Yearly Archives:: 2014

3 Reasons For An Essential Break

July 18th, 2014
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I’ve been cranky.  I’ve been restless.

I need a time out.

Don’t send me to a corner.  Instead, please send me to the beach.

beach kites

The beach is my healing place.  My happy place.

It’s the place where I fill up my emotional reserves (which are now entering the red warning zone indicating that I am almost out of fuel and will soon be operating on fumes) and also let all of the kinks and stress knots in my body unwind and hopefully disappear.

This is my wordy way of telling you that I am going on vacation and intend to … Read More

Malala Day – #StrongerThan

July 14th, 2014
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Today is not just any Monday in July. It is July 14:  Malala Day.  A day of celebrating inner strength and courage. I find strength through my connections with my family, friends and my faith and I hope you too have figured out your own emotional support system that helps you sustain a spirit of hope and get to the other side of those tough and challenging times that life sends our way. Malala Yousafzai Besides those core resources, I also draw strength from other people that I have never met and don’t know personally at all.  Other people that… Read More

The Happiness Journey

July 11th, 2014
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Hey there Resilient Readers! A friend sent me the following quote yesterday and I liked it so much I wanted to share it with you right away. I hope this thought carries you through today and many days to come:   “Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”  Denis Waitley Boxes of Freshly Picked RosesBy Sheila Hayes  … Read More

Louis Zamperini

July 9th, 2014
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It is worth noting the recent and sad passing of 97-year-old Louis Zamperini, a man whose life story was defined by his spirit of resilience. Everyone encounters challenges and traumas in their lives but Zamperini’s were of a sort that would have crushed most people.  No matter what came his way — imprisonment during World War II, torture, substance abuse, he never gave up. To me, his life is a unique resource.  When the Japanese capture him, and he is held captive and tortured, he digs deep within himself and finds a way to go on, even though he is… Read More

Musical Strength

July 7th, 2014
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Music can be an unexpected source of strength. Athletes use songs and soundtracks to help them focus prior to competition.  It’s pretty common to see athletes staring straight ahead in the locker room with their ear buds in place or warming up with ear buds and you know that whatever they are listening to is helping them get into some kind of a performance zone, taking them to a place where they can block out unnecessary thoughts and noise. I know that when I go for a walk or a run or a combination of the two, that listening to… Read More

Independent Behavior

July 4th, 2014
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Happy Fourth of July! Today I will be spending the day with friends I have known for decades; really great, tried and true friends.  There will be a cookout along with patriotic music, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, fireworks and best of all, relaxation. This 4th of July party is an annual event and one that I and the rest of my friends look forward to attending every year, rain or shine. ( http://crylaughheal.com/independence-day ) There are only a few times I purposely missed attending this party.  For two summers in a row, after my husband’s death, I… Read More

Final Resting

June 30th, 2014
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When my husband died, (No matter how much times goes by, I still feel strange typing those awful words), our family felt comfortable choosing a traditional way of saying good-bye to him and paying our final respects: he was laid to rest in a beautiful coffin and we held a lively wake and Catholic Mass so that everyone could gather and share their precious memories of his short time with us. At that blurry point, our son and I were in the most vulnerable condition of our lives and so was everyone else who loved and adored him.  He was… Read More

Summer Squirt

June 27th, 2014
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On the last Friday in June, here’s something to think about:    The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and with out fear for newer and richer experience                             ~   Eleanor Roosevelt… Read More