“Rivers do not drink their own water; trees do not eat their own fruit; the sun does not shine on itself and flowers do not spread their fragrance for themselves. Living for others is a rule of nature. We are all born to help each other. No matter how difficult it is. Life is good…
Category: Live Better
Reflecting on Betty and Bob
“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return.” – Eden Ahbez, “Nature Boy” Gotta give credit to 2021 and 2022; it’s been a fairly seamless handoff of bad news. Somehow we managed to close one year with the death of Betty White and open another with death of Sidney…
Beginning
“It’s madness to hate all rosesbecause you got scratched with one thorn, to give up all dreams because one of them didn’t come true, to give up all attempts because one of them failed.” …. For every end, there is always a new beginning.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince After my top-of-my-bucket list…
Calm
“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” – Saint Francis In lieu of a resolution, I’ve selected to emphasize a word for 2022: calm. That’s it. The mantra and the goal. Calm. I’ve…
Timeout
“There’s a big difference between empty fatigue and gratifying exhaustion. So don’t just settle. Life is too short. Study your daily habits and routines, figure out where your time and energy goes, …then remove needless distractions. It is time to focus more on what matters most.” – @marcandangel Lately I have to admit that I’ve…
Highest compliment
Day 26 of the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge: A compliment that’s stayed with you. Answer: My favorite compliment is when someone forwards a photo of a heart or unusual photo and they tell me that it reminded them of me or they thought it looked like something I would see. I share my photos in the hope…
The Best Medicine
Day 25 of the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge: Something that always makes you laugh. Answer: Oh goodness, it’s impossible to narrow that list to one thing. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Random faces and smiles in nature. My kids. My best friend and our shared warped sense of humor. Trevor Noah. Tik Tok runner Mrs. Space Cadet. My…
Beyond Work
“Just be kind. Please. Just be kind. Especially during the holidays. Have an extra moment of grace, of understanding, of love. There are so many with stories of loss and struggle and hardships. And the illusions of the holiday and perfection and celebrations can make the hurt magnified. So just love. Smile more than you…
Brave Enough to Learn
Day 19 of the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge: Someone who inspires you. Answer: A number of people inspire me for a variety of reasons, but in the realm of gratitude, one particular person comes to mind as someone whose example has shaped much of who I am as an adult. Sixteen, seventeen years ago, I started…
This Very Moment, In Fact
“At the end of the day, give up your worries and give thanks for the journey.” – Ben Vereen Day 18 of the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge: Your favorite time of day. Answer: Right now. This very moment is the best part of today. The time right before sleep has become my favorite…my favorite way to relax,…
Simple Secret
“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” – The Little Prince As I tried to finish out my work day, I could tell that I was missing a gorgeous sky show outside. Admittedly,…
Let me think about that
Day 15 of the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge: Something you’re currently passionate about. Answer: Running? Making Christmas cookies? Spoiling my dog? Finding hearts in things? Taking photos? I have a lot of interests and things I enjoy right now, but passionate is a strong word. I guess if I had to call something a passion, it…
Everything
Day 14 of the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge: One thing you love about your body. Answer: My initial reaction to this prompt? I love my eyeballs because they are capable of rolling in my head. I know I’m not alone in this, but a healthy body image has never really been my strong suit. But then…
I said that?
Day 13 of the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge: A life lesson. Answer: Okay, I totally cheated on this one. It’s been a long day and today’s prompt was a little deeper than I had the energy to dive. I figured that surely I had something in a past blog post that could give me some inspiration….
Finnegan (Finn-again)
Day 10 of the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge: Something that made you smile today. Answer: Otherwise known as something that makes me smile every day.
It looks so nice parked in the driveway, Eddie
Day 6 of the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge: A movie that’s comforting. Answer: Christmas Vacation. Or Elf. Or Home Alone. Or Preacher’s Wife. Or any Christmas movie I watch every year. I’m not sure this is what they were going for with today’s gratitude entry, but Christmas movies came to my mind instantly. When I bake Christmas…
30 Days of Gratitude
The other day I got an email from a magazine I used to subscribe to (Bella Grace) and it included a link to an item called “30 Days of Gratitude.” It’s a 30-day calendar with a prompt each day to, well, promote gratitude. Here’s the intro: “There is always something to be grateful for, we…
Choose the better
“Hate has 4 letters, so does Love. Enemies has 7 letters, so does Friends. Lying has five letters, so does Truth. Negative has 8 letters, so does Positive. Under has 5 letters, so does Above. Cry has 3 letters, so does Joy. Angry has 5 letters, so does Happy. Right has 5 letters, so does…
Small journeys
On the way to the office this morning, I realized how much being home for the last year and a half has made me enjoy getting out and about — so much that I even appreciate the stoplights along my route to work. I love to look around, see what’s developing (in nature or man-made)….
Good choice
Every day you have an important choice to make. Whether to cherish or waste the most valuable blessing you have – time. Today you have the choice to spend it wisely, appreciating every minute of your life, loving the people that love you, focusing on all the good you have. Find what makes you happy,…
Seven Ways…
…to love yourself. 1.) Celebrate small things. 2.) REST. 3.) Say “no” to toxic people. 4.) Express what you need. 5.) Set boundaries. 6.) Slow down. 7.) Forgive yourself. I saw this list on Instagram (@chronically_cheerful) recently, which seems to be my magic 8 ball of self-care wisdom these days. And I thought those were…
Making the most of it
Welp. While we gained an hour of sleep, the sun is setting super early — and now I’m officially running in the dark. Gone are the glorious autumn scenes like the one above, replaced instead by a few feet of sidewalk illuminated by my flashlight. Usually this is a tough transition for me. As a…
hey there, friends 