Musings
Body, Mind, And Soul
This past week was a difficult one for me. Unless you are one of my closest friends, you wouldn’t have known, and that is the problem. We’ll talk more about that in a minute. In Doe Parker’s “The Good House & The Bad House”, the author uses a physical house to represent the past and…
Read MoreSitting With Dogs
We have two dogs. Actually, our kids have two dogs that they left at our house when they went off to college and life away from our home. Roscoe and Dixie are both rescued dogs and have somewhat undeterminable lineages, but they are sweet, and both have the defining characteristic of dogs: they love us…
Read MoreAll I Want For Christmas
I saw Santa and Mrs. Claus this past week. Was it the real Santa Claus? Well, there are a few ways I can answer that. I could tell you that it was. “How could that be?” you say. Maybe you’ve heard of a little thing called magic? I could tell you that it was a Helper Santa—one of many…
Read MoreSafety In Numbers
As our last child is a senior in high school this year, we have seen many “lasts.” One was our last Christmas band concert. I must admit, I have, over the years, been an impatient and at times intolerant concert goer. This year was different. I not only really enjoyed the program, but I realized something…
Read MoreFickle Food
As I watched the responses this week to a certain coach leaving a certain football program, I was reminded of this quote: “Fame is a fickle food upon a shifting plate.” Emily Dickenson It is not unusual for a leader to be a hero one minute and a scourge the next. Did the character of…
Read MoreEnough
I was part of a CEO panel recently and was asked to answer the question, “What is the most important trait for a leader to possess?” My answer was humility, but if I could go back, I would change my answer to gratefulness. As we prepare for Thanksgiving this week, I find myself revisiting the…
Read MoreThe Turning Away
On the turning awayFrom the pale and downtroddenAnd the words they sayWhich we won’t understand Anthony Moore & David Gilmour A week ago in my recovery group, we were discussing the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is an interesting tale regarding a man who is robbed, beaten, and left for dead on the roadside.…
Read MoreRug Pull
Often used in comics and older movies, the rug pull is a classic slapstick move which involves grabbing hold of the rug someone is standing on and quickly pulling it towards you. The unsuspecting individual finds their feet going out from under them as they fall to the floor. This visual trope is the origin…
Read MoreMomentary Lapse
Recently, someone asked me how I was doing, and I heard myself say, “I’m really busy, but once I get past the next couple of weeks…” I wish I had corrected myself right then, but it wasn’t until later that I realized the tragic mistake I was making. I was wasting my life by letting…
Read MoreThe Substance of Life
Most of us are familiar with suffering. If you have been in a relationship, been a parent, been an employee, lost someone or something you love, had dreams or even goals, you have had ample opportunity to suffer. Suffering is the substance of life and the root of personality, for it is only suffering that…
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