The Caring Catalyst

Who Cares - What Matters

S I G H T E D

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ARE YOU BLIND?

I’m not asking you can you see. . .

ARE YOU BLIND?

What USUALLY makes us blind, isn’t our eyesight at all, is it?

What makes us Blind is the use of just two simple words:

CAN’T

or

WON’T

We usually intermix the Words which is not only a dangerous mistake, but also

B L I N D I N G

If ONLY. . .

WOW.     .     .

that’s another one of

T H O S E       P H R A S E S ,

h     u     h ?

I F     O N L Y

we wouldn’t mis-use
we wouldn’t mis-switch
we wouldn’t pay no mind to either:

Can’t or Won’t

How we would create
How we would make
How we would bring forth
How we would cease being Blind
How we would S E E

what’s not been displayed. . .

but is always in

C   L   E   A   R       S   I   G   H   T

and  more.   .   .

awaiting desperately to be

S       H       O       W       N

Have at it.   .   .

Paint the Picture

Use all of the Colors available and.   .   .

and remove from the Palette

the ugly hues

of CAN’T
or WON’T

Ahhhhhhh. . .

What a beautiful Picture,

See it?

ARE   YOU   BLIND?

It’s way, way past time for you to get

S          I          G          H          T          E          D

B U S K E D

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Are you

Are we

B     U     S     K     E     R  ‘   S  ?

Some of the best Buskers I’ve ever seen are where I was actually looking for them:

At  The  Beach

Union Square in New York City

Outside of a Playhouse at Christmas

Outside of a Sporting Event

Street Corners.     .     .

A       N       Y       W       H       E       R       E.          .          .

Street Performance

or

B U S K I N G

is an

a     c     t

of performing in public places

for

tips.   .   .g r a t u i t i e s

b u t

B     U     S     K     I     N     G

is really associated with

singing  or  playing

m   u   s   i   c

TO     JUST     PLAY     M U S I C !

Joni Mitchell wrote a great song several years ago called,

REAL   GOOD   FOR   FREE

“I slept last night in a good hotel

I went shopping today for jewels

The Wind rushed around in the dirty town

And the children let out from the schools

I was standing on a noisy street corner

waiting for the walking green

Across the street he stood

And he played real good 

On his clarinet for free.

Now me I play for fortune

and those velvet curtain calls

I’ve got a black limousine 

and two gentlemen 

escorting me to the halls

and I play if you have the money

Or if you’re a friend of me

but the one-man band

by the quick lunch stand

He was playing real good, for free.

Nobody stopped to hear him

Though he played so sweet and high

They knew he had never

been on their tv

So they passed his music by

I meant to go over and ask for a song

Maybe put on a harmony. . .

I heard his refrain

As the signal changed

He was playing real good, for free.

Well. . .

I’ll ask again:

ARE

YOU

A

BUSKER. . .?

or.     .     .or

do you charge a price.     .     .     ?

W          a          i          t – – – –

that’s   a   much   different   name ,  

h  u  h ?

Superstition or. . . .

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images-3

 

If you receive an email entitled

“B   E   D   T   I   M   E   S, ”

d  e  l  e  t  e

IMMEDIATELY.

Do not open it.

Apparently this one is pretty nasty.

It will not only erase everything on your hard drive,

but it will also delete
anything on disks within 20 feet of your computer.

It demagnetizes the strips on ALL of your credit cards.

It reprograms your ATM access code,

screws up the tracking on your DVR

and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch any CD’s

you attempt to play.

It will program your phone auto dial to call only 900 numbers.

This virus will mix antifreeze into your fish tank.

IT WILL CAUSE YOUR TOILET TO FLUSH WHILE YOU ARE SHOWERING.

It will drink ALL your beer….

FOR GOD’S SAKE,

A  R  E      Y  O  U      L  I  S  T  E  N  I  N  G ? ?

It will leave dirty underwear on the coffee table when you are expecting

company.

It will replace your shampoo with Nair

and your Nair with Rogaine.

If the   “Bedtimes”   message opened in a Windows 7 environment,

it will leave the toilet seat up and leave your hair dryer plugged in dangerously
close to a full bathtub.   .   .

(even when you swear you unplugged it and went back into the house to check it twice)

It will not only remove the forbidden tags from your mattresses and pillows,
it will also refill your skim milk with whole milk. . .

or worse–soy that pretend to be rice.

******* W  A  R  N      A  S      M  A  N  Y      P  E  O  P  L  E      A  S      Y  O U      C A N *******

And if you don’t send this to 5000 people in 20 seconds, you’ll burp

so hard that your right leg will spasm and shoot straight out in front

of you, sending sparks that will ignite the person nearest you. Send to

everyone …if you are Superstitious, this is a….

Have you ever received an email or a warning like this?  Scary, stuff, huh?

I’ve come to see the ABSURDITY of ABSURDITY.

Hold the remote a certain way

and keep the volume on 16 or 18 and your team will

N      E     V      E     R           L     O     S     E !

Wear your blue blazer when you give a presentation and you’ll nail it every time.

Listen to a particular song. . .

Read a certain passage. . .

Go out the Front door

but always come in through the back entrance.    .    .

Count to 10 if you leave the house

but have to come back in because you forgot something.      .      .

Always sit in the same seat at Church. . .

Lace your shoes a certain way,

or actually wear one pair for one activity

and another pair for an entirely

hoped-for-outcome.      .      .

There’s a very thin,

almost nonexistent line between what

FATE

SUPERSTITION

KARMA

FAITH

are all about.

But maybe.       .       .

maybe it’s really true:

IF YOU THINK, BY DOING SOMETHING, WILL ACTUALLY ALLOW OR PREVENT A DESIRED OUTCOME–

IT  D O E S.       .       .

doesn’t it?

Y   O   U       A   R   E       A   L   L       T   H   E       L   U   C   K

that’s ever necessary!

Wait.      .      .

are you snickering?

No worries!

I’ve got a candle for you to burn

I’ve got water for you to drink

I’ve got socks you can wear

I’ve got an empty wallet for you to open

while you spin in a circle during a full moon,

chanting:

“FILL’ER UP, FILL’ER UP, FILL’ER UP. . . .”

It’s a Virus

—-a nasty one!

D     O           N     O     T           C     A      T     C     H           I     T.       .       .

Then again…

maybe that’s the only true way of getting

R            I            D

of   it–

F          O          R          E          V          E          R !

 

 

 

 

I H O P E

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What’s Your’s?

When you’re flipping through your remote with wild abandon,

what’s the Movie (s) that makes you stop your  f l i p p i n g ?

Little Miss Sunshine

Rocky (any of them)

St. Vincent

Simon Birch

While You Were Sleeping

The Christmas Story

It’s A Wonderful Life

The Mighty

Begin Again

The African Queen

Billy Madison

Happy Gilmore

The Bucket List

The Tin Cup

As Good As It Gets

The God Father (Any of them)

For The Love of the Game

Dances with Wolves

Die Hard (Any of Them)

Blended

Shawshank Redemption

(or anything with Morgan Freeman’s voice)

What’s    Y   o   u   r   s  ?

I love this last scene

Maybe it’s the words:

“GET   BUSY   LIVING   OR   GET   BUSY   DYING”

Maybe it’s

H          O          P          E

“I     hope     I     can     make     it     across     the     border.     .     .

I     hope     I     can     see     my     friend     and     shake     his     hand.     .     .

I     hope     the     Pacific     is     as     blue     as     it     is     in     my     dreams.     .     .      

i

h          o          p          e  “

Y   O   U  ?

What not only makes you

p    a    u    s    e

but put down your soul’s remote

and

h     o     p     e  ?

Y e a h.        .        .

what’s your

h          o          p          e

your evidence of things  NOT    YET    S E E N.       .       .       ?

Is it getting you busy to

l   i   v   e

or

d  i  e

Immunity

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When was your first time?

When was the very first time you didn’t actually believe. . .

When was the very first time you actually knew,

K          N          E          W

that you weren’t going to live forever?

Was it was you went to the funeral of a friend, a relative, a dear loved one. . .

was it just when you read an obituary, even of one you didn’t even know the person?

When was it?

Sometimes  THAT  happens when you sit on the other side of the desk of a Doctor and his face tells you what you don’t want his mouth to ever say and your ears to ever heard.

Have you felt    T     H     A     T  ?

The biggest problem with   T   H  A  T 

is most of them are   T     H     A     T  ‘  S

They’re  P L U R A L

We had a great family reunion the Saturday before Easter.

My brother and his family were in from San Antonio

and even though not every family member was present

there were a great number of us

t o g e t h e r

for several hours.

We all knew just how precious and priceless was   T H A T    Moment

and then.     .     .

less than two weeks later

a humbling, powerful, very life-threatening event takes place

and my father is in the hospital.

It’s then. . .

It’s there that you go to a place a GPS can’t follow, lead or identify. . .

a  Continent that doesn’t exist called

I          M          M          U          N          I          T          Y

The harshest truth to ever be discovered and rediscovered

is the one to never be hidden or forgotten,

only in slight moments overlooked:

NONE OF US ARE IMMUME

not if you have a heart beat, a pulse, a mind that can half reason or not so easily forget

NONE OF US ARE IMMUNE

from hurt

(FROM JOY)

from disappointment

(FROM HAPPINESS)

from unmet expectations

(FROM FULFILLED GOALS)

from unfulfilled dreams

(FROM VISIONS REALIZED)

from undreamt imaginings

(FROM UNDERSTANDINGS GRANTED)

from sickness

(FROM PERFECT WELLNESS)

from losing

(FROM GAINS)

from failing

(FROM VICTORIES)

from being on the other side of the sheets

(FROM BEING ON THE SHEETS)

from dying

(FROM LIVING)

F          R          O          M

NOT  being immune

from it  ALL 

has a certain blessing that a wish can’t hold or grant

has a certain authenticity that makes a heart, beat–especially a broken one

has an awareness that a life lived–

L     I     V    E    S

It’s what can’t be traded. . .only owned

which births another sort of immunity

s     h     a     r     e     d

and only known fully from the grave to which we all go. . . .

When. . .

w   h   e   n     have you ever felt

 T   H   A   T ?

(This is a re-working on one of a four installments of  THE ROUGH SIDE OF THE SHEETS  that I wrote back in August/September 2015 after my wife, Erin suffered a series of seizures; these are some of the lessons experienced, learned, and now hopefully shared again since my father suffered a fall with several complications ensuing since his surgery.  It’s my hope that you enjoy these journey-ings, and more, take the time to share a few of yours that that we can all learn a little more about those razor-blade laden sheets…and in the sharing, soften them a little and bring a fragrance from which they knew not.  It’s been nearly eight months since Erin experienced her seizures, and a week since my dad’s fall and surgery; daily they recover and ready themselves to live Life in the Shadow of Death of which no one is Immune that reminds us all: YOUR PAIN IS MY PAIN)

Dancing With Your Heart

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https://youtu.be/7gqPM_GT8Qw

When was the last time you danced.     .     .

L  I  K  E       N  O       O  N  E        W  A  S        W  A   T   C   H   I   N   G ?

There’s many things I don’t know

but one thing I am absolutely positive of  is

o n e   d a y   I   w i l l   d i e !

There’s one other absolute thing I know for 1000% certainty:

T  H  E        W  O  R  L  D      W  I  L  L      G  O      O  N  !

In fact,

the world will still be one busy place.

Calendars will be made, kept and planned.  .  .

Precious material things will just be. . .t h i n g s .     .     .

W O R D S – – –

the many I’ve written down

really won’t be worth even the paper they’re printed

because most likely they’ll be tossed

if not by my kids

then certainly my grandkids

or the next occupant of my house who won’t give them a second look.  .  .

There will be little to no memory of any argument I’ve had.  .  .

No more texts to be made or had or saved or. . .l o s t.    .    .

No more nagging regrets.     .     .

A    N     D

On   T H A T   day

I know people who love me will be sad

.     .     .will feel empty

.     .     .might feel swindled

.     .     .won’t be totally expecting it

.     .     .will feel their hearts beat differently for a little while

The     Take     Away :

D         A          N          C          E

Don’t miss the chance to   dance   while you can

with those whom

would give anything

not to pass up the chance

of having just one more

p r e c i o u s

second with you.

Before

I,

y o u,

w e

die

let’s   l i v e

and

d a n c e

like no one’s peeking

w h e n     e v e r y     o n e    d a r e    n o t    l o o k    a w a y.      .      .      .

Drinking from the Saucer

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tea-overflowing-213x300

Have you ever done it before?

If you were at a Five-Star Restaurant and had just had a very expensive, satisfying dinner and the waitress, who has addressed your every whim and need, is now pouring your coffee to overflowing perfection so it’s a small moat in your saucer around your coffee cup.

Q   U   E   S   T   I   O   N :

Are you an    A P R I L     F O O L     enough

in front of all the guests,

enjoying dinner as you are,

going to    S  L  U  R  P    from your saucer?

Not even if it’s the best coffee ever,

Right?

Well, not many of us take notice

and might not readily admit it,

but the good stuff   I S   in the Saucer.    .    .

the Overflow is  always/ALL ways

where IT’S at.      .      .

Any Real   April Fool   knows that, don’t they?

A few weeks ago,

I conducted the small memorial service for Charles.

I never met him before.

He was a hospice patient in a group home near Santa Barbara, CA.

He was 92 and had been there most of his life,

but his life was never defined by that little fact.

Charles was an April Fool every month of the year.    .     .

Charles drank from the saucer,

u n a b a s h e d l y,   o f t e n,

with a smile on his face

and a pure, unadulterated happiness in his heart.

I learned that Charles had friends,

found true love,

traveled extensively,

had a job he took pride in,

and led a stress-free,

h   a   p   p   y           l   i   f   e !

Saucer slurping high living, huh?

The truest of  April Fools

S     e     r     i     o     u     s     l     y ,

if given the chance IN or OUT of a Group Home,

if at our last breath,

we could KNOW,

not hope,   wish,   dream.      .     .

K           N           O           W

that we had friends,

found true love,

traveled extensively,

had a job we took pride in,

and led a stress-free, happy life

—-S a u c e r – S i p p e r—–

Class   A   April Fool,

would you turn it down,

walk away?

Don’t feel bad.       .       .

M a n y    d o !

Pssssssssst:

D o n ‘ t      b e      M  A  N  Y !

Most don’t have the chance to drink fully from The Cup,

let alone the Saucer.     .     .

Most would turn down voluntarily being an

A P R I L      F O O L

any day of the year,

let alone on April 1

Look again.

There’s not only a Full Cup we have

but a Saucer for the Overflow

Hmmmmmm  of  the  Day:

Now Noticing would be one thing.

Drinking from them both. . .Quite another!

One. . .Two. . .Three:

S    L    U    R    P       Deeply

You April Fool

Get  Charles’d !

S M I L E

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https://youtu.be/P8Ggykm0Wko

It’s a vicious lie,

you know?

It takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile

F          A          L          S          E !

Dr. David Song (University of Chicago Medical Center) recently did this study on the very topic and the average frown requires 11 muscles while the average smile requires 12

Now I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t know what I don’t know

but this method of counting the number of muscles used by Dr. Song doesn’t take into account variables like the energy used by each muscle or that some

SMILE MUSCLES

in some are more developed  than in others

Uhhhhhh. . .

You can send in all of your comments of THANKS

for not taking any more of your time by naming all of the

FROWN MUSCLES

quickly followed by the all more important MORE

S M I L E     M U S C L E S.

Here’ s the Catch:

Even though smiling uses more muscles, it’s believed that it takes

LESS EFFORT

than Frowning.

B E C A U S E:

people tend to smile more, which means the relevant muscles are in better shape!

How about some

B O N U S     F A C T S:

Most primates, especially apes, have many of the same muscles that we do and use them to express similar emotional information.  Chimps that hunt in groups use only non-verbal cues to relay information and to remain organized.

Humans are born with the ability to smile, 

it’s not something we learn. . .even blind babies are able to smile.

The take away?

S          M          I          L          E

If you don’t want to smile with others or because of them

.       .       .give them a great reason to

s m i l e

at

or with you.

Back in February, I attended and completed and became certified as

Certified Laughter Leader

With Steve Wilson and the World Laughter Tour.

I loved a simple technique he taught us with a straw.

W H E N

I F

you find it impossible to smile

stick a straw in your mouth between your teeth

sideways

for a few minutes

.      .      .  You’ll have a

WOW  Moment

YOU     WILL     FEEL     BETTER

Here’s the deal with Smiling

(or for that matter, laughing)

FAKING   IT

is

MAKING IT!

Don’t believe me. . .or anyone else

Go Lab Experiment

on Yourself

Try. . .

disproving it!

(Scheve, Tom, “How Many Muscles Does It Take To Smile? Discovery Fit & Health. (2011)

P O N D E R I N G S

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Are you an

U    N    R    E    C    O    G    N    I    Z    E    D

 C A R I N G       C A T A L Y S T ?

Are you finding yourself

l i t e r a l l y

dying  for

S o m e      T h i n g s

instead of

Living  for

S o m e       O t h e r s ?

Want some fantastically good news?

You are genuinely just

O          N          E

K i n d n e s s

O            N           E

C o m p a s s i o n a t e

O           N           E

C a r i n g

act

a  w  a  y

from forever becoming

i   m   m   o   r   t   a   l .     .     .

B  E

The  Ripple

that causes

countless others in many more.     .     .

Lap up on other’s shores

and change it forever – – –

it’s the only thing

that not only matters,

but

l          a          s          t          s

for

an 

e v e r !

Don’t be

the one

who fails to recognize

what you notice.

P O N D E R I N G S,  

for a Ba-Zillion, Alex.

GIFTING

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https://youtu.be/TmQ74XO_Fx0

It always has to be the perfect time, doesn’t it?

A day.     .     .

A season.     .     .

An occasion.    .     .

A situation.     .     .

A holiday.     .     .

A Birthday.     .     .

An Anniversary.     .     .

o     r  .     .     .

for   no   reason

Maybe the World doesn’t desperately need a gift for no reason.     .     .

but

I bet a person does

B   E

the

G      I      F      T

that doesn’t so much need given

but

r          e          c          e          i          v          e           d 

B        E

the

G          I          F          T

that’s needed for the moment

for the

n  o  w      o  f      i   t !

B E      T H E      P R E S E N T

Professional Speaker, Author, Assurance Man