The Mighty Ocean in the Drop

Posted on August 5, 2012 by russtowne

You are not just the drop in the ocean.
You are the mighty ocean in the drop.
– Rumi

Posted in Attittude, Inspiring, Observations, Potential, Quotes I Love | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Posted on August 4, 2012 by russtowne

My dear friend Gina has created another masterpiece and I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with you, dear readers!
Russ

Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Growing Old

Posted on August 3, 2012 by russtowne

From http://www.mikeysFunnies.com:

GROWING OLD

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I’ve aged, I’ve become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I’ve become my own friend. I don’t chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn’t need, but looks so avant-garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60’s & 70’s, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ….. I will.

I will walk the beach in a swimsuit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody’s beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don’t question myself anymore. I’ve even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be.

And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

[forwarded by Steve Sanderson]

today’sTHOT============================

Become richer instantly…desire less.

=======================================

“PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you’re REAL nice, you’ll tell them where you got it! http://www.mikeysFunnies.com”

Posted in Attittude, Challenges, Choices | Tagged , , , , | 27 Comments

Which Am I, My Friend?

Posted on August 3, 2012 by russtowne

I rarely make political comments on my blog or the blogs of others. It’s not that I don’t have political views—I do—but I find politics to be too often divisive and my focus is on being as inclusive as I can. I’d simply rather build bridges than burn them, and dismissing nearly half the people in my country because they are in a different political party seems to me like a wasted opportunity.

Politics and political rhetoric in the U.S. have heated up as a major and important election nears. In my judgment, both major parties have important things to say and both have said and done some amazingly silly things too.

I have loved ones and clients who are of all political persuasions. I myself have strong beliefs that would fit into key aspects of most of the major political platforms, and some aspects of each platform concern me.

I believe labeling, stereotyping, and then demonizing whole groups of people for their party affiliations is inaccurate and unkind.

Some of my cherished loved ones engage in the practice, and it saddens me for them and for the people they love who they are insulting.

For example, a dear loved one uses Facebook to forward one-sided insults about the other party. One of her most recent insults went something like, “If you are a _____________, you are either a ________ or a __________ (both very derogative things).

When I read that, I’d had enough. I was the first to comment, and I wrote:

“Which am I, my friend?”

Days later, I’ve not heard from her, but unlike most other such postings, no one has added to the comments of that post, and I’ve not seen any more such posts from her.

Russ

Posted in Choices, Observations, True Stories I've Written | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Being There

Posted on August 3, 2012 by russtowne

Many of the most powerful moments in my life, the times I feel the most alive, the most useful, and the most connected to everyone and everything are those times I am there when someone needs me the most.

Just being there and walking through the fire or sitting in it with them, creating a safe space for their anger, grief, despair, pain, shame, loneliness, fear, and/or whatever else they are experiencing or being tormented by, and staying with them until the fire subsides, has often meant everything to me.

People often thank me for being there for them as though they somehow owed a debt of gratitude to me for being there for them. From my perspective, it is I who owe them, for the huge gift they gave to me for allowing me to be with them in their most awful moments, sharing their darkest hours, worst fears, and most painful times with me.

I live for such moments. It is why I’m alive. I’ve arranged my life so that I can drop everything and be there–any time of the day or night.

To those who have honored me by allowing me to be there at such times, I owe a debt of gratitude. Thank you!

Russ

Posted in Anger, Challenges, Dealing with Pain & Grief, Fear, Gratitude | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Humor That’s Heads and Shoulders Above the Rest

Posted on August 3, 2012 by russtowne

If you’d appreciate a laugh, these two are funny–and STRONG! The Jovers:

http://biggeekdad.com/2012/05/the-jovers/

Russ

Posted in Humor, Strength | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Rescuer Gets Rescued

Posted on August 2, 2012 by russtowne

A 17-year old boy who had recently beeen trained as a swimming pool lifeguard risked his own life to save a 12-year old boy from drowning in the ocean. He ended up getting a nearly $2600 bill from the hospital and ambulance service for his trouble.

But the resucuer was himself rescued by a couple of anonymous donors. I love a happy ending!

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/lifeguard-gets-2-600-bill-rescuing-boy-surf-130832240.html

Russ

Posted in Choices, Courage, Generosity, Stories That Touched Me, Vids & Stories That Touched Me | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Duke and His Little Sister

Posted on August 2, 2012 by russtowne

This post started out as a comment on an earlier post, but I decided to share a revised version of it with all of you.

My six year old Chocolate Lab is named “Duke”, which is short for “Duke of Cadbury” (I was being kind of silly when I named him but that is his name on his official registration papers or whatever they call them). He’s plain old Duke to me.

About 2-1/2 years ago My Beloved adopted Duke’s half sister from the same father a beautiful black lab pup she named Sadie. I would have preferred that she name her dog “Daisy” but for some reason she was not interested in having dogs that when she called them sounded like:

“Daisy Duke! Here Daisy Duke!”

I wasn’t a fan of the Dukes of Hazzard TV show, but I hear that the character named Daisy Duke had a LOT of male admirers…

OK, OK, I admit that I’ve seen what Daisy Duke looked like. Probably every man in America has, and most of the women too. I know for sure that at least ONE woman knows what she looked like, and that was good enough for her to avoid naming her dog Daisy.

Sometimes My Beloved just has no imagination! What a spoilsport! ;-D

Then again, knowing how much she drools when she sees Sean Connery in a movie, if MY Beloved had a dog named Sean, I probably wouldn’t name my dog Connery, no matter how much my Beloved begged me…

Russ

Posted in Dogs & Other Wonderful Creatures, Humor, True Stories I've Written | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Some Contests I Could Really Get Into

Posted on August 2, 2012 by russtowne

On our Date Night this evening My Beloved and I were eating dinner at a restaurant that I’d never been to before. I noticed across the way that other tables each had a huge (perhaps quart- or liter-size) coffee cup on them with various sayings. That is when I noticed that one was on our table too. It read:

“The one who smiles first wins!”

That fun saying and excellent motto or affirmation reminded me of something I read on someone’s blog recently. I think it was a poem. Part of it red something to the effect that,

“Instead of having a Tug of War
I want to have a Hug Of War”

(I forget the rest, except the last line(s) went something like):

“In a Hug O’War
There are no losers
And everyone wins!”

I like that ‘contest’ too, though I might be tempted to re-name it a “Hug Of Peace”.

Russ

Posted in Making the World a Better Place | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Quick Apology

Posted on August 1, 2012 by russtowne

I’m sorry for not responding to your comments today. A combination of doing some transactions this morning, having my grandson come visit this afternoon, preparing for an important Client visit, then the actual visit in a few hours, then Date Night with My Beloved–while all good and wonderful–led to the not good and not wonderful result that I will probbly have to wait tomorrow to come out and play with you, my dear internet friends.

Russ

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments