Reasons for Gratitude

We’re again headed into a Thanksgiving season I wasn’t sure we’d see, not after living through ten years of a spiraling descent into chaos around us. Most of us are sickened by the discord in this country that is caused by foreign interference, exacerbated by all so-called national leaders involved … Read more…

Terrifying Wildfires

Pain almost swallows you when you try to write – about anything – when your next door-neighborhoods have residents running for their lives from the horror of explosive wildfires!  You know that only by the Grace of God has your section of a sprawling metropolis been spared so far. It’s … Read more…

Five Ways Out of Thousands That I’m Fortunate

I consider myself fortunate in thousands of ways. When we truly think about what we have, as well as what we don’t have to deal with, a staggering number of blessings surrounds each of us. This is true even in hard times. Without getting into overlapping circles of gratitude, five … Read more…

Missed Goals? No Big Deal…

Sometimes we stress ourselves out by setting goals that aren’t even ours! It’s hard enough when goals are our choices and we fall short. When they’re not ours, it can be an emotional disaster waiting to happen, depending on just how unrealistic for us they were. Goal setting is always … Read more…

So Much Gratitude

The attitude at this time of year is so much that of gratitude (even enormous gratitude and even from those who are grieving) because of our many large and small blessings. And yet…it is an excruciatingly painful season for those who actually lost a family member or dear friend, especially … Read more…

Happiness is…

It’s difficult to feel happy all the time, unless you’re descended from a long line of pollyannas. Happiness can be elusive. It’s a feeling that can come and go without warning. It’s different from joy which is deep-seated, no matter what else is happening to us. What is Joy? In … Read more…

Little did I know…

Little did I know when I scheduled my last post about grief that before it ever appeared online, my own husband would suddenly pass away. I have been acutely sensitive to those who make thoughtless comments about and to those who are grieving, and I’ve personally lost relatives, friends and … Read more…

Hope Your Mother’s Day Was Happy

This year in the U.S.A. we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the setting aside of Mother’s Day as the second Sunday in May by President Woodrow Wilson. Some mothers would prefer that the government had never started the tradition for all the pain and heartache it has brought them over the decades. … Read more…

Ten Things to be Grateful for – Part 2

I make no pretense of being all things to all people. God Bless Us all in this joyous Christmas season! And so to my final five things to be grateful for: Comprehending that a dear friend in San Diego area, who only gets TV news from The Weather Channel, is … Read more…

Ten Things to be Grateful for – Part 1

Coming off a Thanksgiving season I wasn’t sure we’d see, led into by watching the movie The Secret, it occurred to me last weekend that I did indeed have much to be grateful for as we approach the end of this wild 2010: In today’s excruciating economy, having a job, even one where … Read more…