Many of us push ourselves to stay motivated. We force, cajole, pressure, sometimes even yell at ourselves to get going. But pushing yourself isn’t as effective as being pulled. I don’t mean being yanked or dragged like a prisoner, no. I mean something summoning you by an irresistible force, like being in love, where you’re…More
Tag Archives: meaning
We started a podcast
So…a friend and I started a podcast. There’s a lot of confessing, challenging, a bit of conflict, and a touch of cussing. But most of all it’s a conversation between friends. This project grew out of years of relationship and talking about our ventures and missteps and learnings and stories. And we want to share…More
Finding purpose
What do you live for? It’s a simple question. But it’s one of the most difficult to answer. From my experience, many of us find meaning but few have purpose. Purpose is the belief or reason we have for living. It’s different from meaning. Meaning is about the significance or feeling of significance for something…More
Savoring life
Life is short; enjoy today. This week an old friend’s wife died. It was sudden—tragic. She was young, around my age, too young to die. They likely had dreams of growing gray together, wrinkled, swinging on a creaky porch swing, talking about their grown kids and grandkids. Now that’s gone. See, life can sucker punch…More
You’re rich
Do you feel like you have something to prove? I do sometimes. I feel that urge to let people know that I’m doing ok; I’m successful; I’ve done something; I’m special. But why? Comparing ourselves to others is a killer. It kills our joys, our happiness, our richness. But I hope you free yourself from…More
This Is One of the Smartest Things You Can Do
To get smarter you have to feel stupid, sometimes. You ask the obvious question, repeat something back, relearn something you think you should have already learned. Sure, it can be embarrassing. But, to learn you have to be open to learning. And that means you’re not the master but the pupil, not the teacher but…More
When You Savor Life, You Are Rich
An urgency to live well grows in us when we see our parents growing old. Or at least that’s what happened to me yesterday. “It felt like a few days ago when we took these pictures,” my mom said to my son as she showed him an album of Polaroid pictures of me when I…More
This Perspective Helps You Live
Stories of death have been haunting me lately, helping me view the world, better. This week I read two posts about people I know who lost loved ones, not to the pandemic, but tragically nonetheless. One lost a young wife, and the other, a baby who was stillborn. And while my eyes pored over the…More
The frontlines of COVID-19—A love letter
To the nurses, EMTs, physicians, staff who are on the front line of this war, thank you for risking and sacrificing health, safety, comfort to ensure our health, safety, and comfort. You even sacrifice time with your family so we can be with ours. You are exposed so that we can be protected. You are…More
Love your life
Life’s simplest joys are best: a hug from a loved one, a kind word, a smile, the aroma of coffee right as you take the first sip, friends sharing stories and laughter, children growing, life awakening, a new day. That’s not seen simply. It takes work. See, we’re taught at a very young age that…More
John Pa 