2023 was a year of growth, but also one of challenge. Many of us have been tested, and we have risen to the occasion, but that does not make the hard days any less difficult.

Sending positive energy and holiday cheer to all.

It’s been another challenging and interesting year. I have much to be thankful for and I see better days ahead for us all.

​This past July my wife and I had the opportunity to hike a portion of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. For eight days we walked an average of 25 km per day in 40-degree Celsius heat. While the experience was physically challenging, it was spiritually rejuvenating and rewarding.

Have you experienced the feeling of being so caught up and engrossed in a task that you’re not thinking about what you're doing and everything else seems to fade away?

After reading a great piece by author and emotional intelligence guru Travis Bradberry, titled How Successful Pe​ople Quash Stress, it occurred to me that, generally, advice articles can be placed into ‘DO’ and ‘DO NOT’ categories. Applying these categories, Bradberry’s takeaways could be summarized in the following way:

Let’s face it, few people approach the mediation table with unbridled glee. If you’re a party at a mediation session, it often means you’ve suffered in some way – be it financially, emotionally or physically.

One day a couple of weeks ago, I conducted a 7-hour mediation, zipped into my office for an hour, and then picked up my son from home before driving through the snow to his hockey game.

Negotiations can go bad in a hurry for any number of reasons - clashing personalities, inflated egos, misunderstandings, incompatible priorities, negative emotions.