September 5, 2022

Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions.

 

Dalai Lama

July 3, 2019

I feel like our culture is so good at pulling other people down and being so judgmental, but there’s space for all of us to be who we are. There’s space for us to celebrate each other and root for each other and not take each other down.

 

Tracee Ellis Ross

June 17, 2019

Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.

 

Julia Cameron

May 30, 2019

You have to always continue to strive no matter how hard things get, no matter how troubled you feel. No matter how tough things get, no matter how many times you lose, you keep trying to win.

 

LL Cool J

March 10, 2019

If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.

 

Colin Powell

October 30, 2018

You have to always continue to strive no matter how hard things get, no matter how troubled you feel. No matter how tough things get, no matter how many times you lose, you keep trying to win.

 

LL Cool J

Standing on the Corner of Zen and Zany

We’ve all been here at some point in our lives when we want a laid-back, peaceful weekend or vacation, but the fast pace of everyday life creeps over the boundaries. Or maybe we want a night of wild and crazy fun, something so different from our routine that we don’t recognize ourselves.

 


The most disappointing thing for me is when I don’t get what I’m expecting when I want it. And, like most things in life, we don’t have the control we imagine.

I realize I need equal amounts of both in my life. I wish I could push a magic button or speak into a drive-through window and order up what I want when I want it.

No matter how much-advanced planning, I do there is no guarantee I’m going to get the zany when I want to cut loose or the Zen when I’m more in need of a mellow mood. On a recent family trip that was supposed to be all about sight-seeing, and partying and shopping, the weather decided not to cooperate and turned what was a trip a year in the making into a rather laid-back vacation. Rain forced us inside—who can party on the beach in a torrential downpour? We ended up adjusting on the fly and still managed to have a reasonably good time.

 

The other weekend I’d plan to spend both days on the sofa, reading a good book, catching up on my saved list of television shows and munching on some good snacks. I decided, working out may not happen if I didn’t feel inclined to expend any energy. Instead, I got a call that several friends were in the neighborhood and getting together for some memory rehashing, shopping and outright rowdiness was called for. I dashed my plans, opted for the new itinerary and was off to something altogether different and just as satisfying.

 

The moral to my story is, expect the unexpected. Too much planning only allows for more disappointment. Life is a grand adventure, learn to wing it.

February 8, 2018

This is the real secret of life—to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

 

Alan Watts

WAVING BYE TO 2016

As 2016 comes to a close, I’m sitting in my office with mixed feelings. I’m wondering if I’ve done everything I can to be a better person. If I’ve pushed myself hard enough, or long enough. I’m not certain I can say I did.

 

books-and-pens

I’m wondering in the remaining days of this year, what else I can accomplish. I’m a person who likes list and I love checking stuff off as I accomplish them. But sometimes I’m so driven by getting things done I forget to enjoy the now, the moment. Maybe next year that’s something I can work on.

There is a long list of people who will not journey into 2017. I’m missing those loved one that did not make it this far into the year. There are some losses that shocked me and others that rocked me. But I still wake up each morning with a heart full of thanks and praise. I’m sure one day I’ll have the answers to the questions I seek.

 

dead-end

I’m hoping 2016 doesn’t deliver any more surprises. I’m not so sure I’ve got the strength to handle anything else. And even as I type those words, I realize how absurd they are. As if I had some control over anything or could deem them so, just by writing them down.

I’ll prepare for 2017 with the optimism that circulates in my soul. And like always I’ll try to see the lighter side of life. And just in case I don’t post again before 2017, I’m wishing you and yours all the best.

IT’S TIME FOR RECESS

It’s time for recess.  Time to jump up and down, to have some fun.  Remember when life was that simple?  I think it was back in kindergarten, before I couldn’t wait to grow up.  When days seemed to go on forever and summer passed in a flash.  However, I’m not going to wallow in the pity of what used to be, I can have recess now, if I just take the time to do it. I’m going to spend more time being happy in this moment instead of thinking joy exists in the moments to come.

 

Starting today, I’m putting a little recess in my days.  Each and every one of them. Just the idea of it makes me giddy. The possibilities of what I can do during recess are endless. Today I downloaded a song that reminded me of grade school. “Alouette.”  Target is using this song in their latest ad campaign and every time I see the commercial by stomach gets happy, like I used to in grade school just before recess. Now I’m on a search for other things that remind me of my good old days.  I want to find one of those candy necklaces that I used to wear and nibble on throughout the day.

 

What would you do if you could have recess every day?