ach my son to skate. Now, my child is not what one would call a skating prodigy (no Olympic moments in our future) and our outings at that time tended to consist of me holding him upright between my legs as we circled A few years ago, I had the chance to meet Barbara Corcoran, the rags to riches Grand Dame of New York City real estate, and hear her speak about how she built such a successful business. Her talks are always a hilarious mix of business savvy and homespun advice, as one would expect from the author of If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails: And Other Lessons I Learned from My Mom.

However, one comment she made during that speech has always stuck with me. She pointed out that the only difference between the most successful salespeople in her organization and the rest was not in the number of rejections, failures or setbacks they faced, but rather in how quickly they recovered and got right back into the game.

I often think of Barbara’s comment during ice skating season, because it was shortly after we met that I was trying to teach my son to skate. Now, my child is not what one would call a skating prodigy (no Olympic moments in our future) and our outings at that time tended to consist of me holding him upright between my legs as we circled t

mix of business savvy and homespun advice, as one would expect from the author of If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails: And Other Lessons I Learned from My Mom.

However, one comment she made during that speech has always stuck with me. She pointed out that the only difference between the most successful salespeople in her organization and the rest was not in the number of rejections, failures or setbacks they faced, but rather in how quickly they recovered and got right back into the game.

I often think of Barbara’s comment during ice skating season, because it was shortly after we met that I was trying to teach my son to skate. Now, my child is not what one would call a skating prodigy (no Olympic moments in our future) and our outings at that time tended to consist of me holding him upright between my legs as we circled

he made during that speech has always stuck with me. She pointed out that the only difference between the most successful salespeople in her organization and the rest was not in the number of rejections, failures or setbacks they faced, but rather in how quickly they recovered and got right back into the game.

I often think of Barbara’s comment during ice skating season, because it was shortly after we met that I was trying to teach my son to skate. Now, my child is not what one would call a skating prodigy (no Olympic moments in our future) and our outings at that time tended to consist of me holding him upright between my legs as we circled

backs they faced, but rather in how quickly they recovered and got right back into the game.

I often think of Barbara’s comment during ice skating season, because it was shortly after we met that I was trying to teach my son to skate. Now, my child is not what one would call a skating prodigy (no Olympic moments in our future) and our outings at that time tended to consist of me holding him upright between my legs as we circled

ach my son to skate. Now, my child is not what one would call a skating prodigy (no Olympic moments in our future) and our outings at that time tended to consist of me holding him upright between my legs as we circled the rink until my back gave out.

But we were in Colorado visiting friends and had the opportunity to skate outside on a lake where they rented not only skates but also hockey equipment. This was a big change from being on a crowded MDC rink in Boston. Moreover, with a stick gripped firmly in his clutches for the first time and facing what seemed like acres of uninhabited ice, my son magically transformed from timid, hand-holding, cautious shuffler, to mini-mite hockey player skating off on his own to slap the puck around with a young friend. While not an Olympic moment, it certainly qualified as a Kodak moment.

Unfortunately, our combined joy – his in finding a new skill; mine in being able to skate upright – ended prematurely when he was the unwitting recipient of an accidental high stick to the face. As I carried him over to shore and packed snow on his