Do you value yourself?  Do you ever feel you aren't valued? I know it's something I feel every time I have an art show and nothing sells, or I talk about my consulting business and the person doesn't hire me. But what if it could be the other way around?...

We all have a choice to feel guilt or appreciation. There is always going to be someone who has less than us, and there is always going to be someone who has more than us. Do you help a sick person by getting sick? The same goes for those that have less...

I originally wrote this to give as my Ice Breaker speech for Toastmasters.  If you hear an accent, it's from Kentucky. Even though I haven't lived there for 28 years, it still rears it's southern-belle head. I am the only in my...

The forested stream curved beside us as we swashed through the shoulder high plants.  I found myself just noticing, "plant with razor-edged leaf, spike of purple protruding from stalk, wood across path, blade of green, light streaming  through the trees,...

I am writing this in memory of my beloved dog Lady.  A friend suggested I get this on paper before I forget those precious last 3 weeks that Lady and I spent together. When I started writing this I never intended to share it, but now I share it for all...

Where do you feel at home? I started wondering this because, well I don't know, I'm just curious. Most people consider home where they grew up. I never felt the place I grew up was home, it was just where I was born. I realized for myself there are three...

It seems to me that when people keep saying that giving is the key to happiness, they are missing the point, the real secret. We have been told ad nauseum to put others before ourselves. But as in the oxygen on the airplane scenario, we can't if we aren't...

What if safety comes from within not from without? Is it our expectation that others behave a certain way that makes us feel unsafe? For example, I feel safer in the woods by myself, than I do around people. I know what to expect there, wildlife is...

What would you do if you were Free?  I like to ask myself this question occasionally. "What would I do if I were free?" Often our minds will come up with all kinds of defenses. "I'm not free, I don't have all the money I need, I have to work." But what I...

Never Be Sorry This was the first recommendation I was told after giving my first speech at Toastmasters. Never Be Sorry, your apology buried what you said after that. How often do you apologize for what you've done or said or just for your presence? Some...