I am thinking about the past year and am trying to put together a perspective that remembers all of the positive things that happened and try to learn from the mistakes that I have made.  This takes time and careful consideration.

In the next year, I need to remember to ask myself if what I am doing at any given time is kind, necessary, or even just plain worth doing at all.  Each year, as I grow older, I realize more and more how precious each moment can be.  I need to look inward more, engage in meaningful conversation more, and most importantly, try to find ways to love more.  This is critical to the creation and maintenance of a humane world.

Living with purpose, making each minute count for something, is part of why we are here.  Moments do not have to be doing something.  Sometimes, “not doing” is what is required.  Whatever I do or don’t do, I must find ways of doing it with deliberation.  Consciousness gives action its value.

I think that we share our ideas with each other about how to make this world a friendlier place.  Time spent doing that helps each of us become a better listener and a nicer person.  If I can look inside myself and see the prejudices I most certainly have, some of which I may not even be aware of as yet, I will have a chance of improving by becoming more honest with myself and more understanding of others.
Today, is the beginning of a new day, a new year, a challenge to grow and improve my character.  I welcome all the assistance I can get to do this more successfully.  Today, this new year, I ask for your guidance.  If we support and cooperate with each other, our small corner of the world will blossom with hope for a brighter future and an excellent new year.

Six days ago, my husband and I lost our dearest friend.  Her name was Tiny and she loved us completely and unconditionally every day that she was in our lives.  She was our greatest cheerleader and our most loyal friend.

Tiny was gentle and sweet-tempered, and she loved us with every inch of her little 13 pound self.  She was different shades of chocolate brown with smooth silky fur and a beautiful, expressive face.  I can’t believe how much we miss her. We loved her, still love her, will always love her, and she is barely gone a week.

Memories of her will fill our days as we come home after work and she is not there to greet us at the door, with such enthusiasm that we were continuously surprised by the pleasure it brought into every, single day.  No one has ever consistently, without fail, been so darn glad to see us.  And it was true every time, even if we were only gone for minutes.

Tiny was never aggressive, but if you were to see her and hear her upon approaching our house, you would think she was vicious.  She acted as if everyone outside was a threat to us.  Surely, she thought that she was protecting us, as she barked furiously at any one who passed our property, even a little old man and his tiny, elderly dog on their daily walk.

She lived her life entirely for us and just wanted to be close to us every minute of the day.  It made us want to stay home more and more.  And, she made us laugh so much!

The last day of her life, she was with me, as I was home from work.  We had a wonderful time and she was vibrant and energetic, as always.  Later, she would bark and make a strange sound right before her heart stopped.  In an instant, she was gone.  We held her, trying to revive her, knowing that it was in vain, but not believing that it could be true.

We brought her to our vet, where she was put into compassionate arms that cradled her and carried her off to be cremated to be returned to us later to keep in remembrance of her place in our lives.  We must only think of and remember her for what she was, and still is, a blessing and a joy.  That will never change.

Our pets are part of our families and we grieve them, as we should.  They deserve to be remembered with sadness, but with the hope that we will see them again.  There they will join us, with those loved ones who have passed before us, where we will find peace and happiness forever.

Competition is not a bad thing.  On the contrary, it can be a wonderful motivation for excellence.  However, making everything competitive is not the best idea for children if introduced into their lives at too early an age.

I remember becoming aware of this issue when my children were in 2nd Grade and Kindergarten of elementary school.  There was a talent show/competition at their new school the week after we had arrived in California.  It was something I wanted to be a part of, so I decided to get involved.

The following school year, I joined the PTA and volunteered to run the Talent Show.  Having been in music and theatre projects for years, they welcomed me and were eager to help out.  Working with these parents was a wonderful experience.  They were willing and ready to pitch in wherever and whenever they were needed.  However, they wanted it to be a competition.  I didn’t think it needed to be, but didn’t argue.  I decided that we would just have many categories and many prizes.

It so happened that a pair of sisters in the school were actually professionals.  Knowing that they would undoubtedly win, I felt that we needed for everyone to feel that they were just as much a part of things as they were.  Otherwise, it would just have been another showcase for these two students.

The show was a great success.  Everyone did their best.  At the end of the show, the judges handed out the ribbons.  Each student had a chance to take a bow and get applause from the audience.

The Talent Show Contest’s success was due to the fact that everyone was valued.  Each student received a ribbon of some kind.  Everyone was included in a big finale.   Being a part of the cast was of the utmost importance.  Belonging was the focus and it gave each of the children a chance to have their moment on stage. Competition was not the main reason for the show, and THAT was the most important thing of all.

I am an idealist. I happen to be a Christian.  I celebrate Christmas.  My Jewish friends celebrate Hanukkah.  My Muslim friends celebrate Eid-e-Milad. There are many religions, and each of them have many other celebrations, but Hanukkah and Christmas and  Eid-e-Milad are in December, and it is December as I am writing this.  It occurred to me that we often zero in on the differences between ourselves and others when there are so many things we have in common.  Other believers and those who are not believers in any particular faith, all have the same physical bodies and the same basic needs to simply live.

Why then, do we often insist that our way of being part of an organized religion or spiritual path are superior to those who are different from ourselves?  Most of us are born into the belief of our families in different parts of the world where the prevalent way of worship is passed on from generation to generation.  Geography plays a large role in what a person believes in.  It is something to think about.

Why not focus on the ways of love, such as goodness and kindness and compassion?  These are things that can bind people together for the good of all. I prefer to think that these are the things we all should concentrate on, because it is the one thing that should be a part of every path of living a good life.

Let’s try to be a part of the solution to the disagreements and negative thoughts toward people who are different from ourselves.  Then perhaps, the world will be better place for all of us to live and love and worship in a way that will please God and bring peace to all the world.

There just might be something necessary in having “quiet time” in our lives.  I have believed this for some time now, and I find myself craving it more and more as I get older.  It reminds me of a conversation I had with a teacher in a high school many years ago.  I was about to do a presentation and we were just chatting beforehand.  She told me about a practice she had started with her students at the beginning of that year.  At the opening of each class that first day, she had introduced a period of silence in which the students could think or not think or just sit if they wanted.  However, they were not allowed “do” anything.  There would be no disruptions and no talking or communication of any kind.

They balked at the idea, but she insisted.  So everyday, the students would come in and sit down and not say a word.  I think she said it was for five minutes. That seems like a very long time when one is not used to it.  Soon, it became automatic, and that “quiet time” became a naturally occurring part of each lesson.

One day, she started her class without it.  And what a surprise she received from her students!  They were very upset and disturbed by this change and complained openly.  What she discovered was at first shocking, but then deeply satisfying.  They had come to crave those precious moments of peace in their day.  It was a revelation.  And this concept found a welcome place in my mind.

As time has gone on, I have found articles and seen videos regarding the use of creating empty space in our minds.  There is something going on in this inactive state, whether it be prayer or meditation of some kind.  But it seems that beyond this silence, there is a yearning.  I believe that it is, in fact, a need we have as human beings.  Getting in touch with ourselves through silence is perhaps the path to finding out who we truly are.  Don’t you think that it is a discovery worth knowing?