As I write this, not that long ago a close friend of mine passed away. As part of everything that happens when a loved one or close friend passes, there is much conversation as “the arrangements” are made. In this case the friend was a man of the cloth, having served as a minister for…
Long time readers know that while I’m not much on structured religion, I am big on spirituality, and as such I like to study a variety of different religious philosophies. One of the most valuable things I’ve ever read is the Serenity Prayer. For those not familiar with it:
I always thought the phrase was “random acts of kindness,” but then I saw the movie, “Evan Almighty” and somehow building an arc… or doing Acts of Random Kindness (ARC) stuck with me. In today’s world I feel like there is always a need for more acts of random kindness. And I say that while…
As so often happens, something came up in one of my social feeds that gave me pause to think. It was a picture of a tree growing up through a boulder, literally having split the boulder in two as it grew. The caption said, “Plant the seed.” It seemed a simple concept and we’ve all…
Way back in the latter half of 2001, I had someone ask me this: “If you got on a plane with someone from the middle east, would you want to sit next to them? Or far from them?” My answer was that I wanted to sit right next to them. I saw it as an…
A few years back, almost 30 now I guess, I was a firearms instructor and was at the range with several officers who needed to complete their annual qualifications. Keeping in mind that most shooters, in my experience, paid attention and tried to shoot their best, with understandable concern about their score. After all, if…
There was a time in my life, quite a number of years ago, when I was still aspiring to be a published author/writer. It was the 1980s and a person I knew assured me that I would never be a writer; that I had no hope; that I should stop wasting my time; that I’d…
Author’s Note: This article was originally published in June of 2008. There are references in it to ‘recent events’ and the reader needs to understand those recent events were recent in June of 2008. But you should still remember there and the observations still all apply. – – – – – – – – –…
This entry is a combination of an updated version of two blogs I wrote about 15 years ago. They have to do with reliance, self-reliance and how America’s original values (at our founding) may be related to them. These have been edited only to make them current-society appropriate.
Most recently I had a conversation with a gentleman who is a Marine, a veteran police psychologist and an avid supporter of self-defense. The conversation started because I had been asking questions about families and the environment set dependent on whether the family itself – that being the mother and father (or other primary care-givers)…
Not long ago I was on a long drive and as the miles passed, I began to ponder fear, our human reactions to it, how different those reactions can be even between people of similar backgrounds, etc. My thoughts came to focus on Various reactions to fear anyone can experience, and Motivations for some of…
Criticism:1. the act of passing judgment as to the merits of anything.2. the act of passing severe judgment; censure; faultfinding.3. the act or art of analyzing and evaluating or judging the quality of work Critique:1. A critical review or commentary, especially one dealing with works of art or literature.2. A critical discussion of a specified…
I have heard so many jokes about why you shouldn’t piss off an author. Everything from, “because they’ll write you into one of their books and then kill you off in some unique and interesting way,” to, “you just never know what their imagination will produce.” I always found it rather humorous that people had…
Any time you put an Army veteran and a Marine Corps veteran at a table together in a social setting you will get the inevitable “insults.” They aren’t serious. Every veteran knows the mutual respect that flows and we have a lot of fun with it by picking on each other. For all that, one…
A long time ago a friend of mine told me that psychologists are just overpaid bartenders who don’t serve you drinks. While that’s an oversimplification of both professions, if you stop and think about it there’s some truth to the outlook. A great many people with problems talk to their bartender… and the more they…
“It’s better to be prepared and not have an opportunity, rather than missing an opportunity because you weren’t prepared for it.” – Les Brown. That struck a chord with me when I heard it while watching a short video of Mr. Brown that I found in my morning social media feeds. It immediately made me…
Have you ever had a thought and then wondered why it was so dark? Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered who that person was looking back? Have you ever thought about your talents and wondered why they all seemed to focus on something you weren’t really proud of? Have you ever doubted…
According to brainpickings.org, it takes 21 days, at a minimum, to build a new habit. That’s 21 days of repeating the same action, at approximately the same time, and for something simple… like drinking a glass of water when you wake up each day. Another website suggests that it takes over two months – 66…
…Age Just recently, as many readers know, I’ve renewed my focus on my health. I am not participating in any type of fad diet, nor using any diet “program.” I’m not paying into CrossFit, Isometrix, Tone-ex, yada yada. I’m using that ancient and under-appreciated method that has been proven over millennia: I’m eating cleaner and…
This morning I saw a quote that said, “Even bad days have an expiration date of 24 hours.” The editor in me wondered if a time limit was a date and then I realized I was missing the point. The point is that even bad days have a limit to them; they only last a…