16Jul 2014 by CJ

Complaining without a viable solution solves nothing

Life & Living
Jean Ferris once wrote, “I know it's important to do more than just complain when there's something you don't like. You need to try to do something about it, or you're nothing but a whiner.” Of late I feel a bit like a whiner – complaining to anyone who will listen to me about some of the challenges of leaving the safety and security of life in New Jersey for Colorado. And while these “growing pains” as I like to refer to them are completely normal, complaining about situations or circumstances which are only temporary is not. In his book, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, Eckhart Tolle writes, “To complain is always nonacceptance of what is. It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge.” I think we…
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16Jul 2014 by CJ

What makes a successful life has more to do with what you can’t see

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living, Love & Relationships
It’s been three weeks since my wife and I permanently moved from New Jersey to Colorado. Man time goes fast! While the transition has been difficult and searching for new employment has been challenging, I’m starting to realize that I’ve been afforded a rather rare gift in life – the gift of time. Time to share ordinary, everyday moments with my beautiful wife and time to refocus my priorities for the next chapter in my life. Something I’ve been thinking a great deal about lately has been the word success. Webster defines success as “The fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect or fame; the correct or desired result of an attempt.” So many of us, myself included, spend so much of our time misguided by the word “success” and…
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09Jul 2014 by CJ

Complaining never really makes anyone happier

Life & Living
Many years ago I had a co-worker who was known for being a constant complainer. It was as though nothing could please them be it personally or professionally. It got to the point where people never wanted to ask how they were doing for fear of hearing a lengthy rant about how unsatisfied they were with something going on in their world. Maybe you know people like that. Look, nothing (and I mean nothing) ever goes the way we want it to. Life is filled with unpredictability and plans are destined to fail the first time around – that’s just reality. But author Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture, writes that “Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is…
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08Jul 2014 by CJ

Returning to simpler times can bring you a new perspective

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living
Today I’m doing something I haven’t done in years – write a blog by hand. I’m sitting at the dining room table armed with a black pen and a yellow lined note pad, actually finding it awkward to use the writing skills I learned back in the second grade. Writing has become one of those “things” that’s become passé in life. In today’s technological society, people don’t write in day planners and address books. They don’t sign greetings cards or compose letters to friends living across the country or across the globe. Many of us don’t even sign checks or credit card receipts any longer as such transactions are now funneled through those tiny handheld devices we’ve all become so reliant on – myself included. But writing this post (by…
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07Jul 2014 by CJ

Our hopes and dreams for tomorrow have no expiration date

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living, Youth
As a little kid I liked to dream—big, whether it was believing my red-Huffy bicycle would one day turn into a Transformer or convincing myself that as an adult I’d be spending much of my time in Hollywood hosting “The Price is Right.” As I said, I liked to dream big. I still do sometimes. If we think back to our childhood, we all can remember when our dreams didn’t seem that far away from us. I remember spending countless hours in my basement pretending I was a rock star on my make believe stage. There I’d be holding my microphone (nothing more than the cardboard tube from the paper towel roll) belting out song after song from a collection of 45’s. Truthfully, I never really did sing as much…
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