Personal Growth
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Lifelong Learning (It’s a Family Affair)

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. Mahatma Gandhi Like all people married as long as Linda and I have been (43 years and counting), our relationship needs the occasional tune-up to keep things moving in the right direction. This can take on many forms, but… Continue reading
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The Joy of Just Enough

Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough. Emily Dickenson It used to be that if you asked me what I wanted I would have said “everything.” It didn’t matter if I earned the right to make such a statement. I wanted what I wanted and I expected everyone to understand… Continue reading
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Blessings Abound

It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to… Continue reading
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Emotional Tattoos

In Hinduism, Shiva is a deity who represents transformation. Through destruction and restoration, Shiva reminds us that endings are beginnings, and that our world is constantly undergoing a cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Karen Salmansohn Not too long ago I heard an interview with the director of the 2013 movie The Place Beyond the… Continue reading
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Everyone Needs Someone to Bark With

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down. Oprah Winfrey I have made a lot of mistakes over the years, but the biggest may have been to not build and foster long term friendships.… Continue reading
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It’s all in the Game

It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing all your life. Mickey Mantle I worked in high tech jobs for over 40 years, but I am not a high tech person. I don’t need to stay current with the latest and greatest gadgets and this has been especially true with… Continue reading
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A To-Do List for a Better Life

We don’t need a list of rights and wrongs, tables of dos and don’ts: we need books, time, and silence. “Thou shalt not” is soon forgotten, but “Once upon a time” lasts forever. Phillip Pullman A much younger me believed I was in control of my fate. I lived life with the notion that whatever I was and wherever… Continue reading
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It’s Life’s Illusions I Recall

It is better to have your head in the clouds, and know where you are than to breathe the clearer atmosphere below them, and think that you are in paradise. Henry David Thoreau Every so often I play the same song over and over again. For the past two days, I have done that with… Continue reading
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The White Space of Life

The Road goes ever on and onDown from the door where it began.Now far ahead the Road has gone,And I must follow, if I can,Pursuing it with eager feet,Until it joins some larger wayWhere many paths and errands meet.And whither then? I cannot say. J. R. R. Tolkien I became enamored with East Indian culture… Continue reading
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Embracing a To-Be List to Transform Daily Tasks into Spiritual Growth Practices

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. Helen Keller As soon as I was sure that retirement was imminent, I made serious efforts to expand my community. For decades, nearly everyone I associated with on a regular basis was connected to my jobs and for the most part these… Continue reading