InSpiritry

“There aren’t enough days in the weekend.“       Rod Schmidt

It’s Monday. Again. Time to rise and shine, grab a cup of coffee and a bagel and leave the weekend behind. For some of us, this past weekend was full of time with family and friends.  For some, it was a chance to hit the lake for fishing. Others enjoyed three days of yard work or home repair or a service project. Lots of us spent Sunday in church and maybe even at a church picnic. Many of us went to concerts or had a night out for dinner or had friends over. Of course, some of us were at jobs that don’t stop on Saturday or Sunday. Sadly, a few of us felt compelled to keep working and worrying and waiting for things to change (you know who you are!) (more…)

“When a teenager wants to learn to drive, don’t stand in her way!”

There are many rites of passage for kids growing up in America in the past half century: the first day of school, spending the first night away from home, learning to ride a bike. With each experience, adults help children move away from the safety of home to acquire new skills. Each event is an important step towards independence — that ultimate goal of childhood!

Another of those experiences most of us remember is learning to drive. (more…)

“Everything changes. Nothing remains without change.” Buddha

Our jobs. The economy. The weather. The planet. Our relationships. Our families. Our faces. Everything does change! (more…)

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this…I can take the next thing that comes along.“ 

Eleanor Roosevelt

While none of us wish for fear–and many of us avoid it at all cost–it is true that we grow from experiences that make us feel afraid. (more…)

“We are what we repeatedly do.“   Aristotle

Think about how you spend an ordinary day. Much of our time is filled with things we repeatedly do! Aristotle reminds us that as we take actions over and over again, they become our habit of living and finally our way of being. (more…)

“President Obama has announced that Sonia Sotomayor

is his nominee for the Supreme Court.“ 

Yesterday, after several weeks of consideration, President Obama introduced us to the woman he is nominating as the next Supreme Court Justice. (more…)

“There are a hundred ways 

to kneel and kiss the ground.”

                                                  Rumi

This quote, from the Middle Eastern poet Rumi, hangs above my desk as inspiration. Written to suggest that holiness is not prescribed but can instead be expressed in any number of ways, it is also a mantra for how to live creatively.  (more…)

“When you don’t want to do something

one excuse is as good as another.”

                                                  Yiddish proverb

This quote is a reminder that we have more control over our lives that we would sometimes like to admit!  

Do you have things stay on your to-do lists: paying bills, homework, housework, a phone call, repairs, losing weight, making a life change, serving your community? Many of us claim the reason for things not getting done is lack of time or money or sleep or help or even good weather, but most of the time our excuses don’t hold up to scrutiny. If we’re honest, we know there are things, as the proverb above aptly suggests, we just don’t want to do! 

If you have something you keep putting off, it’s worth doing a self-check to see why. (more…)

 “Human history is in essence a history of ideas.”       

                                                                  H. G. Wells

Most of us, when we look back in time, have periods that intrigue us — prehistoric epochs, Biblical Times, the 1700s, WW II, the 60s. (more…)

“Creativity is a lot like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements — the same ones everyone else sees — but then you reassemble those floating bits and pieces into an enticing new possibility.”

                                                         Rosabeth Moss Kanter 

In this time of financial crisis and the need for innovative solutions, creativity is perhaps the most crucial strategy for our leaders and our communities. Personal problems are no different; sometimes the best approach is to set aside our old conceptions and create new possibilities. (more…)