28Aug 2013 by CJ

The most important qualities of a person cannot be seen

Life & Living, Youth
It’s been a long time since I’ve sat down to enjoy the wonderment of children’s literature. I suppose as we grow older and the world of far-off, fairy tale lands are tainted by reality, our need and believability in such fiction disappears. As we continue to age, I think our power to dream, hope and imagine decreases. Perhaps this is one of the many reasons why children’s literature is no longer applicable to adults – as we’re not always able to suspend our disbeliefs. And while the book, The Little Prince, which was written by Antoine De Saint-Exupery in 1943, was first conceived as a children’s story, it has come to be loved by adults all over the world – and I’m one of them. I was first introduced to…
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27Aug 2013 by CJ

Start your morning off right and it will carry you the rest of the day

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living
My mornings typically involve some moderate exercising and a simple breakfast, before preparing myself for my 9 to 5 workday. Some people enjoy starting their day watching morning news programs. But for me all they do is make me anxious – not really the way I want to start out a long day of work. Today when I turned on the TV, one of those news programs was on – no doubt from a television station we were watching the previous night. In an effort to further educate myself about the goings-on in the world, I figured I’d take a few minutes to be an active viewer. War and violence, uncontrollable wild fires, the possibility of another financial crisis – and that was just in the first five minutes! I…
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20Aug 2013 by CJ

People living with disabilities are not the ones who are disabled

Information & Education, Life & Living, Youth
What’s happening to the human race? When did we all become so jaded – lacking the ability to be compassionate, empathetic and unselfish in a world filled more with divides than unison? When I was first told of the following news stories, I convinced myself there must be some mistake. While I’m not naïve to the biases our great nation harbors towards each other, I couldn’t imagine this one being factual – but it is. The two stories below left me incredibly angry and even sad at the complete lack of consideration we have for those living in our local communities and ultimately in the world. Judge for yourself: “The Giesegh family of Colorado says their neighbors are asking them to take down the handicap ramp outside their door, belonging…
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16Aug 2013 by CJ

Making decisions – no right or wrongs, it’s what works best for you

Life & Living
“If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish you for another. The universe has no fixed agenda. Once you make any decision, it works around that decision. There is no right or wrong, only a series of possibilities that shift with each thought, feeling, and action that you experience.” Deepak Chopra, The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life Come on, admit it. We all obsess to some degree about making decisions. Rightfully so I might add. After all, everyone longs for a positive justification for the choices that we make – especially given the fact that we have to live with the results of those choices each and…
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01Aug 2013 by CJ

A lifetime isn’t forever – don’t wait for second chances

Life & Living
When it comes to deciding what to eat for breakfast or which outfit to wear to work, I find little difficulty committing to a choice. After all, if you’re not happy with your selections you can easily change them the following day - with no consequences to speak of (except maybe landing on the “Worst Dressed” list at work). But many choices in life aren’t that simple. Take our recent decision to begin looking for a new home. My wife and I have lived in our current side-hall colonial for 11 years now – where did the time go? And while we love our home and the improvements we’ve made over the years, we’ve grown tired of the overpopulation a suburban lifestyle can bring. We both grew up in similar…
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