InSpiritry

“This is where I get most of my negative thinking done.”

New Yorker cartoon of a woman showing buyers her home office

Economically and environmentally, for Americans the past three years have been difficult, at best. Even those whose jobs were secure and finances healthy have felt the impact: government cuts to essential programs, neighbors who had to sell their homes, friends who were unemployed, new carcinogens and ever worsening global warming. Worst of all, the nightly news reminds us how bad things are. All that in addition to our personal  challenges.

In times like these, optimism is hard to summon. The cartoon I quoted above is not far from the truth — we often get so trapped in worrying that we can’t do Good Work! (more…)

“Don’t discourage anyone who is making progress, no matter how slow.”   Plato

This has been one of those weeks when I have been busy all week, but the stack of unfinished projects on my desk suggests otherwise. While I had every intention of completing the items on my to-do list, I set many of them aside to do other things. I took on new commitments and attended important events. Mostly, I gave time to relationships and met several new friends, so it has been a good week. (more…)

“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 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…)

In several conversations of late, I have been reminded of how overpowering the world’s problems seem to most of us. We would like things to be better, but global situations like terrorist threats, war, extreme poverty, religious persecution, human rights and famine seem, well…just too global!

Maybe there’s our answer. We keep our perspective at a global level. What if we reduce the world’s terrible dilemmas to personal proportions — to our everyday lives? Maybe then, we can see that we really can “make a difference.” (more…)

For many of us, this week signals the start of a new school year.  Ahhh, summer is over, whether we are students, teachers, administrators, librarians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, parents or just commuters who pass through school zones.

For my part these many years later, I can still recall the smell of new books and old classrooms and almost hear the shrill exultation of that first period bell! I certainly can remember the nervousness and delight of trying new things (phonics, 3 digit numbers, cursive writing, volley ball, geometry proofs, Old English, Chemistry experiments, frog dissection…).

For those of you involved in education, I celebrate your commitment to the sacred task of empowering young hearts and minds. (more…)

The latest issue of Greater Good Magazine  is out,  and I want to recommend not only the magazine as a whole but also a specific article in this edition: “Mindful Kids, Peaceful Schools.”

The piece echoes one I read a few months ago in another of my favorite magazines, Ascent, a Canadian publication. That article was entitled, “The New ABCs – Awareness, Balance & Compassion.” (more…)

Posted by Anne McCrady 

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This morning was one of those days when I woke up with a sense of needing more than ever to make a difference in the world.  Rising early, I decided to try to connect with people who use the internet as their call for help. Surfing Technorati, reading blog after blog of entries of folks I don’t know, I could almost hear people speaking their concerns out loud, like having a receiver tuned to the disparate voices in the digital cosmos.

One thing became perfectly obvious: there are a lot of folks who need to share their burdens: death, disappointment, failure, loneliness, inability to change, sickness, heartache, fear. Reading their very honest and open posts, I wanted to reach out to each one to lend encouragement or say the best thing we can say to one another, “Me too.” (more…)