Category: Gratitude
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Happy Anniversary
Every July 1, I remember that it’s my parents’ wedding anniversary and think about how very few anniversaries they had together. They married late and Mom died young and their 26 years together seems like such a small number to me. I don’t remember them ever exchanging gifts for anniversaries or, in truth, for birthdays…
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Taking A Moment
It’s a funny thing how much of life we spend on auto pilot, auto movement, going through the motions. Even when we try to slow down we often do it by immersing ourselves in something, from reading to watching television, that perpetuates that state of absorption rather than reflection. This week I was busy with…
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Perspective
I did a workshop exercise this week where we had to assign a number to each of a variety of key facets of our life. The numbering scale was 1 to 10 and the categories included relationships, career, money, health and the like. I, methodical soul that I sometimes am, thought initially that I had…
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The Gift of Echoes
I have always recognized the parts of me that clearly reflect my father, his personality and his traits. Like him, I am a perfectionist. Like him, I can perseverate over any and all things and let worry surround me like a cloud. I know that he had good qualities as well but it is the…
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Apples and Trees
How often do we see the reflections of our parents in us and our reflections in our children? Some of those reflections are clearly better qualities, some, well, not so much. I remember calling my brother, of blessed memory, on more than occasion and telling him, with a little bit of humor and a slight…
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Transitions
If there is any constant in life, it is change. So often I have lulled myself into thinking that tomorrow will be just a continuation of the day before, that people and situations and circumstances will all be the same. Yet, the truth is that no day is the same as the one that preceded…
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Birthday Meditation
I have always loved birthdays. As a child I remember thinking that I would feel somehow “different,” that when I woke up on that day I would not just be a year older but that I would be able to recognize some “change” that took place as another year was added to the tally. I…
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Enabling
The word “enable” has taken on such a negative connotation. We use enable to mean that we are giving someone the ability to do something that is less than positive. We enable their bad behavior. We enable their self destructive patterns. We enable them to settle rather than strive. I’ve been thinking about this word…
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Letting It Go
We have all heard, and maybe used, the expression “forgive and forget.” I will be the first to tell you that I’ve often said that I can forgive but I can never forget. But that is not really the truth. While I don’t forget, I have also not truly forgiven, or made any effort to…
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Continuity
Someone once asked me what the hardest thing was that I had ever done. I answered, without hesitation, that it was giving the eulogy after my brother died suddenly, unexpectedly and far too young. I was blessed to have a sibling who was my best friend, my confidante, my cheerleader and my support. As children…
With a Full Heart 