Send a text

Some of you listening today have vivid memories of life before the smartphone. Some of you listening today can hardly remember ever being without a smartphone in your life. My Grandma Myhrwold used to tell me, "There is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us, it behooves us all not to talk about the rest of us." I think of that quip when I think of smartphones. There is so much good in them...but there is so much that is not good for us in them as well. We need to pause, to think about how they are captivating our lives, and then make a decision that puts us in charge of them.

Thanks for listening.

Send a text

Many of us have had to introduce ourselves to a new group of some kind. The question usually goes like, "Tell us a bit about yourself." Or sometimes we are asked to give three things that describe who we are. And sometimes we are asked "would you rather" questions, such as "Would you rather give a 10-minute speech or learn to ride a motorcycle?" Whatever the case, these kinds of questions ask us to reveal who we think we are. How well we know ourselves. We live in a loud and visual world. We have some kind of sound going most of the time or we are staring at a device full of pictures, articles, movies, or video clips. How often do we sit with wonder at our reactions and choices to things that we may face. I hope you are nudged to do more reflection this week.

Thanks for listening.

Send a text

Margaret was an elderly woman I was transporting in the ambulance to the hospital. Alzheimer's had taken much of Margaret's memory. I was completing my paperwork and asked Margaret how old she was. Margaret replied, "I don't know." So, I said, "You know the old baseball player, Satchel Paige? He said, 'How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?'" I told Margaret that I would be 24 years old, because that is how old I felt in my mind. Margaret had a window of clearness and said, "I'd be what I am, because my daughters still need my wisdom, and you only get that by living." Wow! Margaret may have forgotten many things, but she still knew the essence of who she was. 

Have you identified things that the essence of you are? What you value? What tenets you live by? We must remind ourselves of these things often and reflect them in our living, for they reflect who we are.

Thanks for listening 

Send a text

Remember that old adage we learned as kids, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never harm me?" We all know that there is no wisdom in that. It just isn't true because words definitely hurt the people to which they are spoken, and often in time they hurt the people who spoke them. A quote I read once said it best, "Words are a powerful vehicle. They can give life, or they can take it away. Perhaps some of the most powerful words are last words. They can be regretted or give life when spoken well. 

Thanks for listening.

Send a text

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines community as basically a unified body of individuals. Then it adds, "such as:" and describes an assortment of types of those unified bodies or groups. Those are fancy words to describe what happens when a few people join together in unity for anything. Hey! I just saw something in the word, "community!" "Comm" and "unity" - Come together in unity. There can hardly be any more noble action in this world.

Thanks for listening.

Send a text

Voltaire said, "Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats." What a good quote to put on your bathroom mirror, on your computer screen, on a sticky note anywhere where you will see it every day. During these dark times, we may need visual reminders to sing and to laugh. Some unknown source bolstered Voltaire's adage with these words, "Sometimes happiness is a feeling. Sometimes it is a decision." Think of these two quotes as you listen to the podcast.

Thanks for listening.

Send a text

There are two precious books in my personal library. One I received from the Ramker family when I retired, and one I received from my friend, Beth Wilson, for Christmas. The titles are, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, and Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse, and the Storm, both by Charlie Mackesy. They are about four animal friends and filled with whimsical nuggets of encouragement and wisdom. Several of those nuggets found in these books are fitting to introduce today's podcast. Here they are: 

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" "Kind," said the Boy. 

"What is a true sign of strength?" "Gentleness," said the Horse. 

"The wind is strong." "Our love is stronger," said the Horse. 

"Where did your strength come?" asked the Mole. "From remembering I am loved," said the Boy. 

"I thought I'd lost you," said the Horse. "It was love that brought me home."  

"Hope is the quiet song in your heart that can sing in spite of everything." 

"I've realized why we are here," whispered the Boy. "For cake?" asked the Mole. "To love," said the Boy. "And be loved," said the Horse.

Thanks for listening.

Send a text

Elena Aguilar says in her book, Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators, "A substantial amount of our ability to be resilient is fostered in our daily habits." We often focus on how we can make daily tasks easier or how we can circumvent doing a hard thing to prevent taxing our time and energy. What is the cost of bypassing hard things? I hadn't thought of the cost we pay for not doing hard things in life until a recent article enlightened me on the benefits. The daily habits that foster resilience come from our acceptance and willingness to do hard things.

My sister Freda told me of going to the funeral of a beautiful young man, Charlie, born with many disabilities. During the funeral the pastor shared that Charlie often said proudly, "I can do hard things." May we all use Charlie as our model when approaching hard things.

Thanks for listening.

Send a text

When I was a little girl, my favorite thing to do for fun was to play "house." I would spend hours in my make-believe-house that I made in my room. My dad built me a kitchen sink, stove, refrigerator, and cupboard. I loved playing "house." Do you remember your favorite pasttime when you were a kid? Now go forward to today. If you were given the time and choice to do whatever you wanted, what would you choose to do that you enjoy doing the most? Now for the big question...how often do you indulge in doing that which you enjoy? What if we were to reframe it as a "need to do," not just a "want to do?" 

Thanks for listening?

Send a text

Dr. Edith Eva Eger, survived the concentration camps during World War II. She came to America and became a mental health therapist. Eger stated in her book, The Choice: Embrace the Possible, "that we remain victims as long as we hold another person responsible for our own well-being." As she tells her clients, "When we blame each other for our unhappiness, we avoid the responsibility of making our own joy. 

Joy can be broken, through our choices, it can be restored.

Thanks for listening.