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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19Apr 2013 by CJ

Both sides of a story

Life & Living
Best-selling author Tom Clancy once said, “The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.” I love that quote! Unlike reality where many actions and reactions seem to defy reasonable logic, writers have the ability to construct characters to any likeness they desire - eliciting the emotions they need to help tie together their overall story. But real life is far from fiction - regardless of the drama that often exists. In short it can be difficult for us to accurately conclude what is truly factual in our every day lives. It begs the question, what is fact and what is fiction? When you sit and think about it, politicians would probably make great fiction writers. After all, they’ve been entertaining us for years with their cleverly manipulated…
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18Apr 2013 by CJ

Birthdays are good for you

Life & Living, Youth
April 18th. It’s one of those dates on the calendar that will forever hold some significance for me. You see, April 18th is my birthday. It’s sad to say, but quite honestly it’s turned out to be just another day in the year – another reminder of just how quickly life is passing me by. I got up this morning and was dumfounded that I’m now (gasp!) 38 years old. How the hell did that happen?!?! I’m now in my late 30’s and so much of my life isn’t exactly how I dreamed it would be at this age. But then I came across this quote by Larry Lorenzoni which states, “Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.” It made…
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17Apr 2013 by CJ

Revenge Isn’t Winning

Life & Living
I’m proud to yet again be featured on the wonderfully inspirational site Tinybuddha.com – my third time! The post is entitled “Get Past It Instead of Getting Even: Revenge Isn’t Winning.” This was a very difficult post for me to write as it’s incredibly personal, and something I’ve never written about or shared with a mass audience before. But there’s an important lesson to be pulled from my story, and I hope you all will benefit from it.
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10Apr 2013 by CJ

Kids do still ride their bikes

Life & Living, Youth
As a young boy, I used to love riding my fire engine red Huffy bicycle all the way to the top of my block – okay, I had to push it up the last ten feet or so. Then once I caught my breath, I’d go into the middle of the street and start peddling as fast as I could until I could lift my feet off the pedals and gravity took over. I can still remember that exhilarating feeling of having your body cut through the air with the greatest of ease – not a care in the world. That was a long time ago. You don’t see many kids riding bikes or playing outside anymore. I guess they’re too busy playing with their computers and cell phones to…
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