Category Archives: Choices

The Bond

Posted on July 28, 2012 by russtowne

I just finished writing a letter (the old-fashioned pen-and-ink kind) to a man who is about as different from me as two people can be. He got involved with drugs at a young age and began hanging with the wrong … Continue reading →

Posted in Choices, True Stories I've Written | Tagged baton, beloved, bodyguard, bond, bullet, drugs, Family, Friendship, hospital, jail, meth, police, police dog, prison, sacred vow, scars, Trust, wounds | 28 Comments

Getting Positive Emotions to Occur

Posted on July 27, 2012 by russtowne

A reader recently asked: “How do you get positive emotions to appear?” Here are some of the things I do when I want to go from negativity to positivity. I: Smile (even when I don’t feel like it.) Watch a … Continue reading →

Posted in Attittude, Choices, LIfe Lessons | Tagged friends, kindness, laughter, negativity, positivity, smile | 13 Comments

When Positive Emotions Appear

Posted on July 25, 2012 by russtowne

As darkness recedes when light appears, it has been my experience that negative emotions immediately begin to recede when positive emotions appear. Russ

Posted in Choices, Growth/Learning, LIfe Lessons, Observations, Words or Quotes I Believe I Coined but please let me know if you heard them earlier elsewhere | Tagged darkness, emotions, light, negative, positive | 8 Comments

Hawa Abdi: “Equal Parts Mother Teresa and Rambo”

Posted on July 22, 2012 by russtowne

I just read an amazing article about Hawa Abdi but it was so profanity laced that rather than subject you to it, I went to Wikipedia and found a much-abbreviated version of this amazing woman’s life. She has stared down … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenges, Choices, Compassion, Courage, Generosity, Healing, Inspiring, Making the World a Better Place, Patience & Persistence, Stories That Touched Me | Tagged doctor, Dr., gyn, Hawa Abdi, militia, Somalia, Somalians, warlords, wikipedia, Wikipedia.org | 8 Comments

A Different Kind of Life

Posted on July 22, 2012 by russtowne

“The minute you choose to do what you really want to do it’s a different kind of life.” –Buckminster Fuller from onlinewellness.com

Posted in Choices, LIfe Lessons | Tagged Buckminster Fuller, choice, choose, different, Life, Onlinewellnessnetwork | 18 Comments

Overcome to Become

Posted on July 21, 2012 by russtowne

I just completed a comment on a friend’s blog with this sentence: “I’m all-the-more proud of her because of what she has had to overcome to become who she is.” I was referring to My Beloved but as I pushed … Continue reading →

Posted in Attittude, Challenges, Choices, Compassion, Forgiveness, LIfe Lessons, Patience & Persistence | Tagged become, burdens, compassionate, forgiving, kind, kinder, overcome, patient, understanding, wights | 16 Comments

Every Waking Moment

Posted on July 20, 2012 by russtowne

I was just enjoying some wonderful posts at TalkToDiana when I read this question from Diana: “If you could post just one message to the world, what would it be?” Below is my answer. I’d love to hear/read how you … Continue reading →

Posted in Choices, Compassion, Forgiveness, Generosity, Love, Making the World a Better Place, Observations | Tagged Caring, compassionate, forgiving, generosity, generous, Heaven, hell, kind, kinder, kindness, Life, Love, loving, TalkToDiana | 18 Comments

The Great Blindini

Posted on July 19, 2012 by russtowne

I have a friend named Brent who is blind. He is also a magician. He calls himself The Great Blindini. Here are some snippets from a recent newspaper article about him: Magicians often don a blindfold at some point during … Continue reading →

Posted in Attittude, Choices, Courage, Creativity, Fear, Growth/Learning, Healing, Inspiring, LIfe Lessons, Making the World a Better Place, Optimism, Stories That Touched Me | Tagged amazing, blind, blindness, Brent Gifford, children, courage, entertaining, fear, Friend, great, Hawaii, libraries, magic, magician, The Great Blindini | 25 Comments

Three Little Words

Posted on July 18, 2012 by russtowne

Sometimes kind people do unkind things, and it can be a kindness to privately point out the unkindness in a kind way. Often the three little words “That was unkind” said in a gentle and loving way can have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Choices, Compassion, LIfe Lessons, Making the World a Better Place | Tagged gentle, impact, kind, kindness, loving, positive, unkindness | 16 Comments

That Which Feeds My Soul

Posted on July 17, 2012 by russtowne

Dear internet friends: I want to come clean about something. I don’t automatically follow someone’s blog just because they follow mine, and I don’t expect anyone to follow mine just because I follow theirs. I’m happy when someone finds something … Continue reading →