I’m writing this post as a thunderstorm is rolling through. Rain is welcomed whenever it shows up in south Texas. The hot season will settle in soon and it will be dry for a while. It’s not something we give much thought to, but where would we be without rain? Life would be impossible. I’ve always liked rain. As a kid I’d run outside and splash in the puddles. I think I was more than a handful for my mom. Later in life I enjoyed running in the rain, I preferred a warm rain, but what are you going to do when you are living in a cold climate. Rain makes my grass green, my shishito pepper plants look healthy, and my flowering plants are showing off. Three cheers for rain. I think I’ll schedule this post and go outside and stand in the rain for a few minutes.
Month: May 2024
It’s Time to Exercise Your Brain – Take the Anagram Challenge
Is Your Brain Up to the Challenge? Unscramble today’s anagram. It’s time to exercise your brain!
Today’s Anagram:
Inspiring Quote: Enjoy the Journey
When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way. ~ Wayne Dyer
Today’s Poem: An Aspiration by Robert Crawford
An Aspiration
Robert Crawford
Music, with the tears in it,
Through my soul is ringing,
Moods like bodies flame and flit
Through the spirit’s singing;
Dream-birds half-articulate,
Which no charms can capture,
Come by twos and nest and mate
In a moment’s rapture.
Now I seem to be upborne
On a starry pinion
Where the poet’s hope forlorn
Has divine dominion —
Where he sees the clouds of earth
Gather light and cluster,
As babes on the dawn of Birth
Watch the visions muster!
All that thought and feeling share
In a soul’s possession
To my singing seems to bear
A divine confession;
As within my dreaming brain
Lips of inspiration
Breathe the beauty gone again
On a new creation.
Health Quiz – Test Your Health and Fitness Knowledge
Are You Up to Speed on Your health and fitness knowledge? Take today’s health and fitness quiz.
Today’s Quiz:
Avoiding Negative Energy: Strategies for Staying Positive Amidst Grief ~ Episode 97
In the heart-touching episode 97 of ‘Journey from Grief to Healing‘, Dr. Ray Calabrese emphasizes the importance of surrounding ourselves with positive influences as we process loss and continue our journey towards healing. He uses the example of a colleague whose unpredictable mood swings serve as a reminder to maintain an environment of love, positivity, and anticipation for the future.
Dr. Calabrese shares his realization of how interactions, though seemingly routine, acted as lifelines, pulling him towards life and away from the gloom of grief. His experience reminds us that even as we fake a veneer of happiness amidst our painful journey, our friends, family, and neighbors are stretching out lifelines of hope for us.
Drawing from his own journey, he discusses the importance of being in environments that symbolize life in full bloom. He quotes from Roy T. Bennett’s ‘The Light in the Heart’ to encourage us to spend our lives with people who spread joy, laughter, and love, and inspires us to make the painful yet necessary choice to live and not succumb to despair.
Dr. Ray brings the essence of Emily Dickinson’s ‘We Grow Accustomed to the Dark’ and a line from J.R.R. Tolkien to empower us to brave the darkness of grief and march towards the light of life. This episode motivates us to stay strong, never quit, and anticipate the good things unfolding in our lives.
You can listen to Episode 97 on your favorite podcasting app or click here for Episode 97
Today’s Thought: A Path to a Happier Life
Yesterday I went for a walk in a nearby park. The trails cut through pristine land. It’s filled with cactus, yucca, and all kinds of snakes and animals. The signs don’t mention insects, but they’re plenty around. I avoid fire ants. It’s an experience you don’t want. It happened to me once in my yard and within seconds I had 40 bites. They hurt and when the hurting was over, they decided to itch for a couple of weeks. Yesterday I didn’t see any wild animals or snakes but I did see a caterpillar. It was about 4 inches long (10;1 cm). It was black with red and yellow markings. A nearby sign warned about them saying they were highly poisonous. I enjoyed my walk and by avoiding what could hurt me, I came home with good memories and several photos. The same is true in life. When we avoid what isn’t positively contributing to our mental, emotional, and spiritual health we live a happier life.
It’s Time to Exercise Your Brain – Take the Anagram Challenge
Is Your Brain Up to the Challenge? Unscramble today’s anagram. It’s time to exercise your brain!
Today’s Anagram:
Inspiring Quote: Shine On and Brightly Shine
To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your path, and don’t worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest. Always do what you are afraid to do. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today’s Poem: Meeting at Night by Robert Browning
Meeting at Night
Robert Browning
I.
The grey sea and the long black land;
And the yellow half-moon large and low;
And the startled little waves that leap
In fiery ringlets from their sleep,
As I gain the cove with pushing prow,
And quench its speed in the slushy sand.
II.
Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;
Three fields to cross till a farm appears;
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match,
And a voice less loud, thro’ its joys and fears,
Than the two hearts beating each to each!
