It was Jan 1, 2015, the first day of a new year. I had gotten off work earlier that morning from working a New Years Eve show the night before. It was a cold day and as I started my day I began my normal routine, eat breakfast, shower and get dressed. …
Read More »The Miracle of Validation
With life today moving at warp speed, it’s common to get so caught up in our own issues that we easily overlook opportunities to make a real difference in someone else’s day. The people we come in contact with during our daily interactions may have some great challenges going on …
Read More »The Power of Affirming Others
Our words have great influence in the lives of those around us, and spoken affirmations or “blessings” can bring hope, encouragement, and direction to our families, friends, and others. However, opportunities to genuinely affirm, or bless others pass us by every day! No doubt, all of us at some time …
Read More »Madrona Club Provides Slow-Cookers for Food Bank Clients
Through supporting the Food Bank over many years, members of the Madrona Club of Orcas Island came to realize that some Food Bank clients may not have adequate cooking facilities, time, and/or experience to prepare “from scratch” meals. After much discussion, they came up with the idea of providing basic …
Read More »The New Science of Thriving
Our well-being—individually and as a society—depends on mindfulness. In the early 1970s, my grandmother had a disagreement with the Beatles. When she heard “All You Need is Love” play on the radio, she would reply, “All you need is inside of you.” When I was a PhD student in the early 1990s, these messages bounced …
Read More »Practicing Radical Self Care
by Rev. Dr. Michele Whittington Practicing self care – radical self care! – is the path of exceptional leadership. Why? Because as you, a leader, practice self care – radical self care! – you build a solid internal reserve from which to draw. With this reserve: You make decision with …
Read More »Breaking Through the Winter of Adversity
There are times when life feels like a bitter, endless winter. It's during this time that life presents us with the strongest opportunity to discover who we really are.
Read More »Resistance
Sometimes in life, it feels like we are going against the wind…and it’s easy to cringe when we feel the winds of challenge smacking us in the face or see what looks like an impossible circumstance we must overcome. Opportunity is always disguised as effort and, when we’ve been facing a …
Read More »The Secret to Making Your Resolutions “Stick” This Time…
It’s a new year – and I’m sure like most of us, you have at least a few items on your life list that you are longing to change this year. When you look at that list, how many of those things have you already attempted to shift in the …
Read More »Happy New Ending
Happy New Year! The year 2016 is now officially behind us…and regardless of what has transpired this past year, we can decide NOW to create a great ending for 2017. But creating a great ending to 2017 is going to require some planning. It’s going to require a shift from simply …
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