03Jun 2013 by CJ

A message for this year’s graduates

Information & Education, Life & Living, Youth
Isn’t it funny how time always seems to escape us? Case in point – this June marks 20 years since my high school graduation. Two decades have passed by – and while filled with memorable highlights, it still surprises me that so much time has elapsed. I’ve come to understand that in our youth we’re determined to prove to everyone that we’re independent and wiser than our years might suggest. But as I sit here today at the age of 38, I can tell you that there is no greater value in life than learning from the experiences of those who’ve come before us. I’ve told this story before, but it begs repeating during this graduation season. While watching a documentary focusing on the familial bond some animals have in…
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22Apr 2013 by CJ

Food, Inc. – what they don’t want you to know

Information & Education, Life & Living
Recently I re-watched a very telling and disturbing documentary from 2008 entitled “Food, Inc.” My first viewing left me deeply affected by this incredibly revealing look at the food industry, and it came as no surprise that I was similarly affected this time around. Our food supply is being turned into nothing more than a big business where greed and control trump the health and well-being of all citizens of the world. It’s a topic worth repeating over and over again until everyone in American understands what’s really going on with the food we bring the table each and every day. Children naively believe that everything we eat comes from the shelves of our local supermarket, not from farms or dairies or factories, which crank out foods we crave in…
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21Apr 2013 by CJ

Nature is your great restorer

Information & Education, Life & Living
My wife and I thoroughly enjoy being outdoors – watching and listening to the orchestration of nature’s song from rustling tree branches or birds communicating with one another. But in the suburbs where we live, it’s not always achievable to connect with nature. With dwellings that are uncomfortably close at times, privacy is not often an option and enjoying a little peace and quiet on a bright sunny day is almost an impossibility. It seems people today have some kind of aversion to existing in silence – to push away all the distractions of life, even briefly, to refocus and reengage themselves with what’s going on around them. I suppose cluttering our minds with noise is nothing more than a defense mechanism designed to keep our thoughts away from what’s…
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01Apr 2013 by CJ

Life’s journey is a never ending classroom

Information & Education, Life & Living, Youth
The other day I came across this quote by Charlotte Joko Beck, which really made me think. “Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath. Every moment is the guru.” Interesting, right? “The teacher we need at every moment” - I don’t think I’ve ever thought about the journey of life in that way before, but looking back it makes total sense. I’ve learned invaluable lessons through the challenges life’s handed me over the years. And while they certainly were stressful and difficult to navigate at the time, I emerged with…
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12Mar 2013 by CJ

Online Reviewers are not always truthful

Information & Education, Life & Living
I recently came across an article entitled “Is that online review a lie?” Reviews have become an important part of consumer’s online purchasing strategy. Be it cars, TV’s or hotels, if we find one negative review after another posted online then something must be wrong with that product or service, right? But somewhere along the line we’ve all forgotten that not EVERYTHING we read online is necessarily true. In fact many critics, who may first appear to be honest, are actually misleading you in an effort to sway public opinion. Bottom Line/Personal (BottomLinePublications.com) recently discovered some startling information regarding online reviewers. It seems that some of the glowing reviews posted online are actually being done by people who work for the business being reviewed, by marketing firms hired for the…
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