Being Grateful

I had a biggish birthday recently. It wasn’t a milestone birthday, but rather – as one of the cards a friend sent me put it – “Somewhere between 29 and ‘none of your business’.” Because we are in lockdown here in the UK…

I Had a Handle on Life but It Broke, is the title of a book by fellow professional speaker Mary LoVerde out of Denver, Colorado. Thankfully, you can’t copyright titles, although I’ll always attribute. This one’s too good not to steal…

Halloween dawned, or tried to, with the famous Blue Moon likely to be hidden behind some clouds. This year I spent it a long way away from where I was last year at this time, having moved myself Lock Stock and Barrel to another part of America…

Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated with large family gatherings. We eat communally prepared feasts, share family stories, and spend hours indoors playing games, working puzzles, and watching televised…

By the time you reach your 60s, you’ve probably let go of some relationships.

Whether the parting was due to divorce, family conflict that got out of hand or a friendship that turned sour, most of us have moved on from at least one relationship.
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It is so easy to take things for granted – the ground under our feet, waking up in the morning to a new day and, far too often, our relationships. It is so easy to be critical or to notice what is missing or makes us crazy about our partner, parents, children, friends or coworkers. Read More

I’m struggling with a bit of low grade depression these days. A combination of everything that’s going on in the world, a friendship that ended, some good old-fashioned family drama, a sense of feeling misunderstood…

The rice paddies that stretch out from the house are flooded now, reflecting the sky with big puff-ball clouds that turn pink, then orange, then white as the morning sun rises. Read More

With Christmas approaching, presents, trees, decorations and even the gorgeous lights in the different towns we visit sometimes seems a little pointless. So many other people are doing the same thing! It’s almost overload. Read More

I know it sounds completely counter-intuitive, even paradoxical. Giving gratitude during tough times. How nonsensical, not to mention challenging, is that?