Category: Living fully

  • I met the most amazing woman the other day. She unexpectedly dropped into my Email inbox and once she told her story, I couldn't forget it.

    I think it's safe to say you won't forget her, either. For one thing, how often do you meet an individual who is age 106 and still plays Scrabble? Yes, you read that correctly. Alice Herz-Sommer is age 106. In fact, she turns 107 this month.

    She is . . .  But why not let Alice tell her story in her own words? I encourage you to settle back in your chair and prepare to be entranced. If at the beginning you find her accent difficult, hang in there. After a few seconds you won't notice it. Now just click on the arrow and float away.



    For all of us, sometimes life, with its obstacles and challenges and disappointments, seems discouraging, even overwhelming. From now on I'll only have to think of Alice to realize how blessed I've been–and still am.

    Although Alice's story is unique, I think she has a message for all of us, for all time: Life is beautiful! 

    Those three words apply, no matter what's going on in our lives. Let's have the good sense to really understand this now. It's as the Psalmist said, centuries ago:

    This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. –-Psalm 118:24

    Here's to "living it up" and making the most of every day,

    Lenore

    Question for you: How did Alice's story touch you?

    (Late addtion: My apologies, but the (better) YouTube clip I originally included was suddenly "withdrawn by the user," whatever that means. It seems to be inaccessible from any site. So I'm including a new link here, from The Guardian in London. This one is not as long, but you can hear Alice speaking and also playing her piano. Onceit ends you'll notice other YouTube video thumbnails are shown, such as a two-part BBC TV interview. You can read Alice's story in print at  http://nickreedent.com/   which is the website of the maker of the soon-to-be-released documentary about Alice Herz-Sommer.

    Of music and hope and seeing the beauty in life . . . no matter what

  • Maybe that sounds silly, but I'm guessing we all do it. 

    How often do we fall into bed exhausted, wondering where the day went? It's as if we went through the past 24 hours on autopilot. We flip over a new calendar page and try to remember what we did during the thirty days now past.Blog. Thoughtful woman. 8.10 lisamcminn 

    Someone said it well, "Life is not a dress rehearsal."

    Each of us gets only one take on today.

    Even though we're breathing in and out, we can be oblivious, completely wrapped up in our thoughts, tied up on the computer or watching television.

    I plead guilty. How about you?

    Or we tune out the people in our lives. Parents scold teenagers because they can be in the same room but text each other rather than talking. Grownups do the same thing, but we don't use a keyboard. We simply switch off our minds and look past each other. 

    Even in marriage we can run on parallel tracks, each of us concentrating on what interests us, blind to each other's concerns. That can feel achingly lonely, as if we simply wave at each other as we pass in the hall.

    Then there's multitasking. Busy people assume we can multitask and get more done. Researchers tell us that because we're not focused we accomplish less. Our brains bop back and forth between tasks, never giving full attention to either one. That leads to mindless errors for, but . . . let's not talk about that. 

    So what's the answer?

    For me, once again I'm reminding myself that this day is the one I'm living

    To be precise, I only live this one minute, then the next. Apparently, I like the way Psalm 90:12 reads in the New Living Translation:

    Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.

    Life is too precious to miss! So once again I recommit to paying attention and making the most of my time.

    Maybe this time I won't forget.

    Here's to being present while we're present,

    Lenore

    Question for you: Do you struggle with this? Or have you overcome it? Then tell us how! Just click on the word, "Comments," at the end and follow directions.

     

     

    Let’s not go A.W.O.L. from our lives