Author Archives: Guest Blogger
ARE YOU A YES-AHOLIC? TRY THIS 12-STEP CURE
Every time you say yes, you give away a piece of yourself. It’s a commitment of time, energy, brainpower and bandwidth. If you are operating at full capacity, there is little margin for error. When you experience a spike in demand, something must inevitably drop off the list. For someone who is a YES-aholic, prone to taking on new commitments, the aspect of reneging can be particularly painful. Instead of one big up-front no, there can be a recurring chain of NO, SORRY,… Read More
CONFESSION OF A PROFESSIONAL OPTIMIST!
I try to hide it, but most of the time I‘m my Father’s son, and his glass was neither half-empty nor half-full—it was overflowing. His generation of our family overcame poverty, prejudice and struggle. They experienced a Depression and a World War. Of my father’s six siblings, one was institutionalized for over fifty years, two were incarcerated after felony convictions. A sister-in-law was murdered. In my generation we have experienced great successes but also overdose, suicide and AIDS—the last… Read More
SEEING STARS ANEW
My favorite health benefit of smoking cigars is the opportunity they offer simply to think. A few nights ago, I mulled over Paul’s recent blog on love and home with a Cusano 18 under the stars. The meditation on gratitude, trust, and starlight brought to mind one of my favorite Robert Frost poems, A Question: A voice said, Look me in the stars And tell me truly, men of earth, If all the soul and body scars Were not too… Read More
GLADNESS AND GRATITUDE
I didn’t see it happen. I only saw what happened afterwards. The morning was Hawaii paradise picture perfect (and if you’ve ever been here, you know what that means). I was overtly gladdened by the clarity of the blue sky, the low tide, the soft breeze, the warming sun. I start to say I was ‘grateful’ for the day, but that isn’t accurate because there is no one to whom to be grateful. It just is. Glad not grateful. Clarity… Read More
BUILDING TRUE WEALTH – DR. DAN’S THREE ECONOMIES
Thank you Paul Williams and Tracey Jackson for having blessed and enriched us all with the new website “Gratitude and Trust ”. I look forward to reading the 2014 release of your book as well. I am honored and grateful again in accepting your invitation to become a Gratitude and Trust guest author. In this first writing I plan to share some simple secrets of building true wealth. I hope by the time you finish reading this that you… Read More
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE DONUT AND NOT UPON THE HOLE
When my daughter, Nava, was diagnosed with neurological disabilities 30 years ago, I grieved my heart out with anger, bitterness, resentment and total sadness. The dream and hope of that perfect baby was shattered. My child would have life-long disabilities, the extent of which would be revealed with time. Along with all the therapies in which I engaged my daughter, I threw myself into my own therapeutic journey with the hope of pulling myself out of my hole of despair.… Read More
RECYCLED, REDUCED AND REUSED
We all go through challenges in life that make us feel like we’re being put through the wringer or that we’re being processed. Some of us are a bit more graceful than others and can get through the experience a lot faster. Since we’re all environmentally concerned I found the best way to describe one of the challenges in my life is by using “The Triple R” which is recycling, reducing and reusing. For something to be RECYCLED means… Read More
THE GIVEAWAY
There is a Native American teaching that reflects trust and gratitude in a pronounced yet simple way. It is called The GiveAway. I came to learn about this teaching when I stumbled by divine accident into this particular path to Spirit over 20 years ago, and began my journey from apprentice to Sundancer with a Shoshone-Bannock Elder many years later. This path to Spirit is often referred to as Walking the Red Road. The teaching of the GiveAway is… Read More
I CHOSE NOT TO AGREE
This is our first guest blogger. It’s a very special blog on a very special day. Today is blogger Robert Levithan’s 62nd birthday. When you read his inspiring story you will understand why this day is so very special. Happy Birthday Bobby and many, many more! In 1994 my life expectancy was two years, My immune system had crashed.. I was 43 and had tested positive for HIV in 1984 (as part of a study—before the test was available to the… Read More