Life-Changing Advice I’ll never forget Betty. Betty was an older woman I knew from church when I was a young newlywed. She was a retired nurse, married with adult children. Her father-in-law lived with them because he could no longer live independently due to...
A Different Kind of Exercise I’m naturally drawn to exercise. Stretches and jumps. Weightlifting, squats, and running. Um . . . actually not the kind of stretching, jumping, weightlifting, squats, or running that might have occurred to you. I’m actually the...
Random Acts of Kindness Have you noticed that kindness seems more significant when it occurs randomly? Maybe it’s due to expectations. We expect people we know to be kind or we wouldn’t continue the relationship. Or maybe we expect others to be kind because we...
National Umbrella Day Brolly, gamp, bumbershoot—all British terms for something better known to most of us as the lowly, yet invaluable umbrella. Invaluable in our moment of need, yet lowly only minutes later. We take it with us for protection from the...
Living with Uncertainty Benjamin Franklin may not have originated the phrase, but he is well known for observing, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” It’s ironic that living with uncertainty is one of the few certainties...
Adapt or Transform? I've heard it said that when you move from a cold climate to a warm one, your blood “thins.” After the recent cold snap, I can attest to the fact that fifty degrees in New York feels warm, but after more than twenty years in south Florida,...
Waiting Joyfully “Wait” is my one-word for 2022. I confess, for most of this year I have not been waiting well. I’ve wanted to wait better. Really. But an examination of why I haven’t been waiting well yielded the realization that my focus was on the wrong...
Three Steps to Look Up! “Look where you’re going!” My mother’s words echo in my memory. I had my share of scraped knees as a child, often because I did not look where I was going. “Look where you’re going” is good advice. Whether hiking through a forest or...
How Would You Describe Life? Advice and quotes about life abound, some serious, some humorous, and more than a few infused with sarcasm. I recently saw the new Downton Abbey movie. As much as I enjoy the Downton Abbey franchise, it’s not my usual go-to source...
Feeding Hope I welcomed the end of the dry season as the rains started up again. Not yet with the regularity of the full-blown rainy season, but we can tell it’s coming. And not a moment too soon. My garden was wilting. But my schedule caused me to put watering...
Can We Really Control Our Thoughts? The brief thought leaves as quickly as it came. By the time I realize what...
The Danger of Shortcuts As the new year stretches before us, once again I’m looking for shortcuts to make life...
Where Do You Live? Where do you live? I don’t mean your street address, or your city, state, or country. Where...