being better

Telling Our Stories, 2021 version

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Maya Angelou “Everyone has a story,” I remarked to my friend as she was blessing my heart over learning things about me she didn’t know. “We both know that,” she responded. We don’t have to know much to know that there is no […]

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Kindness is as Kindness Does

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” ― Mark Twain ♦♦♦ You push and I’ll pull. It was a lot of work, but we moved the large desk up the stairs and over the threshold. I rarely will ask for help, especially when moving furniture, but twice I have […]

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Walking Away for Fresh Air, Fresh Perspective

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” ― John Muir ♦♦♦ The photo still leaves me feeling a mixture of emotions. I was six years old. I was walking up the driveway toward the road in front of our […]

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What Happens to You?

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” —Anne Lamott ♦♦♦ Fielding questions about problems on a website, I have a list of tasks I normally ask people. Did you make sure you were logged in? Did you clear the cache on your browser? My final question is, […]

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Writing My Own Ending

“Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do With your one wild and precious life?” ~Mary Oliver ♦♦♦ “Molly, I want to write about obituaries. I mean, I love words, and I think obituaries are a great opportunity […]

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Pillow Talk

“A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.” ― Charlotte Brontë ♦♦♦ 50-70 million people (in the United States) share a common problem. Companies in America lose more than $60 billion each year because of employees with the problem. Several hundred thousand driving accidents occur each year because drivers have the problem. “Do you ever sleep?” […]

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To See Through the Eyes of Another

“You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.” – John Steinbeck ♦♦♦ “You don’t qualify. Next.” But… “You’ll need to contact your provider. Next.” The exchange of words between the woman and the patient found me with a knot in my throat as I listened. The tone of her voice was not […]

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Giving and Receiving…it all starts with your heart

“Until we can receive with an open heart, we’re never really giving with an open heart. When we attach judgment to receiving help, we knowingly or unknowingly attach judgment to giving help.” ~ Brené Brown He was quick to fend off any offers of assistance. He was a pretty healthy fella, after all, especially for […]

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Those Leaves

We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth. ~Virginia Satir It was hard work — I mowed the yard, blew all of the leaves covering the driveway into a pile, and took them away. That driveway was so clean […]

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It’s About the Story

“The soul is dyed by the thoughts. Dye it, then, with a continuous series of such thoughts as these — that where a man can live, there – if he will – he can also live well.” ~Marcus Aurelius Using the pit of the avocado, yarn or fabric can be dyed various shades of peachy […]

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Thoughts to Encourage

Joy is the will which labors, which overcomes obstacles, which knows triumph.~ William Butler Yeats

Whether you think you can or think you can’t you’re right. - Henry Ford

The best way out is always through. ~ Robert Frost

Real difficulties can be overcome, it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. ~ Theodore N. Vail

Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall. ~ Oliver Goldsmith

You must be the change you want to see in the world. - Mahatma Gandhi

Nothing helps like a good nap…

Birds are Beautiful

A Dog is Faithful…