29Jan 2012 by CJ

The #1 Site for Beautiful People has nothing to do with real beauty

Information & Education, Life & Living
In July of 2009, I penned a column focusing on Ashley Madison - an online dating site geared towards those already in a committed relationship, but looking for something more. Their motto? “Life is short, have an affair.” Now there's Beautiful People. The existence of such a site surprised me at the time - as did its popularity with millions of everyday citizens paying for the ability to cheat on their significant others. And while I wanted to believe that Ashley Madison was in fact the most extreme and bizarre online dating site I’d come across, I recently stumbled upon a new, and slightly more disturbing entry to the fray. The site is BeautifulPeople.com. While the name and its slogan, “Where beautiful relationships begin,” might seem innocent at first, its…
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25Jan 2012 by CJ

Get out of your comfort zone to be what you might have been

Life & Living
I’m not a big fan of change, even though typically the end results are beneficial to some part of my life. Still, I like being wrapped in my comfort zone like a warm, familiar blanket you’ve had hanging around for years. But that resistance can oftentimes rob you of opportunities, which may exist outside the safe haven you’ve created in your own little world. Opportunities which might establish new relationships, foster new careers and open your mind to new ideas you’ve been resistant to embrace. When you think about it logically, every decision we make poses some kind of risk to our routine. An upheaval of our day-to-day practices for a greater unknown, which many times can frighten even the most courageous of individuals. One such area has always been…
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23Jan 2012 by CJ

Drivers are more plentiful than ever and the experience has changed

Life & Living, Youth
"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers."Dave Barry, Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn This morning my wife and I commuted to work together, while our other car was being serviced. On the rare occasion when this happens, we usually share the driving responsibilities - her taking the morning drivers commute and me relegated to the evening shift. We're all about balance in my household. While sitting in the passenger's seat, I came to the realization that being carted around from point A to point B is not a bad way to go through life. There I sat in utter relaxation -…
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17Jan 2012 by CJ

Friendships lasting over 50 years must be doing something right

Life & Living, Love & Relationships, Youth
Every relationship evolves - riding up and down on an endless roller coaster through life. For friendships however, the bonds that once united you don't always keep you together. Elisabeth Foley once said, "The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart." Elisabeth Foley As many of us grow and mature, so do the relationships we once had. Our lives take us in different directions with new interests and discoveries - never diminishing the time we once spent together, but certainly changing the dynamics. But that doesn't happen to everyone I'm happy to say. My mother-in-law and her friend Mary have known each other since they were teenagers. It's a friendship that's lasted over 50 years, surviving times of struggle and times of joy.…
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09Jan 2012 by CJ

Reasons we all should learn to rejoice at the opportunity to just grow old

Life & Living, Youth
Here's a lesson for all those vain people out there who are afraid to grow old. The mantle clock struck midnight and I was still awake on the couch – my wife snuggled up in a blanket next to me, sound asleep. No doubt a late night cup of coffee and a small piece of leftover chocolate cake was sure to be the culprit for my wide eyes. So I decided to channel surf until my eyes eventually grew tired of flicking through the hundreds of channels supplied by my cable provider. After I’d gone through almost every channel available, I landed on a program I wouldn’t normally watch. It was a medical documentary about children who were battling cancer. As I’m sure many of you can understand, the distressing…
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