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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03Apr 2013 by CJ

Remembering the elderly

Life & Living
Nursing facilities are unfortunately overflowing with human beings closing out the final chapter of their lives. They’re left with little in the way of dignity – a pale comparison to their younger selves. There’s no doubt it’s a sad reality for lives that have existed, triumphed and survived for some 80 or 90 years, but there’s little that can be done beyond making their last days as comfortable as possible. Seems terribly inadequate, but the human body can only bare so much. Admittedly, such facilities can be a rather depressing place to visit with any regularity. Watching a human life succumb to the aging process is not always pleasant – especially when it’s someone you love dearly. Some will say they simply cannot visit family members in such facilities –…
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01Apr 2013 by CJ

Life’s journey is a never ending classroom

Information & Education, Life & Living, Youth
The other day I came across this quote by Charlotte Joko Beck, which really made me think. “Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath. Every moment is the guru.” Interesting, right? “The teacher we need at every moment” - I don’t think I’ve ever thought about the journey of life in that way before, but looking back it makes total sense. I’ve learned invaluable lessons through the challenges life’s handed me over the years. And while they certainly were stressful and difficult to navigate at the time, I emerged with…
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