Helen Keller is an historical figure who never fails to inspire me. Whenever I’m facing something that I’d rather not face, I remember Helen Keller. Not only did she survive a terrifying illness as a young child, it left her blind and deaf. Think about it… she’s a little girl and her life is good. Then she’s feeling not so good… and then really bad – probably going in and out of those weird dreams we all get when running a really bad fever. Finally, the fever breaks. She wakes up and everything is dark and silent. She must have been absolutely terrified!
Her childhood experience, understandably, left her with an underlying sense of insecurity, which she wrote about: Continue reading » Choose a Daring Adventure
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
— Buddha
Peace. It is something that we all seek. And yet, it means different things to each of us, depending on where we are in life.
When we were kids, peace was booorrring. It meant that there was nothing to do. Why would anyone want peace? Give me excitement!
As we got older, peace came to signify the plaintive query spoken by Rodney King, “Can’t we all get along?” And it was a movement aimed at ending war – for all time – back when we thought that if we just marched enough, protested enough, etc., we could force “the man” to quit fighting wars. Perhaps, we were just a bit naïve.
Now, at “our age”, peace represents our ability to Continue reading » Peace
You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory.
— J Donald Walters
Times are tough. We’re living in the time of the barbell economy – lots of rich people, lots of poor people and some middle class in between. As time passes, some of the middle class are becoming poor.
Denial exists for a reason. It protects us from what we aren’t ready to see. It tells us that this isn’t where we were supposed to be. It’s not fair!!! We had been marching towards an affluent retirement and instead we’re looking at working longer. Are you having fun yet?
It’s not just the economy that is causing us to scream in frustration. Our politicians can’t/won’t get along and in our heart of hearts we think everybody is lying to us. For many, life has become more of a Continue reading » Denial Ain’t Just a River in Egypt
Photo credit: BouncebackCafe.com ©2010
We learn from history that we do not learn anything from history.
— Anonymous
With all of the turmoil of sorting through my parent’s stuff, closing up the house and moving Dad into a care facility, lately I’ve been focused on the past. I think that the past will teach us if we choose to learn. Unfortunately, mining the past for lessons can be a little like the old saw about the room full of horse manure: there has to be a pony in there somewhere.
The last time I was at my parent’s house I grabbed several sets of slides. For those of you who are too young to remember, slides were developed from slide film. Instead of printing the picture on photo paper, the image was developed and the film material was sliced up and mounted in a cardboard frame. Slides were much cheaper to process and had a special viewer which projected the image on a screen or a white wall.
Many years ago, I had purchased a Kodak Carousel projector. To see the slides, each one has to be Continue reading » Finding Lessons in Our Past
What are you thinking?
— Dave Johnson
Investools instructor
In marketing, there is a saying, “Perception is reality.” This saying explains the challenge that companies or politicians face when dealing with the public’s view of them. It is why they spend so much on public relations. No matter what a politician or a company does, if they lose the PR war, they lose.
The same can be said for us. Most of us believe that what we feel is “true.” Emotions can make or break our day. If we “feel” that things are hopeless, then, for us, they are. This raises an interesting issue. How would you be feeling right now if you were an engineer working on capping the rig in the Gulf of Mexico? If there’s anyone saying anything positive about these people who are trying to solve the problem, it’s probably Continue reading » What Are You Thinking?
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