I am speechless with goose bumps. This guy is amazing. Keep up the good work Jonathan!!
My inconclusive travel plans for 2012
I have been in many places but I’ve never been in Cahoots.
Apparently, you can’t go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone
I’ve also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.
I have, however, been in Sane. They don’t have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.
I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I’m not too much on physical activity anymore.
I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go and I try not to visit there too often.
I’ve been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.
Sometimes I’m in Capable, and I go there more often as I’m getting older.
One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get
I may have been in Continent, and I don’t remember what country I was in. It’s an age thing.
Today is one of the many National Mental Health Days throughout the year.
From one unstable person to another, I hope everyone is happy in your head. We’re all doing pretty well in mine.
Good News!! Post by Positively Positive
What’s the one prescription I am always happy to dispense?
Take two belly laughs and call me in the morning.
Safer than any big pharma pill-of-the-moment and free of harmful side effects, laughter is one of the easiest things you can do to promote healing and well-being. In fact, in my 20 years of medical experience, I’ve found that patients who have a sense of humor and laugh a lot tend to heal better and faster than those who don’t. Therefore I say, if health and wellness is your goal, skip irony, bypass sarcasm, and make the conscious choice to add more joyous laughter into to your day.
Here are ten simple health-enhancing reasons to have a daily laugh—and in my next post, I’ll show you seven simple ways to get more of them:
1. Laughter helps boost your immune system . . .
by increasing T cell activity, those “killer cells” that help our bodies fight viruses and tumors.
2. Laughter helps lower blood pressure . . .
and cortisol levels, decreases pain, and can also help stabilize blood sugar.
3. Laugher stimulates chemical changes in the brain . . .
that help buffer our bodies against the cumulative effects of stress.
4. Laughter burns a few extra calories . . .
according to a recent university study, just ten to fifteen minutes worth of chuckles throughout the day can burn up to forty calories.
5. Laughter stimulates the release of endorphins . . .
the mood-elevating brain chemicals behind the “runner’s high.”
6. Laughter helps reduce inflammation throughout the body . . .
good news for your heart, brain, and circulatory health.
7. Laughter “massages” internal organs . . .
which is why it’s sometimes referred to as “internal jogging”—with effects similar to exercise.
8. Laughter provides a light workout . . .
for the heart, lungs, diaphragm, and even the abdominal muscles.
9. Laughter releases tension in the muscles . . .
of the face, neck, shoulders, and abdomen—all common areas where we tend to hold lots of tension.
10. Laughter is physically and mentally therapeutic . . .
an involuntary response, that positively alters mood instantly. What could be better?
And in the words of nineteenth-century humorist, Mark Twain, “Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.” A wise man indeed!
Everything that irritates us about others….(post from Kirk Weisler)
“No one beneath you can offend you. No one your equal would.”-Jan L. Wells
“Until you make peace with who you are, you’ll never be content with what you have.”-Doris Mortman
“If we have our own ‘why’ of life, we can bear almost any ‘how.’”-Friedrich Nietzsche
“When one is out of touch with oneself, one cannot touch others.”-Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”-Carl G. Jung
Kirk Out!
4 Things You Cannot Recover
A young lady was waiting for her flight in the boarding room of a big airport. As she would need to wait many hours, she decided to buy a book to spend her time. She also bought a packet of cookies. She sat down in an armchair, in the VIP room of the airport, to rest and read in peace.
Beside the armchair where the packet of cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started reading. When she took out the first cookie, the man took one also. She felt irritated but said nothing. She just thought, “What a nerve! If I was in the mood I would punch him for daring!”
For each cookie she took, the man took one too. This was infuriating her but she didn’t want to cause a scene.
When only one cookie remained, she wondered what he’d do. Then the man, taking the last cookie, divided it into half, giving her one half.
Ah!! That was too much! She was much too angry now! In a huff, she took her book, her things and stormed to the boarding place.
When she sat down in her seat inside the plane, she looked into her purse to get her eyeglasses and to her surprise, her packet of cookies was there, untouched, unopened!
She felt so ashamed!! She realized that she was wrong….. She had forgotten that her cookies were kept in her purse.
The man had divided his cookies with her, without felling angered or bitter. While she had been very angry, thinking that she was dividing her cookies with him. And now there was no chance to explain herself….nor apologize.
The moral of the story…. There are 4 things you cannot recover:
- The stone …. after the throw!
- The word ….after its said!
- The occasion ….after its missed!
- The time ….after it’s gone!
“How any cookie crumbles – is really up to you & me
If a choice alone can lock us up – then it can also set us free
We can choose to rush to judgment – we can choose to scream and shout
Or we can choose to give a greater gift – The Benefit of the Doubt!” (Kirk Weisler)
Story retold by Valerie Cox and Kirk Weisler and many others. Per Kirk, the story has been around for more that 100 years and the original creator of the tale is unknown but it’s a story we all need to read from time to time.
The Angry Mom post by Abby Off the Record
http://www.abbyofftherecord.com
by ABBY on MARCH 16, 2012
I heard her voice before I saw her face. “Michaela! Get over here!”
Again: “Michaela! NOW!”
It was just after 10 a.m. on an icy winter morning. TJ Maxx had just opened, and there were only a handful of shoppers there. I had braved the slick, slushy roads to drive to an outlet mall 40 min. away from home. By myself. For as long as I felt like it. Because I needed a break. I didn’t ask my husband if that was OK. I didn’t line up any activities or meals for the kids. I just took off. I was planning to be gone a LONG time. Because I needed a break.
“Michaela! Stop that! Get over here! MICHAELA!!”
The woman sounded angry. I saw the source of her anger streak past in a flowery dress and pink winter coat, braids bobbing. I guessed she was about 4. Her older brother, maybe 6 or 7, trailed after her, trying to get her to come back.
“Michaela! Come ON. I need to try this stuff on.”
I was a few doors down in the dressing room. Trying on things I really didn’t need. An itchy sweater, a trendy shirt I’d only wear once. It was impossible not to overhear the woman. She didn’t seem to care, anyway. “Get that out of your mouth! What is WRONG with you? That’s nasty! Put that down. Michaela, I swear to God…”
Then came the muffled sounds of a scuffle. A slap. A wail. Then, after a few minutes, the little girl was off again, shrieking and running around and misbehaving.
I began to feel sick to my stomach. I couldn’t concentrate on the clothes, couldn’t block out the woman’s angry shouts. But more than the yelling and the hitting, what really bothered me was… the realization that this woman was not that different from me.
It had been a long week. I was tired of the early mornings, the late nights, the kids’ constant fighting, the endless messes. No one listens, no one appreciates, everyone blames and complains and demands and expects. He hit me! I had it first! You never let me…! He always…! No fair!
I had lost my temper. Lots. I had screamed and yelled and stomped and threatened. You sit down this minute! Don’t you EVER do that again! What is WRONG with you?
Before I had kids myself, I would have thought this woman was a terrible mom. Someone who didn’t deserve to have kids. I would’ve thought talking to your children like that, never mind hitting them, was unconscionable, unforgivable. Now, I am much less judgmental. The other morning my 3yo threw a tantrum because he didn’t like the shirt I’d picked out for him. He pulled open his drawer and wrenched the whole thing out of the dresser onto my foot. The tantrum (over a SHIRT), the broken furniture, the physical pain of the heavy, sharp drawer falling on my bare foot…it took all my strength to walk out of the room before I did something I’d regret.
So I wasn’t feeling all that high and mighty compared to this woman at TJ Maxx. What if she was a single mom? What if she had no one else to watch her kids and didn’t have the money to hire a sitter? What if she needed something to wear to an important event or interview and needed her kids to just behave for one freaking hour so she could find an outfit, like that’s so much to ask after all I do for them?!
I wanted to go over to her and offer to read her kids a book in the children’s section until she was done shopping. I wanted to tell her kids, “It’s OK. Your mommy’s just frustrated and tired and taking it out on you. She still loves you.” But I didn’t. I didn’t do anything. I just thanked God that I knew myself well enough to take a break when I needed to, and that I could. Because every mom needs a break sometimes.
The Great Hot Dog Challenge (post by Kirk Weisler)
In 2008 Janet Carner sent me the following piece of wisdom in response to a T4D message from Jim Rohn called ”The Challenge of Life”
Janet writes… A woman once told me ”If you won’t share your hotdogs, you won’t share your steak.” That phrase really struck me. Much like the ‘if I had a lot of money, I would be generous’ attitude mentioned in the T4D and sometimes prevalent in our thinking, it highlights the trap of waiting to become what you want to be and the fallacy of a truly generous nature only when you have more than you could possibly use yourself. If you want to be a generous and giving person, the time to be that is NOW. Share your hotdog, so that when you’re in a position to have steak on your plate you’ll have the attitude and habit of sharing.
The Great Challenge of Life by Jim Rohn
Here’s the great challenge of life – You can have more than you’ve got because you can become more than you are.
I have found that income seldom will exceed your own personal development. Once in a while income takes a lucky jump, but unless you grow out to where it is it will go back to where you are. Somebody once said if you took all the money in the world and divided it among everyone equally, it would soon be back in the same pockets. However, you can have more because you can become more. You see, here is how the other side of the coin reads – unless you change how you are, you will always have what you’ve got. The marketing plan won’t do it. It’s a good plan but it won’t work without you. You’ve got to work it. It is the human effort that counts. If you could send a sales manual out to recruit – wouldn’t that be lovely? The major thing that makes the difference is what YOU do.
In order to have more, you need to become more. The guy says “If I had a good job I would really pour it on, but I have this lousy job so I just goof off.” If that is your philosophy you are destined to stay there. Some people say if I had a lot of money I would be really generous, but I don’t have much so I’m not generous. See, you’ve got to change that philosophy or you will never have “the lots of money”. Unless YOU change, IT won’t change. Amazingly, however, when we throw out our blame list and start becoming more ourselves – the difference is everything else will begin to change around us.
Who ever shares the most hotdogs gets a ride in my new car.
Wow..wouldn’t the teenagers loved to be dropped off at school in this?
Kirk Out
Jason Hewlett – A very different drummer (post by Kirk Weisler)
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” – Henry David Thoreau
“To be nobody but myself, in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else – means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.” – E.E. Cummings
The picture above is Jason Hewlett a long time friend. Jason is a professional entertainer, impersonator. You can see many of his incredible and funny clips at his website http://jasonhewlett.com/ and on YouTube. I and my family have been to as many of his shows as we could get too. This morning I was reading an update by Jason on my Facebook wall…and it just inspired me. Jason talks candidly about his never-ending battle with his weight. I suggest this piece is not about weight…it’s about authenticity, courage, commitment…and the human spirit.
http://jasonhewlett.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/weighing-the-scales/
Jason is the consummate different drum dancer. And with regard to EE Cummings quote about fighting hard to be yourself…. Jason’s very interesting way of being himself is by being others. He’s a fascinating person, a devoted husband and father…and one of the most disciplined people I have ever encountered. The above link will take you to one of the most wonderfully candid and authentic pieces about a persons battle with the difficulties of personal weight gain. I think you will how he ends it…. I did. (Thank you Jason for sharing)
Kirk Out
Your Message to the World (post by Kirk Weisler)
One of my previous employers, teachers, leaders and exemplars said ….
“You cannot not communicate.” Then he would go on to explain… Everything you do is communicating a message to the world around you about who you are, about what is important to you, and about how ready you are or for the next opportunity. We must ask ourselves honestly…. “Is the story I am telling the world about me…. the one I really want them to hear?” Is it attractive? Is it inspiring? Is it a story that has a happy ending?
Make it a great day… make your life great, make your story great.
By the way… that leader was Art Coombs and he inspired me to change my story….many times.
Do Not Interrupt & Daylight Savings Time
Post from https://www.facebook.com/PositiveInspirationalQuotes
“If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.” Isaac Asimov
Responding to the Asimov quote my friend Sanford said… I do not think that I would type faster, I think I would get on the phone or some how, spend this time connected to my wife, Karen, and those closest to me. Time is precious; luckily most of us have more than 6 minutes, but why waste any of it. Spend you time wisely, being your best, doing your best and enjoying your time.
I like what William said…. The best portion of a good man’s life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love. – William Wordsworth (1770-1850) English poet
I’ve always appreciated the idea that “time is the real currency of life” and that each day each person begins with the exact same amount in their account. The wise spend it well… the foolish waste it.
Spend it well today… doing the little things that count.
Kirk Weisler out
Mzsunflower's Say What? 