BouncebackCafe.com » inspiration

Six Ways to Increase Your Hope

PattiAnn — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:01:20 +0000

Is it just that we become more aware as we get older or are things really getting worse? I ask this because this has been a horrible month for news. Just consider the following:

Last week, a trainer at Sea World was killed by one of the killer whales that she trained. Friends and family all stated that she would not want the whale destroyed. It was like one of her children. Well, occasionally kids do kill their parents but usually that’s a sign of something being terribly, terribly wrong. Ya think??!! This trainer was the

...Continue reading » Six Ways to Increase Your Hope

Let Your Spirit Soar

Ellie — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:01:04 +0000

Kudos to the photographer who captured this glorious image of Stephen Broadbent’s sculpture, “Empowerment”. To really appreciate the photographer’s genius, his “innocent eyes”, take a look at the entire monument erected over the canal at the Lincoln City Centre, Waterside District, England, UK and then maybe you’ll agree, it would easy, especially if you traveled this waterway every day, to be so distracted by the engineering and/or logistics (or just getting where you’re going) that you miss the sculpture’s awesome soaring inspiration. I wonder how many of us are looking at the world through jaded eyes that no longer see the everyday-wonderful in our lives? I mean, it’s downright easy to get caught up in the daily dramas that clutter our lives… to find ourselves inured to joy. And thus, we grouse our way through a litany of Ain’t-It-Awful’s until we’re drowning in icky, sticky, Woe-Is-Me’s… Carl Sandburg put it nicely: There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud. So What? If we consistently yield to the hippopotamus in us, if we coast down the waterways of our lives seeing everything as mundane, so what?? Why does it matter? ...Continue reading » Let Your Spirit Soar

Six Ways to Increase Your Hope

PattiAnn — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:01:01 +0000

Is it just that we become more aware as we get older or are things really getting worse? I ask this because this has been a horrible month for news. Just consider the following:

...Continue reading » Six Ways to Increase Your Hope

Inspiring Confidence with Stories, Stages and Shakkei

Ellie — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:01:10 +0000

It struck me after I’d posted NOT the Only One, that I’d missed one of the REALLY important benefits of sharing our stories – not only do we get to dodge the bullets that others have taken, we also can be inspired by their successes! Often the path before us is strewn with obstacles, and it’s easy for us to lose sight of the opportunities almost within our grasp. That’s where other people’s stories can spur us on, give us the confidence to begin, the confidence to carry on. For instance, if you’ve ever considered picking up your camera and getting ...Continue reading » Inspiring Confidence with Stories, Stages and Shakkei

The Road Ahead

Ellie — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:01:31 +0000

Have you ever put on someone’s prescription glasses and suddenly gone dizzy? Well I would suggest that’s how many of us are looking into the future – with lenses prescribed for the past. And those glasses are making us feel disoriented. There’s a mismatch between what we expect/want to see and what we actually see before us now.

So Many Trials & Tribulations

My niece recently wrote on Facebook, “Cancer sucks”. And even though she hadn’t said it, most of our family thought “uh oh” and accurately assumed the worst – someone else in the family had just been diagnosed with cancer. Another someone has begun the arduous and prayerful journey of hope and courage, fighting for his life. ...Continue reading » The Road Ahead

Good Habits

PattiAnn — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:01:14 +0000

Sometimes I am amazed at the people around me. The resilience that they show every day is an inspiration, while I feel as if I plod thru my day. They probably feel as if they plod too, but they seem to be soaring. Morning is not my time of day. Most evenings I keep going ’til at least midnight. So, don’t expect me to be up and energetic in the early morning (I’m up, just not necessarily moving quickly). To get moving, I tend to turn on the TV. I know that most people listen to the early morning shows as they get ready. Me, I listen to CNBC – until they’re just repeating themselves, and then I usually move on to my previously recorded News Hour with Jim Lehrer. Once my brain starts moving, my body usually follows. ...Continue reading » Good Habits