06May 2014 by CJ

Today’s seeds bring tomorrows happiness

Information & Education, Life & Living
On a shelf in my home lives a collection of books my wife and I have collected over the years. They range from old fiction novels, to Jane Austin classics, to children and picture books which hold some sentimental meaning to both of us. On the very last shelf, tightly pressed between a pair of Funk & Wagnalls dictionaries and a large Bible my wife received from her grandfather is an old, tattered looking book. It’s about the size of a magazine, with a pale blue hard cover and duct tape holding its binding together. It’s my grandmother’s high school yearbook. It was June 13th, 1940. The Lyndhurst, New Jersey high school auditorium was filled with eager family and friends, all anticipating the upcoming ceremony scheduled to begin at 8:15…
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29Apr 2014 by CJ

Opportunities are everywhere if you know where to look

Information & Education, Life & Living, Youth
Life is a never-ending battleground of problems it seems. Day to day our lives are plagued with challenges we’re forced to navigate through – oftentimes with little or no knowledge of how to escape unscathed. But Joseph Sugarman once said something that definitely rings true for me. "Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem and turned it into an opportunity." Joseph Sugarman Problems will never cease to exist in our lives. But that doesn’t mean they can’t lead us to a better place – force us to grow and break free of our comfort zone in ways we never imagined. Life is all about change; and change often brings…
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19Mar 2014 by CJ

Losing Methodist parishioners is due to not practicing what they preach

Information & Education, Life & Living, Love & Relationships
Many years ago, I used to consider myself a practicing Catholic – regularly attending services and abiding by the rules and restrictions drilled into my head since I was young. But then I became a free-thinking adult. And after watching the poor handling of the sex abuse scandal and their bias towards the homosexual community, I concluded that the Catholic faith was NOT a religion I wanted to be a part of. My wife on the other hand is a loyal and faithful Methodist. She still attends the same church she was christened in almost 40 years ago, the same church her family has attended for generations. Looking for a little spiritual guidance, I began going with her and was surprised how different this religion truly was. Honesty, humility and…
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18Mar 2014 by CJ

Another example why some parents should’ve never had kids

Information & Education, Life & Living, Youth
The other day I was left scratching my head after hearing the following story. It appears that a kindergartener in Upstate New York somehow managed to get on the wrong school bus. It seems there was a substitute bus driver that day, who didn’t recognize the little girl, and so she was taken to the wrong school. An ironic twist to this story is that the 1st grade class at this other school was also expecting a new arrival on the very same day. When the young girl arrived at the wrong school, you’d assume she’d be crying and frightened – perhaps even calling out for her mommy to make it all better. But that’s NOT what happened. No instead the young girl (whom I might add was your average…
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16Mar 2014 by CJ

On a resume, remember the only one selling yourself is you!

Information & Education, Life & Living
The resume. For some it’s a document that’s easily created in no time flat. But for those more humble individuals, it can be a daunting task to complete for they’re simply not comfortable bragging about themselves. They do what they do because that’s just who they are. But resumes are not the time for humility. It’s a time when a piece of paper serves as the only basis for another human being to connect with you favorably. Therefore, it’s important you make sure you’ve give them a reason to get to know your further. I think we all forget that a resume is like a sales pitch about ourselves. It’s our one chance to gain the interest of a prospective employer with our skills and abilities - in the hopes…
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