27Jan 2015 by CJ

The people we love will ALWAYS live in our hearts

Love & Relationships
“There is no death, daughter. People die only when we forget them,' my mother explained shortly before she left me. 'If you can remember me, I will be with you always.” — Isabel Allende, Eva Luna My wife and I were with my grandmother the night before she passed away. At that time she called the confines of a nursing facility “home” and age had certainly taken its toll on her body – rendering her almost unrecognizable (she was 93 when she passed). Some family members declined to visit my grandmother during this time – claiming it was too difficult to see what she’d been reduced to, and wanted to just remember her “as she was”. This “cop out” excuse is used more often than you might think in homes…
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27Jan 2015 by CJ

A lesson about making quick judgements while in the Home Depot

Information & Education, Life & Living
As anyone who’s visited a Home Depot knows, many now feature self-check out lines, which are a great time saver when you’re buying nothing more than a handful of screws, a light bulb or a roll of duct tape. Typically there are four stations – two on the right, two on the left and a station in the middle for that helpful store representative when the computers begin acting up. Logically speaking, one might assume that two lines would form on each side – customers passing through one right after another, not crossing lanes. But maybe I’m wrong on this one, as I found out today on a recent trip to the home improvement giant. I was on the left hand side waiting for a station to open up. Directly…
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25Jan 2015 by CJ

Bettering ourselves means respecting the differences all around us

Life & Living, Youth
The other day I was re-reading some of my previous posts and came up with the following conclusion – I have a hell of a lot to say about pretty much everything. Admittedly I’m not a psychologist or a life coach. No, I’m just an ordinary guy in his late 30’s who often tears up during sappy movies, loves pizza to a fault and cringes whenever he hears the words “man cave” uttered.  On my journey to identify, appreciate and accept the person I am in the world today, I’ve also come to learn the things that truly matter in life – things I’ve tried to share in each post that I write. Each one of us is capable of reshaping the world we inhabit regardless of race, status, age,…
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15Jan 2015 by CJ

The consumer deserves better products for their money

Information & Education, Life & Living
“As a business leader you have to ask yourself, “Am I creating a consumer environment that is conducive to loyalty?” If the answer is no, FIX IT!” ― Steve Maraboli Years ago I was the kind of consumer that based my decisions more on price than anything else. What I learned from doing this was price does not always equal quality in the products and services we obtain for ourselves. As a consumer in today’s highly complicated and competitive product landscape, I can now tell you with great certainty that a company’s customer service is more important to me than just about anything else. Companies would be remiss if they haven’t yet figured out that brand loyalty is built not only from product offerings, but perhaps more importantly on the…
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13Jan 2015 by CJ

Missing someone shows just how special they truly are

Love & Relationships
Today I’m feeling rather homesick. While it might be easy to magnify that feeling – allowing it to bring down one’s spirit and ultimately one’s day – I’m accepting that this is just how I’m feeling today, rather than becoming overwhelmed by it. It’s important to understand that being “homesick” is a natural feeling that everyone experiences at one point or another. It’s not limited to those of a certain age, wealth or geographic location. It has no biases or predictability – it’s just one of those emotions that pops up during holidays and birthdays, or is triggered by a familiar smell or sight which brings you back to another place and time. I’ll admit that a quote by Nikki Schiefelbein does comfort me some this morning. It reads: “It's…
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