Your past isn’t you; and your future is always being made in the present. You’re walking potential. You’re becoming. You’re changing, growing, evolving. That is, if you choose to be. You’re not simply who everyone thinks you are. You’re not stuck. You’re not just you. Decide to make new relationships, form new habits, develop new…More
Tag Archives: Relationships
One of the Most Powerful Things You Can Do
Words are powerful, but this has even more power: Listening. When you take the time to turn your ear, pay attention, and ask good questions to others, you build bridges, change history, and move mountains. You are connecting. That will reverberate across time and space. You are making others feel loved by your act of…More
This Is What Love Looks Like
I have an uncle that I admire. His name is Rick. You probably don’t know him. But, if you did, you would sense that he’s different. He’s one of the most loving guys I know. And we can all learn from him. When he wants to talk to my wife or me, he will call…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
The Best Thing About Our Baby Having a Cleft Lip and Palate
Our son was born with a birth defect called a cleft lip and palate. This happens when the lip and roof of a baby’s mouth doesn’t fully close up in the womb creating a gap, thus the “cleft.” During almost all of the pregnancy, we went about our lives completely unaware of it. Finding About…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
Finding Rest Right Now
We’re tired. Fighting a pandemic is exhausting. Even if you’re home alone or with kids or whatever, this is taking a lot more energy than we ever imagined it would. Who knew homeschooling was like herding cats and trying to teach them math. And then there’s the militaristic effort to sanitize everything—I mean everything—before it…More
Feel Connected
Be the first to initiate, text, call, zoom. Just because you’re in isolation doesn’t mean you need to be isolated. You can be connected, connecting, loved, loving. Reach out to your friends, family, colleagues, neighbors. Ask them how they’re doing. Wish them well. And the loneliness you feel will somehow feel far less lonely. You’ll…More
How you can be a good friend when life sucks
Being a good friend isn’t easy, but it’s simple: Just show up. Last week I went to a funeral for my good friend’s dad. And I’ll be honest there was a part of me that wanted to run, shy away, draw back. I’m an introvert (maybe you can relate). Then, there are no guidelines, clear…More
True strength
True strength isn’t about how much weight you can throw around in the gym; rather, it’s about your ability to carry the burdens of others. It’s certainly not about how many people you can hurt, but it’s about those you can heal. The strongest of us shouldn’t spend our energy trying to control anyone else…More
John Pa 