gratitude

December 24, 2025

Does It Really Count?

Everything done in love

Beyond the boundaries of ego-driven, self-absorption

Counts for someone

Whether we know it or not.

Mostly we don’t know it

Because of the distracting minutia

That steals the time and effort it requires to say so

Or, frankly, because saying so may be humbling or scary.

And we may not remember how much it meant to us

When someone made the simple effort to

Put love first–hands and heart held so wide open

With the offer of such an important gift.

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Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

July 2, 2020

Have You Ever Made a Grape?

“Have you ever made a grape?”

“A what?”

“You know. Tiny sweets in edible packages

Stuck on the end of intricate branches

Growing in clusters on thickened vines

Sun-cooked ready for food or wine.

The outsides are tough and the insides soft–“

“But, wait–how do people get them off?”

“It’s so cool. Attached on the end of each branch is a tool!

It simply releases the grape with a delicate pull,

While protecting and preserving the glistening skin 

Until–Voila! There’s a consumer’s mouth to pop it in.”

“But never mind, your face is so pained with questions.

Forget I even mentioned that impossible invention.”

Amazon.com: The sun, with all those planets revolving a ...

April 9, 2020

To Those Who Serve…

Hero Quotes

“…A hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people.” – Maya Angelou

 

Deeds germinating unnoticed In ego-less soil

Their chant vibrating indiscriminately 

A better place, a better place, a better place

Not just for people we prefer

Not just for people who are like us

Not just for people who can give something in return

 

(Written in gratitude for the many selfless health care workers on the front line)

January 31, 2020

Need Something More?

Have you ever been amazed that a tiny puppy can hold so much energy and spirit in such a small body?

Or noticed the spark of life that unfolds a tiny flower?

Or the speed of a bug’s legs?

Or the life-force present in a single meal devoured in a couple of minutes?

Walking on a frigid morning, I noticed the sun radiating so strongly off an apartment window that it felt like fire on my face. Yet, I had not thought about the power of this same life-force within my own body and mind.

Today, I recognize that this life-force is at my service, is waiting for me to recognize it, has been summoned for my use, and can make a powerful difference in the world.

kaboom

Original Post 2012

June 3, 2019

Rare and Aware

Fresh out of the battery-charger (bed) this morning, I walked around my home with awareness.

I touched each item in my path and let my mind run the credits reminding me who was behind each item. Every book, knick-knack, fixture, photo, painting, coffee cup, piece of furniture, plant…everything had a story for me, telling of the people who had made it, or taught me, or loved me, or assisted me in some way to acquire it.

It was a simple exercise that didn’t take long, yet it lit up the day for me, illuminating that scenic path that usually runs unnoticed along the interstate of existence.

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April 8, 2019

It Is Enough

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“To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.”
― T.S. Eliot

Tim Ferriss passed this quote along in his Five-Bullet Friday email. It is an important quote for me to remember.

So often I review my day with disdain for the smallness of my existence rather than with a smile at the useful things I did, the courageous things I said (or the chicken-shit things I didn’t say), and the amazing beauty I was privileged to see, hear, or touch.

My wish for myself and others is that we would believe this quote enough to stop chasing an image of success that sucks the life out of those useful, courageous, and beautiful moments.

April 6, 2015

Thank-Yous Are Never Too Late

Many years after Sister Miriam Therese Winter was helped by a little girl through a tragic situation in Ghana, she returned. Wanting to repay the kindness of long ago, she bought some cloth and asked a poor woman to make a dress for the daughter who stood beside her on the street.

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In 1967, a wealthy, young woman died of alcoholism. She donated her home and twenty million dollars for a rehab center benefitting women with addiction. Almost fifty years later, someone I love is there. Thank you.

Twenty-eight years ago, attempting to recover from a back injury, my doctor-friend coaxed me into doing one painful sit-up. Today, that advice has given me back health. I don’t think he knows that everyday, during my sit-ups, I breathe a thank-you-Greg.

 

December 2, 2014

Yes, I Have No Agenda

How wonderful it is to meet someone who really sees me and not merely their agenda for me.

How rare it is to meet someone who is not too busy to notice all that we have in common.

How refreshing it is meet a stranger who has eyes of maturity and kindness.

How peaceful it is to meet someone who values others for who they are instead of what can be gained from them.

How impressive it is to meet someone who remains the same through joy and pain.

How thankful I am for the people I have met in the world who are agenda-less.

i am

 

September 8, 2014

The Gravity of Gravity

The love Sandra Bullock’s character showed for gravity at the end of the movie Gravity was a reminder to me to be thankful for yet another thing that I take for granted; my two feet planted firmly on this familiar earth.

The movie also reminded me about the gravity of the life that I live:

  • The fragile nature of my relationships
  • How quickly things can and will change
  • How help comes to us in miraculous ways
  • The importance of not running away or giving up
  • The power of hope

Whether this day brings me sadness or joy, I am certain of this, inspiration for living productively is all around me, waiting for me to notice it.

I’ll start by looking down.

gravity

gravity2

 

 

 

August 13, 2014

I Felt the Magic

As I effortlessly sucked in another life-sustaining breath

I thought about the designer or this state-of-the-art machine

And the Mind that initiated this automation that breathes and breathes and continues to breathe

My body, a product of the collaboration of angels and mortals

A production that has worked for many years longer than the car, refrigerator, and the computer combined

And has even healed itself without a repair man at times;

This amazing, creative article that creates and is responsive to my environment

Capable of growth and change

And so much more than I have so far grasped

Or given it credit for.

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