Crying wolf

Someone sent this old Indian legend to me the other day and I've been thinking about it so much, I decided to share it:

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson
about a battle that goes on inside people. He said,
"My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow,
regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment,
inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

"The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love,
hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,
empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and
then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

HappySad

If you'd like to know the meaning of Happy/Sad (ie: not sure of which you should be and then not sure which you should be more of), I'm pretty sure this video sums it up.



Lucy is far too hyper to be a therapy dog. Though maybe she'll be a little more chill when she's 19 years old.

Bonus round

One of our most vibrant members passed away over the weekend at the way-too-young age of 41. I met him once or twice, but wish I would have known him better: from everything I've read, he seems like an incredible guy. My colleague, Larry, wrote an incredibly poignant blog post about this well-respected man, who seemed to have a refreshing viewpoint on life.

My favorite part of his blog post was about the eulogy his wife gave during yesterday's funeral. She said, basically, that her husband always had a lot of ideas, one of which was this concept of a "bonus day." In this concept, you take a routine, "normal" day and make something special out of it that can live in your memory.

As my friend Larry said, "Whether Alan was scrapping dinner plans to make something adventurous in the kitchen, taking his kids sledding when they should be sleeping, or some other zany activity — Alan’s life was filled with bonus days. If you take nothing else from his life, we should all try to create as many bonus days in our own life as possible." Man, isn't that the truth?!?

So I've been thinking about the idea of a "bonus day" ever since I read Larry's post. I have a slightly different take on it, in that I decided a "bonus day" means to me that every day I get is a day that I am 1) not owed and 2) can't "do over."

To be honest, I've lived 30 wonderful, healthy, fun, successful years (and I hope to live, hmmm...60 more!). But I realize that a zillion different things could have hypothetically happened to me that would have cut my life short, and everything I get on top of what I have should be considered a bonus. Let me tell you: that shift in perspective really makes a difference to me.

With this buried in the back of my mind, I went to girls' night after work with four great friends. We talked about everything: babies, weddings, showers, Europe, the Harvard professor, health care reform...you name it. As I was walking back to my car after we dispersed into five different directions, I realized this was my "bonus" for today: an evening surrounded by good friends, way too much laughter, and a dinner bill that didn't even come close to the value that can be put on memories like this.

A jackpot in Winner

I've blogged before about how the idea of winning the lottery is exhilarating and terrifying, but my heart was warmed today when I read an article about a 23-year-old farmer from Winner, South Dakota, who bought $15 in lottery tickets and won the $232 million Powerball.

I hope he knows what he's in for when trying to figure out how to spend all of that money. It sure doesn't buy happiness--not in the least bit--but he seems to be a nice guy who has his heart in the right place. Being able to buy some land of his own and not having to worry about how to pay the bills will likely be a very different experience for him. Here's to the cowboy from Winner.

What's good with your life?

In putting together something for work today, I was looking for appropriate "small talk" questions to ask people. I stumbled upon a post by someone who said that he used to know a woman who would strike up a conversation with people by asking them, "What's good with your life?". That's a great way to get to the heart of what's really positive, isn't it?

Just spending a few seconds thinking about what was good in my life really put things into perspective. And there are a lot of things! I realized that, intentionally or completely subconsciously, I've been doing a lot of focusing on the negative as of late. Call it the CNN Effect, I don't know.

So I asked my friends on Facebook what is good with their lives, and I got back so many fabulous responses. Several of the new moms I know mentioned that they get to spend their days listening to a baby laugh; one said that a child in her classroom who was struggling to read at the beginning of the year just tested at an above-average grade level. A college friend, who I haven't heard from in ages, used the opportunity to tell me she's having a baby in November! These responses just made my afternoon.

Here's what's good with my life: I have an incredibly supportive husband. I still have a job. And I'm excited to go out for a monthly girls' night tonight with five very good friends (two of whom are my sisters).

In addition to thinking about what's good with my life, I love hearing everyone else's responses. Take the opportunity to tell me what's good with your life (or just give it some thought if you don't want to comment). Even if you're feeling great already, I can almost guarantee that it will make you feel better!

First impressions

Our office has been buzzing about this woman who appeared on Britain's Got Talent, the UK version of American Idol, last Saturday night. I just got a chance to figure out what they're talking about.

Apparently the Brits don't have the age requirements of American Idol because the woman is 47 years old, a bit dowdy and unimpressive-looking, and says she wants to be a star. Needless to say, her first impression left the audience and the judges a bit skeptical. She said she was going to sing a song from Les Miserables and they laughed at her. (I know that music well and the songs are incredibly difficult, even for people with great voices.)

Watch what happens next. Even Simon was impressed!

Since this aired, this newfound star has been interviewed by the Early Show, written about in the LA Times, and featured in People magazine. Even Oprah has put in a request to have her appear. The woman who originally performed this song said she was brought to tears by the performance.

Let this woman and her amazing talents be a reminder to all of us that sometimes things aren't exactly what they seem. And that you're never too old to realize a dream.

Job hunting in a recession

A few months ago at an all-staff meeting, someone lamented, "I wish there was a newspaper that just published good news. I'm getting depressed!"

It's not a newspaper, but I've found a new blog that publishes a daily dose of inspiration. Today's posting has had me smiling since I found it. Here's the story:

Ben Gullet, who lives in Tampa, learned his dad Mark was losing his job after 9 years as vice president of marketing for the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team. Ben found a way to help.

Watch this video he made and posted on YouTube, which has led to eight job offers for his dad. True story.

Just in time for Cupid

Thanks to Janice for sending me the picture of this cute little calf, who was born a few weeks ago in Japan. Here is the picture and the caption from Yahoo.


Nineteen-day-old ox 'Heart,' born with a heart-shaped marking on his forehead, relaxes at Yamakun farm in Fujisawa, near Tokyo, Japan, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009. Kazunori Yamazaki, 51-year-old farm owner, said, "Good timing for Valentine's Day."

If I did not have a dog already, I would consider making Heart my new pet.

Advice for a good life

Two of my friends separately sent me an email at the end of last week with tips for living. There were some good things to remember. Here are my favorites:

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, "My purpose is to __________ today."

3. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

6. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

7. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter"?

8. Forgive everyone for everything.

9. What other people think of you is none of your business.

10. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

To my faithful blog readers (and yes, I know there are only about a dozen of you)...if there's anything missing from this list, let me know what it is with a comment!

Warm welcome

Since we took an unintentional exercise hiatus over the past few months, I forgot how much I like the older man who works the front desk in the mornings at our gym. (They take your card and give you a locker key and a towel, so these people are the first ones you see when you come in and the last ones you see when you leave.) He's a soft-spoken, energetic, likable guy who calls Chad "young man" every time he talks with him. Kind of the African-American version of my Grandpa Howard.

And when you call, which I have had to do on occasion, he always answers the phone, "Thank you for calling the YMCA. How can I make you smile today?" It's very sincere; he doesn't say it in one of those this-is-how-the-corporate-office-is-telling-me-I-need-to-answer-the-phone sort of ways. He does make me smile.

And that makes getting up at 5:15 in the morning a whole lot easier.

Copy that

A co-worker today sent around a great initiative by Xerox (yes, the copy company). They have created a website where people can select a thank-you card to send to the troops. Xerox will print it and send it to a soldier currently serving in Iraq.

It's free and it takes about 30 seconds. You select a card design, then choose the message you want or create your own message. The only personal information you include is your name, city and state so the soldiers get an idea of all the people who are thinking about them.

Please take the time to do this and encourage others to do this if you can. I hope we flood their mailboxes. We can never say enough thank you's to these guys.

'Tis the season

If you have two minutes, you have to watch this TV segment about a little boy's dying wish. It brought tears to my eyes.

Oh, what we all have to be thankful for.

Today, thank a teacher

I was traveling with our CEO a few weeks ago and we got to talking about summer plans. Since then, I keep thinking of a conversation we had. Being back-to-school time and all, it's appropriate to recount this tonight, before I forget it. I'm sure this isn't 100% accurate and I made some interpretations, but I've got the main parts right:

My boss's boss's boss (a smart, powerful woman) was telling me about her husband's aunt, who is turning 99 this month. She sounds like a spunky lady who has done a lot of good in the world. A woman who had polio has a child, she never married and taught elementary school in Minnesota her whole life before retiring about 30 years ago.

Some time after retirement, she went out with a friend. Two quasi-eldery ladies out for lunch and an afternoon of window shopping. But when leaving the mall, they noticed two large African-American men standing in a corner looking at them, whispering. She thought it was strange, but they moved ahead. The men followed at a short distance.

This started to make the two women a bit nervous, so they ducked into a small shop and spent some time in there before leaving. But the men were still there. Though it made her uncomfortable, she stood her ground.

[This is the point in the story where I started to get nervous.]

One of the men walked up to them. She paused (and probably braced herself).

"Miss Moroney?" he asked, hesitatingly.

"Well, Davey," she said, inspecting then recognizing him instantly though she taught him decades beforehand. He seemed pleased that she remembered who he was. "What are you doing with yourself these days?"

"Oh," he said, dismissingly, "I play baseball." He told her how much she had meant to him and that he hoped she was well. They parted ways.

Days later, she was telling this story about the man who had initially frightened her to her nephew. She was admitting that she had become a bit too skittish and that she should have given him the benefit of the doubt.

Her nephew asked if she knew any more about the man who had taken the time to come up and thank an old teacher.

She said she didn't know what he was up to, but that Dave Winfield had always been a nice boy. He was a good student, and she hoped he was doing well.

Little did she know that, at the time, Dave Winfield was also the highest-paid player in major league baseball. A baseball player who took the time to wait...and wait...outside a store for an old teacher just to tell her how much she had meant to him.

Talk about making a difference.

Words of wisdom

I flopped into the back of a cab tonight, trying to finish up one more interview before putting an end to the workday. After telling the driver where I needed to go, he turns around at a red light and says, in broken English, "You habbing a gude day?" Yes, I said halfheartedly, and you?

I was expecting him to rant and rave about the war, the President, immigration, traffic, stupid pedestrians, or anything else that cab drivers are usually complaining about, but he surprised me.

"Deb ini te ly!" he said enthusiastically. "Ebbery day is a gude day for me."

Here is a guy who drives a cab all day long roaming the streets of DC looking for someone to take somewhere for a measly $6.50. Who knows what his life is like outside of work or what brought him here. But "ebbery" day is a good day for him.

Sometimes a fresh perspective can come from the most unexpected places.