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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25Apr 2013 by CJ

Suicide is NO joke

Life & Living, Youth
The following was one of those headlines which left me shaking my head in bewilderment. It read, “Hyundai pulls ad that plays suicide for laughs.” No, you’re not reading that wrong. It appears that the Korean automaker has apologized for an online advertisement that featured a man attempting to commit suicide by using the exhaust fumes from one of their SUVs. The rather distasteful punch line? The SUV was powered by hydrogen and therefore emits only water vapors incapable of killing anyone. As you can imagine, many at the popular car company are all pointing fingers or playing dumb as to who initially signed off on the inappropriate messaging of this ad. As my wife just said after telling her what I was writing about, “what a bunch of dopes”.…
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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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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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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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