As we go through life, people come in and out of our lives along the way. Some seem to stick and others are there just for a fleeting moment, serving their purpose for the time. It is truly amazing that along the way we build this cadre of people that seem to always be a part of our lives in one way or another. We may go periods of time without interacting with them, but they are always there. When we have the opportunity to interact with them again, it is as… Read More

It is unfortunate that today we have to search to find love and compassion. In the 24 hour news cycle that thrives on presenting us all the bad news of the day, we have to search to find any story of good, which is often presented in the last two minutes of the nightly broadcast. Bad news sells. Good news and stories of love and compassion are relegated to the middle of the paper, often in a column surround by ads four times the size and stories that are far less positive…. Read More

Most people will tell you that when I was growing up as a kid I was really funny. I can remember driving down the road with my family and I would either say something, or do something crazy that would have everyone in stitches. This was especially true when I was in the company of my Aunt Gail. We had this combined magic for creating laughter that would just set everyone off. Not to mention that I was quite the prankster. My granny would tell stories of things that I would do… Read More

Something special happened this weekend that warmed the heart and certainly helped strengthen my face in humanity. One can only understand the importance and power of this moment when you have encountered or interacted with a an individual like my niece Courtney who has Down’s Syndrome. I have had the privilege of being part of the lives of two Down’s Syndrome children in my family and know first hand the affect and power they have on your life. Down’s Syndrome children are truly a gift from God and a lesson for all… Read More

One of my favorite values that my company that I work for lives by is “the future is bright”. Through innovation and team work there is nothing that we can not accomplish together and tomorrow always brings another opportunity for something great. Such is the same in our personal lives. Every morning is a clean slate of opportunity for us to pursue our dreams and future. What we make of it and the ability to be successful lies totally within our control. Dreams are an incredibly important part of our future. They… Read More

We are born with a clean slate with the possibility to become anything that we want to be. Along the path of life we try, succeed and fail until we become the person that we are destined to be. However, I do not believe that that destiny is pre-ordained. While there are aspects of our life that are pre-determined, our parents for example, the person that we ultimately become is the person that we decide to be. There are often people who believe that they have been dealt a bad hand in… Read More

How often do we find ourselves supporting and believing in other people on a regular basis? Someone has a set a goal that you help them achieve. Someone is striving to accomplish something and we prop them up and support them to help make their dream a reality. People share their talents and we support them by attending their events. We muster any amount of energy to help them be successful. However, how much of that energy to do we put out when it comes to ourselves? So many times in our… Read More

Several times in my past posts I have referred to the importance of setting goals. They are necessary part of creating a path to success and they help us navigate the road that is required to achieve that which we desire. Being successful in our pursuit gives us the strength we need to set new and even harder goals. Failing gives us the tools we need to regroup and learn from that which kept us from being successful. When we started out in the Bring Smiles to Seniors program our first year… Read More

Yesterday, I was watching CBS News in the morning and caught a story that was done on college students who are homeless. Individuals who came from varied backgrounds, many that had never had a family member that went to college, getting what assistance they could to make a better life for themselves. These were students who had no place to put their head at night, yet they persevered through their studies, sometimes making the deans list in their pursuit of a better life. One of the stories was about a young lady… Read More

Our minds are clever things. They are the one thing in our life that will always listen when we speak to it. It is always on, always receiving and willing to take in what ever we want to feed it. What it gets fed is totally up to us. It is that food that shapes who we are, how we act and ultimately the person that we become. We can never underestimate the power of our thoughts. Our minds tend to believe what ever we tell it. If we choose to feed… Read More