Short but Sweet

Sometimes the shortest conversations yield the most abundant harvests. I had two such conversations yesterday and it is my pleasure to give a snippet of each, along with my resultant realizations, in hopes that your lives are enriched in the sharing. The first conversation was with a woman who was filled with an infectious spirit …

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The Courage to Face Ingratitude V

"Man should not be an automatic gas-machine, cleverly contrived to release a given quantity of illumination under the stimulus of a nickel. He should be like the great sun itself which ever radiates light, warmth, life and power, because it cannot help doing so. Because these qualities fill the heart of the sun, and for …

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The Hungers of Life II

"Hunger is the voice of a void. It is Nature demanding her rights. It is the restless insistent cry of an instinct, clamouring to be satisfied. There are four great hungers of life,—body-hunger, mind-hunger, heart-hunger and soul-hunger. They are all real; all need recognition; all need feeding. The claim of a hungry body has right …

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The Right Door

"You never know till you try to reach them how accessible men are; but you must approach each man by the right door." ~ Henry Ward Beecher Office dynamics are fascinating. Put a bunch of unrelated people together in a pressure cooker environment and you have a recipe for a complex blend of interpersonal relationships. …

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Constant Transformation

"When one door closes another door opens, but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." ~ Alexander Graham Bell A lovely letter accompanied the recent mailing of a catalog I enjoy perusing and I am compelled this morning to …

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Your Inner Life

My Inner Life by Robert William Service 'Tis true my garments threadbare are, And sorry poor I seem; But inly I am richer far Than any poet's dream. For I've a hidden life no one Can ever hope to see; A sacred sanctuary none May share with me. Aloof I stand from out the strife, …

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The Open Doors

The first step to effective problem-solving is to realize that a problem is nothing more than an unassembled solution. The more challenging problems typically require more intricate solutions, yet on occasion you might have the good fortune to resolve a complex and seemingly insoluble matter with stroke of genius. When you approach a new challenge …

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What is education?

"The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life." ~ Plato The transition into the 20th century was a watershed event for both medicine and education. Over the course of a few decades, medical education and the system of primary and secondary education employed in our nation relinquished their classical …

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The Confidence to Let Go

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." ~ Dr. Seuss As a follow-up to yesterday's post, Release your inner Bitter Betty, I'd like to share my thoughts on another key to living an uncommon life. How you handle the end of a day, project or chapter in your life is almost as important …

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Release your inner Bitter Betty

I've initiated a number of personnel changes in my companies over the last couple of days, all of which are internal moves designed to improve our ability to make it easier for our clients to do business with us. Much to my delight, everyone involved met the opportunities with a clean, vibrant and enthusiastic first …

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