I just received an e-mail from Mike Schuster regarding a special event for Center alumni (I am one) that his Center for Professional Development is putting on. I have posted these excerpts, with Mike's permission, from his announcement because I think it is a very pertinent way to start a new year. Happy New Year! (LDC)

Indeed, I have felt most of my life that I have not lived in 'shoes too small' but rather in 'shoes too large'. There is no way I could fill the shoes of Bob Barkley, L.D. Pankey, F. Harold Wirth, or Peter Dawson, but if one does not answer the call, does not step up and step out, then indeed one lives in 'shoes too small', and lives a life far less than what it could have been, what it should have been and what it was meant to be.

We are all influenced. We all need guides, friends, people who care passionately about life, about our stories, about this grand experience we call 'our lives' -- Mike Schuster, DDS

We are all influenced. We all need guides, friends, people who care passionately about life, about our stories, about this grand experience we call 'our lives'.

You can only have as good a practice as the people, team and patients you surround yourself with; and you can only have as good a life as the life you are always in the process of creating or re-creating.

This special event is for those interested in their own continuation of their life story...in discovering, or re-discovering their unique purpose and then calling in life.

Rule #8 (of the 13 rules for living) may be of use here. "If you take care of yourself, there are only two prerequisites for taking this journey through life: continuous care of your BODY-MIND-SPIRIT and your finances."

You don't have to be perfectly fit or wealthy to have a great life, but you do need HEALTH to support your DREAMS and funding to make your DREAMS COME TRUE. Master nutrition, exercise and financial planning."

If you follow Rule #8 closely, you will live 25 years longer than your parents lived. The question becomes this:

What will you do with the 'extra 25 years?'

Since we are moving into a period of time that no human has ever experienced, the life we create and the life we experience will be different than any generation before or perhaps after us. We will be challenged to think in new and different ways; to act in new and different ways. Indeed, we have more choices and more opportunities than any generation before us.

Of course I believe fiercely in the 'unlived potential' within each of us, and believe that (special) events are pivotal to the enrichment, the renewal, and in many instances the longevity of our relationships and our lives.

Individuals are called. Couples are called. We are all 'called to greatness', to integrity, to truth, to life-long learning. We are, each of us, raw potential.

For more information on Mike and the Schuster Center for Professional Development go to: Mike Schuster, DDS and the Center for Professional Development