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The joys of reading
“The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours.” ~Alan Bennett, The History Boys I’m a lucky reader with an active book club in my own neighborhood. Once a month, I get to walk down the street or around the corner to a friend’s home to discuss a novel or memoir that I might…
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Small changes
“Few of us will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.” ~John F. Kennedy Sometimes I’m completely stalled by the notion that I’d have to make a huge effort in order to make a change in this troubled world of ours. It’s so much easier to sit in front of the TV or my computer monitor while I criticize the current state of politics or complain about everything else that’s gone very wrong. But as today’s quote reminds us, each of…
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Goodbye, Jack B. Nimble
I lost a dear friend on Thursday. During an annual physical last year, the vet told me that Jack, our 19-year-old tuxedo cat, was possibly nearing his final months. He started failing steadily last week, so when he lost control of his back legs and collapsed by his litter box, I knew it was time to let him go. En route to the vet’s office Thursday afternoon, I remembered a small poster I’d purchased a few years ago. Cats are angels with fur, it said. Like most angels — animal or human — Jack arrived on the scene exactly when I needed him. Our only child had gone off to college…
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How to conquer stress
“The truth is that stress doesn’t come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about your circumstances.” ~Andrew Bernstein Change your thoughts, change your life. It’s a timeworn catchphrase, often overused by self-help authors, celebrity psychologists, and motivational speakers. But like every catchphrase, it contains a grain of truth. It’s easier to blame outside sources for everything that’s going wrong. But like it or not, you alone are individually responsible for resolving your inner turmoil. Every person on earth faces health crises, job changes, painful losses, and road blocks. How you view your own — and how you view…
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Love defined
“Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous. Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish. It does not take offense and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins, but delights in the truth. It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Long before the first chocolate truffle was invented, poets and philosophers have tried to describe the meaning and essence of love. While I’m not in the habit of sprinkling Bible passages in my conversation, today’s quote remains the very best definition of love I’ve ever found. In…
