It's Scary out there!

Halloween is the "scary" holiday. Skeletons & ghosts, black cats, scary masks, carved pumpkin faces that flicker with shadow and light and screeching noises startle us along our path. Of course, Halloween also brings all sorts of costumes on sweet children ringing our doorbell and saying "trick or treat". They smile as they fill their bags with candy, somehow managing to return home with more than mom and dad were able to hand out in the same period of time. It's one of the amazing laws of Halloween!

Have you ever considered that life can be a little like Halloween? It can be scary and sometimes filled with shadows and light. It can be startling and yet, like the "scare", can be exhilarating and fun too. Like our trick-or-treaters, life can be filled with things that look intimidating but are really very sweet inside. And like the Halloween candy that we'll give out, life can give back in abundance as well.

I hope your Halloween is filled with scary, sweet and exhilarating experiences. And, I hope your life is too.

Happy Halloween!

Love & Friendship

"Through love , through friendship, a heart lives more than one life."
-Anais Nin

Life can be full of love and friendship or it can be isolated and lonely. What can you do to today to let the love and friendship in? How can you increase the love and friendship in your life? How can you share it with others?

Here's to an amazing weekend filled with love & friendship for you!

The Heart of Life....

If you pass me driving down the road, odds are pretty darn good that you'll find me belting out the lyrics to whatever song is on the radio. Sometimes I know all the words and if not, I almost always have a teenager handy to correct me. As you know, sometimes these lyrics make sense and sometimes I've just got to scratch my head and wonder, what the writers were smokin' when they wrote that stuff?

But sometimes if you stop and listen carefully, you can hear some really good things that will make you think.

John Mayer in the The Heart of Life:

"Pain throws your heart to the ground,
Love turns the whole thing around
Fear is a friend who's misunderstood
I know the heart of life is good"

And it's true, isn't it? Pain happens and love can make it better. And fear can help us, it can protect us, and it can push us beyond where we think we can go. And oftentimes the outcome makes life better than we ever dreamed it could be.

I hope today you can ponder just how good your life is, with all the experiences that have brought you to where you are today.

The heart of life is good, enjoy it!

Life's Isn't Fair!

Growing up I remember my Dad telling me repeatedly that life isn't fair. Sadly, here's a crystal clear example of him being right.

This is a picture of Robbie Hummel, last year's starting forward for the Purdue Men's Basketball Team. Led by Hummel, then a Junior, and Senior Chris Kramer, last year's team enjoyed win after win and top 10 rankings heading into the NCAA tournament. Then on February 24, Robbie Hummel came down awkwardly on his right leg tearing his ACL and ending his 2009-2010 season. Purdue Basketball fans mourned this loss and while other players stepped up in his absence to finish the season, the Boilers fell short of their NCAA tournament hopes.

Fast forward to the 2010-2011 season where the Boilermakers found themselves with a pre-season ranking of #2 the nation. High hopes surrounding this team and the return of Robbie Hummel, now a Senior with high school teammates E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson. That is, until the news broke, on an ESPN scrolling message during a college football game...in the 2nd practice of the season, after blocking a teammates shot, Hummel again came down on the right leg, tearing his ACL for the second time in 8 months.

Whether you are fortunate enough to be a Purdue Boilermaker alumni, fan or follower or even if you've just heard of them through this blog today, the sadness and disappointment for Robbie Hummel alone is tremendous. Why do bad things happen to good people!? Isn't one torn ACL in a lifetime enough? Of course we've all heard or lived similar stories of friends, family and acquaintances whose situations cause us to ask, "How can life be so unfair?" And we all wish we had the answer, as well as a way to make it better.

What we do know is that fair or not, life does go on, and we choose to make it whatever we want it to be. Will we choose to be better or bitter? USA Today reports that Robbie Hummel is attending classes, meeting with study groups and planning for surgery around Thanksgiving so as not to derail his education. Additionally, all Purdue Basketball fans hope that next year Grad School is an option for Robbie with a medical red shirt applied to this year. While none of this is ideal, it IS what it is. And my guess is that somehow, someway, Robbie Hummel will choose to be better. Better as a person, a student and an athlete because of this experience.

Today, whether you pause to appreciate your many blessings, become better due to unfair circumstances and go forward in a healthy way or help others to do the same, I hope you'll be the best YOU that you can be!

Happy Monday!

It's Monday, the beginning of a brand new week! Is your schedule a busy one, filled with appointments, events and commitments?

Hans Christian Anderson said, "Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."

What can you do this week, as your go through your days to enjoy living just a little bit more? How can you share sunshine, enjoy freedom and experience every little flower along your path?

I hope YOU will make it an amazing week. You and those around you deserve it!

Choose to Laugh

We've all been there. A day, a situation, a happening so overwhelmingly bizarre you can't help but wonder, should I laugh or should I cry? A moment when you find yourself caught in that place where your emotions have the ability to take you towards either response. For your entertainment, let me provide an example.

We have two sizable dogs, a Weimaraner named Lucky and a Silver Labrador named Cooper. Both dogs are tremendous assets to our crazy family and we love the activity, companionship and entertainment they provide. But of course, some days are better than others. Shortly after acquiring a new dog bed for Cooper (he ate the last one, his punishment = weeks of waiting for a new one), we all left home for a Friday night football game. The dogs and the new bed went into the laundry room and we were off to what turned out to be our first Varsity Football victory of the season. Hip hip hurray! We returned home a few hours later in delightful spirits with friends in tow for some euchre and celebration. Little did we know, the dogs had been having a celebratory evening as well as the kids immediately discovered dozens (okay, hundreds!) of little white foamy balls coming out from under the laundry room door. Being wise (and scared) children, they waited for me to open the dreaded door. With bated breath, I opened the door to an outpouring of more little white foamy balls. Clearly there had been a dog bed explosion! There were little white foamy balls stuck to the walls, covering the floor and under the washer and refrigerator. Nevermind the ones stuck to the dogs as they bolted in little white foamy ball terror!

At that moment, I can honestly say, my first tendency really was anger (that !@&$ dog ate another bed!) and tears. BUT we had won the game! We had friends over to play cards and celebrate! And, I was pretty certain that no amount of anger or tears was going to suck all those little white foamy balls back into that dog bed. So, after a few deep breaths, I laughed. And the best part was that everyone else did too. And really that's what makes laughter, when possible, the best option available. Laughter is the best medicine. Laughter is contagious. Laughter is like a mini vacation. In truth, I'd say laughter is one of the little things that makes life worth living.

What can you find to laugh at today? Besides the fact that it will make you feel better, I know your family and friends will love you all the more for it!