Especially Ourselves
Me?After last week’s message, you may have considered who you need to forgive. Perhaps it is the parent who misshaped you during your formative years, or the internet troll who always makes derogatory comments. Yes, you need to forgive them, but the person most in need of forgiveness is yourself. Why and How?For the same […]
A Bitter Pill
Contingency ClauseOur egos can make forgiveness a bitter pill to swallow. When we view it as a weakness or make it contingent on the offender’s repentance, we fail to appreciate the purpose and consequences of forgiveness. Offenses can spark anger that festers into hatred if left unchecked. Wise sages say that harboring anger is like […]
Peruvian Pleasures
After the Galapagos, we were off to Peru to visit Cusco, Machu Picchu, and Lima. Again, I give you the stuff omitted from or underreported in the travel guides. Dress AppropriatelyWhile Cusco and Machu Picchu are also near the equator, the combination of mountains, elevation, and sun subjects the inhabitants to highly variable temperatures. You […]
Darwin’s Muse
Today, I return to my writing roots. My writing journey began in earnest in 2016, when I started sending missives to family and friends about my travels. I decided a travel blog post might offer a welcome change of pace for my dear readers. I will limit my comments to those you do not find […]
$100,000 Challenge
Beyond starting, we need patience and consistency. Rome Wasn’t Built in a DayPatience sustains our efforts when we are frustrated by the apparent lack of tangible progress. After faithfully going to the Pilates studio for a month, our derrieres are no more bulbous, and our figures do not compare favorably with those of our veteran […]
Just Start
The Smallest ActionA start can arise from a half-hearted act. Most addicts, thinking they do not belong and without any intention of joining, begin their journey to sobriety by walking into a 12-step meeting. Once they start, a desire to keep attending arises. Notably, a long-term commitment was not necessary to start the process that […]
The Urge to Begin
Do we have good intentions but never seem to work toward our goals, postponing them indefinitely? Or is progress towards our goals fitful, a cycle of starting, stopping, and restarting? Assuming the goal is one we sincerely desire and not merely a diversionary pipe dream, we need a confluence of promise, starting, consistency, and patience. […]
Yea – Another One!
There is always ample fodder for humor about aging, as well as some forced-upon-you wisdom to justify a post reflecting on the anniversary of my birth. It Comes Full CircleBeing a friendly chap, I often tell older couples engaging in frivolity how much I admire them and hope we are like them one day. I […]
The Present is Now
Putting Things in OrderThe famous “filling a jar with rocks, pebbles, and sand” example teaches us something about order, but it is incomplete. A professor placed a large Mason jar on a table in front of her students. She then put rocks into the jar until no more would fit. She asked an apparently rhetorical […]
Presence Extended
Too Many Tabs OpenWe all have so much to do that our minds can ceaselessly ruminate over the undone. Our brains act like computers with 25 open internet tabs. Cub Reporter?My friend confided that he was having trouble enjoying his daughter’s wedding reception because his mind was preoccupied. He owns a significant business, and its […]