Time is a Delicate Master

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Time is a delicate master for he rules all things.

Seconds, minutes, hours, years, the changing of the seasons, these are his tools.

He plays favorite to none and does not yield.

So serve him well and he may grant you longevity.
Enjoy each moment for you will never have it again; breathe and notice, touch, smell, taste, laugh often, be joyful and pay attention.
You just grew a little older!

Save the Last Dance for Me

Save The Last Dance for Me

Think of all the people you've met and how they have touched your life or how you have touched theirs.  Even brief encounters, which may have seemed insignificant helped to shape you and them in some way.

Now imagine that today is your last day and God says to you,

"Look at the line of people that stand before you. From this line choose one person with whom you would share your last dance."

Who would that be? Don't be concerned with male or female. 

Pick one.

Can you do it?

Now God says, "Don't pick a family member or dear friend for you have shared many dances together."

Now who would you pick?

Here is my answer.

Years ago, when my daughter turned 16, I chaperoned her birthday weekend in downtown Toronto. On a cold December night, at the stroke of midnight, I found myself sitting on a bench in Nathan Phillip Square watching the girls skate.

As I conversed with my friend, who was brave enough to join me, a young man approached us.

Handsome, warmly dressed and well spoken he said,

"Do you think you can help me out. I'm a little down on my luck right now."

Immediately I thought of my own two sons who would be close to his age.

I reached for a twenty dollar bill and handed it to him.

He leaned over and kissed my cheek.

"Thank you. I want you to know that this will really help. I promise.One day, I'll finish up at UFT and get my degree and I'll never forget you."

This would be my last dance partner.

Set Your Life on Fire

Herein lies the key to our success, to surround ourselves with people who fan our flames.

This is not to say that we need to glorified or validated every waking hour but it does affirm that we should walk with people who appreciate us for who we are and not what we can give them.

It is not how many friends we have but how much we are loved by the few who we share ourselves with.
 Being encircled by like minded people in both our personal and professional lives keeps us true to our life's purpose.

At the end of the day life is a leap of faith. Let's make sure we stoke the right flames.

Let's Talk about Love

Isn't love an amazing word; all it encompasses, the feelings it transmits, the commitments it implies, the devotion, adoration, longevity or brevity of it.

Four letters, one word and a universal understanding of all it implies.

We fall into it, fall out of it, we search for it, we find it, we cherish it, we squander it.

Undoubtedly we cannot live without it.

The Tear of A Woman

A little boy asked his mother, "why are you crying?' "Because I'm a woman," she told him. "I don't understand,” he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will." Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?" "All women cry for no reason," was all his dad could say. The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry. Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?" God said, "When I made the woman she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort. I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children. I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining. I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly. I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart. I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him. And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed." "You see my son," said God, "the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart the place where love resides."

Courage What A Big Word!

Courage by definition is 'the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, without fear."

I believe that acts of courage are not absent of fear but happen in spite of it.

A soldier goes into battle, a firefighter enters a burning building, people battle life threatening diseases, a child faces a bully... all acts of courage that happen because fear is embraced, relinquished and conquered.

We don't have to look to larger than life acts to see courage because it exists in every moment.

A child let's go of a mother's hand on the first day of school;

A teenager walks into an new high school not knowing a single person;

A father walks his daughter down the aisle;

A man learns to walk again after a car accident.

Our lives are filled with defining acts of courage. 

What are yours?

Inspired Day Seven

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I'm sorry I'm late with this one. Sometimes inspired falls behind hectic.

A comment on the radio caught my attention this morning, 

"Woman are often times so busy measuring up to the expectations placed on them by all the people in their lives;spouses, family, children, that  they forget about, or place their own dreams on the back burner."

Do we do this?

I'm inspired by women that follow their stars.

It's never too late and you're never too old to grab a hold of what makes you feel happy.