has been a practical tool for forming alliances with others to trade and share resources. Today networking can be a business marketing tool or a way for people to connect for social purposes.

I know some businesses that use networking as their exclusive marketing vehicle. It’s a highly effective way for people to build relationships for mutual benefit to either do business directly or to refer business. We’ve all heard the saying, “it’s not what you know but who you know.” Well, networking gives us an opportunity to meet those who can be influential to our business. And I’m sure you’ve also heard that people like to do business with people they “know, like, and trust.” Through networking, you can build the “know, like, and trust” factor as you meet and work with people on an ongoing basis.

Socially, people network to meet others with similar interests whether for friendships or romantic relationships. You might be looking for a tennis partner, so you would network at an open house at the local gym or tennis club. Maybe you need a bridge player for your group, so you send out the message across your networks. Single people network to meet compatible dating partners or new friends to share activities with.

Until recently, networking has been the exclusive domain of the real world. That is, we network at clubs, Chambers of Commerce, restaurants, bookstores, gyms, or wherever we expect to find the kinds of people we’re looking for. Today, however, the Internet has all but taken over the domain of networking.

Take for example, MeetUp.com. Here you can find a group that meets just about any interest you have, whether personal or professional. From arts, entertainment, games, and hobbies to personal growth, business building, health and fitness, there’s a MeetUp group for you. It’s all free and although the groups meet locally, you do all your searching online and get your invitations in your email.

Then of course, you’ll find the majority of networking online is done through the social media or social networking sites, like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Almost everyone who is online is familiar with at least one of these sites. MySpace launched around 10 years ago and was strictly for personal use–although some businesses do have a MySpace page. Imagine connecting with former classmates you haven’t seen for 20 years. Or making “friends” with people all over the globe living in places you may never visit.

Because of the huge popularity of the early social sites, business networking sites jumped in to take business networking online. No more chicken dinners at your local Chamber of Commerce. No more dressing in suits and high heels. Now you can meet your clients, prospects, and business associates without leaving the comfort of your office. LinkedIn, Plaxo Pulse, FastPitch, gibLink, and Facebook all allow members to do business online. Although Facebook began as a site for college students, it diversified as businesses joined in to make the most of its expansive network.

I see one of the primary advantages of online networking as being able to target who you want to meet, and having a huge pool of people to meet from all over the world. You not only save time but money, since most sites are free to join. Instead of the time it takes to get dressed, drive to a destination, and shake hands or have drinks with a number of people before meeting anyone of value for your purposes, in 15 minutes a day, you can make valuable connections quickly and easily. That is, once you get the hang of it and find the right sites and the right way to navigate them. Here are some tips to help improve your online networking efforts.

1. Select the best sites for your purpose.

Find the sites that meet your social or business needs. Don’t waste time on sites that are not what you’re looking for, and don’t sign up on too many sites. You won’t be able to keep up with more than a couple of sites. For the best results stick to a few top sites and work them actively.

2. Get familiar with all the features of each site.

Most sites have similar features such as a profile, a directory, classified ads, forums, groups, and more. With social sites you can search for people with similar interests, in your local area, or just do random searches for interesting people. With business sites, you can build your list of “friends” who may be prospects, clients, or business associates, start a group or join a group in your industry, announce events, and chat in forums. Some business sites like gibLink allow promotion and with others you need to be more subtle. As you familiarize yourself with the features, you’ll find the ones that work best for you.

3. Find time to check in regularly.

Even 15 minutes per day can keep you up to date with your online networking. Respond to friends’ requests and messages, check the chat boards, upload an event, or post a message to your group. If you don’t log in for weeks at a time, you lose the momentum that it takes to build relationships. You’ll build stronger relationships by being active, responsive, and helpful. Eventually your efforts will yield results–new friends or new business, or both!

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And what about the little things? The children who put their breakfast dishes in the sink? The spouse who lets you sleep in on Sundays? The neighbor who always has that extra egg you seem to run out of?

How often do you say “thank you” to these gifts in your life? Sometimes we start to take people for granted and expect them to be there for us. But think about how you feel when someone tells you how much they appreciate you. Doesn’t it make you want to do more because you know they really noticed what you did? It’s not that anyone does nice things for others for the praise. They do it because they want to. But your appreciation is the least you can do to pay them back. And it really motivates people to do even more.

“Thank You” are the two most powerful words there are. Some people wait until Thanksgiving to share with others all that they are grateful for. Why not make every day Thanksgiving? How would your life be enriched if you told at least one person a day how much you value them? What if you sent out at least one thank you card a week? How would that make you feel? Not to mention how the receiver would feel.

When we look for ways to say “thank you” each day, it also keeps us focused on noticing what is right in our world and what we are thankful for. That in itself is a worthwhile endeavor. Most of us spend far too much time focusing on our problems, so when you look for reasons to give thanks, you’ll find a lot more of them. And maybe even draw more of them to you. Saying “thank you” reminds us of all the good things that are in our lives and opens us to receiving more.

It might be fun to make this a family ritual. Every night before bed, each family member could tell each of the others one thing they appreciate about them. It can be as small as “thanks for giving me your dessert” or as big as “thanks for walking me home from school.” And when you’re washing up before climbing into bed, how about looking in the mirror and saying “thank you” to yourself? What could you say to yourself to show how much you value yourself? “I love you, thank you for being you.” “You did a great job today. Thank you.”

Notice how you feel when you thank others and especially when you thank yourself. They’re only two little words, but they are so powerful, especially when they come from the heart.

NEWSFLASH: I’ve added another chapter to my life by joining C.A.S.T. Recovery, a Los Angeles based outpatient drug rehab program which specializes in designing highly individualized recovery plans with appropriate professionals to support a client’s health, accountability, and success.

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We’ve become a culture of “yes people:” “Yes, I can stay late to help with your project.” “Yes, you can have that expensive themed birthday party with the live ponies.” “Yes, let’s go out for drinks on Friday.” “Yes, I’m available to help you move tomorrow.”

Why is it so difficult to turn down a commitment these days? I have a theory – I think it’s because technology makes it almost impossible for us to hide! Back in the old days, you could become unavailable for a little while if you needed a mental vacation. But now, it seems like wherever you go, someone’s showing up with an invite or a request – texting you, emailing you, leaving you voicemails, messaging you on Facebook or wherever else, ready to hold you accountable. And worse… while you’re juggling all those priorities, even more obligations and temptations keep popping up.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: we can’t be everything to everyone, and we can’t do it all. If we try to, we soon discover how it feels to be that proverbial chicken without a head. And with all this running from here to there, feeling the pressure mount to be the perfect mom or dad, friend, employee, coworker, coach, Christian, golf buddy, vacation planner, party person, and so forth… pretty soon we really DO start to feel like our heads have become detached from our bodies as we mentally unravel!

I know it’s hard to say no when someone needs your help or requests your presence. But try to view your life in a pie graph format, with slices taken out for various commitments that you must attend to. The smaller the “sliver” of pie that you devote to one activity, the less attention, concentration, and appreciation you’re able to give it. And then you’re no longer enjoying yourself and being present in the moment. That’s what they call being “stretched too thin” and I think we all know when it’s happening to us. And our family, friends and colleagues notice, too.

So let me offer a few tips on how to say “No” without offending or disappointing people.

1. Say “no” to this, but “yes” to that.

Don’t you usually find that your commitments to certain people are cumulative? You’re helping a friend work on his truck this week, and then next week he’s calling to see if you can come over and look at the brakes on his wife’s car. If it’s not a good time, then say so. “Listen Bill, I really wish I could help you, but I’m swamped with work this weekend and the kids have Scout Camp.” And while you’re letting your friend down easy, casually bring up another event or task that you two will be teaming up on. “So let me know how it goes, and I’ll see you on the fifth for our camping trip!” It’s always best to end the conversation on a high note, especially if you’re delivering disappointing news.

2. Put out the silent “no” – don’t make yourself so easily accessible.

A great way to get yourself labeled as a “yes” person is to be everywhere all the time. Your phone is on, you’re logged into your favorite social networking site, you’re fielding emails, you’re Skyping. This sends a message to people which says, “I’ve got nothing happening, so give me something to do!” Know what’s the best way to tell people you’re busy? Disappear! Even if you’ve just lowered yourself into a hot bubble bath, nobody except your immediate family has to know. To the outside world, you’re out of sight and that means you’re probably embroiled in some other project for somebody else. It works at the office, too. When people ask you where you’ve been or what you’ve been up to, just explain that you’re “super busy” or “crazy busy”! Trust me, there’s no better way to get the needy masses off your back.

3. Take a deep breath before you say “no.”

Being assertive has to do with making your own needs known but doing it in a calm, confident way. If you’re starting to get all stressed out about overbooking yourself, then it’s going to show in the pitch of your voice, the pace of your steps, the tightness of your muscles and the way you express yourself to others. If you feel overwhelmed, take a time out for yourself. Go for a walk, breathe a few deep, cleansing breaths, get into a few Yoga positions or do whatever you do to calm down. When you’re feeling human again, prepare your polite “no, thank you” and then ease into your regretful response.

4. Be apologetic about your no’s, and enthusiastic about your yeses.

Sometimes people get offended simply because of the manner of our delivery. One of my friends has this talent for making people feel unimportant when she’s turning down their invites. Something about her flippant, “Oh, no, we won’t be able to make it – we’re going tubing that weekend!” makes you feel a little bit unspecial. Other people just give off that snappish “I’m so overwhelmed” vibe when you approach them – and while they really may be overwhelmed, this can be unfriendly and off-putting. Knowing this, it’s worth practicing saying your “no thank you”s and “sorry, I can’t make it”s a bit more gracefully and gratefully. “That was so nice of you to think of us,” “Okay, I can’t wait to see you on Sunday instead!” and “Oh, I really wish I could come” go a long way in conveying a warm, friendly and positive attitude toward the people who count.

5. Say no with a polite explanation.

Open, honest communication is always the answer, and it’s no different when juggling your priorities and obligations to people. If you were invited to a co-ed baby shower but you already scheduled a golf outing for that day, then sure, you may feel like that’s a flimsy excuse best kept to yourself. But, a stiff “Sorry, can’t make it, CLICK” can be a tad insensitive, especially if this shower is for someone you actually do care about. So, at the very least, leave a genuinely apologetic, “Sorry, I already have plans for that day – but let’s get together soon so I can bring you your shower gift in person!”

What’s your best tactic for “letting people down easy?” Leave your comment on the Slow Down Fast blog!

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