Browsing Category

Gratitude

Gratitude

Giving

July 27, 2014

I’m writing this on the eve of my 40th birthday, which I suppose is a bit of a milestone. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been distracted and didn’t really plan to do much for my birthday, but I was reminded that in previous years I was able to raise awareness of concerns and even money for key issues that I care about.

It occurred to me that I could use this opportunity to highlight the importance of giving. I believe that by giving, we receive much more in return. When we give, the recipient of our gesture obviously gets something tangible, but what about the giver? I believe that the giver also receives. Continue Reading…

Gratitude

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

November 28, 2011
Black Friday Madness

Thanksgiving.

“A national holiday celebrated as a day of feasting and giving thanks for divine favors or goodness, observed on the fourth Thursday of November in the U.S. and in Canada on the second Monday of October.”

That’s the definition according to Dictionary.com.

Nowhere in there does it mention rushing out of the family dinner to stand with a mob of people who are waiting to stampede into Walmart and other retailers for ‘deals’ that are just too good to pass up. Continue Reading…

Gratitude

166 People & 48 Countries

October 23, 2011
Kids of the Gulf

166 people from all over the world came together over the last month in a showing of support for Kids of the Gulf and the belief that we can all make a difference if we choose to. There are hardly the words to describe how meaningful this support is to me personally.

Last year when the BP spill first started, I had this idea that people who couldn’t go to the Gulf themselves would be willing to support others who were willing to go and witness the disaster unfold, and help the situation in some way. That idea proved to be valid beyond my wildest dreams. Continue Reading…

Gratitude

Calling All Angels

October 16, 2011
Solo Bird

It’s been a rough week. My friend’s passing was much more difficult than anything I was expecting. Not that this kind of thing is ever expected.

I eluded to the last conversation I had with him in my previous entry, but didn’t say what we talked about. The bottom line of the conversation was that his faith in humanity had been diminished over the years. At the same time, mine had been on the rise.

It was one of those conversations where I felt we were talking in circles, and I decided I wasn’t going to convince him right then and there. I wanted to show him, but either I didn’t have the time before he died, or maybe I did and just didn’t realize it. Continue Reading…

Gratitude

Now Is All There Is

October 10, 2011
Now

It’s in times of loss that we typically step back and think about the meaning of our own lives and our connections with loved ones. Thoughts of things we wish we had said or feelings we wish we had conveyed haunt us as we attempt the futile task of rewriting history in our minds.

Yesterday, I lost a friend, and right on queue, I’m replaying the last conversation I had with him in my mind. It’s not that I have any huge regrets, but there isn’t closure on that conversation, and it was on me to send an email to punctuate it.

Continue Reading…