We're supposed to learn from our own mistakes that other people's errors can be instructive

too, from efforts to control the weather that went disastrously awry to the untimely death

of the Segway boss. History is a treasure trove, mishaps and meltdowns that can teach us

all. I'm Tim Halford, host of cautionary tales, the podcast that mines the greatest fiascoes

of the past for their most valuable lessons. Listen to cautionary tales on the iHeart Radio

at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeart Radio.

Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

Today's tip is that when you have a little spot of time open up, you don't need to spend

all of it checking email. Take a minute to look out the window first and you just might start

feeling a little differently about life. I'm writing this episode on a lovely fall day

when the colors out my office window are brilliant and rich. There's a bright red maple staring

back at me and the little yellow oak leaves scattered on the bushes look like celebratory confetti.

With scenery like this, I do find myself looking up more than usual. I know in a few weeks,

it will all be gray and brown for winter. But even so, on any day, looking at the sky and the

trees can provide a little mental lift. A soothing sense that whatever problems I'm dealing with

are transient against the slowly changing seasons. I also realize that I don't avail myself of

this opportunity to look out on a calming scene, nearly as much as I could. When a spot of time

appears in my schedule, I do what I suspect many people do. Check my inbox. Sometimes there's

something I need to deal with there. But often, it's something that could have waited for one minute

while I looked out at the loveliness for 60 seconds. If you'd like more tranquility in your life,

it might be worth trying to look out the window first. In my new book, Tranquility by Tuesday,

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