Don McMinn

The following article made my heart skip a beat.

I seldom copy and paste someone else’s thoughts and highlight it in one of my posts, but here’s an article that is so profound, documented, and well written that if I tried to improve it I’d mess it up. Read and learn.

“The best thing about Disney isn’t the rides or the castles. It’s their rule of hugging.

When a child hugs Mickey, Elsa, or Goofy, the character never lets go first.
Not after 30 seconds. Not after 5 minutes.
The child decides when the hug ends.
Walt Disney himself explained: “You never know how much that child may need that hug.”

Science shows he was right. Sustained hugs release oxytocin, the bonding hormone, that lowers cortisol levels by up to 30%.

Quick squeezes barely register. It takes 8–20 seconds of steady contact to activate the vagus nerve, slow the heartbeat, and flood the body with calm.

For kids, this isn’t just “neediness.” It’s calibration.

Their bodies are downloading safety signals, second by second, until the nervous system resets. Each hug lays down neural pathways for trust.

Over time, children whose comfort needs are met show stronger emotional regulation and healthier stress responses

When the child decides when the hug ends, they also learn autonomy. Their body. Their choice. Their timing. Connection and agency, woven together.

Try the Disney rule at home: when your child hugs you, don’t let go first.
Wait. Let them choose.

The message is powerful: I’ll stay as long as you need.

Connection isn’t built when you let go. It’s built when you wait.”

From the website @readysetparent to parent smarter, not harder.

Travel with Friends 2026 trip to the Iberian Peninsula

Click below for a brochure about the trip.

Iberian-Peninsula-2026-Final Brochure

Two Travel with Friends Information Meetings

In person – Join me Wednesday, November 5, 2025 from 6:00-6:30pm in the choir room at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco Texas.

On Zoom – Join me for a Zoom meeting on Thursday, November 20, 2025 from 7:00-8:00pm. If you want to join this Zoom meeting, email me at djmcminn@msn.com and I’ll send you a link. You can download Zoom for free. You can also participate via a conference call using your mobile phone.

At both meetings, we’ll discuss the itinerary, accommodations, and ports of call. The Q&A will answer all your questions.

If you have any questions, email me at djmcminn@msn.com or call me at 214.783.4414

I love to travel with friends.

Thirteen years ago I started hosting an annual international trip for friends. I truly wanted to use my travel-knowledge to help others experience the wonders of travel. If you’ve not traveled much, it can be intimidating, mysterious, and confusing. My trips make travel accessible, safe, reasonable, and fun.

It’s also beneficial to travel with others-as opposed to traveling solo-because experiences are magnified when we have them with others. When you have an “ah-ha” moment–like seeing the beaches of Normandy– have it with others and it will be more deeply etched into your mind. Also, deep friendships are formed when you’re traveling with a group. Some of my best friends are those I have traveled with often. I hope you’ll join Mary and me for a life-enhancing 15-days.

On our 2026 trip, we’ll explore Iberia. The culture of the Iberian Peninsula is diverse and rich, shaped by a history of interaction between many civilizations, including the indigenous Iberians, Celts, Romans, Visigoths, and Moors. We’ll visit five countries: Netherlands, France, Portugal, Spain, and Gibraltar (a British Overseas Territory).

Click below for a brochure about the trip.

Iberian-Peninsula-2026-Final Brochure

Two Travel with Friends Information Meetings

In person – Join me Wednesday, November 5, 2025 from 6:00-6:30pm in the choir room at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco Texas.

On Zoom – Join me for a Zoom meeting on Thursday, November 20, 2025 from 7:00-8:00pm. If you want to join this Zoom meeting, email me at djmcminn@msn.com and I’ll send you a link. You can download Zoom for free. You can also participate via a conference call using your mobile phone.

At both meetings, we’ll discuss the itinerary, accommodations, and ports of call. The Q&A will answer all your questions.

If you have any questions, email me at djmcminn@msn.com or call me at 214.783.4414

Thanks,

Don

When Disney World first opened, Mrs. Walt Disney was asked to speak at the Grand Opening because her husband, Walt, had died before the project was completed. She was introduced by a man who said, “Mrs. Disney, I just wish Walt could have seen this.” She stood up and said, “He did,” and sat down. (Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within, pg. 143)

Walt had vision.

Anthropologists tell us that humans are the only species of mammals that can think about the future, conceptualize what it might look like, and control our destiny. Take advantage of this gift.

Vision casting is not an attempt to predict the future; it endeavors to shape the future by visualizing possibilities which then influence current action.

Mary and I had a vision of being debt-free. It took 20 years of frugal living and careful planning, but in 1995 we made our last house payment and became unhindered by debt. Early in our marriage we had a vision for higher education among our family members; now, in our immediate family we have an M.B.A., Ph.D., M.D., a master’s from Columbia, and a Juilliard graduate.

In life, you seldom drift into a good spot. If you don’t have vision and don’t take initiative, you will likely be marooned in mediocrity.

Crafting vision is not a mysterious or difficult exercise. Simply take the time to think about the future and identify ways that it can be better than the present.

In his book The 8th Habit, Stephen Covey says, “Vision is applied imagination. All things are created twice: first, a mental creation; second, a physical creation. The first creation is vision” (pg. 70).

When Mrs. Disney said that Walt “saw” Disneyland although he died before it was completed, he truly had. He “saw” it  in his mind, where it was first created.

We must look at the lens through which we see the world, as well as at the world we see, because the lens itself shapes how we interpret the world. —Stephen Covey

For better and for worse, we all have what psychologists call “personal constructs” —frames of mind through which we see ourselves and others. I’ll adopt Covey’s metaphor and call those constructs “lenses.” Our lenses act as both frames and cages: they add focus and definition to our view of the world but they can also be inordinately rigid and restrictive.

Early in life, our lenses were crafted by our family of origin and our local environment. In essence, we inherited our first set of glasses.

For instance, I was born into an Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, conservative family who lived in the southwestern United States. I have a friend who was born in Mumbai into a Muslim family. Our lenses are different.

Our lenses influence major and minor areas of our lives:

• • • Most of us worship the god of our fathers.
    • Most of us adopted the political ideology espoused by our family or local culture.
    • Items as trivial as the clothes we wear and our food preferences are influenced by our lenses.

Have you ever analyzed and critiqued the lenses through which you see the world? It is a healthy exercise. Doing so may,

• • • Cause you to change
    • Solidify your perspective
    • Help you understand others
    • Encourage you to embrace diversity
    • Be an antidote for intellectual apathy

It is not for the faint of heart.

One of the best ways to expose our myopic view of life is to travel extensively. When we experience foreign cultures, we learn that our modus vivendi is just one of many and may not be the best.