Craig Ruvere

21May 2020 by CJ

There are no goodbyes in life – just a warm hello again

“There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart.” - Mahatma Gandhi The other day, my wife and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. At times it seems we’ve only just begun our journey together, yet almost two decades later we’ve already experienced so many things; created so many memories. When we were preparing for our wedding back in 2001, neither one of us gave much thought to a videographer. Each of us are fairly shy and humble individuals and the idea of watching ourselves on television wasn’t very appealing to either one of us. Not to mention, we’d already reached the top threshold of our budget. My brother in law at the time, who fancied himself fairly adept at working a camcorder,…

20May 2020 by CJ

Feelings are valid and compassionate leaders understand that

Generosity & Kindness

“Your feelings are valid. You have every right to feel whatever emotion you want. You aren’t being dramatic. You aren’t over exaggerating. You’re feeling. And that’s okay.” - Unknown During the Covid19 pandemic, leaders from businesses and governments have been called to respond to unprecedented circumstances in which there is no predetermined guidebook to follow. What I predict will eventually emerge from all of this chaos is a clearer picture of who our “true leaders” are, weeding out those who simply claim to be leaders in title alone. It’s important to understand there’s a big difference. One of my favorite quotes on leadership comes from Amit Ray in his book Mindfulness Meditation for Corporate Leadership and Management. “Compassionate leaders honor the complexity of human relationships, nurture authenticity and create common…

11May 2020 by CJ

Consequences of our choices are impossible to avoid

Life & Living, Love & Relationships

“The universe does not judge us; it only provides consequences and lessons and opportunities to balance and learn through the law of cause and effect. Compassion is the recognition that we are each doing the best we can within the limits of our current beliefs and capacities.” - Dan Millman It seems some normalcy is returning to the United States, or at least pretending to anyway. States are easing or completely eliminating their quarantine restrictions, social distancing is being encouraged but often not properly followed and soon the 80,000+ lives lost to Covid19 will soon be forgotten – if they’re not already. This is a time for choices and the American people have clearly shown that when faced with having to alter their normalcy for any length of time, they’d…

03May 2020 by CJ

What I’ve learned about myself being quarantined at home

Information & Education, Life & Living

Recently, I was asked what I’ve learned about myself while being quarantined at home away from a life of regularity. Many will inevitably see this question as odd or not pertaining to them, for the subject of self-reflection is often believed to be limited to those who seek the guidance of counselors or psychologists. But in reality, we all could benefit from such observations. I’ve always been a rather self-reflective individual, therefore, I suspected I’d have no trouble discovering a few things I’ve learned about myself recently. What was surprising however were the things I learned. I’m far more adaptable than previously thought “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” - Charles Darwin I…

21Apr 2020 by CJ

Coronavirus fatalities – easy to overlook on the sidelines

Life & Living, Love & Relationships

In 1918, the Spanish Flu killed 675,000 Americans. In 2019, 38,800 Americans died in car crashes on US roadways. In 2001, 2,977 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks. The commonality of the statistics above is NOT the demise of innocent people. Rather, how their demise will forever haunt the lives of spouses, siblings, children and friends, and the coronavirus fatalities are no different. As of this writing, 42,604 people have died from the coronavirus in the United States. Congressman Trey Hollingsworth of Indiana is urging fellow lawmakers to “put on our big boy and big girl pants” and simply let Americans die in order to protect the economy. I wonder if the congressman was also referring to members of his own family, his friends or even himself, or just…