Inspiration

A wise and wonderful tip from the Legacy Project.

Life doesn’t come with a roadmap to follow, but the closest thing may be the inspiringLegacy Project. Launched in 2004 by Karl Pillemer, a popular professor at Cornell University, the Legacy Project systematically collects spirited advice from America’s elders.

The project originally contacted 1,500 older Americans who had lived through extraordinary experiences and historical events and asked them to share their most important life lessons. Looking back on their long lives, they couldn’t always agree on everything, but virtually all the elders chose some variation of the following advice as one of their most important lessons: Continue reading →

It’s one of the world’s most demanding and creative jobs. The days are long, sometimes extending all through the night—but there’s no paycheck, stock options or vacations.

It requires a wise mind, a patient hand, a gentle touch, a strong will, a huge heart, and a well-tuned intuition.

It involves leadership, art, cuisine, education, recreation, transportation, psychology, medicine, maintenance, entertainment, pediatrics and economics.

Anyone who can handle all that, and do it year after year with a smile in her eyes and a song in her heart, has to be someone very special.  She is.  She’s your mother. Continue reading →

Today you may be the answer to someone’s prayer.

Dr. Jo Blessing tells of an elderly patient who experienced a minor miracle in her life.

Despondent over the death of her only son, the old woman tidied up her apartment one morning. On her nightstand she sprinkled out the sleeping pills. Then she trudged to her favorite place, a little park on the corner, where she sat alone feeding the pigeons, and summoning the resolve to end her life.

At noon something happened that changed her mind. Along came a young man in a business suit and tie. He was about the same age as her son, and he appeared to be in a hurry. For no apparent reason, however, he suddenly stopped, smiled and asked politely if he could feed the pigeons with her. When he left, he touched her arm and said good-bye. “Take good care of our little birds,” he laughed. “Next time I’ll bring the bread.” He had no idea that his kindness had restored her will to live. Continue reading →

Doing good for others has its own arithmetic.

Service to others has its own arithmetic. Combine two or more goodhearted people in the pursuit of a common cause, and suddenly one-plus-one is more than two. Alone, we can all do a little something, but together we can do something truly amazing.

If we all use the arithmetic of service, there isn’t a problem in this world that can’t be solved. The hard part is convincing each person that their individual efforts, no matter how small, play a significant part in the total equation—that each of us has something to give which cannot otherwise be given—that we all contribute a crucial factor in the multiplier effect.

5 Hours a Week: Using the arithmetic of service one person can help change the social landscape of our country in a few hours a week. How? If every American donated just five hours a week to volunteering for a cause, it would equal the labor of 20 million full-time volunteers.

 4 Hours a Month: If every employee in every American company were given just four hours a month to volunteer for a cause of their choice, American companies could transform thousands of neighborhoods and millions of lives. Continue reading →

Love like this can never die.

In the blue-collar neighborhood where I grew up lived an old Italian couple named Polly and Menta who loved children, sunflowers, Italian music and each other.

Right there in the middle of our concrete city, Polly and Menta had cultivated a lush green vegetable garden, complete with hand-split bean poles, trellises, Italian fig trees and tomato plants, two rabbits, three cats, five chickens and a raggedy old rooster that could barely crow. The whole neighborhood liked that rooster, and we loved Polly and Menta.

Menta was short and quiet, with big hands, gentle brown eyes, and a perpetual smile. He wore flannel shirts, red long johns and faded bib overalls year ‘round. Polly was taller, straighter and more outgoing. Like the big yellow sunflowers in their garden, she had a sunny disposition that lit up our neighborhood and our lives. Continue reading →

If your ideas are worth having, they are worth recording.

Every day hundreds of hunches, intuitions, inklings, premonitions and fleeting ideas fly thru your consciousness. Some hold the seeds of pure brilliance. Write them down. Use a pencil, or a sharpie, or a white board or a laptop, or the back of your business card, but don’t let them get away—write them down.

If you do, you’ll be in great company. Einstein, Agatha Christie, Lewis Carol, John Lennon, Leonardo Da Vinci, Steve Jobs—so many gifted thinkers, inventors, artists and product developers have all been avid note-takers, doodlers or journalers.

Note-taking and doodling are both forms of visual thinking. The simple act of drawing spontaneous, free-flowing shapes, squiggles and words jump-starts the right side of your brain, sparking creativity and unlocking the door to new possibilities. Continue reading →

If you wonder if angels are real, just walk the corridors of any hospital or hospice facility at Christmas, and you’ll become a believer.

I am on my way today to spend some time at Seattle Children’s Hospital, a place where beautiful baldheaded children sing Christmas carols, and random miracles seem to happen almost every day. I am bringing gifts for the angels: the Doctors, nurses and caregivers who care for these brave little kids, and who fill the hospital corridors with spirit, hope and courage all year long.

No one goes through life without being touched by the angels. We all have caregiver memories and stories:

Someone soothed your father’s fears in Intensive Care, or held your daughter’s hand when she chipped her tooth.

Someone brought your baby into the world, or massaged your back,or saved your life.

Someone wheeled your mom outside the hospital for some sun, or fixed her broken stitch, or mended her broken heart.

Someone sat with your family, broke the news, and led a prayer. Or made you laugh when you thought you would cry; or gave you hope when you thought you would die.

Continue reading →

One of Oprah’s “Behind the Scenes” videos shows her rising at her customary time of 5:55 a.m. The morning sun is just peeking over the horizon.

Still in her pajamas, Oprah walks downstairs to the kitchen and scoops out a nice little snack for her dog. From there, she heads for a quiet alcove in her living room. This cozy little place is where she goes to start each day.

The camera pans the alcove. There are three candles on a wooden table, along with a few of Oprah’s favorite books of inspiration. Suddenly the camera zooms in on one. It’s an old familiar friend of mine—a bright yellow quote book called Love Life that I compiled several years ago.

What a fun and welcome surprise for me—to think of Oprah curled up on the couch in her PJ’s, starting the day with one of my books.

Continue reading →

We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.

 A Zen story tells of a prosperous man who awoke on his birthday with a mission in mind. With tears in his eyes and love in his heart he informed his wife: “I must travel back down the road of life to thank those who have helped me along the way.”

“Don’t go,” his wife said softly.

“But why?” he asked.

“There are so many,” she replied. “You will never return.” Continue reading →