presence

Show Up for You and for Them

“The willingness to show up changes us, It makes us a little braver each time.” ― Brené Brown Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh were climbing in a tree one night, and Christopher Robin said to Pooh, “You’re braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. But the most important […]

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The Vampires in My Life

“Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them…Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you.” ~Remus Lupin (J.K. Rowling) […]

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Inspiring Greatness

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.” ― William Faulkner Do you remember your high school graduation? Who spoke to your class? What words did they leave you with that […]

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Diversion Can Drive You to Succeed

“The mind ought sometimes to be diverted that it may return the better to thinking.” ~Plato, Phaedrus What is on your to-do list?  Is there any chance you’ll get it all accomplished today? “No,” you think, “not if I keep running into people who want to talk to me.”  It happens when we are in […]

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Treasure the Ordinary

“Every day look at a beautiful picture, read a beautiful poem, listen to some beautiful music, and if possible, say some reasonable thing.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe You hurry to look at the sunset announced by someone standing at the window. Remarkable in its beauty, this setting sun of oranges and reds mixed with purple hues […]

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The Power, the Joy, and the Fear of Anonymity

“She’d never felt more alone, even as hundreds of people walked by. No one recognized her, and she began to treasure her anonymity as a gift.” ― Jamie Ford, Songs of Willow Frost Airports are busy, the roads are full, the restaurants are filled with tables of people.  Sitting quietly on a bench, he watched […]

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Savoring the Moment

“Sometimes you will never know the value of something, until it becomes a memory.” ― Dr. Seuss The chicken pot pie before the crust is broken. The first bite into a juicy apple. The heat coming on as you stand over the register absorbing the warmth. Sitting at your clean and orderly desk before the project begins. […]

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Dear Johnston…the power of a letter

Dear Johnston, Your request for eighty dollars, I do not think it best to comply with now. At the various times when I have helped you a little, you have said to me “We can get along very well now,” but in a short time I find you in the same difficulty again. ~Abraham Lincoln […]

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The Face Across the Table

“A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better than ten years’ study of books.” ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The shelves are lined with books to help you be a better investor, a better volunteer, a better gardener, a better something.  A $10 billion industry in just the United States, learning to help […]

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The Gallery in the Hallway

“Photographs and memories All the love you gave to me Somehow it just can’t be true It’s all I’ve left of you.” ~Jim Croce Bum ba da dum, bum ba da dum…the sound of the drums travels across the field, over the ditch, through a few trees, and into my ears.  It’s the high school […]

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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…