Once upon a time series BEATRICE was good with numbers and Jim was more of an artist. He played in a band and made a good living with short-term gigs. She made a good living as an accountant and was content with a pretty predictable work schedule. Bea, as she was called fondly, was financially…
Back from the brink EMMA looked down at the busy huddle in the operating room. She was floating, hovering above the doctors and nurses in their blood spattered scrub suits while working on someone. They were desperately trying to bring a patient back to life. Emma took a closer look. “Why that’s me,” she thought….
“Will you marry me? She asked him” (Let me introduce to my readers a bit of a background on the ‘Once Upon A Time’ Series that I am launching in this edition and will be running from time to time. Stories have a power and influence to touch the heart that a cut and dried…
“…You have changed my mourning into dancing, O Lord, and have girded me with joy, alleluia…” —Psalm 30 (Conclusion of 3 parts) (Continued from last week’s issue …) There is news of suicide that hits you harder because you personally know the person who took his own life. By all accounts, he has led a…
“Suicide, contrary to the lyrics of a popular song, is never painless.” (Continued from last week’s issue …) There is an onslaught of overwhelming assaults that come in all forms from just everywhere, facilitated by the startling phenomenon of social media and the ease of anything going viral through the internet. This warped, perverse world…
(Part 1 of 3) “…All the lonely people Where do they all come from? All the lonely people Where do they all belong?…” —Eleanor Rigby, Lennon-McCartney STORIES make up the fabric of human life. Each life story is one thread in this vast cosmic tapestry of billions of stories all of humanity is weaving from…
“…The boy looked at him, shrugged his shoulders and went back to throwing one more jellyfish back to the water, and told him, ‘…Made a difference to that one…’” HOW about a double scoop of stories about the kindness of the human heart? The first story is that of Lou Xiaoying. Lou is one remarkable…
“Kind people are the best kind of people.” 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 consider to be our personal resources becoming depleted. Being kind does not diminish us. On the contrary,…
“He who must travel happily must travel light.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Sixteenth of a series) TRAVEL is a pure metaphor for our life’s journey. There are two choices in the way we can travel. We can travel light or we can load up on stuff and literally become a beast of burden. The reality…
15th of a series “Don’t be shy about asking for help. It doesn’t mean you’re weak, it only means you’re wise.” — Anonymous WE live in the Age of Information. You could say it is both a blessing and a curse to live during what could very well be “the best of times, the worst of…
11th of a Series – (Conclusion of 2 Parts) “ … The saddest thing about a life is to be forgotten as though you never lived..…” (CONTINUED from last week …) You hope that a smattering of beautiful memories, yours as well as of those you leave behind, are indelibly marked in a few hearts…
(Thirteenth of a series, ) “ …You won’t need a U-Haul truck when you pass. Jesus did say it is harder for a rich man to get into heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle…” YOU have become a collector over the years. Memories, good and bad, you have…
(11th of a series – Conclusion 1 of 2 parts. Continued from last week…) “ …The saddest thing about a life is to be forgotten as though you never lived…” You hope that a smattering of beautiful memories, yours as well as of those you leave behind, are indelibly marked in a few hearts and…
“ … And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” –Ascribed to Friedrich Nietzsche 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…
“ …As within, so without…” –Hermes Trismegistus WHILE appearances may deceive, more often than not, what you are is reflected on the outside. Becoming your own style icon does not mean maxing out your credit cards just to follow the latest fashion trends. Don’t do it. It’s a fool’s errand. You can never get caught…
”Sister, do you speak Italian? Can I talk to you? I am very angry with God.” I turned my head and it was a beautiful lady, elegantly dressed. I thought, “She has tortured eyes.” I AM suspending my idea series for a Bucket To-Do List for the time being to share a story told to…
”When you clear your mechanism and tune out the noise that invades your being, you may come to a rare state of grace — that state when you are thoroughly convinced that God is in His heaven and all is right with the world.” [Select a handful of those things in your bucket list that have…
”Broken hearts? Broken relationships? The solution is always the same. FORGIVE. Forgive as you have been forgiven. And while you’re at it, FORGET.” [Select a handful of those things in your bucket list that have the highest chance of coming to fruition given your time frame. In tech speak, it means before your life’s energy goes into ‘ low…
”The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”— Marcel Proust [Select a handful of those things in your bucket list that have the highest chance of coming to fruition given your time frame. In tech speak, it means before your life’s energy goes into ‘ low batt…
“Food is a way of making a connection with others and making memories.” Select a handful of those things in your bucket list that have the highest chance of coming to fruition given your time frame. In tech speak, it means before your life’s energy goes into ‘ low batt mode’ and life has run…
”I have a massage when I want to relax. I love being pampered. I love island massages when you’re outside in the fresh air.” —Angie Stone Select a handful of those things in your bucket list that have the highest chance of coming to fruition given your time frame. In tech speak, it means before your life’s energy goes…
Pamper yourself with a massage (4th of a series) ”I have a massage when I want to relax. I love being pampered. I love island massages when you’re outside in the fresh air.” —Angie Stone Select…
”…Humility, like darkness, reveals the heavenly lights.” —Henry David Thoreau Select a handful of those things in your bucket list that have the highest chance of coming to fruition given your time frame. In tech speak, it means before your life’s energy goes into ‘ low batt mode’ and life has run out of sockets to…
”…Healing begins with forgiveness. It can make us whole again. And when we are whole and bathed in God’s light, darkness no longer holds power over us.” [Select a handful of those things in your bucket list that have the highest chance of coming to fruition given your time frame. In tech speak, this means before your…
“What goes on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening?” asked the Sphinx. ‘Man,’ Oedipus answered after some thought.” – Riddle of the Sphinx (What better way to begin 2019 by revisiting your bucket list, fine-tuning it by editing, yanking off a few hare-brained entries, patting your back…
“A useless life is an early death.” —Goethe There are countless things to be grateful for this year. If we are blessed with a grateful heart, we will see beauty and light amid darkness. A grateful heart is one that is mindful of the abundant blessings of family, friends, and other people who orbit our…
“No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, may 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.” —Francis P. Church ONE of the things that make living in this land exciting is coming to an appreciation of the culture, the…
“…Lose the remote control. Break free of your electronic leashes for a little while. Take the time to just be yourself…” IT’S that time of year again. And every year, whether we like it or not, we all go through the same rituals. This is a time of winnowing and thinning, just like the fall season when we…
“As he told the story of that wondrous night to Luke, Joshua carefully removed himself from the narrative. It was to be between him and God alone” JOSHUA was excited with his new job at the inn. It sure beats having to herd sheep this time of the year when the cold nights chilled his…
“Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” –Jean Baptiste Massieu (Continued from last week’s issue…) So okay, your partner is the consummate slob and you have to pick up after him. He thinks he has a maid living with him for free. He has this maddening habit of not putting the toothpaste cap back on. That’s…
