TSUNAMIS AND EARTHQUAKES

Watching the horror unfold today in Japan and Hawaii, I beg of you who read this blog to: live each day, know what it is important and make those things a priority......now!!!  Do not wait another minute, another hour, another day.  Unfortunately, it's death and destruction that is often the best teacher, but oh, what a painful way to learn.  Love lives forever.  Give it and receive it as freely, as often and as much as you possibly can.  Life, as we know it, can end in a single millisecond!  My thoughts and prayers are with all those who lost their lives today, with their families and with those who are still missing.

YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU!

Isn't it interesting how we put so much stock into possessions and acquisitions, busy schedules and the latest and greatest gadgets.....until  we are on our deathbeds or get a horrible terminal diagnosis, and then we realize that most of these things mean absolutely nothing?  It would be wise if we could change that mindset now, while we are still healthy and able to do so.  Let's concentrate more on what's really important:  what we leave behind, because we certainly can't take anything with us!

GRIEF IN STAGES.......OR NOT!

I'm sure you've probably heard about Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' stages of grief.  Unfortunately, those of us that work in the field of loss and grief, regard them now as too methodical, too linear and don't like referring to them as the be-all and end-all.  Jackson Rainer says it well:  "Grief is a sloppy process; nothing about it is efficient."

LIVE LIFE!

"You don't have to live forever; you just have to live!"
Tuck Everlasting

ASK PERMISSION

How many times have you seen or experienced someone walking up to a pregnant woman, in her last trimester, and automatically touching her belly?  Would you just automatically touch her belly if she was not pregnant?  Of course not!  You need to ask, "Would you mind?"  The same holds true for people in wheelchairs.  Don't just automatically reach out and touch their chair.  Ask their permission if you can touch it.  It is a part of THEM.  Jackson Rainer, Ph.D.

NEVER LOSE HOPE!

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all."  Emily Dickinson

ARE YOU PREPARED?

This may sound morbid to some, but hopefully, it sounds like good planning to more!  Have you made your funeral arrangements or would you rather not think about "those kinds of things" right now?  Better yet, would you rather just leave it to others, since you'll already be dead?  There is a Jewish proverb: "We know we will die, but we keep hoping that we will be an exception to the rule."  By making your funeral wishes known to your family members, you will be eliminating a  great deal of stress for them.  All you need to say or write down is, "This is what I want, and this is what I will leave to others to decide."  Then, be sure to let these people know your preferences. Harold Ivan Smith