[COLUMN] Of charmed lives and weathering the ‘winter of our discontent’
Have you ever gone through a “winter of discontent” and wondered quietly if you could trade your life for someone else’s? If you have, don’t flog yourself silly. You don’t…
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[COLUMN] Christ is the reason
One of the things that make living in this land exciting is coming to an appreciation of the culture, the language and the origins of certain phrases that are repeated…
[COLUMN] Taking the time to just be this Christmas
It’s that time of year again. And every year, whether we like it or not, we go through the same rituals. This is a time of winnowing and thinning, just…
[COLUMN] A Christmas story: The innkeeper’s untold tale
I like rerunning this story during Christmas. It is is pure fiction. It grew out of my curiosity about the forgettable, minor characters I identify with and their viewpoint of…
[COLUMN] Travel light
This is culled out from the series “The Bucket List” written in 2018. Travel is a pure metaphor for our life’s journey. There are two choices in the way we…
[COLUMN] Divest early
THIS is culled out from the series, “The Bucket List” written in 2018. You have become a collector over the years. Memories, good and bad, you have them, by the…
[COLUMN] Filter it, pull the plug or simply think outside the box
THE one thing that differentiates a life of deprivation from a rich one is the availability of choice. And making wise choices from the array made available to us, is…
[COLUMN] Circles, cycles and the seasons of our lives
IT is November. And we are coming full circle. Again. A circle is perhaps the perfect geometric structure there is. Although some would claim the triangle or a square to…
[COLUMN] Rewriting your own story
IF you’ve been given the chance to restart a new life after you’ve gone through some life-changing, miraculous experience, such as surviving a horrific accident when everyone else perished, or…
[COLUMN] Money and your ego
When we buy stuff, we think we own it. The truth is the stuff owns us. If we bought the stuff on credit, then we have contracted a set time…
[COLUMN] Mutual fund basics
Years ago, I was searching for something to place a small amount of money that can yield a little growth if left alone for some time. A bank certificate of…
[COLUMN] The good book on money
WHEN something goes wrong regarding personal finance, our mental default setting is that we need someone else to help fix the problem. But if we stop and think about it,…
[COLUMN] Ride the blast from the past
Forget the past and fully live in the moment. Why? It is because life is just too short. Or so they say. I say we still ought to make time…
[COLUMN] Grazing in the grass
What’s your game plan when you retire? The timing can be one of 3 ways: you yourself planned when it will happen; the government said it’s time you did; or…
[COLUMN] Let the music move you
CARE to dance? Most people have rhythm embedded in their DNA. Music moves them emotionally and physically. Music is a powerful gravity-defying force that can speak to the soul. Watch…
[COLUMN] Money and the simple life
There are no shortcuts in arriving at a decision to live a simple life. Sometimes, one has to go through a personal hell experiencing an inner fatigue and helplessness over…
[COLUMN] The 80/20 Rule
Eighty percent of things don’t matter; twenty percent do. That is essentially the Pareto Principle. Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian sociologist in the late nineteenth century, introduced the concept of the…
[COLUMN] Luck and making a living
Unless you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth, one of the crucial choices that anyone makes is how to make a living in the world. Will he…
[COLUMN] Hail to the ordinary
Part 2 of 2 (Continued from last week …) We are tempted to look at movie stars, fat cats and other luminaries who dare defy conventions basking in the public…
[COLUMN] Part I: Hail to the ordinary
Part 1 of 2 IN 2010, a young boy who climbed Mount Everest gained a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. He was on TV for his 15…
[COLUMN] Part III: Mindfulness as a survival skill
Part 2 of 2 (Continued from last week…) I plead the case for mindfulness for everyone at all times and in all places. Do you feel incomplete, naked, inept and…
[COLUMN] Mindfulness as a survival skill
I nearly had a vehicular accident. Operative word: Nearly. I was minding my business at a traffic stop when the vehicle before me decided to back up because her car…
[COLUMN] The power of kindness
WHAT does it cost to be kind to others? We often think that being kind costs us something — whether it is time, money, connections or any of what we…
[COLUMN] Part III: Auschwitz
Conclusion of 3 Parts (Continued from the previous week…) It is said that 1.3 million were in Auschwitz, of which over a million Jews either died of starvation, exhaustion, or…
[COLUMN] Auschwitz
Part 2 of 3 (Continued from the previous week…) It has been 77 years since Auschwitz was liberated from Nazi Germany by the Russian Army. When the Russians arrived at…
[COLUMN] Once upon a time series: Charisse’s confection
Stories have the power and influence to touch the heart that a cut and dried essay or a report does not have. Somehow the lessons and insights we learn from…
[COLUMN] Once upon a time series: Charisse’s confection
Stories have the power and influence to touch the heart that a cut and dried essay or a report does not have. Somehow the lessons and insights we learn from…
[COLUMN] Part II: Elaine, The Rock
Stories have the power and influence to touch the heart that a cut and dried essay or a report does not have. Somehow the lessons and insights we learn from…
[COLUMN] Once upon a time series: Meet Elaine, The Rock
Stories have the power and influence to touch the heart that a cut and dried essay or a report does not have. Somehow the lessons and insights we learn from…
[COLUMN] Once upon a time series: Abigail’s story
“Will you marry me?” she asked him. Stories have the power and influence to touch the heart that a cut and dried essay or a report does not have. Somehow…