Recently, I got to help a friend who'd never been on the Web log on. It was probably even more exciting for me than for her. My great pleasure, my mission, is to stimulate discovery and focus on fulfillment. For example, I'd cooked black-eyed peas in the crock pot last week and couldn't find a recipe in my cookbook. Then I went to www.google.com and did a search and found hundreds of recipes in less than a minute! Where can a person discover more than on the Internet? I don't compare that delight with the glory of Nature or the intimacy of friendship, but all that knowledge at one's fingertips is intoxicating!

For me, part of the joy is in finding resources that I can pass on to various people in my life. On my coaching web site I have links to about 150 sites on several topics that are important to me. I've often thought it would be great to be on retainer and be a clipping service. If you were my client and wanted more information on career choices or home loans or hormone replacement therapy" ?you name it" ?I'd play hide and seek on the Web and tell you what I found. Being on the Internet makes me feel part of the larger world. I rarely watch the evening news, but when I log on, the welcome screen always gives the top news in the world, with places you can go to check on stocks, weather, entertainment and more. The feeling I get when I open my Personal Filing Cabinet and read Incoming Saved Mail is akin to my response to a letter from a loved one in the mail box. It's like a gift I wasn't expecting, a spontaneous offer to go on a two hour outing. Some of the emails are unwelcome, but I can hit delete or tuck them unread into an appropriate folder. I have folders for my weekly AskYourself newsletter, Puget Sound Coaching Association, Humor, Web Resources, Stock Market, Events, Travel, Writing, and other areas of interest.

For me, the email folders are comparable to a photo album" ? something I can revisit to tickle my memory muscle. Sometimes reading just the subject line puts a huge grin on my face" ?I remember the joke or scenario. Loving to share as I do, I have to restrain myself from forwarding wonderful humor and great lists to everyone I know. People who know me well appreciate my desire to be useful, and forgive me when I get carried away. It's hard for me to believe there are people who can afford a computer web access who don't rely on the Internet for quick communication. Perhaps I'm a bit addicted to it, but no more so than to snow-covered mountains, intimate talks with friends, a good book, a Handel concerto, or popcorn with butter by the fireplace. I'd be proud to introduce the Internet as my friend to anyone, and I value my friends. You'll have to pardon me; it's time for me to go there!