The Duke University Medical Center has published a report confirming that stress management appears to reduce the long-term chances of heart patients having another "cardiac event" and also provides an immediate and significant cost savings.

The team found a financial benefit of stress management strategies within the first year of the study. Average costs for patients who utilized stress management were $1,228 per patient during the first year, as compared to $2,352 per patient for those who exercised and $4,523 per patient for those who received usual care.

The medical center defines a cardiac event as "bypass surgery, angioplasty, heart attack or death."

My grandfather died of a heart attack when he was pretty young. I can just imagine the people at his funeral saying, "That was one heck of a cardiac event."

The results of this heady scientific research project seem pretty obvious to me, but I guess that wasn’t the case for the National Institutes of Health, who issued three grants for the study. I’m also not sure that we need to provide massive stress management programs to teach people something that once was second nature to us. I don’t see too many children dropping dead from "cardiac events," do you?

At the risk of sounding overly simplistic, here are 8 simple and free ways to help prevent "cardiac events":

• Laugh. The average preschooler laughs 450 times per day. The average adult laughs just 15 times per day. Quit taking yourself too seriously.
• Take A Walk. Exercise is important, but it’s not a choice between daily sweatfests at the gym or nothing. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park farther away at the supermarket. Lose the riding lawnmower. (Unless you’re in charge of keeping the local football field in tip-top shape.)
• Take A Bubble Bath. When was the last time you did that?
• Get 8 Hours of Sleep. Or at least seven.
• Take Frequent Naps. You may or may not want to pull a George Costanza and sleep under your desk (if you do, pack an alarm clock), but Saturday afternoon naps are going out of fashion. Check the TV for golf – you’ll be out like a light.
• Use Babysitters. You deserve a night to yourself.
• Be Off When You’re Off. When you’re at work, work hard. But when your off work, let it go. Don’t think about it. Learn to shut that part of your mind off for a day or two and be amazed at how productive you become.
• Laugh. I know, I know, I mentioned this one already. But that preschooler is kicking your butt – you’ve got 434 more laughs to go. Here’s some help.

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One of my favorite things to do in the world is to go on a walk with my husband. That’s actually one of the reasons we fell in love with Madison. It has some very beautiful lakes surrounded by trails for walking. The other day, as we walked in the humid, sticky weather, I was blessed with a "swingset moment." The childhood memory whisked back before I even saw what was happening. I heard the high pitched screeches of excitement from three children, two of which were wearing their everyday clothes soaking wet, weighing them down like heavy blankets. The third child was a toddler who very proudly pranced around the yard, wearing only his diaper.

Oh, the summertime joys of the sprinkler. The pure joy and giddiness you feel when the water chases you across the yard. The thrill of that ice cold water. The memories flooded me – leaning over the streaming water, the sudden urge to scream as the water gets you, the feel of the cold soggy grass under your toes. These kids were living the life I long to live – not one with drenched clothes and sopping wet hair, one with the freedom to laugh and scream from the amount of fun you are having. They were truly appreciating the simple joys in life (water and a hose).

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1. Add some fun background music. Pick some that helps you "Escape."

2. Pick some dandelions or wildflowers for your centerpiece.

3. Use the fun china (could be fancy…or paper…whichever you fancy)

4. Share a childlike happening from your day with those you are dining with. (If nothing childlike happened, then share a childhood memory about summer.)

5. Put a bright colored paper umbrella in your drink.

6. Add some Hershey’s chocolate syrup to your milk.

7. Eat dessert first.

8. Make a ketchup smiley face on your burger. (Thanks for the idea Caela!)

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When I was little nothing thrilled me more at a restaurant than to get one of those cute bright colored paper umbrellas in my drink. Pure joy! There was one place in particular we would go, as a big treat, in Joliet, IL, Merichkas, where my parents allowed us to order kitty cocktails. And what a treat this was! My parents loved the food there…I, well…I was satisfied with the "funness" added to my drink. I’m not even sure I really liked the cherry-flavored 7-up, or whatever kitty cocktails are even made of. So, you can imagine my childlike spirit leapt for joy when I read the following blog post:

As things are, there is little to smile about these days. So, I have started my own campaign to make people smile. I distribute those wee, paper umbrellas. I bought a gross of them & started at home by putting one in my husband’s evening wine. He arched an eyebrow & flicked it out, but I could tell he was secretly thrilled. Encouraged by this I put one in my daughter’s water, & she was delighted.

Later I stabbed several into her dinner.
"Are we expecting rain in the kitchen?" she quipped.
"I’m just spreading a little joy, baby," I said.
"Well do it someplace else, please," she responded.
"GOOD IDEA!!!" I enthused. My crusade had begun…(read the rest..)

One of the 78 million baby boomers, Jan, shared this story on a fun blog called Aging Hipsters, The Baby Boomer Generation. Ok, now why didn’t I think of this? I love the concept. This is an example of a full-grown adult, defying the laws of man and "society" and refusing to let adulthood dictate the level of her happiness. Jan is truly Escaping Adulthood.

Jan’s story goes on and she shares about some of the positive and negative reactions she has received from her mission. Not only does this story make me want to jump on Oriental Trading’s site and buy a big box of paper umbrellas it inspires me TODAY to look around and to find a way to escape this adultitis that plagues me often. Thanks Jan!

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Today I went to a National Speaker’s Association meeting near Milwaukee. I got to meet and talk to the current President, Scott Friedman. Funny guy and great motivator. He totally gets the "Escape Adulthood" thing and used the term "Adultitis" several times after I shared the concept with the group. We traded books, which was also very cool. He spoke about adding humor to your presentations, but a couple things I took away are applicable to everyone:

• Humor is pain, embarrassment, or stress distanced by time.

• Comfort never produced greatness.

• Don’t make a living, design a life.

The whole day reminded me again how important it is to have a childlike curiosity and be a life-long learner. There are so many opportunities out there to improve yourself and your life, you just have to open yourself up to them. The people who understand that there is something new to be learned from every single person and every single opportunity that life brings your way are the ones who stay young. And become successful.

Another speaker, Dan Burrus, shared another profound point over lunch. He said that everyone is good at a number of things. But he believes that we can only be really great at one thing. Too often, we stray from our "vision path" – we’re we want to be – because we get distracted doing the things we’re good at rather than focusing on the thing we’re great at.

Food for thought.

One of the more striking revelations I had also occurred during lunch, when a few of us got into a discussion about Napoleon Dynamite. It got brought up by a woman at the table after I mentioned that Kim & Jason started when I drew some little cute little pictures for Kim. Recalling how Napoleon drew a picture for a girl he wanted to take to a dance, the woman at the table said, "Oh my gosh, you’re just like Napoleon!"

I laughed as I remembered him showing the girl a drawing he had done, accompanied by the line, "It took me like three hours to do the shading on your upper lip. I think it’s the best drawing I’ve ever done."

And in the drawing, it looked like the girl had a flippin’ mustache.

I laughed at the comparison until I remembered his next line: "There’s more where that came from if you go to the dance with me." Considering what has happened since I first drew those funny little pictures for Kim almost ten years ago, I could have easily said something like that to her.

And it would have been true.

You may wonder what if feels like to have such an association drawn between yourself and one of the most infamous nerds of all time…

"It’s the worst day of my life; what do you think?"

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As much as I love that movie, Field of Dreams, I am not going to encourage you to build a baseball field in your backyard in hopes of some mysterious visitors. What I have been thinking about is the importance of building one’s family. Not only is it important for our own well-being and emotional health, it is important for our society and in the communities in which we live.

I have to admit, I am often frustrated by the “break-down” of the family in today’s households. It seems like people don’t make the time to have dinner together, communicate without having the TV on in the background, or even play a board game together (no, not a video game). However, this frustration was put to a screeching halt today after I read an article by Tom Kenworthy, USA TODAY, about Brennan Hawkins who disappeared for 4 days in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah. After he was found, Tom interviewed some of the people who had come out to help search for Brennan. Tom shared:

The happy ending was also a tribute to the thousands of people from Utah and beyond who dropped their daily routines and traveled to the Uinta Mountains to join the search. One family friend came from Hawaii to help.

The outpouring of support was evident shortly after dawn Tuesday. A stream of vehicles, many hauling horse trailers or carrying all-terrain four-wheelers, rattled down the gravel road along the East Fork of the Bear River toward the Scout camp. ‘I got kids,’ said Curtis Jones, 39, of Harriman, Utah, as if his two-hour drive towing a horse trailer to assist in the search needed no further explanation. ‘If it was my kid, I’d want everybody I could get.’

‘It says a lot about the family, it says a lot about the people of Utah,’ said Edmunds, who directed the search along the river valley and high ridges carpeted with aspen and pine. ‘It’s a family-oriented community in Utah, and people want to come out in droves to help.’

Among the volunteers was Kevin Bardsley, father of the 11-year-old boy who vanished last August while camping at a nearby lake. ‘When we came off this mountain in the winter,’ Bardsley said, ‘my friends and I decided right then: If anyone came missing, we’d be there immediately.’

What a breath of fresh air. It gives me hope to hear about this kind of support. These thousands of people who traveled to help strangers, did so because of the importance of their own families. Building a strong family unit helps to build strong individuals who help others in times of need. So, even though it may seem crazy to turn away a promotion or hefty overtime pay, it is even more crazy to turn away from the strongest support system and source of love- the family.

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Got a nice letter from Lynn Johnston the other day. You may not know her by name (cartoonists have a way of remaining anonymous – how many of you know what Bill Watterson looks like?), but I’m sure you’ve seen her strip, For Better or For Worse. She had some nice things to say about my book. She thanked me for sending her an advance copy and said,

"I wasn’t prepared for it to be so good! You write well and the subject matter is so appropriate. It’s obvious you have been thinking about this for a long time…One good thing about being a cartoonist is with minds like ours, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to grow up! I don’t intend to – despite my age."

Thanks, Lynn. I appreciate the kudos. And keep up the excellent job sharing the Pattersons with the world.

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I thought I had been fairly extensive in coming up with 88 ways to escape adulthood for my book. Somehow, I completely missed this one. According to a Japanese newspaper, the hottest ticket in town is a slumber party with some spineless sea creatures. Thirty lucky people won a lottery to experience the Enoshima Aquarium jellyfish tour. The experence includes dinner and educational behind-the-scenes access to the exhibit, followed by the opportunity to cozy up in sleeping bags in front of the jellyfish tank. According to the article,

Fans cite the "therapeutic" effect from simply gazing at the translucent marine creatures, with their bell-shaped saucers and trailing arms…The tour was created at the request of exhausted young mothers in their 20s and 30s, who sought a reprieve from their demanding lives.

I’m all for finding new ways to escape adulthood, and this one is certainly unique. Now, if only Sharper Image would start selling jellyfish tanks…

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A new installment of Allan’s Alley is ready for nostalgic consumption.

On the day this was written, the Kim & Jason strip depicted Kim’s amazement that her mom was about to sell her old hair dryer for 50¢ at the family garage sale. The drawing of Kim digging into her pocket to see if she had the money to buy the dryer herself brought back memories of our young son, at our long-ago driveway sale, trying to buy things we already owned.

When I was growing up, our family never had garage sales, and I can’t remember any in the neighborhood. In those days, the sales we took part in were of two main types: fund raisers for the World War II effort, and rummage sales for our church.

I hasten to add that I was much too young – well, a bit too young – to remember details about war fund raisers; what I do remember was the huge, annual rummage sale at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, where my parents joined and were married in 1932, and where some of the happiest memories of my youth were generated.

Those St. Mark’s spring sales were BIG, I’ll tell you…(read the rest of Allan’s column)

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In my last post, I commented on Mr. Buzz Aldrin, one of the first (and only) guys to walk on the moon. In 1962, in a speech given at Rice University in Texas, President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to put a man on the moon:

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.

If I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun–almost as hot as it is here today–and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out–then we must be bold.

However, I think we’re going to do it, and I think that we must pay what needs to be paid. I don’t think we ought to waste any money, but I think we ought to do the job. And this will be done in the decade of the sixties. It may be done while some of you are still here at school at this college and university. It will be done during the term of office of some of the people who sit here on this platform. But it will be done. And it will be done before the end of this decade.

JFK’s "Moon Speech" was unprecidented. It was outrageous. Its childlike audacity captured the imagination and wonder of millions Americans. And in 1969, we made it true.

Sadly, today, NASA is inflicted with a serious case of Adultitis. They have abandoned the entrepreneurial spirit of space travel. That spirit is now with the people who were kids when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, the people who are investing their own money developing private spacecrafts. According to Charles Lurio, a space consultant, "The current American space program is a passive activity that has no connection with those watching it or their children."

NASA’s Sean O’Keefe, sees it just a little bit differently: "If I had authorized somebody to jump into a plastic airplane fueled by laughing gas in just a flight suit, there would have been a Congressional investigation the next day — whether it was successful or not." (Reveries Magazine)

As kids, we all start out with big dreams and great passions. Eventually, Adultitis can get its stranglehold on us and we lose that magical spirit. In the sixties, NASA was a kid. Now it’s a crotchety old grown-up mired in politics and boring "adultlike" thinking. Cheers to the ones who have carried on NASA’s once great childlike spirit by pushing forward in the quest to develop personal spacecrafts. Maybe these entrepreneurs have more money than sense. Maybe they’re driven by ego. Maybe they’re crazy.

But at least they don’t have Adultitis.

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Today is Father’s Day, and I have been blessed once again with a "swingset moment." (a moment as an "adult" when I am whisked back into a moment of yesteryear) My dad loves music! For Father’s Day Jason and I gave him the cd, Dino: The Essential Dean Martin, including my all time favorite, "That’s Amore." Of course we put the cd in right away and before we knew it Dad and I were dancing, like the good ‘ol days. As he twirled and even "dipped me" life instantly rewound about 20 years…only this time, I didn’t have my feet on top of his. Dad has shared so many things with me in my 27 years- hugs & kisses, his fun sense of humor, encouraging words, the example of a life led by faith, and let’s not forget the awesomely contagious smile he has when he is enjoying his favorite music and dancing. I am blessed by this memory and the fact that today we made a new memory. There’s nothing better than feeling the warmth of a childhood memory and then getting the opportunity to create a new memory to be enjoyed tomorrow. Thanks Dad…Now That’s Amore!

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Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studios, recently delivered a commencement address at Standford University. I am a die-hard Mac fan, and I think he’s one of the most innovative entrprenuers of my generation, so I listen to pretty much anything this guy says. But you don’t have to own an iPod to appreciate his words of wisdom:

Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

So true. You gotta do what you love. Most of my peers are in a well-established career path, dutifully climbing the corporate ladder. I wish I could say that most of them were also really happy and fulfilled. I may ot be swimming in big pools of cash, but at least I can honestly say that I truly love my work. There are always opportunities that come along promising a bigger salary and a comforting sense of security. Unfortunately, unless that opportunity offers work that you’re passionate about, the short-term satisfacton quickly fades. Steve went on to share an interesting quote that made me think:

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something…

…Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Why DO we waste so much time worrying what others think? How much energy do we spend chasing the approval of others? Speaking of the opinions of others, how many people in the early part of the 20th century really thought space travel would ever be anything more than comic book fantasy? When Buzz Aldrin was born, did his mom know that her son would one day walk on the moon? The flippin’ MOON?! I doubt it. When Buzz Aldrin was going through the years of intense training and grueling physical preparation that preceded his little flight, do you think he was passionate about his work? You bet.

If today was the last day of your life, would you want to do what you’re doing today? What would your life look like if you courageously followed your heart and intuition, and pursued the things that you are most passionate about? Just remember, with God, nothing is impossible.

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