Life Lessons

With birth, the die is cast. Existence has been set into motion, and so too it will come to a close. We should not despair. The tragedy doesn’t lie in this end. The tragedy exists only if we fail to live...

You now possess three-quarters of a billion dollars. You make yourself a cup of coffee, and you sit at your kitchen table, thinking about the money. How does it change your plans? How does it change who you are?

I think about this often as I work at my projects. Do you think, if I make an effort to keep the back neat and tidy, snipping away the loose ends, my life will be tidier? Or appear tidier to me? Just a thought...

“You love all your children just as much as you love me . . . so that can’t be possible. But I only have one mommy. And I love no one just as much,” I reasoned...

Only later did I notice that one tiny tree had been planted so close to the playground’s fence that its narrow branches had become entangled in the mesh. Would it ever grow to independent maturity like the other trees?

Sadly, we are influenced by a society that eats not when it’s hungry, but when it’s bored. We are distracted by access, and it’s disheartening, because we are so much more than that...

From the moment I met him, I knew that Tal was someone special. But I could never have imagined how our relationship would shape my life.

Can you imagine how much easier it would be to move forward if we could look at our past and realize that just as we have changed, grown and developed, so too have those that let us down? The person they were may have caused us pain, but the person they are now would not have. If we can view them in the past, then we can leave their failures in the past...

It is through our gained maturity and insight, a precious gift bequeathed by time, that we are able to gaze back at our progression, giving us insight into the future. If we extend this trajectory, bending the rules of physics and the laws that govern “reality” as we know it, a fascinating new world emerges from the dust of exile...

Aging is happening even as I type these words. I am ever so slowly, and sometimes more quickly, evolving into the “older” generation. These words, in print, sicken me. I am sixteen on the inside of my brain, but the rest of my body is screaming otherwise!

He ignored my heartfelt cries, the Psalms that I recited, the prayers and the bargaining. He did it His way, and in the process my heart was shattered . . .

Now that the decks are clearer and the obstacles fewer, do we have the self confidence and courage to move forward and concretize those aspirations? Do we have the guts to zero in on the objectives and work toward their achievement?

I never imagined that such a reductive view of my life’s stuff could so aptly tell the story of us, but in many ways it does . . .

To be true to yourself while sitting in your living room is no big feat. That’s what the angels do in heaven, and they get absolutely no credit for that. The trick is to be yourself in someone else’s living room. To remain who you are no matter where you are . . .

Do I look older? Do I look old? I don’t feel old, but I’m actually not sure what old feels like . . .

Chavi and her husband were dumbstruck. They had realized that the unit was positioned outside, over her garden, but it had never occurred to them that it might disturb her . . .

I find myself reflecting on life’s choices, and wondering if I got what I always wanted...

Out of nowhere a well-dressed, kind-looking woman appeared. She smiled and said, “I can lend you the money, and you can pay me back at your convenience . . .”

“One by one, the pawnbroker weighed the items to discern their value. But when he picked up the heart necklace—Momma suddenly let out a shout, ‘No!’”

We are grownups, busy, efficient and productive, with many important lists on our planners. It’s hard for big people to enter that magical space, where time is suspended and birds are chirping...