The Caring Catalyst

Who Cares - What Matters

BEING THERE

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In our darkest moments, we don’t need solutions or advice. We simply crave the warmth of human connection. A gentle touch, a silent presence – these are the anchors that ground us when life’s storms rage.

Don’t try to fix me. Don’t carry my burden or chase away my shadows. Instead, be the steady hand I can hold as I navigate my inner landscape. Sit with me in the quiet, bearing witness to my struggle without trying to change it.

My pain is my own to feel, my battles my own to fight. But your presence reminds me I’m not alone in this vast, sometimes terrifying world. It whispers that I’m worthy of love, even in my brokenness.

So when the night seems endless and I lose my way, will you simply be there? Not as a savior, but as a companion. Hold my hand until dawn breaks and I find my strength again.

Your silent support is the greatest gift you can offer. It’s the love that helps me remember who I am, even when I’ve forgotten.

~ Etheric Echoes
~ Art ‘Broken’ by Karen Wilcox

BEING THERE

Being There
isn’t a far away continent
another galaxy not yet discovered
in fact, it’s not a place at all

Being There
doesn’t have a street address
where Uber Eats will deliver
what might fill your stomach
but leaves the vastness of your hurting soul wanting more

Being There
is a You that is brought to an ache
that can’t be medicated or sedated
but when simply Companioned
knows no rival

You possess a Being There
that can’t be sold or bought
but readily given
If.    .    .

 

JUST A MOMENT: REMEMBERING TO FORGET

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WELL.          .          .
Have you.          .          .
Have you ever walked into room and forgot why you walked in?
Hey, wouldn’t be great if we could forget to remember
what we really need to forget to remember.        .       .
The wrong somebody did us.     .     .
The story somebody told about us.        .        .
The word they used against us.          .          .
Hard to forget all of those THAT’S
but we have a nice saying that salt-in-the-wound-STINGS:
FORGIVE AND FORGET
or how about this one:
“I’ll forgive you, but I won’t forget it.      .     .”
W               E               L               L
Maybe it’s time.     .     .
maybe it’s really time that we do forget to remember
Seriously, right now, right here,
what it is that YOU need to forget to remember.          .          .
Uhhhh, guess what.          .         .
I T
doesn’t take a lifetime
or ages
or conditions
I  T
can happen in, in, in just a moment.           .          .
The question is,
WILL
I  T

YOUR WOW MOMENT

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What’s your WOW MOMENT.           .          .

Was your WOW one of you ever been having been someplace and then your sensor came out your Boundary Guard rose up and it kept you from not saying what you really felt.            .            .            ?

W   O    W.            .            .

What’s your WOW moment?

Was it at a concert?

Was it at a play?

Was it a movie?

Was it just sitting there watching a sunset or watching one of your kids or grandkids
play.        .        .        ?

When’s  the last time you could contain your

W                    O                    W

and what
and when
do you think the next time will be.            .            .            ?

In the meantime, watch THIS WOW MOMENT again and then be about creating some:

W                    O                    W

ONE DAY

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The one day of it all is just as unthinkable as it is unimaginable and yet it doesn’t cancel out the one day of it all that’ll never make it across our calendars or all the ones we love and never have the chance to know or love that we call
family. . . .

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THIS:

In 100 years like in 2124 we will all be buried with our relatives and friends.          .          .

Strangers will live in our homes we fought so hard to build, and they will own everything we have today. All our possessions will be unknown and unborn, including the car we spent a fortune on, and will probably be scrap, preferably in the hands of an unknown collector.            .            .

Our descendants will hardly or hardly know who we were, nor will they remember us. How many of us know our grandfather’s father?

After we die, we will be remembered for a few more years, then we are just a portrait on someone’s bookshelf, and a few years later our history, photos and deeds disappear in history’s oblivion. We won’t even be memories.

If we paused one day to analyze these questions, perhaps we would understand how ignorant and weak the dream to achieve it all was.            .            .

If we could only think about this, surely our approaches, our thoughts would change, we would be different
people.          .          .

Always having more, no time for what’s really valuable in this life. I’d change all this to live and enjoy the walks I’ve never taken, these hugs I didn’t give, these kisses for our children and our loved ones, these jokes we didn’t have time
for.            .            .

Those would certainly be the most beautiful moments to remember, after all they would fill our lives with joy.
And we waste it day after day with greed, greed and intolerance.            .            .
Anonymous,

The freshly dug earth resembles coffee grounds that will never be roasted, certainly never brewed, and most absolutely never drunk. Take a sip of what you can drink, and save her not what you have, not what you could have had, not what one day you might have had, but who you are: The Dust of the Earth; Brewed.  Enjoyed.  Savored and at its best, shared with another.            .            .

JUST A MOMENT: AT THE LINE

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LINES_______________LINES________________________LINES~~

There are so many different   L I N E S   in our life.           .          .
Some of them mean that it’s beginning.           .          .
Some LINES mean that it’s an ending.          .          .
SOME  are there because we’re supposed to draw a line in the sand and make a statement.        .        .
SOME  make you choose one this side of that line or that side of that line
or.   .   . or.   .   . or.   .   .
maybe it’s that you stay in the line
you color outside that line
or maybe it’s a firm boundary
maybe it’s a warning
don’t cross that line
Look at all the lines that are in front of you right now
and look at all the lines that are being drawn.          .         .
but not with our pen
not with our marker
what line means the most to you right now.          .         .
and is it one that invites others
or is it one that keeps others out.          .         .
is the line formed into a circle
or just a line of line of what__________________
YOU DECIDE
What your line means to yourself
and absolutely to others.           .       .

BEING TRUE TO YOUR QUEST

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HAVE YOU GIVEN UP.            .            .

ARE YOU DREAMLESS.            .            .

WHAT IS YOUR MOST IMPOSSIBLE DREAM.            .            .

‘The Impossible Dream’ is the title track from Aaron Lazar’s debut album IMPOSSIBLE DREAM. Featuring an all-star cast of artists from the theater and pop world: Kristin Chenoweth, Josh Groban, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kelli O’Hara, Leslie Odom, Jr, Liz Callaway, Neil Patrick Harris, STING and many more! Proceeds from the sale of the album will benefit the ALS Network and Aaron Lazar who continues to face ALS with unwavering resilience. Purchase CD/Vinyl/Digital Download: https://hypeddit.com/impossibledream iTunes here: https://music.apple.com/us/album/impo…

ABOUT THE ALBUM This inspiring nine-song collection features a remarkable roster of Lazar’s friends, supporters, and artistic idols, including multi-platinum singer, songwriter, and Tony nominee Josh Groban; Tony and multiple Emmy winning film star Neil Patrick Harris; Tony and Grammy Award-winning, three-time Emmy and two-time Academy Award-nominee Leslie Odom, Jr.; 17-time Grammy Award-winning icon Sting; Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award-winning songwriter, actor, director and producer Lin-Manuel Miranda; Tony and Emmy winner Kristin Chenoweth; Tony Winner and Emmy and Grammy Nominee Kelli O’Hara; the late Rebecca Luker (three-time Tony nominee); Tony and Grammy nominee Norm Lewis;  multi-platinum recording artist and voice from “The Greatest Showman,” Loren Allred; and many more.

THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
 Mitch Leigh & Joe Darion

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star . . .

(My thanks to the composer and lyricist as well as to all the incredible vocalists and musicians, via Aaron Lazar.)

Pssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst:

Know how to tell, , whether or not your dreams are coming true?

Well, if the sun came up today, things are looking pretty good.

If the sky is still blue, high above the clouds, I’d say keep doing what you’re doing.

And if, somewhere, there are eagles soaring, tulips blooming, and falls cascading… could it be, , most of them already have?
.        .       .just sayin’

MOST IMPORTANT

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I always wonder why some things POP UP from old files I’ve saved or buried or seemingly forgotten about.  This POST is O L D and yet it POPPED UP  and spoke to me, old as it may be with a timeless message.  Maybe it’s POPPING UP for you just at the right time NOW, too.            .            .

Possibly the Most important thing you’ll read this Year.      .      .or at least, RIGHT NOW:

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip (I TOLD YOU IT WAS OLD)

You don’t have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them. Just read it straight through, and you’ll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.
These are no second-rate achievers.
They are the best in their fields.
But the applause dies.
Awards tarnish …
Achievements are forgotten.
Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
Easier?

The lesson:
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money … or the most awards. They simply are the ones who care the most.       .        .

GOOD POP UP.              .               .               ?

JUST A MOMENT: ALL THAT AND A BAG OF CHIPS

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So here’s the truth truth of all truths.          .          .

and you don’t even have to be modest about it:

You are all that in a bag of chips
.            .
Sometimes you feel like, “Oh yeah I’m a bag of chips alright, the one that doesn’t always come out of the vending machine or the one that sits in backseat because I don’t know that it’s there and I forgot about it or the one that sits in your junk corner covered up by Twinkies, Ginger Snaps and assorted sizes of tootsie roll pops and pretzels, all crunched up”

See,  know, you add something to someone even if it’s just your you-est of you of yourself.

Here is the truth of all truths; The fact of all facts

YOU ARE ALL THAT AND A BAG OF CHIPS
OWN IT
ACT LIKE IT
and while you’re at it, pass the chips.          .          .

THE NAMES

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Y      E       S
I could have posted this last Monday, September 9, two days BEFORE the 23rd anniversary of 9/11; or actually posted it on the actual anniversary date of Wednesday, September 11 this past Wednesday, but I am purposely posting it today, Monday, September 16 some 8, 406 days to prove the power of a NAME which one of my favorite poets, Billy Collins, who happened to be the United States Poet Laureate in 2001.

There is power in a name. When you say the name of a loved one, when you hear it, maybe at the gas station when you’re pumping gas or standing in the line waiting to be checked out; when you hear that name, when you say that name, you you don’t even remember, but in living, vivid color, you experience all the things that are embodied in that name. You experience them all over again as if somebody hits a DVR button inside of you and all these memories just don’t flood your mind, they actually come back to life.  That’s the power of a name.

Yes, 9/11 was last Wednesday, but here we are 23 years later, some 8,406 days ago; It’s not all those events between then and not but the power of it makes each of each of these loved ones lost, not lost at all, but found.  .  .It’s even more special and even more a sacred place so that in the words of Billy Collins, “SO MANY NAMES, THERE IS BARELY ROOM ON THE WALLS OF THE HEART” not so much remembered as right now, they are proven they have not been forgotten as we pause yet once again.       .       .        .

F R E T T E R S

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B                    U                   T.            .            .
WE
STILL
WORRY
which is why Mary Oliver most likely wrote:
“I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers flow in the right direction, will the earth turn as it was taught, and if not, how shall I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven, can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows can do it and I am, well, hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it, am I going to get rheumatism, lockjaw, dementia?
Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body and went out into the morning, and sang.”
~Mary Oliver, “I Worried,” (2010)
and still.       .       .
S     T     I     L     L
W  E
ARE CARD CARRYING MEMBERS OF THE
F.  O.  F.
(FELLOWSHIP OF FRETTERS)

I fret frets
They’re not Fears
past, present, future,
should’s, would’s, could’s 
or of all the ‘what-to-comes’
the strenuous decisions of what roads to take
avoid or completely ignored; unseen yet scarily crept upon
They’re just nameless frets for the silent communities of Fretters
who believe that the world’s rotation is based on the power of never-ending fretting
So, for the good of all of Humanity, We, the faithful Fretters will fret on for fear of fretting not.    .    .

F.O.F. (FELLOWSHIP OF FRETTERS)
Fretting for ANYTHING.  ANYBODY.  ANYTIME.  ANYHOW.
YOU’RE WELCOME TO JOIN
and most assuredly much more free
IF
YOU
DON’T
(especially on this Friday the 13th)

Professional Speaker, Author, Assurance Man