One of my favorite gifts from Santa this year was a lovely book, "It's Never Too Late: 172 simple acts to change your life".
As we sweep away the remaining hours of 2007, and ponder the arrival of 2008, let us agree to:
Be realistic. Keep the ideals and things which matter to you. Resolve to leave behind the things that don't. Make a few resolutions; challenge yourself. The old adage that "Today is the first day of the rest of your life" is actually true at this time of year. Hard work, a positive attitude and good timing all create good luck.
(Coincidentally, as I write this, the classic song by Judy Garland, "Lucky Day", is playing on the radio here. Take a listen to these lyrics: "Oh boy, I'm lucky. A-ha, I say I'm lucky. I want to shout Hooray! This is my lucky day..."
Go ahead and dare to be lucky in 2008.
Be well.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Count the Blessings, Not the Candles
Anne Marie Eaton's life reads like a novel: fascinating, dramatic, and page-turning! A look back on her last 100 years reveals a life well-lived, rich with great purpose and fullness.
She and her young family fled from Germany at the beginning of WWII, to Atlanta, her only frame of reference coming from the book, "Gone With the Wind". While in Germany, she and her husband, whose family owned a steel mill, lived comfortably. However, upon arrival to Atlanta, they survived on her husband's $15 weekly salary, who found employment as a gofer at a construction site.
Their appreciation of learning motivated them to learn English, and eventually enroll in night classes at Georgia Tech, where Mr. Eaton later taught as a Fulbright professor in industrial engineering from 1948 to 1972.
As a survivor of cancer and stroke, Ms. Eaton continues to live and thrive in the King's Bridge community, where she uses the computer daily, keeping up with local and international news, and also takes aerobics classes three times a week, supplemented by walking a mile each day.
Although she doesn't think of herself as 100 years old, she is thoughtful in her response to why she's lived so long. "I had relatives living into their 90s in the 1700s. It is my lifestyle. I had a wonderful husband, and like all Germans, we yelled like dogs and cats. That is why I'm still here."
Founder of the Life Enrichment Program, Inc. for adults over age 55, Ms. Eaton is now recognized as the oldest living alumna of both Georgia State and Georgia Tech, where she studied Applied Science, Gerontology, and Sociology. She is the author of five books, with another on the way.
To learn more about Ms. Eaton, visit www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=1640
Be well.
She and her young family fled from Germany at the beginning of WWII, to Atlanta, her only frame of reference coming from the book, "Gone With the Wind". While in Germany, she and her husband, whose family owned a steel mill, lived comfortably. However, upon arrival to Atlanta, they survived on her husband's $15 weekly salary, who found employment as a gofer at a construction site.
Their appreciation of learning motivated them to learn English, and eventually enroll in night classes at Georgia Tech, where Mr. Eaton later taught as a Fulbright professor in industrial engineering from 1948 to 1972.
As a survivor of cancer and stroke, Ms. Eaton continues to live and thrive in the King's Bridge community, where she uses the computer daily, keeping up with local and international news, and also takes aerobics classes three times a week, supplemented by walking a mile each day.
Although she doesn't think of herself as 100 years old, she is thoughtful in her response to why she's lived so long. "I had relatives living into their 90s in the 1700s. It is my lifestyle. I had a wonderful husband, and like all Germans, we yelled like dogs and cats. That is why I'm still here."
Founder of the Life Enrichment Program, Inc. for adults over age 55, Ms. Eaton is now recognized as the oldest living alumna of both Georgia State and Georgia Tech, where she studied Applied Science, Gerontology, and Sociology. She is the author of five books, with another on the way.
To learn more about Ms. Eaton, visit www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=1640
Be well.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Satisfy the hunger (for knowledge)
I stumbled across this website (www.freerice.com) by chance today, while researching a typhoid vaccine in advance of an upcoming trip. A visit to the Free Rice site is a fun way to engage your brain and your heart at the same time. Advertisers' dollars and your word-power team together to donate rice for U.N. distribution through the World Food Programme to hungry people in impoverished and devastated countries.
It works like this. You are given a vocabulary word to match with one of four definitions; each correct answer scores 20 grains of rice, and you advance to the next word, which gets progressively more difficult with each round. Miss a word definition, and the site automatically adjusts back two levels. Keep clicking, and keep donating rice: it's that easy and definitely fun. Bookmark it and visit often. Your efforts help quiet the hunger pangs of the needy, while boosting your vocabulary and confidence. Get to work, wordsmiths!
Be well.
It works like this. You are given a vocabulary word to match with one of four definitions; each correct answer scores 20 grains of rice, and you advance to the next word, which gets progressively more difficult with each round. Miss a word definition, and the site automatically adjusts back two levels. Keep clicking, and keep donating rice: it's that easy and definitely fun. Bookmark it and visit often. Your efforts help quiet the hunger pangs of the needy, while boosting your vocabulary and confidence. Get to work, wordsmiths!
Be well.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Dust off your dreams: I dare you!
"There is a time when we must firmly choose the course which we will follow or the endless drift of events will make the decision for us." H. Prochnow
How often is everyday life just that: every day? Do you ever catch yourself wondering, "What happened to this week?... this month... this year?"
How do you continue to find ways:
to challenge your mind,
to push your body,
to expand your awareness?
How do you find ways to make your life more meaningful; does the meaning change as you continue to grow and develop? How do you continue to form bonds with others: are you reaching out to people who are different than you? Are you expanding your circle?
How do you continue to make your life matter? As you allow yourself to dream and do, do you find new ways to influence and learn from others?
"I would rather fail in an attempt at something new and uncharted than safely succeed in a repeat of something I have done." A. E. Hotchner
How comfortable, and how boring, it is to keep our familiar everyday routine. Why are we scared to fail: is pride or fear or other people's expectations standing in our way? Ships weren't made to sit in a harbor, so to move forward, we have to head out, even if the way is unmarked. You can do it!
"We live by hope. We do not always get all we want when we want it. But we have to believe that someday, somehow, some way, it will be better and that we can make it so." Hubert H. Humphrey
I think this is the essence of the human spirit. Have faith!
No matter how old or young you are, it's never too late or too early:
to change your life,
to explore,
to dream,
to try.
Right where you are, right now.
Be well.
How often is everyday life just that: every day? Do you ever catch yourself wondering, "What happened to this week?... this month... this year?"
How do you continue to find ways:
to challenge your mind,
to push your body,
to expand your awareness?
How do you find ways to make your life more meaningful; does the meaning change as you continue to grow and develop? How do you continue to form bonds with others: are you reaching out to people who are different than you? Are you expanding your circle?
How do you continue to make your life matter? As you allow yourself to dream and do, do you find new ways to influence and learn from others?
"I would rather fail in an attempt at something new and uncharted than safely succeed in a repeat of something I have done." A. E. Hotchner
How comfortable, and how boring, it is to keep our familiar everyday routine. Why are we scared to fail: is pride or fear or other people's expectations standing in our way? Ships weren't made to sit in a harbor, so to move forward, we have to head out, even if the way is unmarked. You can do it!
"We live by hope. We do not always get all we want when we want it. But we have to believe that someday, somehow, some way, it will be better and that we can make it so." Hubert H. Humphrey
I think this is the essence of the human spirit. Have faith!
No matter how old or young you are, it's never too late or too early:
to change your life,
to explore,
to dream,
to try.
Right where you are, right now.
Be well.
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