“How you do anything is how you do everything.”
T. Harv Eker

All we wanted to do was buy a faucet. We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted and went to a big box “home improvement” store to get it. We were tired and hoping for a quick in and out trip. No such luck..

We walked in, headed towards plumbing and started to look for the faucet. There was another couple in the aisle, who pretty much walked in front of us and started bickering over which faucet to get.  Since they didn’t lower their voice, I know she consults her mom on such things and he thinks her mom is a psycho. He liked the tall faucet, she was worried about splashing. He didn’t like what he heard, and stormed down the aisle with a disgusted “FINE, I’m done”.  She managed to call him back and they continued their bickering which then progressed to arguing.

By this time my husband and I were looking at each other and then the couple and then each other again. I’m mouthing the words, “I wish they would leave so we could look in peace.”

Good grief. If you can bring that much drama into the plumbing aisle over a faucet, what the heck does the rest of your life look like? What storm cloud surrounds you at home, at work, in aisle ten?  We didn’t even know these people and they managed to interrupt our evening. We walked around until they left so we could shop in peace. How sad that a ten minute encounter with someone leaves you feeling drained and in search of peace. I’m sure they had no clue how their lives spilled over to complete strangers.

On the flipside, other visits have found us chatting with a total stranger that felt like an old friend who actually made our evening more pleasant for having met them. I definitely prefer shopping (and life) in the drama-free zone.  Have you had these kinds of encounters? Did you say anything?

It’s time to come back to my poor neglected blog. I’ve written a million posts in my head between the last one and now. One of the posts was about staying focused which related to my training for the marathon in memory of my mom-in-law. I’m happy to say that I completed it and will do it again next year in her honor.

Another post was about balance and how it doesn’t mean that you have to balance each individual day into equal and exact parts. Just that you have to balance it out over the long haul. John Assaraf once told me that there will be times that we have to focus on a particular goal and it may seem to dominate our time – that doesn’t mean we’re out of balance as long as we turn our focus back to the other aspects of our life once that goal is completed. In my case that was devoting my full attention to training for the marathon, now I’m back to the rest of my life.

I’ll have to end on a note I didn’t see coming.. I really dislike that part of life sometimes – at least at first. Eventually I settle in, find my lesson and move on as much as I can. Sometimes it takes much longer than others.

I went to Colorado for a family gathering and for some much needed down-time. While I was there, I received a call that one of my aunts passed away. My Aunt was from the side of the family that raised me and the side that is dwindling rapidly. The celebration of life took place before I was able to get back for it, although I was able to come to terms with it in my own way. That was last Wednesday. Today, a week later, I received a message that still has me reeling.

My Uncle Frank was our family patriarch, historian and caregiver. He was the glue that held us all together regardless of how old we were. He was a WWII vet who served in counter-intelligence, and at 89 was still living on his own and mowing his own lawn! Up until a few years ago he was walking more than a few miles a day – his physician asked him to slow down. He’s one of the people that I’ve admired the most over the years. He was still very active socially and had beaten heart attacks, congested valves, and got a kick out of the fact that his pacemaker sometimes set off security alarms. He had a sense of humor that comes from appreciating life and all its bumps and quirks.

Yesterday, I lost my uncle to of all things, a car accident. His car was T-boned and unfortunately this time he didn’t pull through. I’m still in shock, dazed and it all seems very surreal. I feel like a melted clock in a Dali painting. I expected a midnight phone call telling me to come home, or racing the clock to get there in time. I prepared for a hospital visit or a quiet goodbye.


As life will have it, I was not prepared for this. At this point it just feels senseless. I am, however, eternally grateful that a couple of years ago when we lost another close family member, I wrote my Uncle Frank a letter. In it, I told him how much I loved him and how much he meant to me. I thanked him for everything he had done for all of us over the years. I can’t begin to tell you how much peace that single act has given me today and how much it meant to my uncle when he received it. It doesn’t make the loss hurt any less, but it does give me peace of mind that my uncle knew what he meant to me and how much I appreciated him. It’s my quiet reminder to anyone reading to take the following quote to heart.

Death is a challenge. It tells us not to waste time… It tells us to tell each other right now that we love each other.”
Leo F. Buscaglia

There are certain topics that are timeless. The one that has been on my mind for quite some time is one that feels most appropriate for my life right now – The mindset of gratitude.

One of the most important gifts we can give ourselves is the ability to be grateful for what we DO have, especially in the toughest of times. The ability to steer your attention to the positive things in your life doesn’t mean being a Pollyanna or living in a state of denial, it’s a learned skill that will change your brain chemistry, energy, and the way you interact with others.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
~ Melody Beattie ~

As I fall asleep tonight, my thoughts will be that:

• Although a dear friend was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, I am forever grateful that it was caught at the earliest stage.
• My mom in law lost her battle with leukemia in January yet I am thankful that I am healthy enough to participate in a marathon that will raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society while allowing me to honor her life.
• I am surrounded by wonderful friends and family who are helping me meet the above goal and are who are the best people I could ever hope to have in my life during good times and bad.
• Our schedules at this time of the year make it much harder for all of us to sit at the table for dinner but it’s something we all work at and want to do. I am grateful for the love and laughter when we are together – especially the times that make me laugh so hard it brings tears.
• Even though my dog has been having seizures, the worst case scenarios have been ruled out and she’s on medication to control them.
• Interruptions keep me from finishing my book as quickly as I would like, but wouldn’t trade the fullness that those “interruptions” bring. They are the chapters of my life.

While it’s sometimes a struggle to carve out the time to post , I am grateful for each and every person that stops by – I hope that you can take what serves you best from it. I wish you a lifetime of happiness, gratitude and abundance.