A Beacon of Light

Therapist Elizabeth Keohan writes, “Sadness doesn’t usually feel good, but it is a very normal emotion, often felt after loss, during a period of pain or transition, or when challenging hardships are on the forefront. It can be a very healthy and normative emotion that’s typically temporary.” A person’s sadness could be caused by any…

“Drive now. Text later.” It happened again on Tuesday morning. I was stopped at a traffic light behind a young woman whose head was down while the stoplight was red. I can only assume she was texting, because when the light turned green, her head did not move… nor did her car. A quick toot of…

“Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” David Bowie When I was in my twenties and thirties, my vision of the future was quite clear. While I never knew for sure where I was headed, the roadway provided a fairly good sense of where I was going. Retirement has been a…

It’s a simple challenge — one you can accept every day of your life. From the time you wake up in the morning, make a conscientious effort to give some type of compliment to (at least) three different people before 3:00 in the afternoon. It’s that simple! Give it a shot. You’ll soon see that…

“We cannot live only for ourselves.” Herman Melville Quite regularly, as I walk around the condominium complex where Kathy and I have lived for almost forty years, I reflect on the wisdom of a Chinese proverb: “A good neighbor is a priceless treasure.” We have been blessed with an abundance of good neighbors. Sylvia Mathews Burwell, a…

“When small  businesses succeed,  communities thrive.”  Duane Fladland Kathy and I have lived in our West San José home for almost 40 years. The closest major intersection to our home is Saratoga Avenue & Williams Road. When we moved into our home in October 1986, the intersection was home to a variety of restaurants: Wendy’s,…

“Okay, you guys. Pair up in threes.” Yogi Berra The first professional baseball game I attended was in the mid-1960s. The San Francisco Giants hosted the Cincinnati Reds at Candlestick Park. The Giants had played in the World Series in 1962. Sadly, they didn’t actually win a World Series in San Francisco until 2010. Then they achieved…

“If you don’t like  something, change it.  If you can’t change it,  change your attitude.”Maya Angelou When I moved from my childhood home in San Francisco to San José to attend college in 1972, traffic in the Santa Clara Valley was not an issue. Construction of highway 280, from Highway 17 through downtown San José…

“All year round, there’s always something going on in downtown Campbell.”downtowncampbell.com As I wandered down East Campbell Avenue in downtown Campbell, California this morning, a strange thought crossed my mind: Retirement is not over-rated! It was about 10:45 on a Thursday morning. There was a time when I would have been in the middle of teaching my…