07May 2013 by CJ

There’s nothing wrong with laughing at yourself

Life & Living
Today was one of those mornings when I found myself in a bit of a quandary. I just hopped out of the shower when it dawned on me – I don’t have any deodorant left! Paranoid about the possibility of being “unfresh” in the workplace, and with no time to run to the store, I had to improvise. You may remember a deodorant commercial from years ago stating “strong enough for a man, but made for a woman”. Well I certainly put that to the test today. Beyond smelling like a “girl”, I have to admit that my wife’s deodorant did a pretty damn good job. I guess it was more than just some slick marketing jargon after all – this stuff really does work on a man! Driving to…
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06May 2013 by CJ

You only fail if you haven’t learned anything

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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02May 2013 by CJ

What rewards does convenience provide?

Life & Living
The former CEO of Chrysler Corporation, Lee Iacocca, wrote what I consider a must read for anyone walking the planet today who’s fed up with politics running rampant in every facet of life. The book is entitled, Where Have All the Leaders Gone? In one chapter titled, “Are we too fat and satisfied for our own good?” Iacocca states, “Sometimes I wonder if we’d be better off with less success. Maybe our minds are getting a little warped. We have five hundred TV channels, plus the Internet. Too much TV, too much Internet, too many e-mails. I’m not knocking computers, but as the saying goes, garbage in, garbage out. Do you ever stop and think about how you’re actually benefiting from this brave new computer world?” While the above paragraph…
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01May 2013 by CJ

Strength does not come from physical capacity

Life & Living, Youth
So often the trivialities of life consume us. Societal demands cause us to live stressful lives filled with anxiety as we struggle for relevance and acceptance in this material based world. We assign value to the unimportant, while shunning those whose presence we come to discover we could never live without. But there are some people who’ve developed an understanding of what is truly valuable in life. People with incredible strength to overcome hardships that might otherwise cripple the average human being. Fred Rogers always carried around an inspiring quote by Mary Lou Kownacki which read simply, “There isn’t anyone you couldn’t love once you’ve heard their story.” This blog has enabled me to hear some incredible stories from people all over the globe. And each one has profoundly influenced…
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29Apr 2013 by CJ

Having patience means seeing beyond the emotion

Life & Living
I’ll admit it – my life is often driven by emotion. I like to think that creative, passionate people often are – or maybe that’s just our excuse to justify our being that way. My wife on the other hand is intelligent and solid – rarely crazed by the same things that often send me into a frantic frenzy. Take this weekend for example. Meteorologically it was utterly beautiful. Blue skies, bright sunshine, mild temperatures and an orchestra of birds singing sweetly just about everywhere they landed. But the peacefulness was short lived. You see my neighbors (who are habitually known for disrupting the silence) thought this absolutely perfect Sunday was in need of a little noise – compliments of an air gun used to work on a car in…
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