28Oct 2013 by CJ

Life is a revolving door – make the most of the time you’re here

Life & Living
This weekend I happily played the role of chauffeur to and from Newark International Airport. On Saturday I dropped off my in-laws for a week-long stay in Colorado, and on Sunday I picked up a dear friend returning from a pleasurable trip to Germany. Different airlines; different terminals; same lousy airport to try and navigate through. This coming and going is probably insignificant to most – as traveling across the country or across the globe is not an infrequent occurrence for business or recreational purposes. But for some reason, on this particular weekend, I began to look at things a little more metaphorically. My chauffeur services reminded me just how often people come and go from our lives. It’s a sad reality, but nothing stays the same in life –…
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21Oct 2013 by CJ

In life never settle for less than you deserve

Life & Living, Youth
I recently came across this anonymous quote and wanted to share it with all of you: “I've made mistakes in my life. I've let people take advantage of me and I've accepted way less than I deserve. But, I've learned from my bad choices and even though there are some things I can never get back and people who will never be sorry, I know better next time and I won't settle for anything less than I deserve.” I was struck most profoundly by the line – “I won’t settle for anything less than I deserve.” Far too often we convince ourselves that we must accept our current circumstances – that there’s nothing more we should expect out of life. We grow complacent and secure in our environments, but are…
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18Oct 2013 by CJ

Teacher evaluations should be adopted by all employers

Information & Education, Life & Living
Many of you are probably unaware of this, but teachers in New Jersey must now adhere to a rigorous evaluation process (instituted by Governor Chris Christie and his team) in order to measure their overall effectiveness in the classroom. While evaluations, in both the private and public sectors, have been practiced religiously for decades, I’m not sure they’ve ever been utilized to this degree. Over the duration of the school year, teachers will find themselves observed 18 times in 10 months – rated as effective or ineffective. When the final results are tallied, enough ineffective scores are grounds for dismissal. This evaluation process got me to thinking – why isn’t the rest of the working world adopting such a lofty measurement system? I’ll tell you why. Because if this evaluation…
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16Oct 2013 by CJ

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy

Life & Living
For the better part of a decade, I was a contributing editorialist for a respected and admired weekly newspaper with a long history and very loyal following. Though I was only in my mid-twenties when I began writing for The Leader, my more mature-minded writing (not unlike this blog) seemed to appeal to a wide range of readers. I’ve always been much older in terms of thought and behavior than my age might suggest. I’m not sure how or why that happens to certain individuals journeying through life, but I’ve always been one of them – still am. I credit this character trait for my many successful years with the newspaper. During my affiliation with The Leader, my columns were a popular part of the weekly publication. They were filled…
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15Oct 2013 by CJ

Life’s only a “failure” if you haven’t learned anything from it

Life & Living
“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” Henry Ford It’s easy to look through the history of one’s life and categorize certain events or experiences as being failures. I hate that word. By definition the word failure speaks of a person or thing that is unsuccessful or disappointing. Okay, there are parts of my life I wish I would’ve handled differently, but to say that I was “unsuccessful” or that my life was somehow “disappointing” because of it just seems a little harsh. I believe the only reason something should be classified as a failure is if you haven’t learned anything from it. If you’ve gone through a string of relationships or friendships and still can’t love someone unconditionally; if you’ve bounced from job to job but…
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