We just finished watching a Netflix film entitled, “Rising Phoenix.”

It is the incredible story of those born without limbs who go on to participate as a Paralympian.

A man born without arms wins a silver medal in archery at the Rio Olympics. He loads the arrow into the bow with the toes on his left foot and aims and triggers the bow with his right foot.

Each athlete in the film has a personal story of coping with and overcoming terrible handicaps along the winding path to victory witnessed by millions around the world.

While watching the film, I asked myself, “So, what do you have to complain about?”

A happy life must be lived with perspective!

Despite our day-to-day difficulties, we must live with gratitude for the many blessings that have come our way.

This blog is now on LinkedIn and Facebook. I got a message from a man living in Uganda.

I asked him how his life is going and he replied, “I thank God for my life, but we have no food!”

Count your blessings!!!!

Hope keeps you healthier and happier!

Yes, in these times of uncertainty, we must proceed with HOPE in our hearts

This is easier said than done. The future is less predictable than it ever was.

Covid 19, climate change, a weak economy, job uncertainty, an election year tests each of us.

So what is the best response to all of this? It absolutely is not despair!

No, the best way to avoid despair is to do something positive each day. The most positive thing you can do is to put a smile on your face and spread a little kindness to everyone you greet.

Begin, of course with family members. Your children and grand children are always watching you and learning from you.

Show them how to live a life filled with hope for all your tomorrows. The same goes for the way you treat co-workers.

The best way to have hope is to look at what you have, not what you don’t have!

If not today, when?

Family has always been an important thing to me since I was little. (Joshua Crawford)

When you’re a kid you really don’t understand too much about life, but you just go day by day as happy as you can be.

When you start getting older you realize that family is really important, but as you grow up, you’re not always going to have the chance to see all of your family like you used to.

People take life and their families for granted and don’t appreciate everything they do for them.

You have to learn that you need to cherish every moment with your family as much as possible because it’s going to hurt when you lose one of your family members.

Once you experience that, you never take them for granted again.

Kindness to family members, even if you disagree with some, is essential for your own happiness!

If not today, when?

An avalanche of women (and men) continues revealing sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. This story is about kindness in the workplace or rather the lack thereof.

There is the story of an IT executive in the financial industry. She had just left a position she’d held for five years and was wisely taking a break to reflect on where she was in her life.

Even though she found herself somewhat uncertain about her next steps, one thing was crystal clear to her. She stated that she would consider working only for a company that fosters kindness in the workplace.

This woman executive claimed that instead of kindness at work she has too often experienced backstabbing, competition, and “I’m in it for me” attitudes from co-workers.

This time around she’s adamant that she will not settle for an unkind workplace in her next job, even though that narrows the options considerably.

How do you behave at work?

Give yourself a break!

We are usually hard on ourselves because we’re very aware of our own shortcomings.

Don’t do that!!

The world will be hard enough at times. So, you don’t have to “pile on!”

If there are quirks in your personality that need to be improved upon, then go about working on them. Just remember, however, nobody else is perfect either.

And never, never allow others’ opinions to dictate the course of your life. You have to live with yourself 24/7, so why not live with someone you like, even love?

Your very existence is a gift from God. So, do what we all do when receiving a gift, appreciate it and be thankful.

So, be kind to yourself. You only go around once.

Go on your terms!

If not today, when?

his is Nancy’s story. The Salvation Army was looking for volunteers to “man” the food trucks that went out into the neighborhoods of Detroit. So, I volunteered and was on a food truck within a week. There were four of us (one of us was a photographer), two to serve and one to drive.The meals being served were quite complete with food that had been prepared in The Salvation Army kitchen in downtown Detroit.

What amazed me was where the homeless people lived. We would pull up to an abandoned building with the windows broken out and surrounded by litter. When the people heard the truck, out they came.

There were single people, old people and families with children. I don’t know how they lived in those buildings, but they were living there. They came out happily and eagerly, especially the children. We were advised not to touch the people, but I couldn’t resist. How could I hand them a plate without giving their hand a soft touch?

They noticed too. There was nothing to be afraid of. They were beautiful and it was my privilege to serve them. We spent about four hours driving through a planned route. The truck did not go to every neighborhood every day, but the people seemed to know when to expect it.

What can you do?

If not today, when?

This photo, which appeared in the Detroit News in the Fall of 2010, shows a player adjusting his helmet so another player could use it. The article went on to explain that the high schools in the City of Detroit did not have access to the amount of funding required to allow those students, who wanted to enter a sport, to do so due to the lack of proper equipment and salaries for coaches.

All our children and grandchildren, who attended suburban schools, participated in various sports which were adequately funded.

We were moved by the injustice of the situation in Detroit. Thus, began a ten year adventure for Nancy and me that still persists to this day.

The closest Detroit high school to our home was Henry Ford High School which was fifteen miles away. We called the school and asked to speak to the athletic director. We told him we had seen the story in the paper and wanted to help. After meeting with him, we met with the head football and basketball coaches.

We purchased new cleats, jerseys, pants, helmets and varsity jackets for the football players and appropriate equipment for the basketball players. The 2011 team went undefeated in the regular season and played in the city championship game at Ford Field. I became the special teams coach for the football team and remained in that capacity from 2010 through the 2012 season.

We also established an academic jacket award for the top 20 students in the senior class. The jackets were awarded at a banquet attended by the families of the winners. Fifteen of the academic award winners were girls.

Upon leaving high school, two of the football players fell into homelessness and very hard times. One of them lived with us for three years before joining the Navy. For the last nine years, we have been helping both of them and although their lives are still a struggle, they are moving forward.

A true story.

A cabbie on the night shift drove to an address.

A little lady in her nineties appeared. She was dressed for the 1940’s.

She told him everyone she had known was dead and she was going to a hospice.

She asked him to drive into Manhattan for memory sake. He turned off his meter.

She showed him an empty warehouse that was a ballroom where she went dancing and an office building where she was an elevator operator.

Afterward, he drove to the hospice.

As he helped her out, he hugged her and she wouldn’t let go.

She thanked him for seeing those joyful memories.

As the hospice door closed, he felt it was the closing of a life.

As he drove around thinking of her, he realized he was born to take her on that cab ride!