Be Open to the Moments

It was a very special day.  My two grandsons were to be baptized.  The service opened with the hymn Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.  We were sitting so close to the choir and church organ you could feel the music.  As we sang the last word “praise”, a tiny voice in the middle of our pew kept singing.  It resounded throughout the church, and instantly I was filled with the joy of knowing my oldest grandson had been touched by the moment.  In his book The Exquisite Risk, Nepo describes tumbling into moments that become “an all-encompassing atmosphere of Spirit”, almost missed.  Be open to the sacredness of life today.    

Memorial Day 2014

The feelings and memories always come back around Memorial Day, some of their names and faces I remember; some are just the wail of medevac copter blades.  MaryBeth was having a hard time understanding why I wanted some along time, until I couldn’t hold back the tears.  We were all so young, invincible, and naive about life and war.  Sunday, my two Houston grandsons were baptized, and as we prayed for their young souls, I realized, as I do every Memorial Day, how precious life is, a gift not to be wasted.  Today, don’t waste a minute of the gift called life. 

Stuck in Desert Storm

Billy fought in Desert Storm with the 101^st Airborne Division and Saturday I skated over to the bicycle shop where he works to thank him for serving his country.  He’s got a beard, 3ft ponytail, and airborne tattoos, rides a bike 12 miles to work, rents a room by the week, and is 150lbs over weight.  He hated the Army, the war, but he’s stuck in Desert Storm.  The Roman poet Persius said it best, “We consume our tomorrows fretting about our yesterdays.” Today reach for tomorrow with what you learned through your yesterdays. 

CanCare's Survivor Day

Yesterday, I had the honor of attending the CanCare’s 20^th Cancer Survivor Day Luncheon with MD Anderson’s Survivorship team.  The keynote was Navy Captain Mark Kelly, astronaut, cancer survivor, and husband of Gabby Gifford.  He talked about his career as a Gulf War pilot, astronaut, and the Arizona assassination attempt killing 6, wounding 13, and leaving Gabby with a gunshot to her head.  His message was about the power of passion, courage, hope, and resilience when life has us fighting back.  But he also told a love story between Gabby and himself, and their love of life.  Fall back in love with life today!

Far More Possibilities

Amazing Place Houston

They sat in the booth behind me, he was very thin, wore an oxygen bottle, and I could hear their conversation about his dysphagia, a condition that interferes with swallowing. My last meeting for the day was at Amazing Place, a wellness center for those with mild to moderate memory loss.  I couldn’t help but think about all those times I’d had a hard time swallowing life, letting go, moving on and opening myself up to far more possibilities.  I stood; we talked for a few minutes about our cancers and as I walked away I realized he’d let go of his fear and opened himself up for far more possibilities.  Be open to life today. 

Inside-Out Living

I finished teaching my webinar on “aging well” last night a little after 7pm. After the phone and computer connections were broken I sat surrounded by my words about learning to thrive by living inside-out.  I’d ended the webinar by talking about when I was the family bedtime story teller; connecting with moments filled with love, joy and so far away from the rat race.  We all have these precious moments inside of us, waiting to be recalled to ground us in the calmness of our own well-being.  Thrive today through inside-out living. 

Hurricane Gifts

By the time I was out of the neighborhood I realized it was raining hard, not a scooter day, but I was already halfway to work.  A gust of wind and rain hit my face and I was a little boy again, dragging a mattress with my mom and sister to the hallway for cover, listening to the horrifying sounds of a hurricane.  I was really scared and kept thinking this had to be the worst night of my life.  But then I’m under the mattress in the warmth of my mother’s arms and she’s replaced my bad thoughts with her love.  As a cancer survivor I’ve learned there are no bad days anymore.  Be mindful today of the gifts each day brings.      

Mother's Day Love

Saturday, we celebrated an early mother’s day, lunch and a museum, with MaryBeth’s mom.  After mother day hugs, we headed to our lake house; I was tired and realized I’d wake up early tomorrow without a mom to call.  Sunday, I was up early, scampered across the wood floors like I did so many years ago, expecting to find my mom sitting in her rocker watching the birds.  She wasn’t there, but her love was, and I realized what a privilege I’d had to share in her love for her 51 year life journey.  What a spiritual gift it is to still be sharing her love 40+ years later.  Take time today to be grateful for love. 

Raw Coping Power

I’ve been reading Joel Bennett’s new book, Raw Coping Power: From Stress to Thriving.  He uses a Joseph Campbell quote, “The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.”  It’s my first Army parachute jump, and I am the 1^st jumper.  I walk to the door, look down, and immediately think, “I could die doing this”, green light/jump master yells GO, and I’m still standing at the door.  But after a kick from the jump master, and a perfect jump, I discover I have something inside of me - a spirit that for 66 years has energized my life.  Read the book and learn to “thrive”!

Mind-Body Genomics

Link - Gene Expression Tied to Inflammation

We’ve all been there, those moments in life we want to blink and find it was all just a dream.  But they are real, and challenge our abilities to let go, and cope.  The Relaxation Response (1975) was written a year before I broke my back and reading it changed my prayer and meditation life forever as I laid 6mths in the hospital and spent another 6mths in a full body cast.  Harvard researcher Herbert Benson showed that meditation or prayer with a breathing focus alters the body’s stress response.  His most recent work suggests the relaxation response alters gene expression tied to inflammation.  Take time-out today to deep breath and change your life forever. 

Soulful Intention

Have you noticed how the word “intention” is being used more often to describe individual / team attitudes, purpose or actions?  Yesterday, as I taught and listened to life stories from employees about work life stress, I was reminded of Richard Carlson’s words about soul intention, “less effort is sometimes better….the less significance we give our thoughts, the easier it will be to connect with the deeper parts of ourselves.”  Nourishing the spiritual parts of ourselves enables us to be kinder, gentler, and more compassionate and loving, which brings us joy and happiness.  Be intent on living soulful today.    

Believe

My senior year of high school 11,363 soldiers died in Vietnam, and my school guidance counselor kept bugging me about when I was going to enlist.  I had two close friends, a girl friend, an English teacher that liked my poetry, and a coach that believed in me.  My mother would lose her fight to cancer in less than a year and my dad was bankrupt.  Looking back, I realize the only thing holding my life together was a coach that believed in me.  He gave me a sense of pride for just being me, and recognized/nurtured my endless energy.  Show someone today you believe in them. 

Sprint for Life 2014

All through Saturday’s 17^th Annual Sprint for Life Walk / Run I could feel the tears on the edge of my eyes; MaryBeth and I had a challenging cancer year.  For many years, I’ve served as the start and finish line announcer working to make participants feel connected and special for supporting ovarian cancer research. Thousands walked / ran the 5K, but it was the Tot (under 3) race where my tears finally followed them down the trail as I prayed we end all cancers today.  Hours later, during cleanup a friend turned and said, “It was a good day to be alive”, and I thought it was a good day, filled with the energy and hope to ensure none of the Tots ever face cancer.      

Life Energy

Life is all about the energy we have and share with others along the journey in so many different ways.  I was physically drained from too many days on the road, but days I had been surrounded by the nourishing energy of friends.  Standing at my hotel window in Atlanta watching the sunrise, Rabbi Harold Kushner’s words rang so true, “When your life is filled with the desire to see the holiness in everyday life, something magical happens: ordinary life becomes extraordinary, and the very process of life begins to nourish your soul!”  What kind of energy will you share today in nourishing your soul?  

Empowered by Our Values

It was a two day meeting and I had been the opening keynote with a talk about “whole person living”.  We were in Napa California at a resort that sat on the side of a hillside vineyard.  A light rain danced across the vineyard where only the rabbits and I were up.  I had used George Sheehan’s (author of Running and Being) writings to talk about values and now as I walked in the freshness of a new morning I felt his words, “Individuals are empowered through the commitment and practice of their values”.  I stopped and reflected on the power and passion of my values.  Take time today to reflect on your values.