I Had a Eureka Moment!

There is a certain receptionist that I have to deal with every three to four months.  I never have a good experience dealing with this person, and she always puts me in a bad mood.  Leaving this place, I was reflecting on why I felt this way about this person. What was it about her that I didn't like.  I could only think of one other person who makes me feel this way.  I am usually very friendly and get on well with everyone.  I speak to people in elevators, grocery lines, on the street...what about this receptionist set me off?  Then it came to me!  I didn't like the way I felt about myself when I was around her.  She brought out the worst in ME!  I really hated feeling this way.  Think about the people who are your friends...the people you like to be around...those who make your face light up when you see them.  Don't you feel good about yourself when you are with them?  They make you feel special.  You know that they are glad to see you and that they care about you.  Strangers on the street who give you a smile can make your day!  This receptionist does just the opposite for me.  Maybe it is not her fault.  Maybe it is mine.  I don't know.  I just know that I don't like the way I feel inside when I am around her. She obviously doesn't light up when she sees me.  I only maybe run into her three or four times a year...and if I am lucky a different receptionist will wait on me. And I thank God that the majority of people in my life make my days bright and beautiful!

Halloween - Let's Get It Straight!

Just wanted to make a quick post to vent my frustration with the people on television who think they know everything about everything.  Halloween is NOT a celebration of the devil or anything evil.  Halloween is a diminutive of All Hallowed Eve.  It is the night before All Saints Day, followed by All Souls Day.  Christians, and especially Catholics, celebrate the good people who went before, our Christian ancestors.  The holiday celebrates these people.  How in America it came to mean the devil, I don't know.  This year many Catholic churches are asking people to light a candle on Halloween for the Saints.  We want to bring back the holiness of this holiday.  It is not a celebration of ghosts and goblins and scary things.  Our Saints are a reminder that all of us have goodness and God in us...and all of us should strive to follow their example. Television talking-faces, GET OVER YOURSELVES!

Each Day Is a New Chance

Each day we wake with a chance for a new beginning.  Whatever has happened in the past, the new day brings a fresh start.  To live life with regrets is like trying to swim to the other side of a lake with heavy weights attached to  your ankles.  You must leave the weights behind in order to reach the other side.  Otherwise, you will just remain in the lake, treading water and getting nowhere!  Use this day to make your life what you want it to be.  Don't look back.  We cannot change the past; we can only live in today and pray for tomorrow.  God Bless.

Everyone Is Part of Each of Us

Today I learned of the death of my friend Donna who was very close to me for many years.  She was always a true friend, kind and supportive - someone you could count on.   When we were younger, we went out and did outrageously fun things!  As we got older, our activities diminished, but we always shared our lives.  When our work together ended, she moved away out of the state, many states away.  For the first year, we kept in touch, and then the way it is with so many things, we drifted apart.  Our communication wore down to only cards at Christmas. I learned of her death almost by accident, sort of three degrees down, through a rumored source.  I actually found out the facts by going online.  She had passed away three months ago.  As the weight of the truth grew heavier throughout the day, I felt sadder and sadder.  Sad that she was gone, sad that our years together were over, sad for the fact that no one informed our community about her death, sad for the fact we hadn't spoken in several years, sad that I had not been at her funeral, sad that it was now to late to change any of this. I feel profound loss for her and the life that had been before and for all the opportunities that have been missed.  I only know that her life enhanced my own, and that her death now diminishes the future.  She takes part of me with her. I will love her always and only wish that I had kept in touch to tell her so. I am writing this to encourage everyone to call that person that you keep meaning to call.  None of us our guaranteed tomorrow.  I know it is too late, but, Donna, I love you.

Life Is Now - This Moment!

I love the way my mind works these days!  Everything is fascinating to me.  I find wonder in the simplest of things.  I feel great affinity for everything around me.  Sometimes this feeling is so great that it almost brings me to tears.  I get pleasure out of the everyday parts of life.  I seek conversations with total strangers over the most mundane things in life . . . weather, groceries, city life.  I feel connected to everything and everyone in the world...and I feel a profound pride in being part of America.  Not a nationalistic thing, but a pride in that we are all connected.  We understand each other - even if we do not agree on all things.  For the most part, we respect our differences. Now, here is the let down to this great feeling.  My body has not been able to keep up with the progress in my head!  When I was younger, I just took for granted all the things I so now appreciate.  My body may have been able to do some great things, but my mind really didn't think beyond what would give me immediate pleasure.  It would be so wonderful  to have the body I had at 22 with the mind I have today.  Oh, just the thought! However, I would not give up the way I feel about things today.  The power I feel in my head is too gratifying to exchange it for a body that could actually perform the deeds my mind can conjure. Those of you who still have a body that performs perfectly should treasure what you can do and try to include an appreciation for all that surrounds you.  Life is so precious and this moment, right now, is your life.  It is not something that is coming or something you hope for . . . it is now, this is it!  Revel in it ... love it...soak it in...share it with those around you...you don't get a single moment to relive.  Don't waste a second...it is all so glorious...and it belongs to you and you alone.  No one else can feel it the way you do.  We are each unique and so blessed.  So no matter what problems befall you today, remember, you are alive! May you live in grace and grace all those around you.

Faith in Your Fellow Man

Today's world is one where we trust no one . . . or that is what we are led to believe.  The thought came to me the other day when I was driving on a very busy and congested interstate highway that this presumption is really not so.  The traffic was five lanes wide with several ramps leading off and on the main expressway.  Cars were changing lanes to the right and the left in order to be in their correct lanes for their destination.  There was no space between cars and traffic was flowing at 55 miles per hour if not more.  It suddenly dawned on me what a dangerous and volatile situation this could be.  One misstep by just one driver and disaster would prevail.  Yet no one made an error.  There was no accident.  There wasn't even a dramatic slamming on of brakes.  There was just very disciplined, stay in your lane driving.  And this is when the thought hit me!  We have great faith in our fellow man.  We trust our lives to individuals we do not even know every time we get behind the wheel.  Very few of these people have any real expertise or NASCAR training. They simply follow the Rules of the Road and defensive driving techniques.  If we didn't have faith in one another, could we even venture to turn our cars onto this highway of chance?  I think not.  It is because we believe that the others out there are as trust-worthy as ourselves that we are able to leave the house!  We do this totally on Faith!  I think this is a wondrous thing -- think about it the next time you drive the expressway!

Live your life as if you were in kindergarten . . .

Last evening I attended a Baccalaureate Mass for the seniors at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago. The church was overflowing with the graduating seniors along with their family and friends. Fr. Paulson, who is a Jesuit priest, was the homilist. There were many words of wisdom in his talk but one reference gave me food for thought. His main theme was about truth and how all the graduates were "consecrated in truth". As young children in kindergarten we are taught all the basic truths we need for life such as : "Always tell the truth.", "Wash your hands before you eat.", "Be polite.", "Don't hurt anyone.", "Say please and thank you.", "Stand up straight.","Don't interrupt others.",  "Clean up your own mess.", "Stay with the group.", "Look both ways before you cross.", "If you do something wrong, say you are sorry.".  There were many more.  We all learned them as children, and as children we tried our best to do all these things because they were expected, and we wanted to please the adults in our lives.  It just made life easier. If these things were true for us in kindergarten, shouldn't they be true for us as adults?  Some of the truths are obviously for safety purposes, but some have a much deeper meaning. "Don't hurt anyone and if you do something wrong, say you are sorry."  A lot of people in our society seem to ignore these two.  Or they rationalize their reasons for hurting someone, breaking laws, or abusing moral codes. Every day we learn about some athlete or politician who tries to justify his/her mistakes.  But as many celebrities as there are in the news, ten times more ordinary people are in the same situation. The corollary to not hurting anyone is to be kind to everyone.  And along with saying you are sorry goes being able to forgive. We must not just be reactive; we must also be proactive.  It is not just a lesson in what we are not suppose to do, but also implied is what we are suppose to do.  We are called to love one another -- that's all.  If someone wrongs us, we must forgive. We knew this in kindergarten. We hugged each other, held hands, stayed together as a group, shared our food and toys.  If we upset another one of us, we said "sorry" and hugged.  The wronged one of us said "that's okay" and hugged back.  Why as adults do we find this so hard to do?  If only we could live our lives as we did as children, wouldn't this world be a much kinder and more joyful place?

Someone Else Got Me Thinking . . .

As my friends and family know, I watch (really just listen) to Good Morning America while getting ready for work.  Today George interviewed Fred Thompson, the senator and actor.  He has a new book out with a catchy title . . . something about teaching a pig to dance?  Anyway, something Fred said got me thinking.  He said (and I am paraphrasing) that the things that you take for granted each day are the things that shape your life.  So I thought about this.  What had I taken for granted growing up?  If growing up, you take for granted that you live with a mother and father, your family always eats dinner together, you are safe at night, your parents are kind to one another, your father goes to work every morning at 8 am and returns every night at 5 pm, you are hugged and tucked into bed at night, you are planning what college to attend -- then these things become what is most important for you to have in your adult life and you just assume these things will happen!  If growing up, you take for granted that you will never see your father (maybe you don't even know who he is), you are never hugged, you won't have dinner as a family, no one works, college is just something rich people do -- then these things are what you assume will happen for you.  To change your path will take a miracle  -- or someone who cares.  Who are those people who care? If we approach life each day thinking that even the smallest kindness we give to others will make a difference, then isn't that day worth living? We never know when some small deed will become the impetus for change.  For many years I taught students in the preteen and early teen years. I like to think that I had some small part in shaping their lives.  For the most part, teachers never know who was really touched by their efforts. We can only hope our actions and words, however small, will be remembered in a positive and loving way. Maybe these words will give you something to think about today. God Bless.

About this blog . . .

I am not quite sure yet just what the focus of this blog will be.  My talents and expertise lie in the fields of education, writing, and the Catholic faith.  However, I cannot guarantee that my thoughts will be confined to these areas . . . I may actually have ideas outside of my comfort zone.  So, please join me in the adventure of exploring the inside of my mind.  Just a warning though . . . it is dark and scary in there!

A Beginning . . .

This will be a new experience.