17 Jun

Posted at 10:38h in Inspirational, Personal
"He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it." Clarence Budington Kelland I saw this quote posted on Facebook on Father’s day. It reminded me of my father right away. He is a simple man, low maintenance, you might say, never wanted much more for himself or for us than to be happy, whatever that looked like. Although he did do some telling us how to live, actually, but the advice was always stemming from his love and care for us.

11 Jan

Posted at 10:37h in Inspirational, Personal, Resolutions
I ended 2013 uncharacteristically grumpy. I felt on the brink of tears or anger for much of the last couple of weeks of the year, without really being able to identify why. I found it depressing to look back at the year, knowing I didn’t accomplish all I wanted to, finding small solace in the few milestones that I could recollect. I’m not quite sure where I think I should be by now, but my feeling of dissatisfaction lingered and made me an unpleasant person to be around.

21 Jan

Posted at 10:35h in Entrepreneurship, Inspirational
When I was a child, we had a family friend who we would often visit on Saturdays. They had a wonderful big old house, and being scholarly types, had bookshelves full of books. There weren’t many there that were kid friendly, but one day I came upon a hardbound collection of Wonder Woman comics. I would spend hours poring over the stories of this amazing and heroic woman. In later years, when Lynda Carter starred as Wonder Woman in a TV series, I felt like I knew her personally.

20 Nov

Posted at 14:39h in Inspirational, Personal
After Hurricane Sandy, a graduate of the Abundance & Prosperity workshop, Will Romero, wrote these words: “I just wanted to say thank you very much. I lost my apartment during the hurricane and the first thing that came to my head was ‘Wow... I’m not really attached to material things.’ So I decided to choose a different attitude, and made a list of the things I am grateful for. Well, I have a lot of things to be grateful for... this is the end of my apartment, and the beginning of another journey. Thank you to everyone in the Abundance and Prosperity group… without you... I would be choosing differently.”

26 Sep

Posted at 14:57h in Miscellaneous, Personal
Growing up in a rural community, I attended a small elementary school, where the school lunch was 35 cents. Every morning my sisters and I took our change to the office where the office assistant would tear off an orange ticket from a large roll and give it to us. The trick was to keep track of the ticket until lunch time when the cafeteria lady would collect them. From there we would pick up a cafeteria tray from the head of the line and make our way slowly down the counter while food was dished out onto real, ceramic plates. We ate our lunches and then took the trays, dishes, and silverware back to the counter to put them into tubs set out for that purpose, splashing them into the slightly murky water.

29 Aug

Posted at 15:20h in Entrepreneurship, Inspirational
Personal Growth vs. Transformation The model of “personal growth” has been consistent throughout the “empowerment” age: find out what’s wrong, and fix it. Its proponents work to understand and heal the past to create a different future. The idea is that over time your true and authentic being will emerge and take hold. Progress is slow but steady if the plan is followed consistently. All that’s needed to succeed are understanding and discipline. Over time, heath, wealth, and fulfillment will become part of your life.

11 Jul

Posted at 15:59h in Inspirational, Personal
I was grumpy yesterday morning. A few months ago, I spent some time researching camps for my kids. I thought I found a perfect fit at a local YMCA swim camp. Swimming twice a day? Only a few blocks away? Inexpensive!? For just two weeks!? They would have a ball. So far, they hate it. They complain that it’s too much like school, that I didn’t ask them if they wanted to do it before I signed them up, that there’s no free play, that they just want to relax, and on and on. I struggled to get them up and ready for camp, with them resisting the whole way through breakfast and during the walk there. Argh. Besides being disappointed that it didn’t work out as planned, I’m frustrated about how difficult they’re being about it. From my perspective, they’re not even making an effort to like it. Or at least make the best of it.