Two lives - one choice

Two lives - one choice

In many ways, we have become a society of many symptoms, and short-term remedies for those symptoms.  More and more individuals seem to have lost their sense of meaning and purpose, gravitating more toward relative truth based on personal feelings and desires.  We treat the increasing anxiety, depression, and unhappiness with the many forms of medication and diversions available to avoid dealing with the actual cause driving the issue.  We try to solve social and economic issues with large centralized programs that often create unintended consequences and dependencies for generations to come vs. understanding issues at the human level of both enablement and responsibility.  We often ignore any facts that could undermine the things we want to believe or make us feel personally uncomfortable about what we want to do.  As a humane society, we aspire to act as such, protecting the rights of the often innocent and voiceless.

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Fun and laughter for your relationships

Fun and laughter for your relationships

Even science tells us that laughter and playfulness creates social bonds, increases well-being, reduces pain and anxiety, and can be a positive to those around us.  Laughter can make people feel safer, more relaxed and more connected to those we interact with. Laughter and humor increases our capacity to learn, to be creative, to cope and deal with the difficulties of life and to create stronger social bonds. There are research studies that show that when children laugh, it enhances their attention, perception, motivation, memory,  and learning.   A sense of humor, laugher and play can help to also reduce depression and stress and increase our actual pain tolerance by as much as 50%. Taking time to play and laugh is a way of expressing inner joy. 

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All the days of my life

All the days of my life

Is there anything better than the excitement of the early dating period with someone that makes you feel like you are walking on air?  I loved dating my wife and then the adventure of those first years of marriage, but, as I glance up from writing this blog at Joanne after over thirty years together, I know that right now is something profoundly better that I am lucky enough to experiencing.  I love and appreciate my wife so much more now because I have begun to understand what both marriage and true love really are.  Okay, so I may be a slow learner but I can tell you that it is a great feeling to be excited about the next thirty years of sharing this journey with the woman I love, my best friend and my partner for life.

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An Offer You Can Refuse

An Offer You Can Refuse

The Godfather could be my favorite movie of all time.  Everyone is probably familiar with the famous line from Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) when explains to his Godson, Johnny Fontaine, how he is going to get a powerful studio head, Woltz, to give Johnny the part in a movie that he does not want to give him.  “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”   Corleone made the choice for Woltz an unpleasant one but an easy one - “do what I say or you die.”  With God, we also get an offer, but the difference is that it is an offer we can refuse because he loves us enough to give us the gift and responsibility of “free will.”

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September 13, 1986

September 13, 1986

I met a beautiful, fun, intelligent and friendly girl named Joanne in the fall of 1985.  On our first evening date, we enjoyed a fun dinner and a movie.  It was such a nice evening when I brought her home that we went for stroll and ended up on a small bride over the Charles River and watched the stars overhead.  Back in front of her apartment we had our first kiss and I will never forget that look in Joanne’s eyes.  It was a look that has stayed with me and made me smile until this very day. 

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