For over 7 years, we’ve had the privilege of writing our Sharing Life’s Lessons column for you, and our other loyal readers. As we’re writing this final installment for some beloved local papers that are closing, we’re saddened that an era of community papers is dwindling. We’re also filled with immense gratitude for the opportunity […]

In case you’re not familiar with it, the above classic quote is from a movie in 1967 called ‘Cool Hand Luke’. Luke, played by Paul Newman, is on a prison chain gang.  Luke hears this communication regularly from the prison warden when Luke get punished for not readily following the commands of the warden. Hopefully, […]

Have you ever been part of a team? In sports, one of the things you hear coaches talk about is the importance of teamwork. If you followed either the men’s or women’s basketball NCAA tournaments, you will have heard the broadcasters constantly talking about how teamwork was critical to every team’s success. This is true, […]

Do you consider yourself to be an optimist? We got to thinking about this recently when we received a message from a lifelong friend. He talked about all the blessings in his life, in fact, his words were overflowing about living life abundantly. All this in spite of the fact that his wife has dementia, […]

Have you noticed there seems to be an increasing feeling of angst in the world today? There’s more anxiety, depression, and even increased suicide rates. These things can happen when people lose a sense of hope. Several years ago, we interviewed Dick Beardsley about hope. He’s a world famous marathon runner from Minnesota. In 1982, […]

Are you a caregiver? More and more people that we know are in a position of needing to care for a loved one. As our population is aging, caregiving is an issue that is becoming more and more widespread in our society. We are reminded of quote by Roselyn Carter, “There are only four kinds […]

Have you even been discouraged by failure when trying to reach a goal? We’ve all felt that way at some time in life. Winston Churchill said, “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” Let’s discuss that idea further. Failure is often seen as something to be avoided at all costs. […]

How resilient are you? We’ve been thinking about all that has gone on in the world in the last few years and is still going on today. That got us reflecting about our parents and ancestors. They definitely were role models for resilience in overcoming adversity and thriving. Resilience is a term that’s often used […]

Do you feel like life is moving too fast and becoming more chaotic? Concepts we once believed to be true, individually, and as a society, are being challenged as no longer true, or labeled as ‘disinformation’. We are constantly being bombarded by conflicting ideas about everything from politics to health. There’s a lot of ‘noise’ […]

What do you know about your family history? Are there family stories that have been passed down to you from your parents or grandparents? You may wonder why we are asking these questions. It’s because recently we had several occasions where we had the opportunity to share stories about our family. One time was with […]