Sometimes you just have to go there…

A person can only be pushed—but so far! Maybe you have never been there so it might be hard for you to relate. But for those who have been faced with having to endure the kind of injustice that just doesn’t make any sense, this one is definitely for you…

It is not uncommon these days, to pick up a newspaper or turn on the T.V. and find out about a courageously inspiring good deed. An ordinary man or woman, who will choose, in an impulsive moment of self abandon, to forsake their own self interest in exchange for the opportunity to help another person in their moment of need, will capture our attention and captivate our sensibilities each and every time.

The guy who jumps on the subway train tracks, sacrificing his body as a human shield in hopes of saving the kid having an epileptic attack, the woman who jumps in the river, forgetting that she never learned how to swim, to try and save the family trapped in their car, are the kind of examples of altruism that seduce us and oblige us to ordain someone a hero. But, does a truly generous act of heroism, require anything more than the simple, compassionate act of temporarily suspending our own particular needs or wants, so that we may recognize that their might in fact be someone, in a singular, yet ordinary moment in time, reaching out with hope, that someone like you or me might be willing to reach back?

It was about 10:00 PM when we finally heard the doorbell ring…

Have you ever been caught knowing something beyond a shadow of a doubt, while someone else was trying to share with you, another point of view? And, have you ever had somebody try to tell you something that you were just too stubborn to want to hear, only to find out later on that you should have paid attention to what they had to say?…

It happened at Disneyland.

In a single moment, I realized that I had bitten off way more than I could chew and I discovered an ironic truth in the process…

Have you ever felt that you were being tested? Do you feel like that today?

Have you ever experienced one of life’s “one-two punches”? Are you feeling punched today?

Life does offer a lot of things. Sometimes what life offers is good times and great fun ‘cause LIFE does give us a lot of what it is we want. But there will be those times when, what life will serve you up is…

Lukewarm.

The word just kind of sits there, doesn’t it?

Lukewarm. It’s not cold but it’s definitely not hot either. It’s just somewhere in between and not the least bit exciting. When I think of all of the ways that I would hate to be described —

“Lukewarm” is at the top of my list….

“Like water off a duck’s back”, is arguably for the birds.

I, quite frankly, have not yet mastered that elusive ability to endure by shrugging my shoulders and walking off into the sunset when something happens that I don’t like. I wish I could. Instead, I…

“Pride attaches undue importance to the superiority of one’s status in the eyes of others; And shame is fear of humiliation at one’s inferior status in the estimation of others. When one sets his heart on being highly esteemed, and achieves such rating, then he is automatically involved in fear of losing his status.”

You’ve been there, you’ve done that, in fact you might even be doing it right now. Everyday, whether actively or passively, people every where are working overtime to avoid messing up somehow because let’s face it, few things are more unsettling in life than someone else watching you when you’re about to look bad…

It was a Saturday morning the day after trick or treat.

The mood in the house was tense and expectant. The phone kept ringing and my Mom would take the calls in the other room upstairs. The five of us sat eating our breakfast oat flakes when my Mom came down to join us and to fill us in on what was going on. Pompey, our grandfather was sick and it was very serious. She told us that she was very worried about whether or not he would be O.K.

Great minds have proven, indeed, that the shortest path between two points is a straight line.

Unless,

you are interested in more than simply getting from point “A” to point “B”…