Month: September 2025

At Last She Comes ~ A Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson

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At Last She Comes: Finding Healing in Love’s Return

When love finally returns after long absence, it brings with it the balm for loneliness and the hope of renewal. Stevenson’s words remind us of that sacred arrival.

At Last She Comes

Robert Louis Stevenson

AT last she comes, O never more
In this dear patience of my pain
To leave me lonely as before,
Or leave my soul alone again.

Source

🌹 Poignant Reflection

Stevenson’s brief but powerful verse captures the heart’s deepest ache: the weight of waiting. Loneliness often feels endless, as though absence is the only companion. Yet his words remind us that the arrival of love, of companionship, of presence, can instantly dissolve the heaviness of solitude. The poem speaks to the miracle of return—that sacred moment when the heart no longer stands alone, but is embraced, renewed, and restored. In love’s coming, there is not only joy but also healing, the mending of a soul that has waited faithfully through silence.

❓ Three Questions to Dive Deeper

  1. How does the sudden presence of love change the meaning of the pain that came before it?
  2. What moments in your own life felt like “at last she comes” — where waiting gave way to fulfillment?
  3. How does this poem challenge us to hold on to patience in the seasons of absence?

Move Your Body, Defend Your Brain & Dementia

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Exercise: Your Brain’s Best Defense Against Dementia

Break a sweat, build resilience — your workout protects more than your muscles.

Physical activity isn’t just about strength or weight control — it’s one of the most powerful tools for dementia prevention. Regular exercise boosts blood flow to the brain, reduces inflammation, lowers blood pressure, and stimulates the growth of new brain cells. A major meta-analysis found that people who engaged in regular physical activity had a 28% lower risk of dementia and a 45% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease compared to inactive individuals (Hamer & Chida, Psychological Medicine, 2009).

Exercise triggers the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), sometimes called “Miracle-Gro for the brain,” which helps neurons grow and form stronger connections. Aerobic exercise (like brisk walking, cycling, or swimming) and resistance training both show strong protective effects.

You don’t need to run marathons — consistency is the key. Even moderate movement, done daily, accumulates brain-protective benefits over time.

Action Step: Take a 30-minute brisk walk today. If that feels like too much, start with 10 minutes after each meal. Your brain will thank you.

From PMS Shark to Gym Shark: A Lesson in Snap Judgments

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One glance, one missing letter, and one big laugh later—I learned how easily our minds leap to judgment and how important it is to pause.

I get lots of insights while I exercise at the gym. I don’t know when they will pop up, but they do. Often they pop up when I least expect them to. Today was one of those days where life decides to teach me a lesson. The elliptical machines are on the second floor and overlook the free weights area. I always open my iPhone to read an ebook. Half way through my workout on the elliptical (30 minutes), I glanced down to the free weights area. There was a woman doing a free weight exercise. Her back was toward me. On her shirt were the letters: MSHARK. I made my usual leap of making a snap judgment without any proof. I thought, oh oh, the letter I can’t read is a P. Besides jumping to conclusions, I need to practice my spelling. My mind was reading (incorrectly) PMSShark). I even added an extra S. I laughed to myself and thought, I don’t want to cross her today. When she slightly turned I realized two letters were missing. Her shirt actually read: GYM SHARK. What a difference a letter or two can make. My lesson was to put. a leash on put my gut instinct to judge others. I am really going to work on that one.

🌹 Points to Ponder

  1. How often do we fill in missing details in life with our own assumptions?
  2. What simple practices could help us pause before leaping to conclusions?
  3. How can humor soften the sting of realizing our mistakes?
  4. What judgments have you made recently that turned out to be way off?
  5. How might giving others the benefit of the doubt change your daily interactions?

Flash Fiction Monday: Kung Pao with a Side of Homicide

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“Date night at Tony Wang’s was supposed to be about egg rolls… until Sheila ordered kung pao chicken and a homicide. 🍜🔪😂

👉 Read Date Night Special: Kung Pao with a Side of Homicide now — a flash fiction bite you won’t forget.”

Kung Pao with a Side of Homicide

We were Ken and Barbie. Romeo and Juliet. Bogey and Bacall. Jack and Jackie.

We were—until the night I took Sheila to Tony Wang’s Beijing Palace.

You know how it works in a Chinese place: order three or four dishes, share the plates. Sheila wasn’t having it. I saw her in this kind of mood once before. That’s when she took a hammer to my car and made the hood look like it had a bad case of acne. She looked angrier tonight. The mood she was in made PMS look like a hot fudge sundae.

On the way over, I attempted to break through the iceberg she wrapped herself in, “Why don’t you want to share?”

“Because you eat too fast. Too much. When you moved in, thirty-two-inch waist. Now? Thirty-six. And your belly hangs over your belt. You got no stop signs for your mouth.”

“I do not eat too fast or too much. I’m still growing.” I said.

“I can hardly breathe when you’re on top of me. You ever hear of Weight Watchers?” 

The next three miles were silence wrapped in tortilla filled with habanero peppers. I thought about turning around. I knew a wrong move would get me pepper sprayed. Instead, I turned into Tony Wang’s parking lot and grabbed a spot near the door. Wrong move. Sheila snarled that I lacked imagination—even in parking spaces.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go out. I can turn around and go home. You can make us a tofu wrap with Romaine lettuce,” I thought I was being cute.

“Tonight’s our date night and I don’t do tofu and I’m through cooking for you. When we get to Beijing Palace I’ll order. No fried food. Nothing with tons of garlic. I need a gas mask when you try to kiss me after one of your garlic frenzies. End of discussion,” Sheila said crossing her arms and staring out the passenger side window.

My mind raced trying to figure this out. Things were great last night. Things were great this morning. Whatever crawled into her brain crawled in after she went to work.

I probed, “How was your day?”

“Sheila mumbled something.”

“Something happen?” I asked.

“The genius here thinks something happened that made me snap,” Sheila said jerking a thumb my way.

I glanced at her to see who she was talking to. I thought we were alone in the car.

I found a parking spot further away from the door. I stopped the car halfway into the parking place. It’s rear end blocking any traffic that might want to scoot by. “I’m not moving the car until you tell me what is going on.”

She stared at me.

I threw my Hail Mary. My only other option was to ask her if this was her way of telling me we were breaking up.

Sheila unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car. She looked over her shoulder at me, “I’ll meet you inside.”

A car behind me honked. I waved. The driver gave me a long angry honk. Maybe low blood sugar is going around. 

When I caught up with Sheila, she was staring at the four page menu. I sat down and scooted my menu closer. I reached for her arm, “Are you going to tell me what set you off?”

Sheila took a deep breath. Then spoke slowly, “Let’s order and I’ll tell you the whole story. When I finish I’m going to ask you for a small favor and you have to promise me you’ll do it.”

“A small favor? It doesn’t sound small?” I said.

“I need you do some heavy lifting, “Sheila said squeezing my right bicep. 

“Can we get three meals and share?” I asked.

Sheila rolled her eyes. “Yah, we can share.”

“Egg rolls too?” I hoped I wasn’t pushing my luck.

“Monday, you start the Mediterranean diet,” Sheila growled.

“I’m not Italian or Greek. That diet won’t work with my DNA,” I was proud of my logic.

The waiter came. I ordered for the two of us, “Egg rolls, sweet and sour sauce, spicy mustard, and numbers 18, 27, and 36.”

The waiter nodded. Five minutes later he was back with our egg rolls, a dish with four fortune cookies, and the bill. I didn’t say anything. Tony Wang encourages diners to eat fast so he can turn the tables.

I ate my two egg rolls. Sheila was delicately eating her first egg roll. I said, “You going to want the other egg roll?”

She pulled the egg roll closer to her. She looked at me, “You want my egg roll?”

I nodded.

“Then I want you to kill Jenny Swenson.”

Sheila took a bite of her first egg roll in a sexy sort of way. I didn’t know Jenny Swenson. “Who’s she?”

“It doesn’t matter I hate her. I want her dead.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yes.”

This was a side of Sheila I hadn’t previously seen. 

“Well?”

“Sure, if I can have the rest of your kung pao chicken.”

New Podcast: The Stoic, Seneca’s Secret: Stop Suffering Twice

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What if most of your suffering exists only in your imagination? In this Optimistic Beacon episode, Seneca the Younger reveals how to stop suffering twice—once in fear, and again in reality. Learn how to let go of imagined pain and step fully into the strength of the present moment.

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Swinging for the Fences: A Metaphor for Chasing Dreams

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Baseball taught me more than the game — it taught me to dream big, shake off misses, and keep swinging for life’s sweet spot.ing for the Fences

As a kid I loved playing baseball. I could catch any fly ball hit in my direction. When it was my turn to bat, I always swung for the fences. A single, double, or getting on by an error was a let down. I wanted to hit home runs. I was better than average. Better than average, however, doesn’t get you a contract with a major league team. Oh how I envied those that made the majors. Deep down inside of me the desire to swing for the fences was always alive. In whatever direction my career path took I found myself swinging for the fences. As I reflect on it, I think swinging for the fences is a good metaphor. In many ways it means going for your dreams. I missed more pitches than I hit. Occasionally, I’d connect with the sweet spot on the bat and I knew no one was going to catch that ball. I hope you’re swinging for the fences. Don’t let missed pitches get you down. We all share that experience. Each time at bat is a new time. Shake off any missed swing. Who knows, this time you may hit the ball with the sweet spot on your bat.

✨ Points to Ponder

  1. What “pitches” in your life have you let discourage you, and how can you shake them off?
  2. Where are you still holding back instead of swinging for the fences?
  3. What does connecting with the “sweet spot” mean for your personal dreams?
  4. How can you remind yourself that every new day is another “at bat”?
  5. Who inspires you to keep stepping up to the plate, no matter the outcome?

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The Pitcher’s Nightmare: Win and Lose Everything

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What would you do if one midnight phone call turned your dream game into a life-or-death ultimatum?

Grab-Hold First Line:

The phone rang at 2:14 a.m., slicing through his dream like a blade.

Jason Kane was wide awake before his eyes even opened, instincts sharpened by years on the mound. The voice on the other end wasn’t a prank caller. It was low, flat, and deadly calm. “Tomorrow’s championship? You don’t win it. You throw it. Or your girlfriend doesn’t see another sunrise.” Jason’s heart stuttered, his pitching arm suddenly ice-cold. This was the game every scout, every sportswriter, every fan had been waiting for—the one that could launch his career into legend. Now, it was a no-win choice: the glory of victory, or the life of the woman he loved. He sat up, sweat dripping despite the cool night air. Could he outplay not just the opposing team, but a faceless predator watching his every move? Could he trust his teammates, or would one wrong word tip off the caller? He replayed the threat again and again in his mind as the seconds bled toward dawn. For the first time, the game of baseball felt like Russian roulette. And he had one pitch to decide who lived.

Three Questions for Writers

  1. How can you build unbearable suspense in a scene where every pitch could cost a life?
  2. What twists could you add—an ally on the inside, a double-cross, or a hidden strength in the protagonist?
  3. Would you end with triumph, tragedy, or an unsettling cliffhanger?

Light for the Journey: When Dawn Whispers “Try Again”: Finding Hope in Every New Second

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Even after the darkest night, the next sunrise—and even the next second—holds a quiet promise. This is where you begin again.

There is always a way and always hope in the next sunrise, and in the next second, and in the next minute. ~ Ziggy Marley

Reflection

Sometimes life feels heavy, as if the weight of yesterday’s problems will follow you into tomorrow. But Ziggy Marley reminds us of our inherent freedom—that hope is not just a distant dream, but a breath away. Whether it’s the golden glow of a new sunrise, the stillness of a fresh breath, or the quiet possibility held in the next minute, there’s always a path forward. Each moment invites you to direct your heart toward what can grow—resilience, possibility, healing. It’s an invitation to believe: when things feel impossible, waiting just one more second, taking one more step, allowing one more sunrise—and you’ll find that the way, and hope, are always there.

I Keep Six Honest Serving Men ~ A Poem by Rudyard Kipling

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When Curiosity Rests: Kipling’s Call to Reawaken Wonder

In six short lines, Kipling reminds us that the questions that build our world deserve more than a nine-to-five existence.

I Keep Six Honest Serving Men

Rudyard Kipling

I keep six honest serving-men
  (They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
  And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
  I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
  I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
  For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
  For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
  I know a person small
She keeps ten million serving-men,
  Who get no rest at all!
She sends em abroad on her own affairs,
  From the second she opens her eyes
One million Hows, Two million Wheres,
  And seven million Whys!

Source

Reflection:

Kipling’s I Keep Six Honest Serving Men quietly delivers a truth we often lose as we grow: curiosity, once endless, becomes rationed. These “serving men”—What, Why, When, How, Where, and Who—once tirelessly fueled our understanding of the world. They carry the power to open doors, spark wonder, and guide discovery. Yet adulthood tames them, consigns them to office hours, giving them “rest.” Meanwhile, children—bright-eyed, untamed—keep those questions alive in ceaseless inquiry. Kipling’s poem is a small, graceful poem and a big invitation: to reclaim our born capacity to ask.

Questions to Dive Deeper:

  1. Which of the six questions do you find yourself neglecting most often, and what might it open if you invited it back into your daily thinking?
  2. How would your perspective change if you gave those questions—What, Why, When, How, Where, Who—a little “playtime” outside 9–5?
  3. Who is “the person small” in your life that keeps curiosity alive, and what lessons can you learn by watching how they ask questions?

Dementia Isn’t Inevitable

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Muscle Up Against Dementia: Why It’s Not Inevitable

Dementia affects millions, but science shows you can take real steps to defend your brain.

:Dementia is one of the most feared health challenges of aging, but research reveals an important truth: it isn’t always inevitable. While genetics play a role, lifestyle factors such as physical activity, nutrition, social engagement, and brain challenges can significantly reduce the risk of cognitive decline. A Lancet Commission report estimates that up to 40% of dementia cases worldwide could be prevented or delayed by addressing modifiable lifestyle factors (Livingston et al., Lancet, 2020). That’s powerful news.

Over the next six posts, we’ll explore six proven defenses:

  1. Daily physical activity
  2. Nutritious brain-boosting foods
  3. Quality sleep
  4. Lifelong learning and mental challenges
  5. Strong social connections
  6. Stress reduction and mindfulness

Each strategy adds another layer of armor for your brain. Together, they form a defense system to help you live sharper, longer, and healthier.

You can do this. Your future is shaped by what you do today. Join me on this journey to muscle up against dementia.

Action Step: Write down one reason you want to protect your brain health. Tape it to your fridge as your personal motivation.

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