She didn’t eat healthily and she didn’t follow her purpose.
“It’s not about purpose. It’s not about healthy eating. It’s not about rest, or relationships, or religion or exercise. I only have two secrets that helped me live to 103-years old.”
The woman on the tv screen was mesmerizing. My dad and I sat together smiling, hanging onto her every word. She lived on this earth for more than a century, but her face was barely wrinkled. She stood without a hunch. She spoke without any slurred speech or delay. Mentally, she seemed as fit as I am.
There must have been something that led to this kind of sustained…
It all starts with these three questions
With slippery hands gently clutched around my knees, back curled over ninety-degrees, face looking down into the scalding cement pavement, I focused on catching my breath and wiping off the ovular drops of sweat that were relay-racing from the top of my forehead down into my eyes and congregating just above my top lip.
I straightened out, put my hands over my head to give my lungs some expansion room, let out a booming exhale and turned up the volume on the little voice that was offering words of wisdom inside my ears.
That’s when I heard a phrase that…
“I wish I was more willing to forgive.”
“There was blood everywhere. But wait, let me backtrack.”
“This piercing voice was screaming so loudly that I could hear her from the second floor. She lives on the fourth. I’m a nurse, so when I hear somebody screeching, “Heeeeelp! Heeeeelp!” I spring into action. I jolted out of my apartment and checked all the rooms on my floor. Then I sprinted up the stairs to the third floor. The screaming wasn’t coming from there either.
I raced up to the fourth floor, and I heard it loud and clear. “Help! Help me right now!” I crept into apartment 4F…
The lessons hidden inside my grandfather’s back left pocket.
There’s something to be said about a person who listens more than he speaks — a man whose actions are much louder than the sound of his voice. A man like this is rare, but when you find him, make sure to take note. I know I did. That’s because this man was my grandpa, David.
My grandfather taught me how to tie my shoes. He taught me how to scrape every last piece of meat off the bone of a spare rib. He taught me how to be kind.
But there was no greater lesson I learned from my…
A lil’ story about morning routines
This story is not 100% true but is loosely based on events from my own life. Thus, I will be sharing in the first person.
I still had my shoes on. I was on top of my covers, jeans, sweater, heavy jacket all covering my body. The sun peeked through my window and poked at my eyes, but I shut them even tighter. I could hear my roommates begin to shuffle around their rooms to get their days started. I shut my eyes even tighter.
I struggled to kick my shoes off and was startled by the sound of my…
Lean in to unpredictability.
The seventh time Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning coincided with the 22nd time he had to hit a bear with a stick.
But let me backtrack a few years.
Getting struck by lightning is out of our control. The weather is out of our control. Getting attacked by a bear and having to hit it with a stick is largely out of our control.
In 1942, Roy Sullivan, a Shenandoah Park Ranger recorded the first time he was struck by lightning. He claims he was also struck as a kid, but he didn’t report it, so it goes undocumented…
A lil’ story about following your curiosity.
“So, tell me a little bit about who you are, and describe your relationship with Ollie.”
“Antonio, aren’t you forgetting something?”
Antonio tilts his head like a confused puppy hearing barks coming from the TV. The woman across from him raises her eyebrows and points her eyes to the tripod that’s facing her. Embarrassed, Antonio springs up quickly. He blushes, and he approaches the camera to remove the lens and hit record. He composes himself and sits down.
“Ok.” He smiles. “Now tell me a little bit about who you are and describe your relationship with Ollie.”
The woman tucks…
A lil’ book about manifestation
“You have the ability to make anything you want in your life come to fruition.”
“Screw that noise.” Megan whispered as she rolled her eyes and slammed her laptop closed. She’d heard enough self-help advice and woo woo nonsense for one day. She needed to make a change, but she needed something real, not abstract.
But to Megan’s surprise, although her laptop was shut, the volume continued to play, and she could hear the man on her computer continue to give his speech.
“You have the power to make your dreams a reality.” He stopped and revealed a goofy smile.
…
