A Beacon of Light

“Life is not  happening to you.  Life is  responding to you.” ~ Unknown We’ve all been asked the question, at one time or another, “Which came first — the chicken or the egg?” In most cases, this would be considered a rhetorical question, a brain-teaser for which no legitimate response would be expected. Not surprisingly, however,…

“Pledge to excel through love and unity.” ~ Bahamian National Anthem Readers of my books and blogs, and those who know me well, might have noticed that I have this thing about the Bahamas. Let me explain. I spent eight years of my life at Saint Gabriel School in San Francisco, yet rarely do I speak of…

“If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.” ~ Tecumseh On December 23, 2006, I launched my first blog — Attitude of Gratitude. Over the next sixteen years, I penned approximately 2,000 posts about the people, things, and experiences for which I am grateful in my life. On November 9, 2022, I…

“The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.” Frederick Douglass As we celebrate the 247th anniversary of our independence, I think it would be wise to reflect on the words of Frederick Douglass, an American social reformer, writer, and statesman. On July 4, 1852, Douglass, a black man, gave the keynote…

“I don’t need to know everything. I just need to know where to find it when I need it.”~ Albert Einstein Some people think I’m highly intelligent. I don’t happen to be one of them. I know a few individuals who are, without a doubt, gifted with superior intelligence. I am often in awe of the magnitude of information…

“In life, it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with.” ~ Charles Schulz It could not have been a more timely headline. On Saturday morning, June 29, 1985, the top story in the sports section of the San José Mercury News revealed that Golden State Warriors’ star player, Joe Barry Carroll, was looking to get…

“I have a conviction that a few weeksspent in a well-organized summer campmay be of more value educationallythan a whole year of formal school work.”~ Charles William Eliot Silver Tree Day Camp is one of the summer programs offered by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department. I attended Silver Tree as a camper through…

“The hardest thing about exercise is to start doing it. Once you are doing exercise regularly, the hardest thing is to stop it.”~ Erin Gray It’s been a long time, and I mean a VERY long time, since I’ve walked the recommended 10,000 steps in one day. Today, I’ve already surpassed this milestone, and it’s not even 2:00 p.m.…

“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” ~ Mark Twain There are many life lessons I wish I had learned earlier in my life. This is one of them: the value of the pause. I don’t know if it’s human nature or just a personality quirk, but…